In the decade since I officially became a Content Strategist, I’ve learned many important principles of working with content. Some of them have influenced the kind of work I do, and some of them have helped me better understand how the field is developing and what directions it needs to grow in for this practice to become more effective with digital content.
In this presentation I’ll summarise my top ten learnings and describe how these principles have been critical to the work I’ve done these past 10 years. I’ll also discuss how people can dig deeper into the principles that they find most useful and relevant to their work.
15. [Content] strategy, the intuitive entry point
for changing hearts and minds, is a “big,
big world” that…currently covers perhaps
too many sins for its own good. It’s time
for a conversation about what sits
under the “everything” umbrella.
- Jessica Collier, Our Narratives, Ourselves (2016)
16. 16CONTENT IS THE ELEPHANT IN EVERY ROOM
No one person can do all of these things, but if everyone only
focuses on their own bit, no one thinks about the big picture.
Illustration from “The Discipline of Content Strategy,” by Kristina Halvorson (2008).
17. 17
Illustration from “Tinker, Tailor Content Strategist,” by me (2012).
For a content strategy to succeed, someone
has to:
• Be aware of how all the aspects of content
are intertwined
• Bring them together into a cohesive plan
• Advocate for the content plan at all stages
of a project, across all members of the
project team
TAMING THE BIG (CONTENT) PICTURE
30. 30
The tools, processes & resources we need to successfully create and
distribute content:
• Easy-to-use publishing tools
• A repeatable content workflow
• Clearly defined goals and constraints
• Governance for escalating decisions
• An intuitive and flexible process
A CONTENT FRAMEWORK
Photo by Jeff Eaton
46. 46
Involve designers and developers. Ideally, content producers as well.
CONTENT MODELLING PROCESS
These activities enables us to:
• Verify that the design makes
sense for real content
• Advise on best setup of the
CMS to support the design
• Advise on best setup of the
CMS to support good
authoring experience and
content production processes
Photo by Stephen Ritchie
49. 49
Title: Ta-dah!
Description: That’s a serious jello mold!
Tags: jello, layers, delicious
Appears in: Dinner (set)
Created by: Dan DeLuca
Taken on: February 14, 2010
Taken with: Fujifilm FinePix F70EXR
Usage Rights: CC-BY Some rights reserved
Source URL:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dandeluca/4360567363
CONTENT STRUCTURE
Photo by Dan DeLuca `
50. 50
Title: Ta-dah!
Description: That’s a serious jello mold!
Tags: jello, layers, delicious
Appears in: Dinner (set)
Created by: Dan DeLuca
Taken on: February 14, 2010
Taken with: Fujifilm FinePix F70EXR
Usage Rights: CC-BY Some rights reserved
Source URL:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dandeluca/4360567363
METADATA
• Gives the content context and meaning and helps platforms
and systems understand how to use it
• Some is authored, some is machine generated
Photo by Dan DeLuca `
54. 54
Increasingly important as content ecosystems incorporate more
machine intelligence, and content moves through autonomously.
METADATA STRATEGY
Photo by Cade Roster
56. Content Strategy is concerned with
content Systems, not just content.
Learning 3, revisited (briefly)
57. 57FRONT END AND BACK END
Source “Why You Need Two Types of Content Strategist”, by Ann Rockley
58. 58
Front End
Supports the design and
creation of the content itself.
Content Design
Editorial Strategy
Content & Channel
Planning
Content Creation
Back End
Supports the design and
creation of the systems that
manage and deploy content.
Content Model
Metadata
Content Delivery
TWO DISTINCT FOCUSES
Photos by Ewald Straßmann: outside and inside
69. 69PRACTITIONERS OF CONTENT STRATEGY
Taxonomist UX Writer
Search Content
Strategist
Content
Designer
Tech Writer
Editorial
Strategist
Social Media
Strategist
Content
Marketer
Product
Content
Strategist
Content
Engineer
Information
Scientist
Content
Planner
Strategist
Information
Architect
Data
Scientist
CMS
Developer
Copywriter Designer
Photosource:Brikimedia.com
70. 70
• Ex-editors focus on editorial
strategy and messaging.
