Managing the politics of content
•
21 gefällt mir•8,260 views
(updated Nov. 2014) Your content can't succeed unless your people are aligned. Here's how to manage organizational politics and change culture to let content help audiences meet their needs and help the organization meet its goals.
Empfohlen
Empfohlen
Weitere ähnliche Inhalte
Was ist angesagt?
Was ist angesagt? (19)
Andere mochten auch
Andere mochten auch (17)
Ähnlich wie Managing the politics of content
Ähnlich wie Managing the politics of content (20)
Mehr von Hilary Marsh, Content Company, Inc.
Mehr von Hilary Marsh, Content Company, Inc. (20)
Kürzlich hochgeladen
Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)
Managing the politics of content
- 1. MANAGING THE POLITICS OF CONTENT Hilary Marsh, Content Company www.hilarymarsh.com Copyright © 2014 Hilary Marsh
- 3. THE CHALLENGE • Findability • Voice • Ownership • Policies • Practices
- 4. THE CHALLENGE • Language/jargon • Lack of prioritized promotion • Content hoarding • Bad editorial processes • New content missing • Different content on different channels
- 5. WHAT POLITICS LOOK LIKE ONLINE h<p://www.tagheuer.com/int-‐en/company/ceo-‐speech
- 6. WHAT POLITICS LOOK LIKE ONLINE h<p://www.tagheuer.com/int-‐en/company/ceo-‐speech
- 7. WHAT POLITICS LOOK LIKE ONLINE h<p://www.tagheuer.com/int-‐en/company/ceo-‐speech
- 8. WHAT POLITICS LOOK LIKE ONLINE h<p://www.tagheuer.com/int-‐en/company/ceo-‐speech
- 9. “We have a carousel on our website because politics.” – Dave Olsen, www.dmolsen.com/ Confab Higher Ed 2014
- 10. WHAT IS CONTENT STRATEGY? • A strategic statement tying content to business and user needs • Who, what, when, where, why, how of publishing and managing content • The people, processes, and power to execute that statement
- 12. FOR MORE THAN JUST THE WEB • EMAIL MARKETING • PRINT • CALL CENTER SCRIPTS • INTRANET • SOCIAL MEDIA • ADVERTISING/MARKETING • MOBILE APPS DIFFERENT TEAMS, CULTURES, REPORTING STRUCTURES
- 13. CONTENT IS…. EVENT PRODUCT CLASS PROGRAM RESEARCH
- 14. CONTENT STRATEGY IS… EVENT STRATEGY PRODUCT STRATEGY CLASS STRATEGY PROGRAM STRATEGY RESEARCH STRATEGY
- 16. CONTENT IS…. EVENT PRODUCT CLASS PROGRAM RESEARCH
- 17. CONTENT IS…. MY EVENT MY PRODUCT MY CLASS MY PROGRAM MY RESEARCH
- 18. 18
- 19. “Every pixel has an owner.” – Paul Ford, former web editor at Harper’s magazine Confab 2013
- 20. “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” – Upton Sinclair
- 22. OLD THINKING Department Message Audience Department Message Audience Department Message Audience Department Message Audience
- 23. NEW THINKING OrganizaVon: Programs, offerings Audience Messages Audience Audience Audience
- 24. CONTENT STRATEGY IS CHANGE MANAGEMENT h<p://www.tagheuer.com/int-‐en/company/ceo-‐speech
- 25. POLICIES AND GUIDELINES + AUDIENCE UNDERSTANDING + BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE =
- 26. 26 YOUR VISION
- 27. WORKING TOGETHER FOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
- 29. DATA IS YOUR FRIEND
- 30. – Mike Powers, Director of Electronic CommunicaVons, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Confab 2014 30 “Pageviews aren’t the goal. Your goal goal is the goal.”
- 31. ANALYZE
- 32. ELIMINATE CONTENT “ROT” • Redundant • Outdated • Trivial
- 33. SHARED FOCUS ON THE AUDIENCE h<p://www.tagheuer.com/int-‐en/company/ceo-‐speech
- 34. SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF THE AUDIENCE h<p://www.tagheuer.com/int-‐en/company/ceo-‐speech
- 36. EMPATHY-BASED PERSONAS 36 Anthony Susan Allen Maggie
- 38. Are you too self-centered?
