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1© 2011 SapientNitro | a division of Sapient Corporation

Content DiscoveryKEVI N P NICHOLS , DIRECTOR AND GLOBAL LEAD OF CONTENT STRATEGY @ SAPIENTNITRO

© 2011 SapientNitro | a division of Sapient Corporation


Today’s Agenda

1. Introduction2. What is Content3. Define Content Strategy4. Discovery Phase5. Content Inventory6. Content Audit7. Content Audit Report8. Questions and Feedback


1. Introduction


About Kevin

1. Heads up Content Strategy for SapientNitro – Director and Global Lead, Content Strategy, SapientNitro

2. 18 Years in digital and interactive3.

Has rolled-out content solutions for dozens of fortune 100 companies


About SapientNitro


2. What is content?


What is Content?

Source: http://americanhistory.si.edu/cobol/COBOL002-800.jpg

Content always communicates but not all communication is content.


What is Content?

Content is the communication recorded on some type of physical asset.

Image Source: http://dese.mo.gov/moheritage/images/WeShallOvercome/WeShallOvercome87.jpg


What is Content?

&

Content has a creator and a consumer.

1st Image Source: http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/images/marden_seac_LR.jpg2nd Image Source Image Source: http://www.americaslibrary.gov/assets/jb/modern/jb_modern_tvkid_1_m.jpg


What is Content?

Content is recorded as a physical asset that communicates an idea and can theoretically be seen, heard or viewed for future use.

Image Source: http://sirismm.si.edu/siahistory/imagedb/2002-10638.jpg


Bringing it home….

Image Source: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/multimedia/images/2010/iotw/reeves.html

In the digital world, content is an experience created by someone and recorded and stored electronically, either to be shared or not shared with others.


Attributes of Content

It’s a brand AND business asset with tangible and measurable ROI.



It’s the ‘life-force’ of a brand AND all content IS brand content.

Trust with

Brand

Customer

ContentProductOr Service



It’s an investment; without content, brands don’t make money. Period.



Content = Success


2. Content Strategy at SapientNitro


Content Strategy @ SapientNitro

Content Strategy Defined:Getting the Right Content to the Right User at the Right Time.


Getting the Right Content to the Right User at the Right Time.

Content Experience Content Delivery Content Governance



Defines the overall experience for the end-user, such as:

What content is on a Website or a mobile site?

What content is required to support a customer call center?

What content is on a product’s package?

Answers the question: What content do we need to create a quality,

meaningful and relevant experience?

Content Experience



DEFINE GOVERNANCE MODEL

We’ve pioneered a proven approach to a closed-loop content strategy that provides a flexible framework for achieving content success. Building from this approach, which incorporates industry best practices, we have tailored a process to fit the unique needs, goals, and focus areas for any type of project involving content..

• Audit content• Conduct stakeholder interviews/surveys• Analyze and validate content ecosystem

(sites, channels, social, partners)• Analyze competitors’ content experience

• Set objectives• Define measurement plan• Determine accountability• Create content recommendations• Define governance strategy

• Plan experience and content• Define new workflows• Prepare staffing recommendations• Prepare metadata strategy• Develop taxonomies• Develop editorial guidelines• Design content model• Develop content production/migration plan• Draft editorial calendar

• Create assets and copy• Input into CMS• Review and test• Implement governance

model and workflows• Finalize editorial

calendar

• Deploy content and application changes

• Use analytics to determine areas of success and failure

• Plan periodic audits• Adhere to editorial

calendar


STEP 1: ASSESS

STEP 2: PLAN

STEP 3: DESIGN

STEP 4: CREATE

STEP 5: MAINTAIN & OPTIMIZE

Content Delivery


Answers the following question: What are the operational processes and

mechanisms required to ensure continued success?

Defines a model to support, maintain and evolve the content ecosystem.

Governs: Content experience, it’s delivery and the

tools, processes, and systems to support it.

