Kristina Halvorson defines content strategy as planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. She discusses how content strategy has evolved since she first wrote about it in 2009. Content strategy involves considering substance, structure, workflow, and governance of content. It defines what efforts will be focused on and sets boundaries for what will and will not be done. A content strategy is the path to meeting goals and priorities what content initiatives will and will not be pursued. The content strategy process involves assessment, analysis, architecture, implementation, and maintenance.

1. CONTENT STRATEGY
FOR THE WEB Everything
Kristina @Halvorson
Coauthor, Content Strategy for the Web
CEO, Brain Traffic and Founder, Confab Events

2. I wrote the first
version of Content
Strategy for the
Web in 2009.

3. In it, I defined content
strategy as “the
practice of planning
for the creation,
delivery, and
governance of useful,
usable content.”

4. Not just...
• What

5. But …
• What
• Why
• How
• When
• For whom
• By whom
• With what
• Where
• How often
• What next

6. In 2012, I
coauthored the
2nd edition with
Melissa Rach.

7. This time, defining
“content strategy”
was a bit trickier.
(Read: there were
several caveats.)

8. At exactly this
time, there was
another trend on
the rise.

9. Content marketing is the approach of
creating and distributing valuable and
consistent content to a targeted audience,
with the objective of driving some
profitable action…
– “The Evolution of Content Marketing
Will Include Intelligent Content”
Joe Pulizzi, 1/12/2015
“

10. The marketing
industry happily
complied.

11. This is big trouble for companies
who still can’t manage the content
they had in the first place.
Content strategy is more important
than ever.

12. What is
content strategy?

13. 2015

14. © Brain Traffic 2015
Here’s how we
talk about it at
Brain Traffic.

15. Core strategy:
This defines where you
will focus your efforts
to improve content
substance, structure,
workflow, and/or
governance.
It must provide clear
boundaries for what
you will do … and what
you won’t.
© Brain Traffic 2015

16. Substance:
Story, topic, brand elements,
voice and tone
Structure:
Organization, categorization,
component elements
CONTENT

17. Substance…
…fulfills business objectives
by meeting audience needs.
Structure…
…makes content findable and
usable for users, and
manageable for technology.
CONTENT

18. PEOPLE
Workflow:
Roles, processes, tools
Governance:
Policies, standards,
guidelines

19. Workflow...
...creates efficiencies
across content
properties.
Governance…
...empowers, facilitates,
and aligns.
PEOPLE

20. 20
Lots More To Learn About
10 Definitions of Content Strategy
by Monica Bussolati
Point of View: Content Strategy
by Kevin Nichols
What Is Content Strategy?
by Aha Media Group

21. What kinds of content
strategy are there?

22. Content Strategy for User Experience
Infographic published by IBM Customer-Facing Solutions.

23. http://blog.braintraffic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/structured-content.png
Adaptive Content Strategy

24. Enterprise Content Strategy
Adapted from http://www.gollner.ca/2015/03/defining-intelligent-content.html
Workflow and
Governance

25. What does a content
strategist do?

26. Point of View: Content Strategy
by Kevin Nichols

27. What is the content
strategy process?

28. 28
What is “a content strategy”?
• A content strategy—any strategy—is the path you’ll take
towards meeting your goals and fulfilling your vision. It may
be one of a few parallel paths towards the same goals.
• A content strategy helps define what you WILL do and what
you WON’T do.
• All tactical content initiatives must map back to your strategy.
• Your content strategy should force you to prioritize and to
say “no.”

29. 29
How To Get There
1 : Assessment, Analysis, and Strategy
2 : Architecture and Editorial
3 : Implementation
4 : Maintenance

30. 1 : Assessment, Analysis, and Strategy
2 : Architecture and Editorial
3 : Implementation
4 : Maintenance

31. 31
Business objectives Current technology
Project objectives Functional requirements
User research Cross-platform initiatives
Stakeholder interviews Industry trends
Usability testing Competitors
Design research Content inventory
Typical Discovery Checklist

32. 32
Content ROT Stakeholder agenda
Current style guide Content owners
Content readability Workflow and timelines
Search analytics Metadata integrity
Legal requirements Translation requirements
Channel requirements Accessibility requirements
Content Strategy Checklist

33. 33
After the Assessment: Your Analysis Report
EXAMPLE ONLY

34. 34
EXAMPLE ONLY
EXAMPLE ONLY
EXAMPLE ONLY

35. 35
Example: Content Strategy Framework
CORE
STRATEGY
Evolve our print production model to deliver
single-source, omnichannel content.
We communicate effortlessly with priority
audiences everywhere.

36. 36
Example: CS document intro

37. 37
Example: CS Guiding Principles

38. 1 : Assessment, Analysis, and Strategy
2 : Architecture and Editorial
3 : Implementation
4 : Maintenance

39. 39
“Define and Design”
Project plan High level architecture
Success metrics Content requirements
Dependencies Features definition
Branding elements Development plan
Design mock-ups User testing/QA
SEO guidelines Launch plan

40. 40
Messaging Content models
Topic maps Content types
Style guide Taxonomy
Page tables Editorial calendar
Architecture and Editorial

41. You can
find all
sorts of
tools and
templates
here.

42. 1 : Assessment, Analysis, and Strategy
2 : Architecture and Editorial
3 : Implementation
4 : Maintenance

43. Example: Content Strategy Roadmap
43

44. Example: Editorial Workflow
44

45. Example: Enterprise Workflow
45

46. Example: Team Structure
46

47. How do you make the
case for content
strategy?

48. 48
Pain Points
• “We’re struggling with too much content across our
digital properties, with more being produced every day.”
• “We don’t know who owns the content.”
• “Our content is inconsistent, off-brand, outdated, even
incorrect in places.”
• “We’re partway through a website redesign and
suddenly have major content problems.”
• “We’re duplicating work efforts in digital and print
content.”
• “People in our company all talk about content and
content strategy in totally different ways.”
• “There are lots of politics and opinions that make
progress very difficult.”

49. Unanswered Questions

50. 50
Opportunities
DIGITAL SERVICES IMPROVEMENT
• Reduced content operations cost
• Reduced content approval cycle time
• Decreased content redundancy
• Increased flexibility of content production and distribution
CUSTOMER VALUE IMPROVEMENT
• Higher content quality, lower error rates
• Increased customer satisfaction
• New customer interactions
• Increased direct bookings

51. How can you make
content strategy a part
of your world?

52. 52
Smart Next Steps*
Read:
Attend:
Work with:
* I am biased.
Content Strategy for the Web
The Content Strategy Toolkit
Any Confab content strategy conference
Brain Traffic

53. CONTENT STRATEGY
FOR THE WEB You!
Kristina @Halvorson
Coauthor, Content Strategy for the Web
CEO, Brain Traffic
Founder, Confab Events

54. More Ideas: Books and Articles
- How To Create a Clear Project Plan
- Auditing Big Sites Doesn’t Have To Be Taxing
- Audit Sampling: It’s a Numbers Game
- Good Kickoff Meetings, by Kevin Hoffman
- Moments of Impact: How To Design Strategic
Conversations that Accelerate Change
- “Interviewing Humans”
- Just Enough Research
- Good Strategy, Bad Strategy
- What Is Strategy and Does It Matter?