Six Steps for Building a Government Content Strategy

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Six Steps to Building a Content Strategy

presented by: Erin Edgerton Norvell

Government Edi;on


Why Do Government Agencies Need a Content Strategy?

Today’s consumers are moving to mul;-‐device/omnichannel approach to finding and ac;ng on digital content. To meet the expecta;ons of today’s ci;zens, government agencies need a strategic, coordinated, and user-‐centered approach to developing, delivering, and evalua;ng their content offerings.

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What Makes a Content Strategy EffecDve?

•  Defines how you’re going to use content to meet your business’ goals and audiences’ needs

•  Guides decisions about content through its complete lifecycle (discovery to dele;on)

•  Sets benchmarks against which to measure the success of your content

crea;on

governance

delivery

www.digitaledgecommunica;ons.us Source: Content Strategy for the Web (Halvorson & Rach)


Your Content’s Maturity Determines the Focus of Your Strategy

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PHASE 01: PILOTING If you’re in a trial period of crea;ng new content or tes;ng new communica;on channels, your strategy should help you define your target audiences and align content crea;on with their needs. PHASE 04: THRIVING If you’re using your evalua;on data to inform program enhancements and adap;ng content to rapidly respond to emerging issues, your strategy should help you determine where to focus resources for expansion and innova;on ac;vi;es.

PHASE 02: SCALING If you’re expanding your pilot phase to ongoing ac;vi;es or addi;onal channels, your strategy should help you develop rou;ne processes for content crea;on, dissemina;on, and evalua;on.

PHASE 03: SUSTAINING If you’re working from an agreed-‐upon content strategy, focusing on scaling content ac;vi;es, and evalua;ng how your content is performing, your strategy should help you look for process improvements and efficiencies.

Pilo;ng Phase

Sustaining Phase

Thriving Phase

Scaling Phase

Source: Content Science The Value of Content to Marke6ng (whitepaper) www.digitaledgecommunica;ons.us


Six Steps to Developing a Content Strategy

Define Your Content’s Substance

Conduct Internal & External Analyses

Structure Your Content for Success

Create Your Core Strategy

Develop Workflows & Governance

Conduct an Audit

1 6 5 4 3 2

Source: Content Strategy for the Web (Halvorson & Rach) www.digitaledgecommunica;ons.us


AdapDng This Process for Government

Global Brand

Subunits

Agency level oversight and coordina;on Responsibili;es: •  Amplify subunit’s (SME) content •  Provide brand guidance •  Maintain centralized tools (e.g. CMS systems) and

plaUorms (e.g. social media channels) •  Coordinate governance ac;vi;es •  Manage global digital partnerships

Topic level groups with narrower missions and specific target audiences Responsibili;es: •  DraV topic-‐specific content and tailor content for various

target audiences •  Manage topic-‐specific websites and social media channels •  Manage topic-‐specific digital partnerships



Global Brand

Subunits

Complete list(s) of content, including content formats, quan;ty and complexity


Step 1: Conduct an Audit

CollaboraTon

Comparison of business goals (at all levels) and best prac;ces vs. your current content

There are three types of audits to analyze your exis;ng content: Comparison of your

overarching content (e.g. homepage and top-‐;er pages) against compe;tors (e.g. market share, value proposi;on, level of engagement, etc.)

www.rawoonpowerpoint.com Source: Content Strategy for the Web (Halvorson & Rach) www.digitaledgecommunica;ons.us

Global Brand

Subunits

•  Alignment between global brand and subunits business goals

•  Purpose of each communica;on channel (e.g. centralized social media channels)

•  Cross-‐linking or cross-‐promo;on strategies (across pages, topics, or social plaUorms)

•  Governance and workflow processes •  Content maintenance ac;vi;es

•  Refining business goals •  Target audiences (in priority order) •  Target audience needs •  Preferred channels (by audience) •  Common calls-‐to-‐ac;on (by audience)

Step 2: Conduct an Internal Analysis

CollaboraTon

-‐ What do want to achieve? -‐ Who do we serve? -‐ What do they need?

-‐ What do want to achieve? -‐ What channels are needed? -‐ How do we coordinate and support content ac;vi;es?


Step 2: Conduct an External Analysis


Global Brand

Subunits

•  Brand recogni;on •  Brand familiarity and considera;on

(relevance, credibility, perceived quality, intent to use/engage/act)

•  Brand loyalty (sa;sfac;on, reten;on, word of mouth marke;ng)

•  Value (market share vs. similar organiza;ons)

•  Promo;on tools (e.g. search tools, email marke;ng, cross-‐linking)

•  Partnership tac;cs and par;cipa;on

•  Target audience needs vs. how your content meets those needs

•  Target audience needs vs. internal business goals

•  Compe;tors’ offerings and how your content compares

•  Partnership tac;cs and par;cipa;on

CollaboraTon

-‐ Is our brand posi;oned well? -‐ Are we amplifying our subunits’ messages well?