Content Governance



CS @ SapientNitro

Discover/Define Design Implementation

Content Assessment• Content Inventory• Competitive Assessment• Content Audit

Content Strategy POV – Future State Recommendations (the ‘strategy’ in content strategy)• Requirements• Recommendations• Conceptual content model• Translation & Localization• Metadata & Tagging• Maintenance

Content Model

Content Matrix

Content Inputs into IA

Content Lifecycle Workflows

Metadata & XML Definition

Taxonomy

Metrics Definition to Measure Success

Schema-Component-Template Map

Governance Model

Editorial Calendar

Editorial Guide/Content Style Guide• Voice & Tone Definition• Usage Guidelines• Authoring Guidelines• Writing for SEO

Copy Deck Template

Migration Plan• Content Entry• Resource Planning

Content Production Plan

Content Lifecycle and Tool roll-out


4. Discovery Phase


Discovery Phase

Discover/Define Design Implementation

Content Assessment• Content Inventory• Competitive Assessment• Content Audit

Content Strategy POV – Future State Recommendations (the ‘strategy’ in content strategy)• Requirements• Recommendations• Conceptual content model• Translation & Localization• Metadata & Tagging• Maintenance

CMS Content Model

Content Matrix

Content inputs into IA

CMS Workflows

Taxonomy

Schema-Component-Template Map

Governance Model• Editorial workflows• Processes• Staffing plan• Business Org Structure

Editorial Calendar

Editorial Guide• Voice & Tone Definition• Usage Guidelines• Authoring Guidelines• Writing for SEO

Copy Deck Template

Migration Plan• Content Entry• Resource Planning

Content Production Plan


Discovery Phase - Purpose

Understand the current-state content ecosystem to frame the future-state ecosystem:

For content experience; For content delivery; and, For content governance.

Recommend a high-level future-state model.

Goal: Gain enough understanding of content eco-system to kick-off design phase.


Discovery Phase – Role in Content Strategy

Arguably the MOST important phase in content strategy work because it frames what is necessary to define the future state solution.

Is the time and opportunity for you to get to know the content ecosystem. Without this understanding your solution will have holes / issues.

To cut corners in this phase is not only risky, it’s irresponsible.


Discovery Phase – Deliverables

Current-state assessment of content ecosystem: Content Inventory – quantitative assessment of content and its

properties. Content Audit – qualitative assessment of content ecosystem

(should not just include the content itself). Requires analysis of content AND how its lifecycle, including the input from stakeholders (stakeholder interviews).

Audit Report with findings, gaps and issues analysis and future-state recommendations:

Audit Findings; Future-state recommendations (tie these to issues uncovered);

and, High-level roadmap for future-state.


Discovery Phase – Going into Discovery; Inputs

Know the project parameters – why are you doing it? These should come from a project brief or SOW.

If you don’t have a project brief and need to uncover this information, review SOW and ensure alignment with project stakeholder / owner.

If no SOW exists, ensure alignment on the project with key stakeholders at a high-level: answer questions such as why we are doing this and what is the high-level scope (just a website? Mobile? All digital properties, etc..)?

Come up with a preliminary team that represents the various stakeholders at play—include technology, marketing, communications, SEO, analytics, business leads, etc..

Know who controls the budget and the project’s primary stakeholders, understand each of their unique drivers to justify difficult or politically-charged decisions against these drives.


Discovery Phase – Going into Discovery; Inputs

Authoring standards Creative or content briefs

Authoring templates or copy decksEditorial schedules or calendars with campaigns, new product introductions, or any significant milestones within the content production process

Branding guides Market rollout matrixes

CMS design documents, such as content models Marketing and business objectivesCMS/DMS or asset management system documentation

Metrics used to measure content or operational efficiency of publishing or data management

Competitive analysis Publication plans

Content inventories and audits Publication processes and rulesContent lifecycle diagrams and/or processes with actors

SEO strategy

Content matrixes Taxonomy and metadata standards or schemas

Content or copy style guides Technological standards or constraints

Content strategy point of view Users or audience segments and personas

Request the following deliverables, although many maybe unavailable.

Source: Taken from Kevin P Nichols’ forthcoming: Enterprise Content Strategy (ECS): The Practitioner’s Guide.


Discovery Phase – Outputs

A snapshot of the volume, accuracy, relevance, quality, timeliness, usability, and find-ability of content.

Content lifecycle/production workflows of current-state. Issues, gaps, and redundancies with the content itself and

content lifecycle processes. Systems and integration points. Understanding of how competitors treat content and content

organization. Consumers or users who interact with the content. Business logic or rules for content intelligence. Content organization, including taxonomies and metadata

schemas.


5. Content Inventory


Discovery Phase – Content Inventory

Purpose Documents the volume of current state content ecosystem in

terms of type, volume and scope. Is critical to understand the content landscape. Is critical for any type of content migration. Requires manual AND system approach.

