Sara Walsh: Planning for Content Strategy in Your Project

PLANNING FOR CONTENT STRATEGYA FRAMEWORK

Sara Zailskas Walshsara.walsh@capitalone.com

J. Boye Philadelphia May 2016

Nice to meet you :)DOCUMENTING YOUR CONTENT STRATEGY

JOURNALISMB2B

ASSOCIATIONB2C

USER EXPERIENCECUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

ECOMMERCEPRINT, DIGITAL

Foundational checkPLANNING FOR CONTENT STRATEGY

ASSUMPTION #1: YOU BUY INTO THE VALUE OF CONTENT STRATEGY

Content strategy is … 7

๏Determining the best way to present information to your audience so that it’s valuable and makes them want to come back for more.

๏Figuring out a way for content to meet business and user needs.

๏Figuring out the right content for the right time for the right person -- and what it’ll mean to maintain and govern it too.

To apply content strategy …8

๏You research to understand your audience and what they need to know, then deliver the message in a way that’s accurate and makes sense to your average Jane. It’s gotta sound like your company too.

๏You think holistically and make sure cross-disciplinary stakeholders have a seat at the table.

๏You think through content and what it takes to maintain it so what you put in front of customers is great on day 1 and 375 alike.

”At Capital One, on the

product content strategy side, we say we design conversations to solve

customer problems.

Capital One’s Content Strategy Pillars10

”We apply 3 pillars when designing what to say, to whom, when, and how.

How every person at Capital One can design experiences that feel like real conversations.

Natural Language

1

2

3

Use Case

Relevant Context

ASSUMPTION #2: YOU HAVE WORK ON YOUR

PLATE THAT INVOLVES CONTENT.

ASSUMPTIONS #3 & #4: YOU WANT TO BE STRATEGIC ABOUT CONTENT, BUT YOU DON’T HAVE A LOT OF TIME.

”This is about doing what you can with content for

your users as thoughtfully as possible.

The good/better/best approachPLANNING FOR CONTENT STRATEGY

”You don’t need a big

budget or lots of time to be strategic about

content.

”You need the right

activities to guide your thinking.

NOTE: ACTIVITIES DO NOT

EQUAL DELIVERABLES.

”The point is to get enough

information to make an informed decision.

AT MINIMUM: PLAN TO HIT EACH POINT IN THE ‘GOOD’ SECTION.

Discovery 22

Understand the situation

๏ What do you have

๏ What do your competitors have

๏ What do users need

๏ What does the business need

๏ What does data tell you

๏ What user problems are you solving

Analysis & Strategy 23

Synthesize what you learned and figure out what you need to do

๏ Overall strategy

๏ Specific content to meet biz + user needs for each channel

๏ Metrics to show how you know you’ll be successful

๏ Maintenance

Create & Test24

Execute against your strategy

๏ Work closely with whomever is creating and designing the content. Be a part of the reviews and signoff.

๏ Run something by users. At the very least, find a friend or family member.

๏ Work closely with usability researchers to inform their questions

Launch, Measure, Iterate

25

Publish, listen, and make changes to make it better.

๏ Review your work

๏ Recommend changes

๏ Test changes

๏ Update your strategy or guidelines as needed

IF YOU HAVE BUDGET AND TIME:

PLAN TO GO DEEP WHERE IT MAKES SENSE

TIP: GO LIGHT ON DELIVERABLES!

These are the steps regardless:27

1. Discovery what you have - and don’t

2. Figure out what your audience(s) needs.

3. Figure out business needs.

4. Check out what other people are doing.

5. Analyze what you’ve got.

6. Spell out the content you need to support those moments.

7. Share and align around a content strategy plan.

8. Determine your KPIs.

9. Create content!

10. Document how to maintain it and educate anyone who needs to hear it.

11. Launch and measure.

12. Iterate.

13. Celebrate. Maybe go on vacation.

DECIDE HOW FORMALLY YOU NEED TO CAPTURE

THE RESULTS.

PUT TOGETHER A PLAN FOR CS ACCORDING TO

YOUR PROJECT TIMELINE.

FIGURE OUT WHO CAN CONTRIBUTE THE BEST TO EACH ACTIVITY AND AT WHICH PHASE.

THINK BEYOND YOUR CONTENT TEAM.

• Who is capable of thinking about the big picture as well as the details?

• Who can objectively evaluate content?

• Who’s always championing what the customer or user needs?

• Who’s awesome at planning?

• Who’s awesome doing the ground work to execute on a plan?

• Who’s a great mediator?

• Who’s a great interviewer?

• Who thinks technically and can liaise with IT?

• Who are content champions above you and outside the content team?

CONSIDER WHO’S INVOLVED AT WHICH PHASES

”

Do you need to hire a content strategist?

IT DEPENDS

• How many people can contribute to developing the framework?

• Who will be leading the synthesis of the work to create the framework for the project?

What about “quick turnarounds?” 34

• The customer problem• Background on the customer flow: where the user is coming from, why they go through this step, and

what the next step is • Any biz requirements• Current-state visuals• Any proposed new designs/wires • Any behavioral data, analytics, other user research you have• How success is being measured• Proposed new copy (so we have a starting place!)

This is what I ask people to bring to content strategy office hours for quick turnarounds

CONTACTAND FIND ME

415-470-3259

sara.walsh@capitalone.com

Thanks a bunch.Any questions?

INFLUENCERS & RESOURCES

My work is a mishmash of a lot of thought leaders and resources tips and methodologies. This is just a start!

If you liked what you read here, you’ll love Kristina Halvorson’s work. http://contentstrategy.com/

You might also use Jonathan Colman’s massive list of CS resources. http://www.jonathoncolman.org/2013/02/04/content-strategy-resources/