-‐ Are we mee;ng our target audience needs? -‐ Are we mee;ng our business goals?


Step 3: Create Your Core Strategy

A core strategy – or “content marke;ng mission statement” -‐ should map to your global mission statement but be focused on the purpose of your digital channels. It should also be forward-‐looking, aspira;onal, and

answers these ques;ons:

•  What does your strategy need to accomplish? •  What content will we produce for our users? •  What will the organiza;on need to do to support the content?

Source: Content Strategy for the Web (Halvorson & Rach)

3



Step 3: Create Your Core Strategy Start with a simple template, then wordsmith. Remember a focus on plain language.

Source: Meghan Casey, Content Marke6ng Ins6tute (2016)

3


CollaboraTon


Step 4: Define Your Content’s Substance

Your content needs to provide value to your target audience and meet their specific needs. For each audience:

•  Iden;fy your primary communica;on channels

•  Determine the high-‐value content you should offer (a balance between business and users’ needs)

•  Define clear and relevant call-‐ to-‐ac;on for each channel, webpage, or content type

•  Document the tailoring strategies (e.g. message framing, tone, language, use of mul;media)


Subunits


Refine and Document Your Brand Voice

To encourage consistency across all subunits, the global brand should establish brand guidelines, including voice. Consider these four brand voice aaributes:

Source: Social Media Explorer www.digitaledgecommunica;ons.us

Global Brand


Step 5: Structure Content for Success

Priori;za;on and planning steps for structuring content:


Global Brand

Subunits

•  Iden;fy common content types and map to each of your communica;on channels •  Develop guidelines for how content will be formaaed for easy scanning and reading •  Develop a metadata taxonomy (for findability, search rankings, and social sharing) •  Test content across mul;ple devices and address issues for cross-‐plaUorm dissemina;on •  Adapt global structure to meet the needs of the subunits

•  Determine the priority order for each content piece (per sec;on of content, not per page) •  Par;cipate in the development of a search engine op;miza;on (SEO) plan and social media

op;miza;on plan, including specific keywords and cross-‐channel links •  Evaluate content across mul;ple plaUorms (web, mobile, social) •  Iden;fy gaps in the exis;ng global structure


Step 6: Develop Workflows and Governance

03

02 01

05

04 Editorial Style Guide

Internal Tools & Resources

Internal Content Crea;on & Clearance

Processes

Content Automa;on Processes

Schedule & Process for

Content Review & Archiving

Source: Content Strategy for the Web (Halvorson & Rach)

A strategy is only effec;ve if it’s clearly communicated to all par;es and consistently implemented.

Governance ac;vi;es include: •  Define ownership and roles

•  Design workflows and governance processes for newly created content, new dissemina;on channels, and content maintenance

•  Develop and share governance documents

•  Assign a lead for the ongoing implementa;on of the content strategy


CollaboraTon


Gathering Internal Support To succeed, internal buy-‐in and support is important at all levels.

Team If they prioriTze… And neglect to consider… The risks are…

Leadership •  Budget/ROI •  Schedule •  Deliverables

•  User experience •  Time needed to produce

high quality content

•  Content doesn’t meet user needs •  Missed deadlines

Communica;ons •  Campaign-‐driven crea;ve •  Digital and social media •  Highly interac;ve features •  SEO

•  Exis;ng content •  Maintenance post-‐launch •  CMS restric;ons or

requirements

•  Content is more flash than substance •  Content is launched then neglected •  Content is delivered in ways that can’t

be indexed or measured

Subject Maaer Experts •  Scien;fic accuracy •  Ability to measure response

•  Message tailoring •  Audience priori;es •  Usability

•  Content contains jargon/lacks plain language

•  Content doesn’t resonate with target audiences

User Experience •  Audience needs •  Research •  Visual design

•  Current state content analysis

•  SEO considera;ons •  Strategic business decisions

•  Business objec;ves are overlooked •  Quality content can’t be completed on

;me due to lack or source materials or resources

Technology •  CMS development or requirements

•  Produc;on workflow

•  Content creators •  Brand and message

tailoring

•  Content published before it’s in a high-‐value state

•  Lack of brand consistency


CollaboraTon


R E S O U R C E S


Books •  Halvorson, Kris;na and Melissa Rach. Content Strategy for the Web (2nd Edi;on) •  Sara Wachter-‐Boeacher. Content Everywhere •  Redish, Ginny. Le4ng Go of the Words: Wri:ng Web Content that Works (2nd

Edi;on) •  Jones, Coleen. Clout: The Art and Science of Influen:al Web Content Digital Resources •  Content Marke;ng Ins;tute •  Brain Traffic blog •  Hubspot blog •  The Content Strategy Noob blog


Thank You!


Erin Edgerton Norvell Founder & Principal Strategist Digital Edge CommunicaTon ExecuTve Director Society for Health CommunicaTon

Government & Nonprofit

Six Steps for Building a Government Content Strategy