Why Content Strategy

A well-thought Content Strategy powers so many, perhaps all, of the Internet's success stories. In this post I'll try to introduce some of the key concepts behind of coming up with a good strategy. I'm using Erin Kissane's gem of a book, The Elements of Content Strategy, as my guide here.

What is Content Strategy? In a few words, it's understanding the needs of your audience, preparing or sourcing material that meets those needs, and presenting it in ways that are useful. I find it helpful when working on content to stop thinking like a business marketer (or Mouseketeer) and, instead, think of myself as a publisher. I have readers not customers. Answer the question, "What does my audience need to hear from me?"

I believe there's an unwritten contract between a publisher and an audience. The publisher promises to provide content of value and the audience in return promises to return for more. Think back on Groundswell's objectives, that's where you'll find value.

Kissane describes seven basic principles of Good Content:

Good Content is appropriate

• Publish content that is right for the user and for the business

Good Content is useful

• Define a clear, speci!c purpose for each piece of content; evaluate content against this purpose

Good Content is user-centered

• Adopt the cognitive frameworks of your users

Good Content is clear

• Seek clarity in all things

Good Content is consistent

• Mandate consistency, within reason

Good Content is concise

• Omit needless content

Good Content is supported

• Publish no content without a support plan

I hope we'll be able to examine these ideas together — in class, during one of our Tuesday afternoon sessions, or any time you catch me sitting still. Heck, use that comment link below this post!

What does this mean to us as marketing and advertising people?

We've heard it in every one of our classes now: building a community, listening to it, empowering it and talking with it are the keys to Interactive Web Marketing. Content Strategy is what we come up with after we've been listening and empowering. At some point in time we do have to get our ideas across if we're to accomplish our business goals. The process of developing our content plan, for us as marketers, means being able to provide thoughtful participation in our audience's community. Here, again, we speak to the value we offer, and I don't mean value in terms of price: it's  meant in terms of the impact we can have on someone's life.

From the information architecture side of things, we ask why are people coming to us to learn, and how do I get them that information quickly and most effectively? In class today people were talking about how difficult some business sites make it to get to a phone number, let alone one leading to a human. That's old-fashioned brand management thinking at work. To my way of thinking what we should celebrate and enable is the ability for people to talk to us about our product: often that means making sure we put a human at the end of a phone line.

All of the above is by way of introduction to the topic: It sits at the heart of publishing an effective Internet presence. To help start you on the path to a better understanding I'm pointing  you to Simon Sinek on Start With Why. A good place to start all sorts of thinking, but especially Content Strategy.

Do you think Simon's ideas apply to what we're doing? How? Why? Always why.

This is a repost from an older site; I'm archiving it here ahead of that's site closure.

The Power of Awesome

During the post-pitch session of last night's Awesome Kingston  pitch night I was asked, "what makes an awesome idea?"

I mumbled something about making a positive impact on the Kingston community. Well, I suppose I did do more than mumble... the three projects we've funded so far share an outlook of improving life in Kingston in small, yet exciting ways:

• Orchestra Kingston needed new timpani to help fill our town with good music (P.S. isn't Kingston's local music scene one of our best quality-of-life strong points?)
• HIV/AIDS Regional Services can now offer laundry facilities to their community thanks to our grant. Clean clothes! They're not a small thing in the scope of individual happiness. 
• And, just last night, "CRAFT Kingston received $1,000.00 toward creating a “Farmers Forum” improving the ability of 12 farms and their communities to share knowledge, pool resources, and unearth new ways to collaborate and grow." Good food grown locally... another of Kingston's quality-of-life gems.

As a trustee, I am amazed by how much impact three grants of $1,000 have already achieved. What's also awesome is that it just takes a few people to get together and commit to supporting positive change in our community to see it occur. Visit Awesome Kingston and Awesome Foundation for more ideas and information, or follow Awesome Kingston via Twitter -- @AwesomeKingston #aweygk.

Five reasons I'm asking my students to blog

This term I've asked my students to publish their own blog and produce at least one article a week. I'm convinced that blogging has become another must-have skill for graduating Marketing students. Blogging well helps:

1. point to your ability for independent thought;
2. showcase creative responses to today's issues;
3. build a network of people interested in your ideas and concerns;
4. reveal your personality & humanity;
5. demonstrate your work ethic.

Why is it important?

These points combine to provide a solid demonstration of the writer's ability to be a thought leader. Inside any creative industry, people who are thoughtful have more to contribute to a team's success than not. For students about to graduate, showcasing this ability can be crucial to their success landing that first job. Heck, it'll probably help with every other job too.

A huge tip of the hat to my colleague, Frank Armstrong at St. Lawrence College, for blazing the blogging trail for faculty and students in the School of Business. His first-year students response to their Writing for Marketing blogging assignment has been inspiring and outstanding. This winter's third-year MCOM4 class is following in their footsteps.