Performance-Driven Content Strategy Roadmap

THE NEXT GENERATION OF
CONTENT STRATEGY:
A PERFORMANCE DRIVEN MODEL
A Confab Intensive Workshop
2 Sept 2015
Paula Land Kevin P Nichols

Agenda
■ Introductions & Expectations (10 minutes)
■ Defining Performance-Driven Content (20 minutes)
■ Developing a Performance Strategy (25 minutes)
■ Analyzing Performance (20 minutes)
Break! (20 minutes)
■ Operationalizing Performance (25 minutes)
■ Workshop Exercise (45 minutes)
■ Wrap Up (15 minutes)
2 Sept 2015 2
The Next Generation of Content Strategy: A Performance-Driven Model
@content_insight | @kpnichols

About your presenters
Paula Land
■ Owner, Strategic Content
■ Co-founder, Content Insight, home
of the Content Analysis Tool (CAT)
■ Author, Content Audits and
Inventories: A Handbook
■ 25+ years in editorial and content
strategy
■ @content_insight
Kevin Nichols
■ Global content strategist
■ Author, Enterprise Content Strategy: A
Project Guide and UX for Dummies
■ 20 years experience in the web
development industry
■ Key clients: MIT Open Courseware, Hewlett
Packard, Verizon, Target
■ @kpnichols
2 Sept 2015 4

About you
■ Introduce yourself to your table!
■ What are your expectations for this workshop?
2 Sept 2015 5

Key takeaways
■ Introduction to the concepts of performance driven content and
measurement
■ Understanding of what a performance-driven roadmap is and how to
create one
■ Key considerations for getting it right
■ Hands-on activity to practice what you’ve learned
2 Sept 2015
6

DEFINING
PERFORMANCE-
DRIVEN CONTENT
Definition
Examples

Image source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Frances_Densmore_recording_Mountain_Chief2.j
pg
Defining content
“Any information that is recorded.”
Kevin P Nichols & Rebecca Schneider

Meet Oolong
2 Sept 2015
9
Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oolong_(rabbit)
One type of performance…
■ A rabbit posing with random
objects on its head

Meet Oolong
2 Sept 2015
10
Image source: Patrick Barry at this link on Flikr.
And then there is another type of
performance…*
Oolong (AKA Pancake Bunny)
received international recognition:
■ Global presence on internet
■ Featured in NY Times
■ A dedicated Wikipedia page
■ Received international audience
*Info source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oolong_(rabbit)

Defining performance-driven
content
Measurement and evaluation of content in
order to make decisions on future content
priorities.
Comes from school of data-driven marketing,
but is specific to content.
2 Sept 2015
11

Performance-driven content:
Examples
2 Sept 2015
12
Netflix Nike Your YearIBM

Benefits of a performance-driven
content approach
■ Drives effective and relevant
content to a user
■ Leverages inputs so you can
respond to user’s content needs
■ Helps build a publication model
around performance
2 Sept 2015
13
Recreated with permission of Kevin P Nichols from Enterprise Content Strategy: A Project Guide
for omnichannel.com.

DEVELOPING A
PERFORMANCE
STRATEGY

Developing a performance
strategy
1. Assess the critical inputs
2. Consider additional requirements
3. Define a strategic roadmap
2 Sept 2015
15
Source: SapientNitro 2014 Content Strategy Positioning Paper

Critical inputs
■ Business requirements
■ User inputs:
– Personas and segments
– Cross-channel journeys
– Research and trends
■ Content assessment
■ Analytics
■ Tools (for ongoing efforts): E.g.,
content calendar
2 Sept 2015 16
Recreated with permission of Kevin P Nichols from Enterprise Content Strategy: A Project Guide for omnichannel.com.
Step 1: Assess the critical inputs
Content Audit

Business requirements
2 Sept 2015
17
■ Business goals and objectives that
connect to users
■ Define for
■ Entire content ecosystem
■ Each channel experience within it
■ Down to page-type levels
■ Identify new
products/services/campaigns
requiring content
Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy

User inputs – personas / segments
2 Sept 2015
18
Know your users:
■ Who are your users?
– Segmentation models
■ How do they behave?
– Personas
Note:
■ Continue to test and evolve
■ Requires UX expertise
Persona Example taken from Content Strategy Alliance’s Free Tools and Templates Handbook.

