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Content Strategy Bitesize
TwitterContent strategy in 60 tweets
Posted on January 17, 2011 by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Content Strategy
So the Firehead team is fresh back from Content Strategy Applied conference in London. What did we learn? And what practical tips can we pass on to Firehead readers?
As we were live-tweeting from the event, here’s our selection of 60 of the best tips from Twitter. There’s loads to take in here from localisation issues to benchmarking to a set of steps to a content strategy. We’ll also be posting our own thoughts on the conference soon on the Firehead blog.
It's not all about marketing content - that's the icing. You need to get the cake right too - technical content, product info. #csapplied.
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
@rahelab Localization is not translation and is much much more complex! Thanks for that statement ;-) Many companies have still not got this
@EricEVGEurope
Eric Ingrand
What do we want the content to do [for our business] and why: the crux of #contentstrategy by @halvorson #CSApplied
@rahelab
Rahel Anne Bailie
Provide high level recommendations not the specs, get sign off on framework first. #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Structure: What is the optimal structure for our content? CS must understand fundamental principles of IA. Substance must inform structure.
@katetowsey
Kate Towsey
3. Define editorial process, roles and responsibilities, and tools... #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
eBay EU B2B content strategy timeline: 7 out of 12 months were spent building relationships across the enterprise. #csapplied
@halvorson
Kristina Halvorson
eBay found users can only handle a max of four topics before their brains shut down. #csapplied #ux #contentstrategy
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
'Super important to sit down with internal stakeholders and watch them.' Gauging their reactions help develop good relationships. #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Analysis & benchmarking, both essential for creating & implementing a strong #contentstrategy #CSApplied
@sammyphi
sam phillips
Wrong content affects bottom line: hotel guests avoid hotels that don't provide photos, etc that create warm fuzzy stay. #CSApplied
@rahelab
Rahel Anne Bailie
First question to ask - the obvious one (to smart people): who are our users? @hinchcliffe #community #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
First up @stevewb recommends the book 50 ways to make Google love your website, and seomoz.org - for editorial seo advice. #cs101 #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
#cs101 #csapplied Search engines now recognise and pick up social media, making them an important part of SEO strategy, and boosting rank.
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Persuader for #contentstrategy - show clients, don't tell them. #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
best quote of the day "in order to get things done apply apocalyptic deadline pressure" #contentstrategy #csapplied
@bricejbay
Brice Bay
Use content audits and competitor audits for gap analysis, at the beginning of the process #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Social Media listening audits - find out what people are saying about brands or topic to leverage what content to create #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Challenge for 2011 - integrate social media and speed it moves at with content strategy. LBi case study helping highlight #CSApplied
@brightwomenare
brightwomen
Topic-authority and ownership, through content, is increasingly important #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Social Media - figure out what you're doing with your audience. Forester suggests no more than 4 channels at most to proritise. #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Hard lessons learned - for big globalisation projs, bring in local managers and educate them about the process, help them prepare #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Good CS may be about slowing down the production of content (marketers are paid to do it, agencies make revenue from it) #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Content with baked-in SEO from the beginning (tagged, optimised) which is key-work researched and optimised can affect ROI #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Your content is a micro-drop in an ocean of an ocean of content. So make it good or it may never get seen. #CSApplied
@rahelab
Rahel Anne Bailie
"Permission to talk" - the brand should show off what they're famous for, create content that allows customers to get closer #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
But don't give customer permission to leave - over-equip them with information that allows them to go elsewhere confidently #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Speak language of business to influence change: KPIs, cost-benefit analysis, continuous improvement, best practice #measurement #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
#l10n #csapplied 3 different teams created 3 different brands in 3 clicks all on the German eBay website. No cohesion for the user.
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
#l10n #csapplied eBay's framework for sorting its content: research, content strategy (analyse), content management (implement).
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Content standards crucial for product - all content has to work together across huge projects, with tone of voice etc #cs101 #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Content Evaluation Toolkit: qualitative (subjective) + web analytics + analysis software + user research #measurement #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Content Lifecycle for product content: Analyse, collect, manage, publish, start again. Metadata crucial, cycle always iterative #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Readability formulae are to content what eyetracking is to user experience. #csapplied
@Cennydd
Cennydd Bowles
#l10n #csapplied Every 3 months, eBay management team is reminded of the content strategy framework. Reminders keep approach on track.
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
#l10n #csapplied How eBay prioritised strategy: filter issues against business strategy, legal compliance, impact versus effort.
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
#l10n #csapplied eBay also localises for mobile apps. Don't forget other platforms!
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Content perishes: its removal needs to be planned for as much as its production #csapplied
@mockduck
Myf Nixon
Specification: USABLE documentation to make recommendations... Not huge behemoths that won't be read. #CSApplied
@katetowsey
Kate Towsey
The job of the content strategist: 'getting the right content to the right people at the right time' #csapplied
@danbarley
Daniel Barley
To get to : "Right content, right user, right time" ask "What are you saying, why are you saying it, who are you saying it to?" #csapplied
@neildodd
Neil Dodd
Content strategy works best with the people who 'get it' in an organisation - (@rahelab) #csapplied
@fit_to_print
Ali Turnbull
#cs101 #csapplied Keyword tips for editors: use Auto suggest in Google and Bing.
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
How to get your brand managers on board with #contentstrategy - call it a 'brand repositioning programme'. Cheeky. #CSapplied
@emcguane
Elizabeth McGuane
When planning content, think DWMQ - daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly. Different content formats take diff. amts of time to plan. #CSapplied
@emcguane
Elizabeth McGuane
Tips on how to make your content "localizable" - documentation from Mozilla's Developer Network: http://j.mp/fIidKZ #CSApplied
@binder
Seth Bindernagel
#CSApplied Good reminder: don't use flags to indicate ANY country. Too problematic. #contentstrategy #L10n
@rahelab
Rahel Anne Bailie
Top 10 languages account for 36 percent of languages on the web says Seth Bindernagel from Mozilla. #csapplied
@Lucycharm1
Lucy Armstrong
Top 10 languages on web: English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Arabic, French, Russian, Korean. #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Advocating Plain English over industry language - easier to localise. #csapplied
@CSApplied2011
CS Applied 2011
Content templates help people remember how the page should be structured #csapplied
@RedLorryComms
RedLorry YellowLorry
Building a #contentstrategy is cyclical, not a one-off sequence - more good reminders from #CSapplied
@emcguane
Elizabeth McGuane
Great examples in @rahelab's #csapplied keynote of good, bad, and ugly content. Also check out @Rlovinger's '09 talk: http://t.co/V7zFcer
@halvorson
Kristina Halvorson
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It was a great conference, packed with tonnes of useful info to directly apply on the job on Monday.
The humour metre was way up there too.
Thanks, Fiona, for not only live tweeting like a crazy woman, but collecting the best ones for us here.
What a great snapshot of the content strategy conference. I appreciate your presentation of the Tweets. Thanks much!
I look forward to the content strategy “Humour Metre” snapshot next time.
Of course, we’d have to localise that to ‘Humor Meter’.