Interact, don’t interrupt. —

How content strategy will boost your communication online.

Vapa Media’s presentation at Marketing and Communication Conference in Helsinki 29.9.2011!

”Exactly a year ago there was a lot of talk

about social media at this very same

conference. Boys we’re fiddling with their

brand new iPads and technology was

definitely in. But all we could think of at

Vapa Media was content. You know, the

stuff distributed, consumed and produced

on these platforms. We actually predicted

that after all the social media hype,

people would start talking about content.

We predicted that year 2011 would the

year of content strategy in Finland.”

We were right.

This year there’s

talk about content

both in media and

at this conference..

In 2011 content is not just a king...

But why is content so important? Of course the reason lies in money. With the careful

planning of content, companies can save in their marketing expenses, streamline their

operations in online enviroments, serve their customers better and improve their sales.

let’s be honest here, this is what interests us all!

These.... ...are...

....the subjects we...

...talked about!

Communication Message

Satisfaction Content Strategy Content

Measuring Money

Cases

Although the end of 1990’s was the real breakthrough of internet, our actions were then on a

very basic level. Websites were basically just gigantic PDF’s, that we could view. There wasn’t

any real interaction and websites were more like big advertising screens.

EVOLUTION OF THE WEB

(Picture: www.humerusonline.com)

EVOLUTION OF THE WEB About ten years ago we started to enjoy publishing. In the year 2002 Google bought Blogger

and blogs came into more regular use.

(Picture: www.humerusonline.com)

EVOLUTION OF THE WEB When the amount of publications started to grow, companies wanted to stand out from the

crowd. The aim was to design such good looking sites that they’d leave Bob The Blogger behind.

Typical for this age was the importance of the visual and design aspects of online presence.

(Picture: www.humerusonline.com)

EVOLUTION OF THE WEB Although blogging as we now know it started in the beginning of the 21st century, the concept of

social media rose to our awareness about five years ago. The amount of content blew the roof

as people started to produce content as well as follow it.

(The talk about social media was still more a talk about the platform. It’s kind of like instead of talking about

politics, we’d talk about the parliament building where politics is done.... )

(Picture: www.humerusonline.com)

EVOLUTION OF THE WEB But now in the year 2011 it’s finally time we look at what influences things behind the platform.

Ladies and gentlemen, let us introduce the new, communicative human: Homo Contentus!

(Picture: www.humerusonline.com)

Homo Contentus is a super consumer of online content, who discusses, comments, takes part

and seeks for interaction actively. It is extremely important to realize that companies do not

compete only with other companies but with all content contributors online. That means blogs,

online magazines, communities and the friends of Homo Contentus.

(Picture: www.humerusonline.com)

Content

Basic information Usability

Images

Findability

Interaction

is about all of these things.....

.... not just blogs or other textual content!

Content can be divided into two different levels...

Service

Publishing

1. Service

This is a (bad) example of online service from the website of the Tax Administration...

Current topic, tax refunds, are nicely on the top page..

But it leads first to a completely new sub page....

Then to another page...

And another...

Now we’re on a new service..

And another page under that...When will it end??!

Finally! We’re able to log in to the service!

2. Publishing

This a (good) example of publishing...

Just like the brand, the website is multilingual, multicultural and has various content types.

Content didn’t mean only blogs to Benetton as they opened their own web radio to the website!

“Content is not just about the marketing content. Companies should realize that content is also the comments left by users or it’s the

discussions on the help forums. It’s about all the talk and communication about the company in various online platforms.” – Karen McGrane, 2011

So for an example, content strategy is the concept and content of a website.

Not just basic information but relevant, interesting and useful content from the user’s point of view!

Content strategy is also about social media...

...its a way to interact and inspire!

It’s also the small stuff, like the way you reply to a customer who signs up for your newsletter.

!!

A content stra

tegist needs the

knowledge of all of th

ese things!!

Design, architecture...

Who are we talking to and with what kind of tone...

What platforms will we use, when and how.

User experience design Marketing Technology

But like Karen McGrane said at the CS Forum, good content is not always about exploiting the latest platforms...

For example with iPads we’ve returned to the golden age of platforms. Because let’s face it, content in iPads is basically huge PDF’s with no real interaction. You can’t even copypaste the damn thing if you want to! It’s sad but true and the results

speak for themselves....

Even Wired couldn’t exploit the new platform as they conquered it quickly without even thinking the added value it could and should give to the content. Although

Wired might need to ride the wave of new technologies and platforms, the subscriptions tell the sad truth...

In content strategy the content comes before the platform. This is the only way to avoid costly and useless actions.

Down, down, down we go...

Content strategy cannot be bought ready made, it should always be tailored to the needs of the company....

Lucky for you, we have pinpointed a few critical items that every content strategy should have!

One strategy, please!

Responds to strategy!

1.  Content strategy

should always resp

ond

to the business

strategy of the

company!

Alko describes itself as a responsible

alcohol store with expertise and good

service......

The service and expertise can be seen also on their FB page!

Defines the audiences!

2. Content strategy

defines the audiences

and the way to interact w

ith them!

Williams-Sonoma serves their culinary customers with recipes, inspiring cooking and great photos! Yummy!

Defines content!

3. Content strategy

defines the conten

t

according to the com

pany’s needs!

And content doesn’t always mean blogs and news articles. For Ikea, good content means customer service and enabling purchases.

But what is *good* conte

nt?

What is good content?

What is good content?

What is good content? What is good

content? What is good content?

What is good content? What is good content?

Definitely not this! Good content is not about the amount of content...

It’s good to realize that people have the same needs in online enviroment that they have irl.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs!

Self-actualization

Esteem

Love/belonging

Safety

Physiological

The hierarchy of Homo Contentus!

Not just SEO but granulating the information to different

platforms!

Product information, contact info, etc...

Product search, customer service chat, etc...

Social media, Blogs, etc...

Games, virals,

campaigns...

Images

Timeliness

Service

Basic information

Findability

At the end of the day, good content is always something like this.

“Good content is useful, in it’s best form, best quality, fresh and gives the customer

what he or she needs.” – Eric Weismann, 2011

Test your content by asking

these questions!

Do you care and share? To the right

audiences?

The content they’re

interested in? Efficiently and productively?

With measurable goals?

Also with content we need to do measuring. It’s great that companies are nowadays measuring e.g. visits, bounce rates, and time spent on pages. But we need to be careful with the results we get from analytics. Spending time on a corporate website doesn’t actually tell anything about the quality of the content...

What if your customers spend time on your website because they just can’t find what they’re looking for or do not understand the content you give them?

Content = content?

So besides basic analytics, we also need qualitative analysis. We at Vapa Media think that qualitative analysis should measure the satisfaction of the customer.

We can measure satisfaction on two levels!

Quantitative Qualitative

Quantitative contacts

money time

Qualitative loyalty respect fanship only choice

By measuring these things we can know if the Homo Contentus is satisfied!

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But how can we turn content into money?

Well, we got some bad news for you: you can’t. But don’t worry, content strategy will bring you money because....

It’ll save you from useless actions!

It will find the right audiences and best messages!

It will help you to measure, analyze and by that to develop in online environments!

It will help you to act as a publisher on the web!

But just to remind you, even small things can make a difference. Have a look at what Sticky Content’s Catherine Toole found out about content...

This many will return!

If your online store’s content is good, this percentage of your customers will buy more!

And if the content sucks… well, this many will slam your company to their friends!

So all we’re trying to say here is that it’s the content strategy who is the king!

(Picture: www.humerusonline.com)

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