User inputs – inter and intra
channel journeys
2 Sept 2015
19
Leverage user journeys to determine
content needs:
■ Cross-channel (intra-channel)
■ Singular channel (inter-channel)
■ Funnels
Note:
■ Validate at least semiannually
■ Identifies future areas for investment to
prioritize content

User inputs – inter and intra
channel journeys
2 Sept 2015
20
■ Example Customer Journey Content Map
Persona User State User Journey Channel Content
Soccer Mom Anonymous Buy a Product – Step
One: searches for
product in Google
Website (Desktop)
Mobile (App)
Product information
in home page
carousel
Soccer Mom Anonymous Buy a Product – Step
Two: clicks on
product in carousel
goes to product
detail
Website (Desktop)
Mobile (App)
Product detail page
Soccer Mom Anonymous But a Product – Step
Three: Add to cart
Website (Desktop)
Mobile (App)
Shopping cart
Source: Rebecca Schneider and Kevin Nichols Fundamentals of Omnichannel Content Strategy Workshop on OmnichannelContentStrategy.com

User inputs – research and trends
2 Sept 2015
21
Informs the trends on user
behaviors, as well as
technology and industry:
■ Many sources available
■ Follow it closely
• Alexa: Web analytics and benchmarking data.
• Nielsen Press Releases: Whitepapers about technology and media
trends.
• Nielsen Norman Group Reports: Reports on various areas of User
Experience.
• Our Mobile Planet: Smartphone and adoption data on 48 countries.
• Pew Internet: Wide-Sweeping reports on shifting American behavior as
it pertains to the internet.
• Comscore Press Releases: Whitepapers about technology and media
trends.
• Google Insights: Topics are widespread and you can find information
from user behavior on screen size to trends in technology
Reprinted from Kevin P Nichols’ Enterprise Content Strategy: A Project Guide, Page 47.
See also Havas Media’s Global Media Trends and Insights

Content experience
"If you know your content, you can control your
content"
—Ann Rockley
■ Audit the content
■ Repeat annually or semiannually
■ More on audits later…
2 Sept 2015
22

Leverage competitive analysis
2 Sept 2015
23
Competitive Analysis Template taken from Content Strategy Alliance’s Free Tools and Templates Handbook.
■ Audit your competitors just as
you would your content
■ Identifies opportunities and
gaps in your own experience

Metrics and analytics
2 Sept 2015
24
■ Goal of tracking and assessing data:
Understand reach, engagement, conversion
■ Hard data: Quantifiable (the “what”)
■ Soft data: Qualitative (the “why)
Image source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plastic_tape_measure.jpg.

Metrics and analytics: Hard
metrics
■ Quantitative
measurements
– Conversions
– Page views
– Time on site
– Click-throughs
– Keyword search
– User journey
■ Social metrics
– Likes, shares,
subscriptions
25
Image source: Laurie Carodonna at this Flickr URL.
2 Sept 2015

Metrics and analytics: Soft metrics
■ Primary research
– Focus groups
■ Secondary research
– Marketing trends
■ Social listening
– Behavioral, sentiment analysis
■ Surveys
– Customer satisfaction
■ Customer feedback
■ Reviews
2 Sept 2015
26
Slide adapted from Rebecca Schneider and Kevin Nichols Fundamentals of Omnichannel Content Strategy Workshop on
OmnichannelContentStrategy.com
Image source: Samuel Mann at this Flickr URL.

Considerations:
Content
■ Aspire for GREAT content!
■ Make the investment in continual creation
of great content a business priority
■ Understand: your brand’s identify is only as
good as the content that supports it
■ Don’t recycle the same existing content
again and again and again—improve it!
2 Sept 2015 27
Image source: Laurel Fan at this Flickr URL.
Step 2: Considering additional requirements

Considerations: Operations
■ Operations
– Budgetary support
– Siloed business units
– Conflicting incentive structures
– Cross discipline roles
■ Data
– IT should not own data
– Data is more than metrics/analytics
– Measure across channels?
■ Technology
– Can require multiple systems and dedicated tech resources
– Tech integration is often required
– Tech should not drive any of the above
2 Sept 2015 28
Source: Rebecca Schneider and Kevin Nichols Fundamentals of Omnichannel Content Strategy Workshop on OmnichannelContentStrategy.com
Step 2: Considering additional requirements

Roadmap: Overview
■ Plots prioritized and scheduled approach to achieving the short- and
long-term performance recommendations
■ Identifies bottom-up projects to feed it, and immediate opportunities to
improve processes and demonstrate value
Remember…
■ Start big, not small
■ Revisit roadmap and course correct as needed
2 Sept 2015 29
Step 3: Developing a strategic roadmap

Roadmap: Team Planning
■ Start with a multidisciplinary team
– Content Producing Group(s)
– Information Technology (architects)
– Sponsoring Business Unit Representative(s) (with budget authority)
– Marketing (MarCom)
– Subject Matter Experts (as needed)
■ Establish core group members, meeting intervals
■ Each meeting should have clear goals and action items
■ A RACI or similar tool may be useful
2 Sept 2015 30