- 39. • Useful • Relevant • Timely
- 40. • Org-focused • Narrow interest • Not actionable
- 41. CONTENT STRATEGIST AS ORCHESTRA CONDUCTOR
- 42. “Customers don’t care about you, your products, or your services. They care about themselves – their wants and needs.” – Joe Pulizzi, Content MarkeVng InsVtute
- 43. GET YOUR GOVERNANCE IN ORDER 43
- 45. WHERE MOST ORGS START 45
- 46. WHAT OFTEN SEEMS MOST LOGICAL 46
- 47. WHAT SOME ORGS ARE TRYING 47
- 48. WHERE MOST ORGS LAND 48
- 50. THE WEB DRIVES ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE • Communication • Collaboration • Awareness of the audience • Common brand 50
- 51. 51 CHANGE MANAGEMENT ISSUES • Culture shift from "knowledge is power" to "sharing knowledge is power” • Need to establish trust....in some cases, for the first time • Subject matter experts are not writers — can't just institute decentralized publishing overnight.
- 52. PLAN
- 53. 53 START AND LEARN
- 54. TRY, TRY, TRY, TRY 54 h<ps://www.flickr.com/photos/telachhe/3342173731/
- 55. SELL YOUR VISION
- 56. SELL YOUR VISION
- 57. YOUR AGENDA 1. Show what’s broken and why 2. Show solutions and potential, and what it will take to get there 3. Talk about the pilot efforts and the lessons learned 4. Anticipate roadblocks – raise “what if” scenarios, talk them through in advance 5. Determine follow-up frequency 57
- 59. BE PATIENT 59 h<p://bit.ly/1jntVcJ
- 60. SHOW THEM HOW h<p://ashram.yogasatsang.org/yoga-‐classes
- 61. SHOW THEM HOW • MEET REGULARLY – IN PERSON, VIDEO CONFERENCE • CREATE TUTORIALS • REPORT ON SUCCESSES • INCLUDE A LESSON • RE-INTRODUCE THE PERSONAS AND THE VISION • REMIND THEM ABOUT THE BUY-IN – IT’S NOT OPTIONAL h<p://ashram.yogasatsang.org/yoga-‐classes
- 63. FOSTER COLLABORATION • FORM A CROSS-DEPARTMENTAL EDITORIAL BOARD TO REVIEW MAJOR REQUESTS TOGETHER • MOST IMPACTFUL STORIES REQUIRE INFORMATION FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES • FACILITATE THE COLLABORATIONS • SHOW THEM HOW, THEN GRADUALLY PASS ON OWNERSHIP
- 65. MOTIVATE AND RECOGNIZE • INTRANET • AT YOUR REGULAR DIGITAL GROUP MEETINGS • IN YOUR REPORT TO MANAGEMENT • INCORPORATE INTO THEIR JOB DESCRIPTION
- 66. REDEFINE SUCCESS I put the informaVon up online –now I also need to know how many people have used it???
- 67. EDUCATE AND REMIND Employ “strategic nagging:” patient but persistent repetition of a message 67 –Carrie Hane Dennison, @carriehd
- 68. EDUCATE AND REMIND 68
- 69. OPERATIONALIZE AND SOCIALIZE 69
- 70. OFFER OPTIONS FOR CREATIVITY h<p://oxendo.com/ 70
- 71. BE THERE FOR YOUR COLLEAGUES 71
- 72. BUILD YOUR ARMY
- 73. 73 EVENTUALLY…. Look, if it were up to me, I would leave that content on the site, but the decision is out of my hands h<p://www.sfgate.com/performance/arVcle/Review-‐Gold-‐examines-‐Jewish-‐mother-‐stereotype-‐3291210.php
- 74. SOLID RATIONALES AND ALTERNATIVES 74
- 75. REPORT ON PROGRESS h<p://www.enterprisenews.com/arVcle/20140614/SPORTS/140617308 75
- 76. WORKING TOGETHER FOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
- 77. ABOUT ME DOING CONTENT STRATEGY SINCE BEFORE CONTENT STRATEGY WAS COOL Content strategy doer, manager, mentor, teacher since 1999 …otherwise, I’m kniing, making granola, or playing guitar
- 78. SELECT CLIENTS
- 79. THANK YOU Hilary Marsh hilary@hilarymarsh.com @hilarymarsh www.slideshare.net/hilarymarsh
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Imagine having this conversation with your CEO: Over the past few years, digital has become the primary channel we use to communicate with our audiences, reach new customers, and engage the customers we already have. I came here to talk with you today because we could be using our digital channels so much more effectively than we are now. We are missing opportunities to invite our customers to learn about and buy our products and the programs and services we offer. We want to have long-term relationships with loyal customers, but we are not creating or publishing information about our products and services in a way that will engender that. This is not a problem that we can fix with better technology or more marketing. It’s really about how we all work. I have a solution and a vision for the website, and I’d like to get your approval to do what it takes to get our organization there. That is the conversation you need to have in order to get the buy-in you’ll need to not only overcome but start to eliminate the politics and silos that exist now.
