4. Content Strategy:
1. The planning, development, and
management of content â written or
in other media
2. What content youâre using, where it
goes and when, who uses and
manages it, and why it matters
4
5. If your projects succeed,
yourâe probably doing
Content Strategy.
5
6. 1. Ignoring it
2. Doing it
3. Doing it deliberately
4. Getting paid to do it
6
7. ⣠2006: Two web nerds with a dream
⣠Built Drupal sites, then planned them
⣠Training, workshops, consulting
⣠âŠThen building bigger sites.
⣠2014: Weâre ~50 strong
⣠Devs, designers, strategists,âš
project managersâŠ
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10. Practice:
1. The application or use of an idea, or
method, as opposed to theories
2. Repeated exercise of an activity or
skill to acquire or maintain
proïŹciency
10
12. Five things our team
needs to understand:
⣠The game plan
⣠The inventory
⣠The content model
⣠The presentation model
⣠The workïŹow
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13. Gameplan
The problem the project is trying to solve, the
strategy we think will solve it, the tactics we plan
to use, and the way weâll measure the results.
13
14. Goal Increase the purchase rate on
expensive products.
!
Strategy Get shoppers to imagine how the
products will ïŹt into their lives.
!
Tactics Take product action shots around the
ofïŹce, publish several each week.
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15. Inventory
A list of content resources the client currently
has, whether theyâre online, ofïŹine, tucked on a
shared drive, or trapped old Word Docs.
!
âŠAnd what theyâll need to execute the plan.
15
16. Oh, the spreadsheets
youâll meetâŠ
⣠Content inventories and audits
⣠Current and future publishing channels
⣠Content gap analysis
⣠Many, many, many spreadsheetsâš
âŠAnd some spreadsheets
16
17. Content model
The types of content theyâll need, what
properties they have, how they relate to each
other, and what they should accomplish.
17
20. ⣠Navigation systems
⣠âIntent Mapsâ of the site
⣠Prioritized page elements
⣠Wireframes
⣠Working prototypes
20
21. WorkïŹow
Whoâll write new material, update existing
content, and remove old stuff? What roles will
work on the site, and what tasks will they be
responsible for?
21
22. ⣠Interviews with content managers
⣠Tools for actual tasks
⣠Where does that actually come from?
⣠Where are the risky parts?
22
23. ⣠The game plan
⣠The inventory
⣠The content model
⣠The presentation model
⣠The workïŹow
23
24. How do they work?
⣠They emphasize understanding
⣠They require collaboration across disciplines
⣠They inform each other over many iterations
⣠They provide sanity checks
24
26. MSNBC
A cable news network ready to ramp up an
engaged online community and tackle multi-
channel publishing!
!
âŠrunning a Wordpress Archipelago.
26
27. ⣠Tons of existing content
⣠Multichannel (web, mobile,TV,XBoxâŠ)
⣠Not our strategy, not our design
⣠Parallel design and development
⣠Editors needed to love it
⣠âŠAnd a tight deadline
27
36. The NAMM Foundation
An awesome nonproïŹt that promotes music
education and recreational music-making.
!
âŠAnd has a site designed a decade ago.
36
37. ⣠Big dreams, limited budget
⣠Lots of stakeholders
⣠Site had lots of content, no message
⣠Internally focused IA
⣠Limited staff for maintenance
37
38. Workshop!
⣠What makes you special?
⣠Whoâs your audience?
⣠Why do they care?
⣠Whatâs your voice?
⣠Whatâs not working now?
⣠Old fashioned brand
identity work
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Attribution text and URL go here
40. Model and map
40
NAMM Foundation Site
NAMM Fou
Your Community
Best Communities Dataâ
Survey Promotion
Music Teacher Finderâ
Music Merchandiser Finderâ
Why Music MResources for Educators
Recruitment and Retention
Tips for Success
Downloadable Teaching Tools
Blog posts for Educators
What We Do
Get Involved
Webcasts
Sign up
Action Kits and Downloadables
Advocacy Blog Posts
Donation
Partner Orgs and other Resources*
52. Just do it.
Content Strategyâs tools make projects more
successful.You donât have to have a Grand
UniïŹcation Theory to practice, iterate, and
improve.
52
54. Build it into the plan
Until clients are willing to hire you as specialists,
treat it like Project Management: An ongoing,
necessary part of every project.
54
55. But I donât need the
rustprooïŹng.
âWe donât need that service!â means a client has
the answers. You still need to understand,
though.
!
âŠOr, show them they need the answers
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56. No need for bombast
Use Content Strategy tools first to understand
your clientsâ needs, then to advise on solutions.
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