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The digital age demands that we shift our mindset from seeing ourselves as influencers of media channels—to owners of media channels. It requires, in other words, that we become digital publishers. The inconvenient truth: we might be great at reactively adopting these new tools and “giving them a go”—but we haven’t yet necessarily mastered the art and science of using them at their highest value. Doing that requires change and realignment of skills and resources. Content strategy can be used as a major driving force for that realignment (i.e. digital transformation), introducing new ways of approaching, thinking about and working with digital publishing channels so that they’re contributing the level of value that they could and should be. I call it being “content-ready”. Becoming a content-ready organisation is all about developing: the right internal mindset and culture the right skills and expertise the right tools and technologies When these elements come together, a brand can be thought of as hitting its "content sweet spot"—the intersection between technical, editorial, and strategic mastery that differentiates brands that excel online from those that don't seem to be able to get their acts together when it comes to strategically managing their digital communications. In these slides, I break down those three elements in more detail and provide a road map for how an organisation can approach, ignite, and implement the changes it needs to become a content-ready organisation and hit its content sweet spot.
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Finding our content sweet spot
September 2014
Joseph Phillips
How organisations can change the way they think about and approach content to become more valuable digital publishers.
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Every time you communicate, you’re either adding value, or taking up space.
- Sally Hogshead
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Content is communication.
Every time we publish content we’re either adding value—or taking up space.
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Valuable communication sparks interactions.
Interactions form connections.
Connections build relationships.
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In the end, an organisation is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value.
- Lou Grestner, IBM CEO
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In today’s digital age, an organisation’s content is what carries and exchanges value more consistently and powerfully than anything else.
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But the landscape in which that communication happens is far more complex and noisier than it ever used to be…
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How brands used to communicate (pre-web)
Paid media (advertising)
Owned media
(content)
Earned media (PR)
• Print• Radio• TV• Outdoor spaces
• Media mentions (print/radio/TV)
• Word of mouth
• Print (brand collateral, newsletters, direct mail)
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How brands communicate today (post-web)
Paid media (advertising)
Owned media (content)
Earned media (PR)
• Print• Radio• TV• PPC ads• Banner ads• Mobile ads• Social media ads• Native
advertising• Media mentions
• External blog/website coverage
• Social media mentions
• Word of mouth
• Print• Websites• Blogs• Microsites• Social
media• Forums• Email• Apps
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So if the landscape has shifted, we need to adapt our mindset, skills, and resources to meet its needs.
(Otherwise known as: digital transformation.)
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The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that is has taken place.
- George Bernard Shaw
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The moment you launch a website, you’re a publisher. The moment you begin a blog, send an email, participate in social media, build a widget, even show up in search engine results… you are a publisher.- Kristina Halvorson
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We are all (giving our best shot at being) publishers now
Communications used to be about influencing and paying for media space—now it’s about owning a media space.
Before the web came along, to be published was to have been chosen by an esteemed elite.
If you wished to share your creations with the world at large, you needed permission.
Your manuscript had to be selected by a publisher, your reporting had to be validated by a newspaper, your musical compositions had to be selected by a record company.
And if a business had messages it wanted to “get out there” it needed to rely, almost exclusively, on third party publishing and media outlets to do so. It was called Advertising, Marketing, and PR.
No longer. The web has empowered individuals and organisations alike to communicate directly with their audiences.
And it’s been causing chaos…
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If you want to write, here’s a blog. Write...If you want to sing or make videos, well, sure, YouTube will happily show your work to the masses...If you want to share an invention or fund a project or topple a government, the connected economy makes it easier to do that than ever before. Can you imagine it getting less open? This is just the beginning. Revolutions bring total chaos. That’s what makes them revolutionary.
- Seth Godin
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Slapping words on a page won’t ensure good communication, just as mashing your hands across a piano won’t make for a pleasant composition.
- Jason Santa Maria
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Publishing content is easy. Becoming a publisher is not.
The digital age demands that we shift our mindset from seeing ourselves as influencers of media channels—to owners of media channels.
It requires, in other words, that we become digital publishers.
The inconvenient truth: we might be great at reactively adopting these new tools and “giving them a go”—but we haven’t yet necessarily mastered the art of extracting the greatest possible value from them.
Publishing content online is as easy as having access to an internet connection.
The barrier for entry has never been lower. It's easy enough to simply add to the online noise—but to cut through it, to resonate, is a whole different matter.