- Another story: I had a call on Monday from someone at a software company about their intranet. His title was “HR online experience.” He wants to create a repository that can deliver content to the right user on the channel of their choice – for HR information only. He explained that the content owners in his division don’t like sharepoint and rarely take information down once it’s published. Communications created a small set of templates, and content owners don’t feel that they allow enough innovation. Also, Communications gets enthusiastic about making improvements, but they never really do anything. So they want to create their own portal for employees. Is this a great idea, or a scary one? Why? A department has “gone rogue” and created their own website A department has broken your template so they can design pages the way they want
- Sample challenges that politics create – some are content strategy, but all affect content’s ability to do its job: No one can find anything on my website, and they’re starting to complain to the CEO Practically everyone at my organization can – and does – publish information to the website, and to social media, and you’d almost never know it was from the same organization No one is in charge of the home page – or worse, everyone is in charge of the home page We can’t add comment functionality to our content because we won’t know how to handle the comments Some of our best content is presented as PDFs, with file names like “4002.pdf” We can’t pull in related links on content automatically because our content isn’t tagged or labeled Our website is organized based on our org structure rather than how our audience thinks about us or our content Our audience can’t get the information they want on their mobile device Our content isn’t appearing on Google like we think it should “We should be on YouTube”
- These are not about content – they’re about process ownership collaboration mutual understanding (or lack thereof) Audience confusion: conflicting facts due to duplicate content. Association conference, where Govt Affairs created its own list of events, but not kept in synch Higher customer service costs – help content in a different system using unclear terms (“candidate database”) Missed cross-selling – Drew Davis, content as your product Breadth & depth – when you do have that, you get to create things like the NAR member value calculator
- Why do they do this? The web is cool Shiny object syndrome They’re “special” and “different”
- These layers have led to a common, although usually unspoken, motto at our organizations. This is the title of a great little book about associations.
- We analyze, as I just finished doing with a 135,000-line content audit for a large education client
- We plan. This is an example editorial calendar from a graduate content strategy course I finished teaching last month.
- We set guidelines. Here’s an example voice and tone document from another student in my course.
- In 2005, I started working at NAR. I worked for Realtor.org, the member website – our audience was real estate agents and brokers. The site had many of the challenges I listed before, and more. Our primary challenge was that the publishing model was completely decentralized, and each of the organization’s 23 departments considered themselves practically independent entities. I spent my first several months creating our content strategy. We answered big questions: What should we do about PDFs? Who should be able to add a blog to our website, and why or why not? Should we have online polls? What does it mean to be 508 compliant with our content? If you’ve ever created a content strategy, you know that its primary job is to answer the questions that are in the air now, and to try and anticipate the next set of questions that will be coming down the pike, and answer those too. Anyway, once the content strategy was done, we realized we needed to create other strategies too. We spent a ton of time thinking about our overall strategy, design and technology too. At the end of this effort, we printed them up and put them in large binders. We set up appointments with each departments, where we walked through the strategy documents and pointed out the important things they needed to know. What happened next? I’m sure that everyone we talked to listened carefully at the meetings, but then put the binder on a shelf, where it stayed from then on. And who do you think the real audience for the document was? Yes, the audience was us. Over the next year or so, my team and I continued to update the document as we had time. Things happened, including social media. And we hired new people with new ideas, so that changed things too. One of the new people, who now has the job that I had, recommended that we transform the strategy guidelines from printed documents to a wiki that anyone in the organization could get to, and that has helped a lot. The wiki is a living, breathing document – easier to keep up to date. That makes it easier to enforce the rules and policies that are covered in the content strategy.
- At Realtor.org, we went through a process to create empathy personas. We enlisted the help of staff members to brainstorm about their challenges, fears, and motivations. These staff members had worked for NAR for many years and represented many programs and services. They’d been exposed to lots of different members, both the volunteer leaders who serve on the committees, and the general membership at large – which, as we all know, are completely different populations. This was my secret way of overcoming the objections to the fact that the web team was in charge of the website and of getting buy-in from my peers there. Rather than handing them a binder full of rules, we were all doing the work together.
