A quick overview of content strategy—key elements, common types, common deliverables and what to do when you don't have a content specialist on your team. Includes tips and tricks for a successful UX career based on 15+ years in the game, as well as valuable content strategy resources for the UX designer.

1. Melinda Belcher, Digital Experience
7/27/2017
What is content strategy and how does it impact your work?
Content Strategy for
UX Designers

2. ©2017Mastercard.ProprietaryandConfidential.
Get excited! We’re going to cover:
• Elements of content strategy
• Common content strategy deliverables
• A quick content exercise
• My journey in content strategy
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What is content strategy?
Content strategy is the planning of
effective content creation, publication
and distribution within any defined
content ecosystem. Planning
content
Creating
content
Publishing
content
Distributing
content
Organizing
content
Governing
content
Content
strategy
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What’s a content ecosystem?
Promotional video
Corporate websites
Transactional copy
Menus
Error screens Emails
Articles
Documentation
Product pages
Images
Metadata
Emojis
TV ads
Banner ads
Native advertising
Sponsored content
Hold music
Executive presentations
Campaign pages
Blogs
Sonic branding
Animations
Twitter feed
Search
results
Monthly
statements
App experience
Campaign pages
PR
CTAs
A content ecosystem is a
collection of branded
communications that serve to
inform and entertain, but also
persuade and ultimately drive the
behaviors that align with business
outcomes.
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Technical
requirements
Business goals
User behavior,
wants and
needs
Brand
positioning
Content strategy unites
internal groups around one
central question:
• How can we make sure
we are connecting the
right people to the right
information at the right
time in order to drive
preference for our brand?
Why is content strategy important?
Content
strategy
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Elements of content strategy
Planning
content
Creating
content
Publishing
content
Distributing
content
Organizing
content
Governing
content
Content
strategy
Content
strategy
Content mapping
• What content do we need to create?
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Elements of content strategy
Planning
content
Creating
content
Publishing
content
Distributing
content
Organizing
content
Governing
content
Content
strategy
Content
strategy
Content mapping
• What content do we need to create?
Key messages
• What information do we need to convey?
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Elements of content strategy
Planning
content
Creating
content
Publishing
content
Distributing
content
Organizing
content
Governing
content
Content
strategy
Content mapping
• What content do we need to create?
Key messages
• What information do we need to convey?
Tone
• What does our content sound like?
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Elements of content strategy
Planning
content
Creating
content
Publishing
content
Distributing
content
Organizing
content
Governing
content
Content
strategy
Content mapping
• What content do we need to create?
Key messages
• What information do we need to convey?
Tone
• What does our content sound like?
Workflows
• How will we create, approve and publish this
content?
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Elements of content strategy
Planning
content
Creating
content
Publishing
content
Distributing
content
Organizing
content
Governing
content
Content
strategy
Content mapping
• What content do we need to create?
Key messages
• What information do we need to convey?
Tone
• What does our content sound like?
Workflows
• How will we create, approve and publish this
content?
Discoverability
• How will we make it easy for people to find and
interact with our content?
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Content mapping
• What content do we need to create?
Key messages
• What information do we need to convey?
Tone
• What does our content sound like?
Workflows
• How will we create, approve and publish this
content?
Discoverability
• How will we make it easy for people to find
and interact with our content?
Standards
• How will we maintain our content quality
going forward?
Elements of content strategy
Planning
content
Creating
content
Publishing
content
Distributing
content
Organizing
content
Governing
content
Content
strategy
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FRONT END
Personas
Customer journeys
Content audits
Content mapping
Editorial strategy
Content migration plans
BACK END
Content modeling
CMS configuration
SEO optimization
Taxonomy & tagging
Dynamic delivery
A/B testing
Workflows
Governance
Planning
content
Creating
content
Publishing
content
Distributing
content
Organizing
content
Governing
content
Types of content strategy
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FRONT END
Personas
Customer journeys
Content audits
Content mapping
Editorial strategy
Content migration plans
Workflows
Governance
Planning
content
Creating
content
Publishing
content
Distributing
content
Front end content strategy
A front-end content strategist asks:
• Who’s our target audience?
• Why are we creating content for these
people?
• How well do we meet those content needs
today?
• How can we better meet those needs
tomorrow, while also serving the needs of
the business?
• How can we better coordinate the efforts
of our content creators?
• How can we differentiate our content from
that of our competitors?
• How can our content help us reach new
audiences?
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BACK END
Content modeling
CMS configuration
SEO optimization
Taxonomy & tagging
Dynamic delivery
A/B testing
Workflows
Governance
Publishing
content
Distributing
content
Organizing
content
Back end content strategy
A back-end content strategist asks:
• How can we organize content so that our
authors can easily store and retrieve it, and
prepare it for automated selection and
delivery in relevant channels?