• Ex-designers focus on content
and product design.
• Ex-librarians focus on info
architecture and metadata.
• Ex-developers focus on content
structure and publishing.
• Ex-marketers focus on content
marketing and social.
OUR BACKGROUNDS INFLUENCE OUR FOCUS
Illustration by Richard Ingram
71. 71THAT’S OK!
Photo by Aimee Ray
We need lots of content specialists, not lots of content
unicorns.
72. 72
• A body of techniques for working with content
• Content decisions are tied to strategic initiatives and measurable
goals
• Content decisions are made using user-centered design principles
• Content strategy is interdisciplinary
PROPOSAL: THE CONTENT STRATEGY METHOD
Photo by Jeff Eaton
73. 73
We tend to call all of these people “Content Strategist”
ISSUE 1: IDENTITY CRISIS
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Content
Strategist
Photosource:Brikimedia.com
74. 74
There should still be a ringleader, someone who articulates the goals
and ensures that all content work is heading in the right direction.
ISSUE 2: WHO TAMES THE BEAST?
75. 75
It’s not helpful when we see what
others are doing and say “That’s
not content strategy, what I do is
content strategy.”
ISSUE 3: WE NEED TO LET GO OF JUDGEMENT
Photo by julochka
80. 80
We’re different from Editors, Information Architects,
Copywriters, Content Marketers, etc.
WE’RE DESPERATELY TRYING TO INDIVIDUATE
81. 81IT’S AN AWKWARD TIME, BUT THERE’S GREAT POTENTIAL
The need for people who
can help make sense of
it all is only going to
grow.
Everything is content and
the digital landscape is
still largely uncharted
territory.
82. 82SO, LET’S GO DO SOME CONTENT STRATEGY!
Source: Getty Images, via The Telegraph
83. 83
0. Less is More
1. Everything is Content
2. Content is Communication
3. Content Strategy is concerned with content
Systems, not just content.
4. Author Experience is critical to Content Strategy
5. Intelligent Content needs to be Well-Structured
6. Intelligent Content needs to be Well-Described
7. Content Strategy isn’t a practice, it’s a
Methodology
8. Content Strategy is in its Adolescence
SUMMARY OF LEARNINGS
Photo by Jeff Eaton
I hadn’t heard of Content Strategy before I applied for that job, but as is probably true for many people, I had already been doing similar work for several years. I just didn’t know that that’s what it was called.
Simplify complex ideas,. If you want to communicate effectively, and hold people’s attention, you have to get to the point quickly.
The first thing I learned about content is that, in digital, everything is content.
The second most quoted thing I’ve ever said. Though, not always because people agree with it.
Learned this at my previous job. I wasn’t a CS. I was doing presentation layer development:
Creating the templates, Building dynamic content features, Enhancing the CMS.
Very familiar with: every type of content, format, topic, data relationships.
Making pathways to drive the readers to more interesting content.
Remind our clients that we don’t just mean text. Content in other formats (images, video, audio), content in other channels (email), content that they don’t own (social discussions), and even content they can’t see (metadata).
But what I really meant at the time was that, in physical media, the content and the medium, or container, are made up of different things.
Whereas, with digital content, the content and the medium, or non-content, are actually made up of the same stuff.
Quote from 1967
This means that, in theory, we can manage and manipulate the non-content the same way we manage the content, all the things you don’t see, like metadata, design elements, and even the code that renders the experience.
Diagram from: http://www.topseo.ie/cms-website-design-ireland/
Most people aren’t prepared to be responsible for all of those factors. It’s not fair to ask an editor to be a designer or a programmer – although, increasingly people are taking on hybrid roles as creative developers, or content designers, or UX prototypers.
I definitely didn’t mean that one person should be fully responsible for all aspects of content. But if everyone just focuses on their little corner of responsibility around content, no one is thinking about the big picture.
