One of the things we've learned about managing social media is that the sooner you begin planning your social media content strategy by asking "why?" the better off your plan will be in the long run. But while we may have done a good job of answering the "why?" question internally, have we done a good job of answering our audience's "why?" question: Why should I follow you? What will I get out of this? What content will you give me? What value … [Read more...]
Prioritize User Goals, Again
June 7, 2011 by
Measurement plans often focus on the website, including content and design. Seems logical at first, except your website is only part of the measurement equation. The other parts consist of your business goals and users’ needs. As those elements change, so does the effectiveness of your web content and design. Louis Rosenfeld, coauthor of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, posted a handy scorecard for prioritizing and evaluating … [Read more...]
What Does Your Legacy Content Say About You?
May 31, 2011 by
Remember that timeline you created for the sesquicentennial? Or that page with thumbnail profiles of students engaged in public service? How about the photo gallery of new campus buildings... that happens to be missing the two dorms built last year? Sometimes, content that we create -- whether because a higher-up suggested it, because the idea struck us on a slow summer afternoon or because of a content plan that later goes awry -- ends up … [Read more...]
Stakeholder Support Is Key for Content Strategy Success
May 27, 2011 by
Content strategy depends on strong stakeholder relationships. You need stakeholders not only to help inform your content strategy but also to help implement and maintain it. Without involving stakeholders in the planning process and prioritizing their needs, competing objectives will compromise success. Meghan Casey of Brain Traffic offers great tips for gaining stakeholder support, as well as suggestions for group song. "Kumbaya," … [Read more...]
What’s the Right Content for the Job?
May 26, 2011 by
"We should do a video." "We need more photos with this article." "The site is sparse; we should add a few more pages." How many times have we heard such suggestions? Well-meaning, surely, but not necessarily in the best interest of our goals or our users' needs. If you think about it, it's kind of like saying, "We need more hamburgers" without considering whether our audience is hungry or thirsty, let alone whether or not they're … [Read more...]