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Content lifecycles
“It is less important what the stages are called and more important that the practitioner have a unified process for managing the entirety of the lifecycle.” - The Language of Content Strategy
Strategy &
Planning
Measure-ment Publishing
ProductionRefinement
5 core stages of any content lifecycle
1. Strategy & Planning
Understanding Who We Are:
★ Company culture (remote working)★ Mission statement★ Brand identity and personality★ Voice and tone★ Challenges we face as a business★ Objective Key Results★ Collaboration and departments needs and goals
1. Strategy & Planning
Understanding Your Audience:
★ Difference between knowing and understanding★ All audience insights allow you to make informed decisions★ Validate assumptions or gain new learnings★ Move from top-level stats to needs, behaviours, motivations★ Audience cycle, like all others, is perpetual★ Outputs: use cases, user journeys, personas
1. Strategy & Planning
The Core Model:
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Business Goals s
User Needs
1. Strategy & Planning
Content Audits and Inventories:
★ Inventory - spreadsheet accounting for all content on site★ Audit - Review of your content and recommendations★ Must read - Content Audits and Inventories: A Handbook
1. Strategy & Planning
Mapping Content:
★ What use cases is it relevant to?★ Which part of our marketing funnel does it fill?★ Is it gated or ungated content?★ What will define its success and how can we measure that?
A Typical Content Production Process(for website content)
2. Production
2. Production
Establish a Clear Workflow:
★ What stages do you need? ★ Who is responsible for each stage?★ Are the stages linear or fluid?
2. Production
2. Production
Effective Content Collaboration:
★ Define roles (copywriter, editor, etc)★ Confirm responsibilities (approval, editing, production)★ Communicate where they fit into the workflow★ Ensure there’s an effective way to provide feedback★ Manage expectations - what is due and by when
2. Production
Other Considerations:
★ SEO/Meta titles and tags★ Creating and enforcing content style guide★ Tagging and categories★ Technology★ Accessibility★ Maintenance/Governance
2. Production
Proto-content:
★ Existing content★ Competitor content★ Write your own content★ Draft content★ Commission sample content
2. Production
Repurposing and Content Upgrades:
★ Making use case specific or generic★ Creating different content formats from guides★ If you read that you might like this
3. Publishing
Editorial Calendars:
★ Plan what is being published and when★ Allows you to ‘stuff the pipeline’★ Who, what and when★ Measure resource needed and what impact increasing
frequency will have★ Visual overview
3. Publishing
Technology Requirements:
★ What do you need to get the content published?★ Important to involve devs in the content process (asap!)★ Who is responsible for publishing? (do they need training?)d
3. Publishing
Testing Content:
★ Links to measurement section of lifecycle★ User testing/observation★ A/B testing
3. Publishing
Content Promotion:
★ Content isn’t ‘done’ once published★ Needs to reach the desired audience(s)★ Start of the maintenance/governance phase
4. Measurement
Is Your Content Working?
★ Define what you want to measure and how★ Did it achieve desired result? E.g. fewer support tickets★ Tools and data★ Engagement (social)★ Frequency of measurement, how long after publishing★ Before/after. What can you learn?★ Disseminate findings
5. Refinement
What Are You Refining?
★ Content or strategy?
5. Refinement
Action the insights:
★ Spectrum: copy tweaks to adding/removing sections★ Content inventory - living document, record actions here★ Measure the refined/changed content (repeat as needed)
5. Refinement
Maintenance and Governance:
★ Not necessarily based on measurement insights★ Plan for on-going content production★ Putting a new site live is just the beginning★ What resources are needed post-launch?★ New/different workflow/roles and responsibilities
“Reassessing your strategy regularly is important, especially as your business model or priorities change, new competitors come on the scene, or your target audience shifts.” - Meghan Casey, The Content Strategy Toolkit
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The content lifecycle is perpetual. Plan, produce, publish. Review, refine and repeat. Content is never ‘done’.
Robert Mills
