Content Strategy at Work

Book description

Content is king… and the new kingmaker… and your message needs to align with your model and metrics and other mumbo jumbo, right? Whether you’re slogging through theory or buzzwords, there’s no denying content strategy is coming of age. But what’s in it for you? And if you’re not a content strategist, why should you care?

Because even if content strategy isn’t your job, content’s probably your problem—and probably more than you think. You or your business has a message you want to deliver, right? You can deliver that message through various channels and content types, from Tweets to testimonials and photo galleries galore, and your audience has just as many ways of engaging with it. So many ways, so much content… so where’s the problem? That is the problem. And you can measure it in time, creativity, money, lost opportunity, and the sobs you hear equally from creative directors, project managers, and search engine marketing specialists.

The solution is content strategy, and this book offers real-world examples and approaches you can adopt, no matter your role on the team. Put content strategy to work for you by gathering this book into your little hands and gobbling up never-before seen case studies from teams at Johns Hopkins Medicine, MINI, Icebreaker, and more. Content Strategy at Work is a book for designers, information architects, copywriters, project managers, and anyone who works with visual or verbal content. It discusses how you can communicate and forge a plan that will enable you, your company, or your client get that message across and foster better user experiences.

  • Presents a content strategy framework and ways to implement in both in-house marketing departments and consultancies
  • Includes case studies, interviews, and lessons learned from retail, apparel, network television, business-to-business, automotive, non-profit, and higher ed brands
  • Details practical sales techniques to sell content strategy and use content strategy processes to sell other services and larger projects

Table of contents

  1. Cover Image
  2. Contents
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Praise Page
  6. Foreword
  7. Thank you
  8. About the Author
  9. Chapter 1. How content strategy can help
    1. Opportunity versus priority
    2. What is content strategy?
    3. Who should use this book—and what you can expect
    4. Fail to plan? Plan to fail among monsters
  10. Chapter 2. Designing cohesive experiences: Introducing content strategy to design
    1. Deriving design from content at MOO
    2. Why bring content strategy into the team?
    3. How does message architecture drive the content and design?
    4. Okay, but who's going to pay for this?
    5. Pulling it all together with consistency— and copy
  11. Chapter 3. Embracing reality: Incorporating content strategy into project management and information architecture
    1. Informing scope and governance at Johns Hopkins Medicine
    2. Conduct an audit that meets your needs
    3. Document and train for governance and post-launch success
  12. Chapter 4. Executing on content strategy through copywriting, creation, and curation
    1. Know your story to tell it well
    2. Curate content to drive the user experience
  13. Chapter 5. Coupling content strategy with search engine optimization
    1. Tie one on for search engines—and customers
    2. SEO and content strategy collaboration spells success
  14. Chapter 6. Improving content management with content strategy
    1. Reframe the conversation
    2. Create a culture of sharing, education, and maintenance
    3. Cultivate a culture of governance
    4. Facilitate success
    5. So whose problem is it—and where do we go from here?
  15. Chapter 7. Grounding social media in content strategy
    1. Maintain consistency, channel to channel
    2. Build conversations with commitment that transcends the campaign
  16. Chapter 8. Growing the business and getting to work
    1. Get a seat at the table
    2. Use content strategy to win
    3. Use content strategy as a wedge
    4. Stop reading and get to work
  17. Index

Product information

  • Title: Content Strategy at Work
  • Author(s): Margot Bloomstein
  • Release date: January 2012
  • Publisher(s): Morgan Kaufmann
  • ISBN: 9780123919298