THE NEW CONTENT STRATEGIST FOUR MONTHS TO IMPLEMENTATION

CHALLENGES OF ENTERING A NEW ENVIRONMENT

YOU ARE EITHER LOVED OR FEARED

Most are comfortable in their processes and have defined their “spot.” Everyone knows you are there to make change and that can be scary.

CHALLENGES AT UOFSC •  Years of change, years of turnover •  Multiple reorganizations and

prioritizations •  Silos, as expected •  NO ONE HAD DONE IT BEFORE

You can’t be successful if you don’t know the history.

World-renowned • Nationally ranked • Outstanding faculty • Student experience

THE CHALLENGE: FIND THE ‘SO WHAT?’

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Listen Learn job roles, viewpoints, politics Model Find your content chunks Connect Discover pain points Flow Map the workflows Support Know your backers & get buy-in

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Where can you listen? Committees, standing meetings, lunches, walks to meetings, coffee, desks,

Why spend so much time listening? Learn job roles, viewpoints, politics Bonus: They get to know you too, which makes you less scary!

How to be a fly on the wall:

•  Ask to join meetings; just to listen

•  Ask to observe processes

•  Coffee, coffee, coffee

Don’t form opinions yet.

LISTEN TIPS

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What are your content chunks? Identify each different content piece. Articles, announcements, slideshows, static web content, videos, events, etc.

Analyze and evaluate but don’t get in the weeds yet.

It’s all subjective.

Get really into your personas.

What are your users’ goals?

Which team creates or is in charge of each chunk?

Be a content explorer!

MODELING TIPS

How can it be displayed in the CMS? Where would users use this chunk?

What is the audience for this chunk?

How does it relate to other chunks?

USING CHUNKS

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What are the pain points? Pain points create hurdles and hurdles are a pain in your own tookus! Pain points are often one of three things: •  People •  Technology •  Management

The CMS is restrictive.

IT is difficult to work with.

Developers are overloaded.

There is no CMS!

It’s the wild, wild west of CMS!!

PAIN WITH TECHNOLOGY

Most difficult part of content strategy.

These are your implementors.

Dealing with: •  Agendas •  Fears •  Unhappiness •  Past experiences •  Prejudices •  Motivation •  Needs •  Personalities!

PAIN WITH PEOPLE

FLOW

What are the workflows? Workflows can be some of the most difficult change. Workflows go beyond the CMS:

•  How do we find stories? •  How do we communicate with

colleagues? •  What are the production schedules? •  Who maintains calendars?

Meet them where they are. Small changes can equal big impacts.

Use existing tools if possible.

Understand the time involved.

WORKFLOW TIPS

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Who is backing you up? Content strategy takes a team. •  How are you going to implement

changes?

•  How can you get others excited?

•  Who will be your cheerleaders?

•  What is your feedback loop?

•  Who can give you confidential feedback?

Understand the bigger goals. Get to know the managers.

Ask about the budget.

Know what results you expect.

Consider a smaller test if you can’t do everything.

GETTING SUPPORT

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

A PLAN IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE

Keep it useable. Content model yourself. Sections and subheads! Use their terms. Make the change less scary by making the plan approachable.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM UOFSC Small changes! Easy to understand!

•  Content tiers to drive strategic editorial

•  Editorial themes •  Tweaked workflows in existing tools •  Build upon team strengths •  Scalability

Listen Learn job roles, viewpoints, politics Model Find your content chunks Connect Discover pain points Flow Map the workflows Support Know your backers & get buy-in

5 ?S FOR CONTENT STRATEGY

Amy Grace Wells: agwells@sc.edu @amygracewells