Understanding Content Strategy in Digital Design

1. Jane GreensteinContent Strategy & UXFebruary, 2016

2. Content Who I am and why I’m here What is Content Strategy Responsibilities of Content Strategist How Content Strategy & UX Work Together Content Strategy Deliverables Becoming a Content Strategist

3. Who I am • Lead Content Strategist at Team One, part of the Digital Strategy team • Based in Playa Vista, Team One has over 400 employees in Los Angeles • We produce a wide variety of media, including TV commercials, websites and apps • Main client is Lexus • Worked both client and agency side • Background in journalism • Worked as a writer, editor and project manager • Earned masters in Library Science

4. Why I’m here Many digital agencies have content strategists or need them UX designers work closely with CS and other teams (developers, strategists) Few disciplines are as intertwined as CS and UX are (akin to copywriter and art director symbiosis) Many UX designers haven’t had exposure to or full understanding of our skills Explain what CS is

5. About Team One Agency Structure Creative(Strategy, UX, Design) Account/PM Project Phases and Responsibilities

6. WHAT IS CONTENT STRATEGY?

7. CONTENT STRATEGY “Planning for the creation, delivery and governance of useful, usable content.” - Kristina Halverson, Brain Traffic

8. CONTENT STRATEGY (LONG) “Deals with the planning aspects of managing content throughout its lifecycle, and includes aligning content to business goals, analysis, and modeling, and influences the development, production, presentation, evaluation, measurement, and sunsetting of content, including governance” Rahel Bailie, coauthor of Content Strategy: Connecting the dots between business, brand, and benefits and principal of Intentional Design

9. What is Content? Basically, everything

10. Which means… Content Strategy is Everything Source: http://www.freshegg.co.uk/content-strategy

11. WHAT WE DO

12. Responsibilities of the Content Strategist Deliverables vary per project based on timeline and scope Discovery Audit – what exists, where it comes from, how it’s being consumed Analyze – what gaps exist that need to be filled (what have, what is needed) Define Strategize – content strategy defines what is needed and what structure it needs to conform to (structure, taxonomy, sources, etc.) and how it fits into the big picture Governance – guidelines to maintain structure, branding, context and consistency Operational Delivery – workflow for new content creation, editorial calendar, ownership and roles Maintenance – plan for reviewing, evaluating and improving existing and new content (optimization)

13. Type of Client Deliverables • Audit (Scoring & Evaluation) • Content Sources • Content Scoring • Recommendations • Editorial Guidelines

14. Content Source Analysis

15. Content Audit

16. Content Scoring Breakdown

17. Content Recommendation: Visual Story Telling Needs improvement Fits strategy Use visual storytelling with small amounts of text

18. Content Rules Create rules that dictate content placement, refreshing and other usage rules

19. Recommendation: Personalize by Lifecycle Align content to different stages of the customer’s lifecycle using personalization

20. Messaging Document RECOMMENDATION: Add brief text in the ‘Welcome Message’ section on dealer home page that notes dealer’s participation in Lexus Plus. -This will be generic messaging as each dealer has a different welcome message -Sample text: “As a Lexus Plus dealership, [Dealer name] offers transparent pricing and a single point of contact throughout the sales process.”

21. How Do CS and UX work together?

22. Map out Information Organization and Stories UX Prototypes Information hierarchy Site Map Wireframes Taxonomy/Nomenclature User stories and user journeys Functional Requirements Content Strategy • Evaluate metrics • Analyze existing content and recommending new • Developing content requirements per page • Content Mapping (existing to new) • Content Groupings/ Information hierarchy • Taxonomy • What stories are we telling

23. Content First Approach Evaluation of content allows for related disciplines (design, tech and UX) to do their jobs UX team needs content requirements, otherwise designing without knowledge of style or volume of content

24. HOW IS CS DIFFERENT FROM UX?

25. Or…I feel like I aleady do all these things, am I a Content Strategist?

26. Overlapping but Distinct Skills Editorial background (writing and editing) Messaging including voice, tone and style, catering content to audience Planning and Strategic Thinking (big picture) Organization and Detail Knowledge of marketing and production (project management)

27. What does it take to be a Content Strategist? Start writing a blog or articles for publication (or a deck) Organize a set of content into a methodical system (indexing) Demonstrate problem solving skills Show how your UX skills translate Network! Network! Network! Internships/apprenticeships Volunteer work: Taproot Foundation (https://www.taprootfoundation.org/)

28. Education • Library science for both UX and CS • IA, Web Design, IS, organizational thinking • Conferences: Content Strategy Innovation Summit, September

29. CS Resources: Read Everything Gathercontent.com Smashing Magazine Contently Think With Google Alertbox Search Engine Watch The Content Standard Team One website: http://www.teamone-usa.com/ My website: JaneGreenstein.com