People say that “content is king”. But if no one cares about the content you produce —if no one sees, hears or values your content —it’s nobody’s king. It’s just white noise.
If we’re not adding value through our web content, we may as well be conversing with an inanimate object—a waste of time and effort (and a little bit insane).
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Driven by the need to keep up with the sheer pace of change, we’ve flung ourselves head-first into the new digital environment…
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…but if we’ve only kitted ourselves out with the gear—and not the appropriate skills to thrive in that environment…
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Symptoms of content mess
Masses of content spewed out “create and fling” style, across multiple platforms, without stepping back to evaluate the bigger picture.
Inaccurate, outdated or irrelevant content that undermines the organisation’s integrity, authority and subject expertise.
Content lacking clear ownership and accountability over its ongoing maintenance and governance—a constant risk to brand reputation.
Jargon-laden content that attempts to tell, sell and ask, rather than to show, explain and add value — scaring away prospects averse to “old-school” advertising.
Content that is difficult for users to find, use and understand, meaning that, by default, our organisation is difficult to find, use, or understand.
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Too often, we treat our web content as a technical commodity.
Something that gets loaded up and “plugged in” to the design at the last moment…
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…rather than respecting it as the valuable, fragile communications asset that it is.
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But changing how an entire organisation thinks about and treats content is difficult.
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People would often rather stick to the environment they’ve been used to, rather than stepping out into the unknown.
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So we’re on a journey…
Courtesy of Intentional Design
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It’s time to face up to the challenge and tackle the journey, head-on…
Becoming content-ready
Step one:evolving our mindset, skills, and resources
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Build right mindset and culture.
Build right skills and expertise.
Build right tools and
technologies.
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Becoming content-ready is making your organisation fit for purpose to meet the needs of the digital media landscape.
It’s future proofing your organisation from becoming an irrelevance in the digital age.
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It’s about understanding what great content is
Great content fascinates with a compelling message and purpose tied to a specific organisation objective.It creates and adds value.
Great content is targeted at a specific audience, directly informed by their needs and interests.It is user led.
Great content is consistent, accurate, and engaging.It is subject to editorial expertise and quality control.
Great content is easy to find, use and understand.It is accessible and adapted for experiencing on the web.
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It’s about understanding what great content can achieve
Organisation…GoalsBrand reputationExpertiseSolutions
Audience…
Needs
Desires
Questions
Problems
Content
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It’s about understanding how complex managing content is
Plan
CreatePublish
Govern
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And how much effort and expertise lies behind everything that goes online
PlanPlan CreateCreate ReviseRevise
PublishPublish TestTest ApproveApprove
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Hitting the sweet spot When a world-class tennis player strikes the ball
right in the centre of their racquet’s sweet-spot, releasing the ball at an unstoppable velocity, it’s not down to luck.
It’s the result of countless hours of tireless training, mental preparation, and talent applied at their absolute optimum and in total harmony.
Just as an elite sportsperson doesn’t achieve greatness without constantly fine-tuning every possible aspect of their game, an organisation doesn’t become a great digital publishing channel on account of simply possessing the tools to publish.
Great content doesn’t “just happen”. If you wish to truly add value, rather than merely take up space, you need to do more than show up and hope for the best.
It’s about striking the perfect balance of skills, expertise, and resources.
It’s about having more than just the right tools. It’s knowing how to use them.
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The content sweet spot
Strategically
aware
Editorially expertWeb wise
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Each element contributes specific value-adding outcomes
Web wise
Ensures content is:
findable accessible
usablemanageable
scalable
Editorially expert
Ensures content is:
accurateconcise
compellingmemorableactionable
Strategically aware
Ensures content is:
targetedrelevantexpert
influentialvalue-adding
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Each element contributes specific pieces of work that support great content
Web wise
CMS buildWireframesInformation Architecture designMetadata planSEO strategyAccessibility policy
Editorially expert
Web style guideTone of voice guidanceWeb editorial calendarPage templatesStaff web editorial meetings
Strategically aware
Messaging hierarchyAudience hierarchyAudits and analysisUser research/feedbackStaff web strategy groupStaff training/resources
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And those pieces of work require specific roles and expertise
Web wise
Web developersWeb designersCMS developers
UX peopleSEO people
Editorially expert
WritersEditors
Subject matter experts
Chief EditorContent
managers
Strategically aware
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A greater than the sum of its parts effort.
