“Being smart about content is the road to success for all web professionals.”
(Rick Allen a.k.a. @epublishmedia ~ Meet Content)
The Content Strategy Knowledge Gap
Content rulez.
All posts about
Content strategy
The case for responsive web content: it’s all about the users
Every design discipline and concept comes back to the same place: the ‘user’.
“Most responsive design projects start out as a functional or technical endeavour. I know our projects often do. But if responsive web design is device-agnostic, aimed at people instead of devices, we should try to finally step away from the technical and functional approach, and truly start to put content first.”
(Christiaan W. Lustig a.k.a. @ChristiaanWLstg ~ .net magazine)
Developing a User Centric Content Strategy
What’s wrong to make content just for yourself?
“Content should exist because there is a target set of audience – people who will read, watch, and/or look at your stuff. Keep in mind that the reason we are making content is not to make ourselves feel good, or to archive and document what our company is about. We make content for people – users who drop by in your site because they want to know you!”
(Sean Si a.k.a. @h3sean ~ SEO Hacker)
The definition of content strategy
Sounds simple: two thousand words of copy a month makes you a thought leader in the end.
“Through your content strategy you should describe your firm’s expertise as clearly and openly as possible. You want to be generous with the knowledge you share through your site’s content strategy. This idea makes many agencies feel uncomfortable (…)”
(Mark O’Brien a.k.a. @NewfangledMark ~ Newfangled)
Adaptive Content: Our primary platform is burning. Time to jump!
Lot’s of jumping going on lately.
“I think the greatest insight I gained from Karen’s adaptive content talk is the idea that historically, all content has been designed and created for a ‘primary platform’, whose format is well understood. After its initial publication, it must then be reformatted to meet the design realities of any other contexts in which it is to appear.”
(R. Stephen Gracey a.k.a. @rsgracey ~ The Content Strategy Noob)
Content Modeling
Abstracting the content universals from their particulars.
“We’re in the middle of a paradigm shift from unstructured content to structured content. It is unsustainable to continually unpick unstructured content, at the last mile, across our broadcast, print and digital channels. This shift is making us revisit the way we capture, structure and store content in fundamental ways. Content modeling is one of those. These pages outline the role of content modeling as a effective communication tool for structuring content.”
(Cleve Gibbon a.k.a. @cleveg)
Content Strategy: in 3D!
Just looking for my stereoscopic goggles.
“Content strategists have been leading the charge on how to deliver a consistent message across channels. The advent of smaller, cheaper technology is making it possible for every surface to be a new channel. Sensors such as the Microsoft Kinect depth-sensing camera are removing the need for complex input devices or even touchscreens. The more that physical environments gain digital and interactive dimensions, the more important it is to provide clear, focused storytelling that has been considered carefully. The strategies that have become codified over time for the web and are helping us with the transition to the mobile web also provide us with a powerful framework to design great experiences in physical environments.”
(Scott Smith ~ Boxes and Arrows)
Content strategy in 600 words
That’s easy, just six hundred words.
“My master’s thesis, is an insightful look at content strategy effectiveness, including web writing, aesthetics, information architecture, social media, information design, and usability. The research focus was on college and university websites, but much of the information is applicable to nearly any industry.”
(Gary Teagarden a.k.a. @garyteagarden ~ Teagarden-tech)
(Re)consider the Source
Rule: verify the facts from three independent sources.
“People turn more often to digital content but don’t necessarily trust it. Why? One reason is that people judge the credibility of content by the credibility of its source. Let’s take a closer look at the role of source in perceived credibility.”
(Colleen Jones a.k.a. @leenjones ~ Contents Magazine)
Confab 2012: Thoughts and Reactions
Finally, somebody said it.
“I was one of about 5 technical writers among the 650 attendees, which is why I found it surprising to hear Kristina Halverson say, We can learn a lot from tech comm. Let me repeat that. We can learn a lot from tech comm.”
Content strategy is not always ux
The DTDT thing disguised as an opinion.
“The complex interplay between UX and content strategy allows for many different scenarios, but one thing is clear to us: Most of the time, content strategy efforts should not fall under UX. UX professionals are expert in creating intuitive, clear paths within websites for visitors to consume all your audience-targeted content. Content strategists are expert at creating content that meets audience needs.”
