The Elements of Content Strategy

1. Content strategy is the art of planning, creating, and managing content that meets user needs and business goals

Content strategy is to copywriting as information architecture is to design.

Defining content strategy. Content strategy involves planning for the creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content. It helps organizations understand and produce content their target audiences need, develop sustainable publishing plans, cut costs by reducing redundant efforts, and align communication across channels. Content strategists act as a combination editor-in-chief and air traffic controller, overseeing all aspects of content from ideation to long-term management.

Value of content strategy:

• Aligns content with user needs and business objectives
• Develops realistic, sustainable publishing plans
• Reduces costs by eliminating redundant efforts
• Improves effectiveness of existing content assets
• Prevents project delays due to content issues

2. Good content is appropriate, useful, user-centered, clear, consistent, and concise

Publish content that is right for the user and for the business.

Principles of good content. Effective content must be appropriate for the business, users, and context. It should help users accomplish their goals while also meeting business objectives. Good content is user-centered, adopting the cognitive frameworks and language of the audience. It strives for clarity in all things, maintaining consistency in language and presentation to reduce cognitive load.

Characteristics of quality content:

• Appropriate for business goals and user needs
• Useful in helping users accomplish tasks
• User-centered in language and structure
• Clear and easy to understand
• Consistent in terminology and style
• Concise, omitting unnecessary information

3. Content strategy draws from editorial work, curation, marketing, and information science

Content strategy is what happens in the spaces between.

Multidisciplinary roots. Content strategy incorporates expertise from various fields. From editorial work, it adopts principles of storytelling, audience focus, and publishing processes. Curation influences content selection and organization. Marketing contributes persuasion techniques and channel strategies. Information science provides frameworks for storing, retrieving, and disseminating information effectively.

Key influences on content strategy:

• Editorial: Storytelling, audience focus, publishing workflows
• Curation: Content selection, organization, and presentation
• Marketing: Persuasion, channel strategies, performance analysis
• Information Science: Information architecture, content management systems

4. Effective content strategy begins with thorough research and assessment

To do our jobs well, we must balance an understanding of the context in which content is created with an understanding of the context in which it is read and used.

Research and assessment process. Content strategists must conduct comprehensive research to understand project goals, user needs, and existing content. This includes stakeholder interviews, user research, content audits, and competitive analysis. The insights gained from this research form the foundation for developing effective content strategies.

Key research and assessment activities:

• Project definition and stakeholder interviews
• User research and persona development
• Content inventory and audit (quantitative and qualitative)
• Competitive analysis
• Resource assessment (people, tools, time)

5. Content strategists must advocate for both users and content throughout the project

Acting as a user advocate doesn't make you an impractical idealist.

Dual advocacy role. Content strategists must balance the needs of users with business goals, often acting as user advocates in the face of internal pressures. They must also champion the importance of content itself, ensuring that content requirements are considered in all project decisions and that resources are allocated appropriately for content creation and management.

Advocacy responsibilities:

• Represent user needs in content decisions
• Ensure content aligns with business objectives
• Highlight content implications of project changes
• Secure resources for content creation and management
• Educate stakeholders on content best practices

6. Successful content creation requires balancing expertise, resources, and user needs

There are only three ways to produce content. You can get it from dedicated creators, from internal experts, or you can avoid the issue entirely by aggregating someone else's content.

Content creation strategies. Organizations must carefully consider their approach to content creation, weighing the pros and cons of different methods. Dedicated creators bring expertise in communication but may lack subject knowledge. Internal experts have deep knowledge but may struggle with effective communication. Content curation can be efficient but requires editorial skill and may not fully meet user needs.

Content creation approaches:

• Dedicated creators: Professional writers/producers
• Internal experts: Subject matter specialists
• Content curation: Aggregating and contextualizing external content

Best practices for content creation:

• Designate an editorial lead with strong organizational skills
• Facilitate collaboration between creators and subject experts
• Develop clear content templates and guidelines
• Secure leadership support for content priorities
• Plan for factual reviews and editorial oversight

7. Ongoing content management is crucial for long-term success

As more organizations realize that they must think of themselves as publishers, the world of ongoing internal editorial leadership is becoming ever more integrated into the practice of content strategy.

Content management importance. Long-term success requires ongoing attention to content management. This includes regular content reviews, performance analysis, community moderation, and editorial planning. Organizations need dedicated resources, typically an in-house editor or content strategist, to oversee these ongoing efforts.

Key content management tasks:

• Scheduled editorial reviews of all content
• Traffic and findability analysis
• Community moderation and social media management
• Editorial planning for new themes and campaigns
• Translation and localization efforts
• Content archiving and removal

Establishing effective management:

• Develop clear publishing workflows and approval processes
• Create and maintain editorial calendars
• Implement regular content performance assessments
• Allocate resources for ongoing content maintenance
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement in content quality

Last updated: November 11, 2024