So... how do we get here?
Strategically aware
Editorially expert
Web ready
Where great content lives
Becoming content-ready
Step two: pulling it all together with content strategy
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Content strategy can be thought of as…
A framework for how an organisation is going to plan, create, publish, and govern its content—from a technical, editorial and brand perspective.
It can also be thought of as a roadmap for how an organisation is going to adapt its mindset, skills, and resources to meet the demands of the digital age.
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Content strategy makes us more content-ready and able to meet the challenges of being a digital publisher …
Strategically aware
Editorially expert
Web ready
Where great content lives
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Content strategy leads to the creation of great content (well, obviously)
Great content fascinates with a compelling message and purpose tied to a specific organisation objective.It creates and adds value.
Great content is targeted at a specific audience, directly informed by their needs and interests.It is user led and audience appropriate.
Great content is consistent, accurate, and engaging.It is subject to editorial expertise and quality control.
Great content is easy to find, use and understand.It is accessible and adapted for experiencing on the web.
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Content strategy bridges the gap between our interests and our users’…
Organisation…
GoalsBrand
reputationExpertiseSolutions
Audience… NeedsDesires
QuestionsProblems
Content
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Content strategy allows us to totally own that pesky, messy content lifecycle Plan
Create
Publish
Govern
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Discovery
Strategy forming
Execution and
management
Core strategy statement
Messaging hierarchy
Audiences hierarchy
Topics map
User personas and user
journey maps
Governance model
Content sourcing plan
Editorial calendar
Content worksheets and
templates
Publishing workflows
Web style guidance
Design wireframes
Information Architecture
Content evaluation work
When you’re paving the way for content strategy, you’re delivering…
When you’re forming content strategy, you’re delivering…
When you’re doing content strategy, you’re delivering…
Content strategy road map
Audit and analysis
Staff feedback
User research
Competitor/gap
analysis
Leading to…
Content analysis report
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Step one: discovery
Measuring the scope of our content.
Evaluating the quality of our content.
Investigating the internal culture—how content is thought about and treated.
Analysing how content gets created and moves through the organisation.
Presenting summary of findings to key internal stakeholders and decision-makers.
The discovery stage is all about figuring out where we currently stand with our content.
The aim here is to uncover what’s working, what’s not, and establishing key trends, pain points and needs.
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Step two: strategy forming
Establishing:
what we want our content to achieve
what our content needs to say
who our content is for
what types of content are required
where it gets published
where it’s going to come from
who’s in charge of what
The juicy bit! Using all the insights gathered from the discovery process, we can start throwing down some markers for where we want to be.
This is really where we start formalising how content is going to help us achieve our goals, meet user needs and make us, generally, more brilliant.
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Step three: execution and management
Assigning when and how content will be produced and published.
Designing how content types will be structured and formatted.
Producing workflows for how content will move from planning, through to final approval and publishing.
Embedding consistency and quality-control, through guidelines and training.
Making sure content is supported technically and strategically, at all stages of its life cycle.
Making it all happen. The tools, tactics, and people that will deliver and manage the content.
It’s all about making the goals and aspirations of the strategy a reality—making your organisation more influential and helpful, through its content.
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How content strategy builds momentum for change
Beginning with a thorough discovery process can be thought of as holding up a mirror to an organisation’s digital publishing activity. The good, the bad, and (of course) the ugly.
Analysing, auditing, reviewing, and evaluating things from a range of perspectives “paints a picture”—and a consensus on what that picture is telling us.
Content strategy, applied in this way, makes it impossible for anyone to bury their head in the sand.
It unveils the full reality of the direction an organisation’s digital presence is heading in.
And if it’s not on a course that’s contributing to everyone’s goals—and users’ needs—it provides a plan of action to steer things back on track.
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We need to realise… • Content is communication. And communication either adds value—or takes up space.
• The digital era demands that we all become our own media publishing channels. But many of us are not geared up with the right mindset, skills, and resources to do so. That’s an issue (because our future kind of depends on it).
• We need to become “content-ready“, which means we need to adapt and develop our existing mindset, skills, and resources in order to hit our content sweet spot.
• Applying content strategy provides a framework for unveiling urgent needs , building the case for changes required to meet those needs, and ultimately, improving the value of our brand on the web.
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That’s it (for now).
Thoughts and feedback always welcome:
@examinedweb
