Last week, the Content Marketing Institute blog asked contributors, "What is the most useful thing you learned about content marketing in 2011?" I chimed in and gave the badge to Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman for their lesson "reimagine; don't recycle," found in their book Content Rules. This is a valuable content marketing lesson, but it's also an important content strategy lesson. The idea is to not simply repurpose content … [Read more...]
Communicate Clearly With Less Content
December 7, 2011 by
I love content, but nothing gets me pumped more than cutting it. Crop. Delete. Remove. Archive. Why? Because the road to clear communication often leads to less content, not more. The purpose of content is to communicate. For higher ed web professionals, it's easy to lose sight of this. Many people are responsible for constantly creating content — new blog posts, twitter updates, event descriptions, landing pages, "related links." But … [Read more...]
Content and Community at Boston University
November 21, 2011 by
Last week, we talked about content and community in higher education. What is the role of content in online community management? What are the challenges and opportunities? Some smart higher ed community managers chimed in to share their thoughts on these questions and others. Today, I'd like to dig a little deeper. I reached out to Jenny Mackintosh from Boston University to learn how she and other BU Marketing & Communications staff … [Read more...]
Content and Community in Higher Education
November 14, 2011 by
Some things were just meant to go together — mac and cheese, Wallace and Gromit, Georgy Cohen and a karaoke bar. Also, content strategy and community management. When it comes to social media, these disciplines are completely dependent upon each other. Every tweet, Facebook comment, Flickr photo, YouTube video and blog post is content — and content should give people a reason to stay engaged in your community, conveying meaningful ideas worth … [Read more...]
Quality Content Kills Clutter
November 10, 2011 by
Nobody likes clutter. It's overwhelming, distracting, and a chore to clean up. No, I'm not talking about your office space — I'm talking about your website. All the clutter people have to sift through to find the information they're looking for. Web professionals often see "clutter" as a design problem, but as usability evangelist Jared Spool notes, "It’s not the visual design the users are reacting to. It’s the actual … [Read more...]