Roadmap: Business Goals
■ What is the long term vision for the company?
■ What are the business goals within context of corporate strategy?
■ What are the objectives in place to meet those goals?
■ How will omnichannel advance business goals?
■ Who are your audience(s)?
■ What channels are important to your business?
Answer the above as part of a discovery phase.
2 Sept 2015 31

Roadmap: Stakeholder Interviews
■ Meet with key stakeholders (cast of 1000+ not necessary)
– Business sponsor(s)
– MarCom
– Content producers
– Information technology
■ Ask same/similar questions (interview protocol)
■ Provide findings and analysis report
■ Use report to inform roadmap
2 Sept 2015 32

Roadmap: Workshops
■ Use workshops to define high-level roadmap that plots strategy for next 2-
3 years
■ High-level example: See wall print out
■ We will go through a workshop exercise today
2 Sept 2015 33

ANALYZING
PERFORMANCE
Tools and Processes

Tools and processes for measuring
performance
■ Metrics and analytics
■ User research
■ Content audit
■ Optimized content lifecycles
■ Content calendar
2 Sept 2015 35

Select your analytics
2 Sept 2015 36
■ Review business
goals/objectives
■ Determine which metrics will
best measure an objective’s
success
■ Look within each channel and
across channels; don’t forget
social
Source: Rebecca Schneider and Kevin Nichols Fundamentals of Omnichannel Content Strategy Workshop on

Select your analytics, cont.
2 Sept 2015 37
■ Use the SMART approach:
– Specific
– Measureable
– Assignable
– Realistic
– Time-related

Choose your tools
2 Sept 2015 38
Adapted from http://chiefmartec.com/2015/01/marketing-technology-landscape-supergraphic-2015/

Gather and analyze data
■ Focus on your most
important content
■ Look for the lows but don’t
forget the middle
■ Matrix the data
■ Account for factors like
seasonality
2 Sept 2015 39

Analyze soft metrics
■ Primary research
■ Secondary research
■ Social listening
■ Surveys
■ Customer feedback
■ Reviews
2 Sept 2015 40

Understand user behavior
2 Sept 2015 41
■ User flows
■ Usability testing
■ Card sorts
■ Search log analysis
■ Customer support logs

The content audit
2 Sept 2015 42
■ Shows whether content supports business and user goals
■ Incorporates metrics for performance analysis
■ Informs strategy for improvement
■ Ensures that content consistently follows brand, editorial, style and
metadata guidelines
■ Establishes a basis for gap analysis between content you have and
content you need
■ Prepares content for revision, removal and migration
■ Uncovers patterns in content to support structured content plans
■ Supports decision-making
■ Reduces project risk

Audit tools
2 Sept 2015 43

What to do with findings
■ Plan and implement content improvements
– Future content planning
– Content to leave as-is
– Content to optimize
– Content to sunset
■ Implications for governance
2 Sept 2015 44

OPERATIONALIZING
PERFORMANCE
Governance and Organizational Change

Governance and organizational
change
■ The benefits of governance
■ Strategic and operational aspects
2 Sept 2015 46
Effective
content
Operational excellence
Strategic foundation

Governance: Benefits
■ Provides a structure for content creation and maintenance
■ Sets, enables, and enforces standards
■ Provides clear roles and responsibilities
■ Provides a forum for content-related issues
■ Group members can collaboratively define success measures
■ Ensures predictable processes
■ Lowers risk
■ Conserves resources
2 Sept 2015 47

Strategic aspects of governance
■ Understand current state
■ Define goals, priorities, use cases for future
■ Define success metrics
2 Sept 2015 48

Operational aspects of governance
2 Sept 2015 49
■ People
■ Processes
■ Tools

Governance: People
■ Preparing the organization for change
■ Team model to support governance
■ Roles and responsibilities
2 Sept 2015 51

Prepare the organization for
change
■ Getting organizational buy-in
■ Changed roles and responsibilities
■ Need for training
■ Documentation of policies and workflows
■ Tools implementation and adoption
2 Sept 2015 52

Set team model
Governance Team
Working Groups
Social Analytics Legal Content TechnologyBrand
Operations Technology Marketing Publishing TaxonomyStrategy
Executive Sponsor
2 Sept 2015 53
Product

Define roles and responsibilities
2 Sept 2015 54
■ One model: RACI
■ Other models may exist in your organization – key is choosing what works
Source: Content Strategy Alliance Tools & Templates Handbook http://contentstrategyalliance.com/csa-best-practices/csa-handbook/

Governance: Processes
■ Procedures, policies, guidelines
■ Communication
■ Training
■ Ongoing optimization
2 Sept 2015 56

Governance: Procedures
■ Describe governance tasks and schedule
■ Define how decisions are made
■ Define content lifecycle management and workflows
– Channel-specific workflow
– Content-specific workflow
– Routine maintenance
– Change management
– Updating content
– Archiving content
■ Create a schedule of content review based on the quantity and
frequency of publication
2 Sept 2015 57