- The consultant we worked with, Esteban Gonzalez, has a company called Brand Therapy that specializes in creating these kinds of personas. Esteban led us through the whole process. He had everyone check their individual experience at the door, which was so important We had to agree on the four most important audiences that the organization needed to serve online. The very last step of all the brainstorming sessions was to give each of our personas a name and a face. This was such an effective way to create a shared understanding of our audiences.
- When we were ready to reveal them to the larger community of staff members who published information on the site, we created life-size cutouts of them and actually had people introduce them. I kept those cutouts right outside my office, where they were always in view for me and my team, as well as anyone who came to talk with us.
- You need to balance your qualitative understanding of your audience with qualitative data too. Many of us content strategy folks are wary of the numbers side of things, but it’s so important to learn how to get valuable information out of your analytics. Analytics are a great way to make your case to people at all levels in the organization. For example, on the university system project I’m working on now, we found that 94% of their content had 0 views in the past year. There’s no refuting that, when subject matter experts inside the organization want to keep their content because they think it’s important. And removing that unused content lets us really rethink how to present their information so it’s more compelling to users. Data also includes surveys, which I do in almost every project.
- Now it’s time to test out the waters with your content strategy. You’ll probably want to do this in a less-than-official way, as a pilot project, possibly under everyone’s radar if you have the kind of culture that may be reluctant to change. And you may want to do more than one pilot. The object here is to have a good story to tell when you finally present the whole package to management.
- Find out who your content strategy champions are, and approach them with your ideas. They’re the ones who’ve been asking to try new things, who have wanted to be the organization’s early adopters. Together, you can try out your answers to the key questions: What happens if we….? It may not always work, and that’s okay.
- 36
- Depending on the size and complexity of your organization, you may have to take this on in layers. At NAR, this would have meant meeting with my boss, who was VP of communications, and then she might have had to run it by her boss, who was the senior VP. But ultimately, you will want and need to meet with the chief honcho in your organization. You need to be in that meeting and not just create the talking points that others share. You’ll want to do whatever it takes to make your superiors comfortable about having you there, such as rehearsing the meeting in advance.
- Extensive subject-matter expertise is as important as ever. You’ll have to win their trust so they see it as an “and” and not an “or” “Bite, snack and meal” --
- You’ll need to be patient. This is a Tibetan monk creating a sand mandala. He’s taking great care to get every detail right. The old way didn’t emerge overnight, and neither will new ways. But with patience, you will lead the way to creating much better digital experiences for your audiences
- California university system, the information audiences search for and visit most, and that the organization wants to share, are about the impact that the system has on the state. Several departments provide the data that helps tell that story, but now it’s scattered, and going forward, they want to pull the people together. The web team will serve as internal consultants to
- Sell the vision – get executive buy-in, and ask them to share with top management. It then becomes the organization’s shared vision Respect the depth (have empathy for the experts) – Content strategists need to be internal champions. Internal curation, tip of the iceberg. Foster collaboration – editorial calendar, leverage the executive buy-in, use a carrot and not a stick to achieve “our” vision Motivate and recognize – formal and informal Redefine success
- Invite yourself to meetings Ask questions Talk to people you’ve never talked to before Think about where they are coming from
- Newsletters Quarterly in-person meetings Open Q&A User groups Success stories Lessons learned Goals set and adjusted Test results
- Can your systems support you? Expiration dates in the CMS Standards validation in governance software Set up office hours Offer to review Test and measure on demand
- Can your systems support you? Expiration dates in the CMS Standards validation in governance software Set up office hours Offer to review Test and measure on demand
- When we were ready to reveal them to the larger community of staff members who published information on the site, we created life-size cutouts of them and actually had people introduce them. I kept those cutouts right outside my office, where they were always in view for me and my team, as well as anyone who came to talk with us.
- Have follow-up conversations Answer questions Understand habits and objections Help them educate others – committees, volunteers, etc.
- Content evangelists realize that the program/product/service they produce has – or IS – content And, they help educate their peers about that
- Point to the policy Present alternatives Escalate if absolutely necessary Get involved earlier Ask the right people the right questions – legal example
- Point to the policy Present alternatives Support Escalate if absolutely necessary Get involved earlier
- Not you alone, but the people who you helped succeed