Gc let's put some strategy in our content strategy - van ue may 2019

Let’s put some
strategy
in our content
strategies!
Kathy Wagner, Content Strategy Inc.

#StrategyFirstCS | @Kathy_CS_Inc
What we’re talking about
1. Different ways to approach CS
2. A tool to focus on strategy
3. Small steps
4. Review
5. Questions

Ways to
approach
content strategy

What you see
depends on your lens
UX/CX
Digital
Content
Manager
Practitioner
Strategist

Choose the right hat
for the occasion
UX/CX
Digital
Content
Manager
Practitioner
Strategist

Content
Strategist
Photo by Artem Kovalev on Unsplash#StrategyFirstCS | @Kathy_CS_Inc

Content
Meaningful information in
any channel, in any
format, that is created for
any human audience.

Content strategy
Content strategy guides
the creation, delivery, and
governance of useful,
usable, content.
~Kristina Halvorson

Content strategy
Strategy
+
Content
=
Content Strategy

Different kinds of CS
Product/UX CS
Website CS
Enterprise CS
Marketing CS
Content engineering

How do most
content strategists
spend their days?
#StrategyFirstCS | @Kathy_CS_Inc Photo by Artem Kovalev on Unsplash

• Audits
• Recommendations
• Personas
• Future vision
• Research
• Writing
• Journey maps
• Content models
• Training
• Team building
• Information architecture
• Messaging

What is that
accomplishing?
And why?

Strategy is not…

Best practices
Methods or techniques
generally accepted as
superior because they
produce consistently
superior results.

Tactics
Means by which a
strategy is carried out.
Activities that deal with
the demands of the
moment, or move
towards milestones.

Strategy is…

Strategy
“A coherent set of
analysis, concepts,
policies, and arguments
that respond to a high-
stakes challenge.”
~ Richard Rumelt

Know your
high-stakes challenge
Find it or have it
Photo by Tj Kolesnik on Unspl#StrategyFirstCS | @Kathy_CS_Inc

Know your
Aligns with a recognized
strategic goal.
Can be significantly impacted
through content.

 Good high-stakes challenge  Not good high-stakes challenge
Reduce customer support calls Revise content for plain language
Streamline operational efficiency Review content approval process
Align digital properties to one brand Revise page titles for consistency
Reuse content efficiently across regions Develop a taxonomy
Increase employee use of intranet Move HR policies from pdf to html

When we know
how our activities
fit within a strategy
We know our
contributions are
valued#StrategyFirstCS | @Kathy_CS_Inc Photo by Artem Kovalev on Unsplash

How much strategy is
in your content
strategy work?

A strategy
has three
parts:
1. Findings & foundation
2. Guiding focus
3. Coherent action plan

A tool to
stay focused
on strategy

Download this here: www.contentstrategyinc.com/wp-content/uploads/Strategic-Content-Strategy-Canvas.pdf

Understand the current situation,
future objectives, and any
obstacles or opportunities
involved.
#StrategyFirstCS | @Kathy_CS_Inc Photo by Gabriel Jimenez on Unsplash
Findings and
foundation

Investigate business needs
and environment
• What challenge did you identify, or are
you responding to?
• How will the current business
environment help or hinder your
progress?
• What resources do you have to work
with, in terms of skill-sets, time, and
budget?

Investigate audience needs
and situation
• Who is your audience?
• What are your audience’s goals,
perceptions, and needs?
• What obstacles and opportunities are
there in meeting audience needs?

Review your current
content situation
• What content do you have or need to
work with, to effectively respond to the
challenge?
• What content teams and processes are
impacted?
• How much work is required to move the
content (and content teams, processes,
technology, etc) from current state to
future vision?

Guiding focus
Provides:
• a vision for the future.
• high-level guidelines for
getting there.
• a rationale for why this vision
is the strategic solution.
Photo by Chris Barbalis on Unsplash#StrategyFirstCS | @Kathy_CS_Inc

Show the content strategy
vision
• A sneak peek into the future
state of content.
• Not a blue-sky vision. An
achievable, strategic vision.

Define the guiding
principles
• Are rules that help people stay
focused.
• Provides enough of a high-level
“how” to get senior-level support.
• Becomes a decision-making
framework moving forward.

Provide the rationale
• Why this vision, and these
guiding principles, rather than
another?
• What does the research
show?
• Reiterate risks of status quo.

Guiding
focus
Findings &
foundation

Action plan
A detailed outline of what’s
involved and how the work will
get done.
This is where you list the tactics,
or activities, needed to achieve
the vision.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash#StrategyFirstCS | @Kathy_CS_Inc

Action plan
• What needs to happen, by who, and when?
• How will it get done (in terms of resourcing,
budgets, etc)?
• What are the dependencies and implications
(for example, technology and training)?
• Creating a detailed roadmap works well for
this.

Guiding
focus
Action
plan
Findings &
foundation

The canvas does not
convey strategy details
Simply a tool to help make
sure your content strategy is
strategic.
You can use it as…
Download this here: www.contentstrategyinc.com/wp-content/uploads/Strategic-Content-Strategy-Canvas.pdf

A facilitation
tool.
Photo by Daria Nepriakhina on Unsplash

A working
framework.

A summary
snapshot.
Photo by Malcolm Lightbody on Unsplash#StrategyFirstCS | @Kathy_CS_Inc

How to open the door
for strategic work?
• Start small
• Support other teams
• Build trust
• Measure progress
• Share successes
Photo by Joaquin Paz y Miño on Unsplash#StrategyFirstCS | @Kathy_CS_Inc

 Good high-stakes challenge  Good small high-stakes challenge
Reduce customer support calls …from people who visit support site
Streamline operational efficiency …of approval process within a team
Align digital properties to new brand … starting with one priority area
Reuse content efficiently across regions …starting with one use case
Increase employee use of intranet …starting with high-priority section

Aligns with a recognized
strategic goal.
Can be significantly impacted
through content.
Even a small

A strategy Is a response to a
high-stakes challenge.

Findings &
foundation
includes:
1. Business needs
2. Audience needs
3. Content needs

Guiding
focus
includes:
1. Vision
2. Guiding principles
3. Rationale

Coherant
action plan
includes:
1. Who
2. What
3. When

To make sure you cover all
areas that contribute to
good content strategy
Use the
canvas
framework

Use the
canvas
framework
• To facilitate discussion
• To guide your approach
• To show snapshot

How do you
spend your days?

But you’ll know
what you’re
contributing to.
And can prioritize
your efforts.

Visit ContentStrategyInc.com
for related articles:
• Content leaders: Managers, practioners, and
strategists
• Put more strategy into your content strategy
• How to complete the content strategy canvas
• Three ways to use the content strategy canvas
And to download the canvas:
• Strategic Content Strategy Canvas (pdf)

Questions?
And thank you
Kathy Wagner
Content Strategy Inc
kathy@contentstrategyinc.com
@Kathy_CS_Inc | @Team_CS_Inc
Monthly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bTo4PH

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