Content Modelling: A Master Skill
Data, information, or content modelling: entities, properties and relations. Stuff and structure.
“A content model is a powerful tool for fostering communication and aligning efforts between UX design, editorial, and technical resources on a project. By clearly defining the assembly model, the content types, and the content attributes, we can help make sure that the envisioned content strategy becomes a reality for the content creators. In my recent projects, I find that content modeling is more and more in demand. It’s a valuable skill for any content strategist, especially those that strive for mastery.”
(Rachel Lovinger a.k.a. @rlovinger ~ A List Apart)
Personas: A Critical Investment For Content Strategy
Personas as the silver bullet to guarantee empathy?
“Content strategy isn’t really a discipline but a defined approach to handling an organization’s content consistently across departments and channels. It can only be effective if it becomes ubiquitous to the processes and procedures that already exist within business – communications, public relations, customer service, marketing, graphic design, IT, etc. While the defined strategy may be about content, the tactics by which we achieve our content goals are really about people. Who are we publishing content for? How will they interact with the content we present? How do they define relevancy? What is meaningful and engaging to them? Borrowing a tool that user experience and interaction designers have used for years, personas are a powerful way to not only create and implement a sound content strategy, but to facilitate its adoption by everyone in the organization.”
(Kristina Mausser a.k.a. @krismausser ~ Follow the UX Leader)
The State of the Content Industry
Content (the stuff formerly known as information) has always been my reason to go to the WWW.
InfoDesign WebGem #6,400 – “At the forefront of this shift is the re-emergence of original, quality content and the surge in brands acting as publishers. Add to this changing landscape a redefining of journalism, shaped by social media, and the latest disruption in the broadcast industry, and media analysts see an industry that is both exciting and unsettling.”
(Patrick Burke ~ The Content Strategist a.k.a. @contently)
Mental Modeling For Content Work: Creation
Philip Johnson-Laird’s mental model being there for decades (since 1983). Finally entering CS.
“(…) when a mental model can be produced, it can be extremely useful for planning, maintaining and governing content over time.”
(Daniel Eizans a.k.a. @danieleizans)
Adaptive Content for Multiple Devices
The more you chunk it, the better is gets. Up to a certain level of granularity.
“Adaptive content lets you automatically provide your content anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Adaptive content is limited only by your design decisions, the functionality of the device being used, and the intelligence of your content.”
(Ann Rockley a.k.a. @arockley)
The business value of content and content strategy
Content marketing in disguise.
“If you don’t yet grasp the value of content and content strategy to your business or organization, then it’s time to learn. If you do get it, then it’s time to step up and start teaching the executive team about the value of content. It’s time to illustrate that without good content to attract and engage potential customers, to educate them about their pains, to convince them to commit to change and to explore your solution, then the phones down the hall in the Sales organization will not be ringing much… or as much as they could be.”
(Jim Woolfrey a.k.a. @informative ~ strategeezy)
Responsive-Ready Content
Getting more and more towards the direction of virtual, computational documents a.k.a. content.
“(…) to expand on the discussion around responsive design specifically, demonstrating why we need a foundation of content types, micro-structures, and business rules if we want to keep priority, relationships, and meaning intact.”
(Sara Wachter-Boettcher a.k.a. @sara_ann_marie)
Yes there is
‘There is such a thing as…’ versus ‘There is no such thing as…’
“(…) I mostly walk away with the idea that the author just doesn’t understand content strategy. It is the lack of content strategy that helps promote the silo-fication of content creation, in which the silo with the strongest voice prevails, however disconnected from the customer’s needs and culture that voice might be.”
(Jim Woolfrey a.k.a. @informative ~ strategeezy)
What Does Digital Analytics Have in Common with Content Strategy, InfoArch and UX?
Another take on the same event.
“Not many would dispute that organizations need a Web strategy to be successful. When it comes to execution, operational governance is considered the key to getting the organization to act on the strategy. Governance takes the strategy and makes it real through alignment of roles, responsibilities, management policies and budget decisions.”