If we only think about the words, or the publishing system, or the distribution channels, we’re only dealing with part of the picture. As Content Strategists, we have to tame the big picture.
This may seem somewhat obvious, but it highlights something unique about digital publishing.
Unlike traditional publishing or broadcast media, where the communication is mainly going in one direction
Which brings me to my third learning. The reason we need to think about all these aspects of content is that we’re not just designing content, we’re designing systems of content.
This brings me to the thing I’m most quoted for saying.
Or, if you want to see it expressed using symbols…
Do you do these in Australia? This kind of word problem is a big part of our high school standardized tests in the US.
This is a useful analogy to people in web design, but maybe not to others, so let’s break it down a little.
When I started talking and writing about this kind of work, I noted a lot of questions about how it was different from being an editor.
An editor takes the content every day and works with it - shapes it…
preps it, and directs it out into the world.
She may also be planning ahead for new content, and new type of content for the days and weeks ahead, but she’s very focused on specifics.
This that lets content creators focus on being creative and making great content, rather than struggling with ambiguous decisions and cumbersome production tasks.
Which is how I came to my fourth learning. In fact, both your content strategy and your experience will become degraded over time if you don’t deeply consider the needs of your authors.
The whole team loves it. BUT for the vision to come to life & be sustained over time…
If they have this level of insight, not just training and guidelines (although, those don’t hurt), they will be able to make decisions when they encounter an unexpected content need wasn’t specifically accounted for in the design (and they will).
You may not always notice the effects on the surface of the content, because the first thing to get neglected will be the aspects of your content that aren’t immediately visible.
The effects of these shortcuts become more evident as our digital world becomes more connected and we expect content to move seamlessly through dynamic ecosystems.
Because, of course…
This is the thing that I’ve spoken most about in my career.
*skill – an app for Amazon Echo
It’s not JUST about identifying types and fields. It’s also an opportunity to understand the behavior and purpose of every item of content in your site or product.
Means that information has been added to the content that helps systems better understand what it is, what it’s about, and how it can be used.
This includes metadata on the subjects, people, places, events, and products that it’s about. But also answers questions like…
Advanced functionality: Facilitates a wide range of rich interactions with data-driven sites
Let’s go back to that third learning again, because I’ve been talking a lot about back-end content systems, but of course some content strategists are doing more front-facing work. It still needs to be concerned with systems.
This dichotomy has been becoming more explicit. This article by Ann Rockley touched on topics that many of us were thinking, especially those working in the back end realm, since a much larger population thinks of the front end when they think of content strategy.
So, You may find yourself doing content planning, setting up editorial calendars, evaluating the reach and impact, and even pitching and producing specific content ideas.
What makes this content strategy, what distinguishes it from traditional editorial & creative work, is an emphasis on tying these content decisions to bigger strategic initiatives and measurable goals.
Vision statement – based on the specific needs of the client, their challenges and opportunities
Content principles – many of them will seem like “best practices” but they should be the ones that will have the most impact on the opportunities that are a high priority for the client or stakeholders
People have been comparing it to the field of “medicine” but I’d go even further and say it’s more like “the scientific method”. In the same way that it’s not very informative to say “I’m a scientist” just because you use the scientific method in your work.
People are finding it increasingly useful to define specializations that make it clearer what aspects of content strategy they focus on. Then there are all the people who don’t identify themselves as some kind of content strategist, but could and should use some of the principles and activities of CS in their work
We already have people from all different disciplines coming into content strategy and they tend to focus on the aspects that align to their experience.
So rather than trying to come up with some sort of unilateral definition of content strategy, and rather than all of us trying to be some kind of T-shaped unicorns, maybe we should identify the common aspects of the CS methodology and then build individual practices around the various needs that arise.
But there are two problems.
Every person whose work impacts or is dependent on the content, regardless of their title or department, should be involved in making sure their work supports the content goals.
Which brings me to my final learning. Or, it’s a theory really.
There’s great potential for growth, intelligence, and mastery, and revolution.
I have great confidence in us.