In this opening keynote session at Content Strategy Applied EU, March 1, 2012, Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler, explored The Content Strategy Trap and how failing to avoid it often leads well-intentioned strategists down the wrong path. Attendees will learn how avoiding the trap led one retailer (www.ifixit.com) to become a publisher of online repair manuals designed to teach "do-it-yourselfers" how to fix things, while selling them the goods they need to do the job. Sales are driven completely by visually engaging, standardized instructional content delivered to the web, to smartphones and to mobile devices. Return on investment is no longer a wild guess. It's directly tied to individual pieces of content. By thinking outside The Content Strategy Trap, the retailer has become the leader in their market. Their strategy is so successful that other retailers of products that require assembly, sometimes break, or need occasional maintenance are clamoring to replicate it.

1. Avoiding
The Content Strategy Trap
by Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler #CSA12 @ScottAbel
Content Strategy Applied EU ~ March 1, 2012 ~ London

2. Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler
web: www.contentwrangler.com twitter: @contentwrangler

3. www.thecontentwrangler.com
the online resource for folks who view content as a business asset

4. www.thedynamicpublisher.com
site dedicated to educating people about dynamic delivery of content to customers

5. Content strategists manage
the cost of value @ScottAbel
#CSA12

6. Everything must track back to value

7. Words alone aren’t enough. Content
strategists use mathematics to make
the business case for changes that
create value @ScottAbel #CSA12

8. Two sides to the content strategy
return on investment coin
savings from optimization; revenue from sales

9. To become indispensable, content
strategists must help organizations
to reduce waste AND earn revenue
from sales @ScottAbel #CSA12

10. Understanding
The Content Silo Trap
‘Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy” (2012)
by Ann Rockley and Charles Cooper

11. how do I dry out a wet iPhone?
Publishing ‘How To’ Manuals That Sell Products:
The iFixit.com Story
how do I change the fuel filter how do fix a broken iPad screen?
on a 2009 Honda Element?
how do replace an Xbox power supply?
by Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler

12. many don’t recognize it
Today, everyone is a publisher!
very few organizations do it well

13. New formats, standards, devices
but there are provide myriad
obstacles to overcome opportunities for profit

14. 100% preventable, based on
outdated business practices
Problem 1: Organizations are siloed
prevents them from adopting
a unified publishing strategy

15. Problem 2: WHNDITWH
or it’s cousin, WHADITWH

16. Problem 3: Few role models
prevents organizations from
5 lucky registrants will receive a free copy of “Managing Enterprise Content:
A Unified Content Strategy” [Second Edition] by Ann Rockley &of others
mimicking successes Charles Cooper

17. they’ve been producing multi-
channel content for decades
There is a roadmap available
well-documented, road-tested methods, best practices,
standards exist -- just look at technical publishing!

18. iFixit.com Case Study
and that’s exactly what the folks at iFixit.com did,
but not without learning a few lessons along the way

19. millions of potential
customers in the US alone
iFixit.com: Challenge/Opportunity
to become the largest third-party
seller of Apple replacement parts

20. become a proper distributor
iFixit.com Round One: First Step
identify manufacturers to provide products

21. put it on the web
and sell world wide
iFixit.com Round One: Second Step
set up an online catalog of replacement parts

22. lather, rinse, repeat...
iFixit.com Round One: Third Step
make sales, earn tremendous profit

23. iFixit.com Round One: Results
not really “very poor” but certainly not
the excellent results they had hoped for

24. iFixit.com: First Lesson Learned
build it and they will come (and buy)
isn’t an eCommerce strategy

25. instructions provided by manufacturers
are of questionable quality
iFixit.com: Second Lesson Learned

26. too much creativity and
freedom is a bad thing
iFixit.com: Third Lesson Learned
consistent, high quality content requires
a standardized, repeatable structure

27. when teaching how to repair, maintain or
build mechanical things, big images
accompanied by a little text often
communicates better than many words
accompanied by a few pictures
iFixit.com: Fourth Lesson Learned
images help consumers believe they
can “fit it” without messing things up

28. old approaches no longer valid
iFixit.com: Fourth Lesson Learned
Fifth Lesson Learned
pdf was not the answer

29. recognize role as publisher
adopt mobile-first strategy
iFixit.com Round Two: First Steps
re-imagine the service repair manual as a
high quality, media-rich, socially-enabled,
mobile-device-friendly, eCommerce platform

30. create multi-channel, device-
and platform-agnostic content
iFixit.com Round Two: Second Steps
recognize the need for xml authoring
environment that supports the separation of
content from its formatting information

31. enlist the help of publishers that “get it”
iFixit.com Round Two: Third Step
create an easy-to-use standard designed to support the
needs of readers and make content available on mobile
devices of all types, including ones not yet envisioned

32. iFixit.com Round Two: Fourth Step
build a community-based software platform
allow both writers and community
members to create repair manuals

33. iFixit.com Round Two: Fifth Step
leverage keyword-rich content to drive traffic and
generate sales of repair tools and replacement parts

34. iFixit.com Results: Google Juice
users often discover iFixit.com via search

35. iFixit.com: Service Manuals
relevant keywords + rich media + simple instructions + social sharing = sales

36. iFixit.com: Paradigm shift
dominant image plus minimal text

37. iFixit.com: Multiple outputs
provide various viewing options

38. iFixit.com: Multiple outputs
if you require a pdf, you can have one

39. iFixit.com: Multiple outputs
embed code provided for social & blogs

42. iFixit.com: Multiple outputs
content is marked up in oManual xml

43. iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android
content is ‘future-proofed’
iFixit.com: Multiple devices
content is dynamic published to mobile devices; updated automatically

44. iFixit.com: Questions/Answers
community / collaboration / co-authoring

45. iFixit.com: Patrol
users edit and monitor content

46. iFixit.com: Badges
awards, points, deputizing

47. iFixit.com: Users
user community, ratings

48. iFixit.com: Teams
forming groups, consulting firms, niche communities

49. iFixit.com: Contribute
users encouraged to contribute / form-based entry

50. iFixit.com: Contribute
behind the form: oManual xml standard

51. iFixit.com: eCommerce
they sell tools and parts to pay for it!

52. iFixit.com: Next steps
professional / crowd-sourced translation

53. iFixit.com: Next steps
create a movement for change

55. Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler
web: www.contentwrangler.com twitter: @contentwrangler