Goal Gain understanding of all the types of content represented in

the current state, including any relevant properties about that content.

Define and identify any gaps, issues or pain-points associated with the content (requires understanding competitive and/or best in class digital sites).

–


Discovery Phase – Content Inventory – How to do it?

Start with a template that captures the information you need—use Excel.

Know why are you doing this work: Is it a new Website? A new mobile site? How many digital properties must you survey? Why are you doing this project?

Define the level of detail required – which information must you capture?

If you don’t know, start with the first two levels of information. On a Website, this would be first two levels in navigation.

If a Web or mobile is being surveyed, use for a sitemap as starting point if available.



Have the Tech and BA teams validate which level of detail is required:

Do we need to inventory just to the page-level? Do we need to capture content types? Do we need to capture information at the object-level (module-

level) Do we need to capture assets? Do we need to capture metadata associated with the page?

Note: for new Websites, CMS implementations and large-scale sites, all of the above should most likely be captured.

Run a spider to determine which information is indexed (for web, mobile, etc.):

What the spider does not capture should ALSO be noted (non-indexed content).

Leverage the spider index to populate some fields in the template, but you should review these pages manually.

Ask for any existing inventories or audits, if in a CMS, have team generate a report of all published site(s).

–



Content inventory fields in the Content Audit/Inventory Template (2012 Version) template found at: http://www.kevinpnichols.com/enterprise_content_strategy/

http://www.kevinpnichols.com/enterprise_content_strategy/



As you complete the work, circulate it with the stakeholders who create or work with the content; have each indicate who owns which content and any necessary inputs/outputs or systems or data pulls.

Validate it with stakeholders and ensure you have received sign-off on the following:

All types of content within the line of business are captured; Each content type is prioritized; Any inputs or outputs per content type are adequately captured.

That is, what is required to create the content? What are the outputs? Use the inputs/outputs fields in the inventory spreadsheet to note this detail;

Any types of content that are missing or are known to be forthcoming (e.g., a future campaign or a new product launch); and,

Authors and sources for content.


Group Exercise

Website X is doing a new design of their mobile and Websites. The scope is open but it includes the following:

A new mobile and Website redesign – with content migration and new content creation to support the design experience;

A new CMS implementation; Synergy between the digital properties; and, Localized, and international content.

Exercise: Break up into teams of 15 people. Use the Content Audit/Inventory Template (2012 Version) template

found at: http://www.kevinpnichols.com/enterprise_content_strategy/.

Determine which fields are required and begin to fill out inventory.




6. Audit


Discovery Phase – Audit

Purpose Captures the issues in the content-ecosystem. The ‘content audit’ is one aspect and assesses the efficacy,

richness, relevance, accessibility, measurability and optimization of the content experience.

Also includes an audit of the end-to-end content lifecycle and any organizational governance model(s).

Goal Gain an understanding of all strengths, weaknesses, gaps and

issues with the current-state content eco-system to frame the future state.


Discovery Phase – Content Audit – How to do it?

Draw from the project brief, brand guide and any information known about the project to come up with a set of principles for evaluation. This includes reviewing competitive models.

Ensure that you know the criteria for evaluation (this content is rich because of X…).

Use the inventory and place additional columns in the spreadsheet to capture any issues or qualitative information about the content.

Survey existing comparable Websites or digital properties to see how competitors treat content. Use this as part of the evaluation process to determine where and how effective the content actually is.

Heuristic analysis can also prove useful, if using it, use a scorecard to score different criteria in evaluating the content.

Use stakeholder interviews to fill-in missing pieces of information.


Discovery Phase – Content Audit – How to do it?

Content inventory fields in the Content Audit/Inventory Template (2012 Version) template found at: http://www.kevinpnichols.com/enterprise_content_strategy/



Discovery Phase – Content Ecosystem Audit – How to do it?

Conduct stakeholder interviews to ensure a complete picture of the content ecosystem is understood.

This effort should be ongoing throughout the Discovery phase. Ensure all stakeholders that represent or deal with content are within

the interviews, these could include:

All Product Line or business line content owners Localization expertAsset Managers MarCom ManagerBrand Manager Marketing managerCMS Team Manager metadata specialistContent creators or authors Mobile specialist

Content management managers, Production (Video/Multimedia) Specialists

Content managers per business units, Regional content managers

Copywriterssearch engine optimization (SEO) experts,

CRM Managers taxonomists, International regional managers, Web Publishing and CMS ManagersLegal (Content reviewers for Legal/compliance teams) Note, a present member of the technology team, such as a technical architect and a business analyst should be in all key checkpoints and decision making meetings.