• How do we structure the content so that
modules are consistent and can be quickly &
easily reconfigured to meet user needs?
• How do we make sure we aren’t creating and
recreating content over and over again for
each channel?
• How do we scale our processes so we can do
more with the same resources?
• How do we take advantage of the
wealth of content we have and surface
it for customers in a way that is fresh
and valuable?
• How do we future-proof our content to
take advantage of the next big thing?
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Where does content strategy come in?
Design Develop TestDefine Release
Plan Analyze Create Deploy
Unfortunately, content strategy is often limited to these two phases of a project
End-to-end project lifecycle content strategy phases
For optimal performance, content strategy should be a
persistent element from project planning through testing and
deployment.
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Where does content strategy come in?
Design Develop TestDefine Release
Plan Analyze Create Deploy
Unfortunately, content strategy is often limited to these two phases of a project
End-to-end project lifecycle content strategy phases
• Content
inventory
• Content audit
• Stakeholder
interviews
• Competitive
analysis
• Creative/UX
brief
• Information
architecture
• Content map
• Content matrix
• CMS review
• Editorial calendar
• Publishing & approval
workflows
• Collaborative
wireframing
• UX templates
• Taxonomy
• CMS configuration
• Content QA
• Tagging/SEO review
• Content/governance model
• Distribution strategy
• Social strategy
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Plan/Analyze: Some common deliverables
Content inventory
Content matrix
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Plan/Analyze: Sample content map
Browsing Evaluating Choosing
User has identified a
problem or opportunity.
• Editorial content
• Analyst content
• Research reports
• Whitepapers
• Ebooks
User is investigating possible
solutions.
• Expert guides
• Webcast
• Podcast
• Video
• Online forum
• Product pages
User is deciding on the solution
they will pursue.
• Live demonstration
• Trial download
• Product comparison
• Product documentation
• Vendor comparison
• Case studies
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Plan/Analyze: Some common deliverables
Content inventory Content audit Content matrix Content map
Definition A content inventory is a
complete listing of all
content on your
site/app, with
associated meta
information and metrics.
An evaluation of the
content and content
recommendations, often
based on an inventory.
A document that captures
each piece of content
present and planned,
including assets and
governance information.
Often an extension of an
existing inventory.
A visual technique to help
organize and understand
content goals, and the
types of content needed to
meet those goals.
Qualitative
Quantitativ
e
Existing
content
Planned
content
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“I am my own content strategist!”
• Design with the existing content you have
At least you’ll be working with real (though outdated)
content
• Design with competitor content
This will help you see the different scenarios they’re
designing for and understand the similar content needs
of your user
• Use draft content—even write your own!
It’s not about being perfect, it’s about validating your
hunches re: content placement, length and type
Real content of any kind is better than lorem ipsum. Three
ways to work with actual content when you don’t have a
dedicated content specialist on your team.
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A quick content exercise
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Simplify, simplify, simplify
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What’s wrong with this picture?
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Less is more, right?
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Help the user “get to yes”
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No, YOU’RE not acceptable
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Error messages are content, too
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• You work for a digital design agency
• They want you to fix this awful information
request form, but you don’t have a content
strategist or a copywriter
• Decide which information is key for this
stage and how to collect the rest
 Create a content map
 Redesign the form
o Include a newsletter opt-in
o Consider error states
Bonus points:
Give the agency a great brand
o Name
o Tone of voice
Get your content on: ~20 minutes
Collecting Evaluating Choosing
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My journey from digital copywriter to digital content manager
My first website:
Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum
My first content management role:
Girl Scouts USA’s Go Girls Only
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How I discovered my passion for B2B & Finance
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Learn how to
walk people
patiently
through your
ideas and how
to give/take
constructive
feedback.
Some key takeaways
Your reputation
& connections
are your
greatest
assets, so be
someone
people want to
work with.
Get the “content
person” involved
sooner rather
than later, if you
have one.
You are only
as good as
your team, so
try to help
others succeed
when you can.
Asking the right
questions is a
valuable skill.
Never be afraid
to admit when
you don’t know
something.
Understand
that your job
will almost
always have
an education
component.
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Books
Erin Kissane's The Elements of Content Strategy
Kristina Halvorsson’s Content Strategy for the Web
Andrew Maier's Complete Beginner's Guide to Content Strategy
Online Resources
Content Strategy: A Project Guide (GatherContent)
Content Strategy for UX Designers (GatherContent)
Content Strategy Alliance: Tools and Templates
Complete Beginner’s Guide to Content Strategy (UX Booth)
Content strategy resources
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Q&A
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@melindarox
www.linkedin.com/melindarox
https://www.slideshare.net/melindarox
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