Governance: Communication
and training
2 Sept 2015 58
Message/
Campaign
Audience Objective Distribution Format Frequency Responsible
■ Create communication plan to schedule project communications
■ Plan and implement team training on processes and tools
■ Use in conjunction with RACI model

Governance: Tools
■ Editorial calendars
■ Optimized content lifecycles
■ Workflows
■ Tracking and reporting
■ Process automation
2 Sept 2015 60

Editorial calendar
■ Central area for content planning and production
■ Should align with other calendars (technical implementations, marketing
campaigns, product releases, etc.)
■ Include go-live dates, dependencies, responsible party
2 Sept 2015 61
Source: Content Strategy Alliance Tools & Templates Handbook http://contentstrategyalliance.com/csa-best-practices/csa-handbook/

Optimized content lifecycles
2 Sept 2015 62
Source: http://contentstrategyalliance.com/csa-best-practices/csa-handbook/
■ Tracks content from
planning through
distribution
■ Provides a way to
ensure consistent
process
■ Allows for identification
of optimization
opportunities

Governance workflow
■ Can be used in conjunction with
a RACI chart
■ Provides clear steps in approval
process - people-focused rather
than tools
■ Shows hand off points
2 Sept 2015 63

Dashboards
■ Provide information on
content creation (or other)
progress
■ Helps to identify potential
roadblocks
■ Helps to plan for future
initiatives
2 Sept 2015 64

Performance-tracking dashboard
2 Sept 2015 65
Source: http://contentstrategyalliance.com/csa-best-practices/csa-handbook/

Process automation
■ Automated workflows
■ Content expiration
■ Version control
2 Sept 2015 66

Governance considerations
■ Testing (and iterating) on processes
■ Overcoming organizational resistance
■ Preparing for expanded roles—may need to add resources, change
responsibilities
2 Sept 2015 67

Workshop exercise: Define a
roadmap
■ To define your roadmap, decide on the experience for which you want to
create a roadmap
■ Use the structure of the printed-out roadmap
■ Take each category under “launch” and create your roadmap, naming
specific content,. Focus on areas that are critical to the experience.
– Be specific. If you have a product company, pick a product launch
– If you have a corporate site or non-profit, take a corporate responsibility
story or a specific initiative within your program
2 Sept 2015 69

Final thoughts
■ It takes a village—to effectively implement a performance-driven content
initiative you need organizational buy-in, cross-functional support
■ If at first you don’t succeed… It may take a few tries to get your roadmap
in place and your processes organized and optimized. Review, revise,
repeat.
2 Sept 2015 71

Stay in touch!
Paula
■ pland@content-insight.com
■ Web:
– www.content-insight.com
– www.strategiccontent.com
■ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/paulaland
■ Twitter: twitter.com/content_insight
Kevin
■ kevin@kevinpnichols.com
■ Web: kevinpnichols.com
■ LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinpnichols
■ Twitter: twitter.com/kpnichols
■ YouTube:
www.youtube.com/user/kevinpnichols
2 Sept 2015 72

Suggested reading
■ Havas Worldwide. Prosumer Report. Building Brands That Matter: The Sweet Spot Between Trust & Dynamism. 2013.
– http://www.prosumer-report.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/11/HWW-Prosumer-Report-Brand-Dynamism-Hi-
Res.pdf
■ Welchman, Lisa. Managing Chaos: Digital Governance by Design. Rosenfeld Media: Brooklyn, NY. 2015
■ Kevin P Nichols’ Enterprise Content Strategy: A Project Guides (XML Press, January, 2015) Everything in this Webinar is detailed
much more in by book. Whilst my book is not specifically on performance driven content, that approach underlines the structure
and all of my recommendations.
■ Paula Land’s Content Audits and Inventories (XML Press, October, 2014)
■ Note: Paula Land and I position our books together, because we feel strongly that mine sets up a framework, and hers informs
how to use ongoing audits and governance to successful enable the framework.
■ Redman, Tom. Data-Driven Marketing, How to Engage your Customers (Harvard Business Review Webinar Series, 15 January
2015).
■ Forbes Insights: The Rise of the New Marketing Organization (January 2015).
■ Content Strategy Alliance Handbook: This new repository contains nearly 40 free templates and leverages a closed-loop
structure to position the effort.
■ Rebecca Schneider and Kevin P Nichols’ Omnichannelcontentstrategy.com and Kevin P Nichols’ website: kevinpnichols.com
■ NGData The Fifty Top Data-Driven Marketing Blogs
■ Jones, Colleen. Clout: The Art and Science of Influential Web Content. New Riders: Berkeley, CA. 2011
2 Sept 2015 75

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