Schedule two hours for each interview. Send out the protocol before the meeting and list out

any deliverables and/or examples you would like the interviewee to bring.

For CMS or systems folks, pre-empt the interviewee that you may want to see the CMS or system.

Set up Web-share for meetings if you are remote so that the interviewee can show you file or CMS structures.

Notify the participants if you plan to record them (as this is the law).

Ensure that the participants have access to Web share tools prior to the event, if conducting interviews remotely.

Ensure the interviewee is briefed on the nature of the project prior to the interview.



Use Kevin P Nichols’ stakeholder interview protocol as a starting point found at: http://www.kevinpnichols.com/enterprise_content_strategy/


Group Exercise

Break up into the same groups as you did for the previous exercise.

Go to Kevin’s website and download the stakeholder protocol interview (you already have the audit from downloading the content inventory doc):


Take the inventory and begin to fill-out the audit fields.

Review the protocol and determine which types of groups you might meet with and what you might ask them.



7. Audit Report


Discovery Phase – Audit Report

Purpose Roll-up all the findings from the current state assessment. Make recommendations for the design phase around content

types and features, content production and lifecycle, metadata and search, accessibility compliance, taxonomy development, and content governance.

This document becomes the design roadmap for content strategy.

Goal Convey a picture of the current state, any issues and position

the opportunities for the future state in a series of recommendations.


Discovery Phase – Audit – How to do it?

Construct a document that captures gaps, issues and pain-points

Tie each issue to a future-state recommendation Example:

Issue: Accessibility is compromised because images do not use ALT text, which is also an SEO issue.

Recommendation:1. Ensure all images have ALT text.2. Ensure this content is worked into the copy decks for each area of content on the site.3. Ensure SEO keywords are leveraged for all ALT text.4. For any icon or button conveying an action to be taken by the user, use explicit language that

conveys what the user must do: “Search X Site.”5. Make ALT text for images a requirement for page publishing (all images require ALT text).


Discovery Phase – Audit Report Sample TOC

Introduction—Scope of the audit, what it covers, and why it was completed, as well as the process used to conduct it (e.g., inventoried content, audited it, identified key issues, sought sign off, etc.)

Content Quality—Brand integrity Content Quality—Relevance, timeliness, and accuracy Content Quality—Richness and effective messaging Content Structure—How content is labelled, categorized, taxonomy,

etc. Content Prioritization —Content priorities per key pages (e.g.,

priorities on the homepage, key landing pages, etc.) Metadata and SEO Accessibility Compliance Metrics and Analytics Content Production and Content Lifecycle Findings—These should

document the workflow processes and any issues, gaps, and requirements for the future-state design

Website Content GovernanceSource: Taken from Kevin P Nichols’ forthcoming: Enterprise Content Strategy (ECS): The Practitioner’s Guide.


Group Exercise

Talk through the issues we found on X Website and mobile site and what future state opportunities we have identified.

What did you learn from this exercise?


7. Feedback and Contact info


Questions

What did you want to learn that you still have questions about?


Keep the conversation going.

EMAIL: [email protected] Kevinpnichols.com (personal thought leadership) SapientNitro.com

(SapientNitro’s Website). Twitter: @kpnichols LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kevin-nichols/0/b50/160

SapientNitro: Content Strategy POV http://www.sapient.com/assets/ImageDownloader/1153/75807049_Cont

ent_Strategy.pdf

SapientNitro 2013 Insights (Trends and Analysis) POVhttp://

www.sapient.com/assets/ImageDownloader/1477/Insights2013Full.pdfI have an article in here entitled: The Future of Content Experience and

How to Design for it.

Also, please feel free to leave a comment on my personal Website if the templates are useful. Thank you!

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.sapient.com/assets/ImageDownloader/1153/75807049_Content_Strategy.pdf

http://www.sapient.com/assets/ImageDownloader/1153/75807049_Content_Strategy.pdf

http://www.sapient.com/assets/ImageDownloader/1477/Insights2013Full.pdf

http://www.sapient.com/assets/ImageDownloader/1477/Insights2013Full.pdf
