M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

Chances are you know content strategists have something to do with making matrixes. Sadly, we don’t strut in long leather coats or don slick aviator-style glasses (while at work) like Keanu and his band of friends inThe Matrix (leather is in, but that’s so 2003). But like the characters in The Matrix, content strategists are often misunderstood, their purpose shrouded in mystery.

Just what are content strategists doing with those Content Audits and Content Gaps? If you didn’t know better, you’d worry that these words describe accounting software. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Audits, analyses and gaps – these words mask the true nature of content strategy. Which is? To create dazzlingly persuasive user experiences – experiences that accomplish a user's or a brand’s mission: to research a purchase, foster connectedness and ultimately engage in a transaction.

Content Strategy plans for and supports the über experience: discover, engage, transact, applaud and measure.  What do I mean? Just think about yourself. Let’s say you’re seeking to engage in cool content X (cool is relevant, it’s what you make it). You find and engage in said content, the content spurs you to transact  (a transaction could be a purchase or, in a social environment, the desire to interact), and based on the experience, you’re so happy with that experience that you tell others about it in some manner (blogging, word of mouth, reviews, tweeting it, pinning it, commenting, etc.). And when all is said and done, we substantiate – with metrics – that our strategies were, yes, thatpersuasive.

Yesterday’s content strategists had it a lot easier. There were a few basic content types in the collective online vocabulary: text in various flavors (product descriptions, FAQs, about us descriptions, news, etc.), audio, a little video and a few webinars – and fewer metrics.

Today the available content vocabulary has become infinitely more complex – with infographics, slideshows, social media content, communities content, UGC, social data, data visualizations and more…and – thanks to device diversification and adaptive web design – at least four distinctly different screen sizes (mobile, tablet, desktop and TV) on which we can deliver these persuasive and engaging experiences.

With 2012 in the rearview mirror, 2013 will see engaging trends rising everywhere. The core andemergent trends to have on the radar include:

• Adaptive Web Design
• Video: One Size Does Not Fit All
• Social Design: Increasing Content Consumption

In the weeks to come we’ll talk about the good, the bad and the new trends.

For now, let’s get started and talk about the adaptive movement.

Good content is a big, juicy burger you're serving up to your audiences, not some watery alphabet soup with the same sales message week after week. Having a good content strategy is the difference between a juicy burger and watery soup.

It determines what you communicate and how you do it. And when you're doing it right, you're communicating:

• Effectively. You're producing the right content for the right audience.
• Efficiently. The way you organize and produce content reduces redundancy and helps all of your departments and channels to contribute.
• Appropriately. You're using the right tools to communicate with the right people.

A good content strategy is like your secret recipe to connect and engage with your audiences, and it's a critical piece of any digital strategy.

The good news is that you don't have to be the Iron Chef of communications to create a strong content strategy.

Whether you're starting from scratch or rejuvenating what's already in place, it never hurts to review the four main pieces that your "recipe" or content strategy should have: message, audiences, delivery, and timing.

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