The field of public relations is in flux. Technology makes it easier for us to directly connect with our audiences. The barriers to creating content types beyond the press release are lower than ever before. And the social web has redefined everything we thought we knew about communication. Given this landscape, what is the role of a higher ed media relations professional in the 21st century? I think these changes indicate that the power to … [Read more...]
The Fallacy of User-Centered Content
October 4, 2011 by
On Meet Content, we talk a lot about the importance of users’ needs. Last week Georgy discussed content as customer service, highlighting the need for our content to be helpful to users. Indeed, content is customer service! For web writing and content creation, I consider this the number one guideline: keep your audience in mind. What are their needs? Why are they visiting your website? Content can't be useful if you don't know why it's needed … [Read more...]
Six Months of Meet Content
September 27, 2011 by
This weekend at Podcamp Boston, one presenter made the point that monitoring social media won't give you all the answers, but it will give you some really good questions. Six months ago today, we started Meet Content to open a discussion about improving web content in higher education, and we've covered a lot of topics, ranging from infographics to contextual content delivery to crisis communications to editorial style. 33 blog posts and 41 On … [Read more...]
Selling Content Strategy: A Continuous Process
September 22, 2011 by
One of the top questions new content strategy practitioners have — as I did when first introduced to the discipline — is how do you sell it? How do you make the case for content strategy and convince web stakeholders that their content needs a better plan (assuming a plan currently exists — eek!)? It’s easy to get discouraged. Have you ever had an experience like the following? "I told my boss (or HiPPO [Highest Paid Person’s Opinion]) … [Read more...]
Web Analytics for Content Planning
September 14, 2011 by
We commonly associate web analytics (including Google Analytics) with web governance and measurement, using it to evaluate content performance and user interaction post website launch. But web analytics can do more than report progress: it can inform process. A lot of content work happens before we have a governance plan in place, including content research and discovery. We need to understand business objectives and website goals, who our users … [Read more...]