1. Content Strategy: What is it and why is it Important
By Denise Kadilak
Information Architect/Team Manager
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2. About Me Information Architect/Team Manager 17 years experience
Creating and maintaining 1000s of pages of user-end documentation
Technical-project lead investigating new tools, best practices, and workflows for a 22-member documentation team
Led team’s move four years ago to MadCap Flare
Part-time instructor at John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH
Teach the Technical Writing course included in the school’s Professional Writing program
Past presentations:
Flare workshop at 2014 WritersUA, Palm Springs
Link your Way to Successful Content Management in Flare at the CMS/DITA North America 2013 conference
Moving from FrameMaker to Flare at the 2011 WritersUA

3. About Me More stuff Moving from Adobe FrameMaker to Flare
Webinar:
Moving from Adobe FrameMaker to Flare
Website:
Writing with a Flare

4. Agenda What we’ll cover… What is a Content Strategy
Why is it important
How do you create a plan
Legacy vs. New Content
What is a Content Audit

5. So what is a content strategy?
In very board terms
Kristina Halvorson of Brain Traffic offers the most used definition:
It “plans for the creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content.”
Also used for print Framemaker and Word output

6. What is a content Strategy?
In very specific terms
It is a lot more!
Other stake holders?
Deliverables?
Corporate Philosophy

7. Why is a strategy Important?
Creating content is no longer a simple matter
Global markets
Product iterations
Short dev cycles – thank you Agile
Regulations
Advanced technologies
Increasing deliverables library
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8. Why is a strategy Important?
You need to make sure…
Content is easily translatable
Satisfies a variety of output needs
Is manageable in the short dev cycles
Meets legal regulations
Takes advantage of advanced technologies to simplify/streamline the publishing process
Know outside stakeholders
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9. Why is a strategy Important?
It is not…
Simply figuring out how you plan to manage thousands of content-carrying topics or hundreds of chapter-bearing files.
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10. Why is a strategy Important?
That is an element in the strategy equation, but because documentation teams nowadays do so much more than traditional “documentation” and work with so many departments outside of their own, a successful content strategy involves orchestrating a number of related elements.
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11. Why is a strategy Important?
It is not…
A series of neatly defined steps
Because, it’s also not a neat process
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12. So what is a content strategy?
What it is is understanding…
Organization’s content needs
Documentation
Training
Marketing
Support
Cross-departmental relationships
Cross-departmental outputs
Your department’s outputs
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13. So what is a content strategy?
What it is is understanding…
All current deliverables
Tools used
Departments
Effectiveness
Rational
Future needs
Content
Deliverables
Also used for print FrameMaker and Word output

14. So what is a content strategy?
What it is is understanding…
Organization’s short- and long-term biz goals
Talent pool
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15. So what is a content strategy?
You take all of this…
And you make a plan
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16. How do you create a plan? In this plan, include details about…
Content architecture
Topic based, book metaphor, other
Identify the content pieces
Concept, Task, Reference
Book, Chapter, Section
Something else?
Define each piece
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17. So what is a content strategy?
In this plan, include details about…
Content architecture
Reuse/sharing strategies
Best practices/workflows
Formatting
Style guide/tone
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18. So what is a content strategy?
In this plan, include details about…
Content architecture
List all stakeholders
How it will satisfy the needs of each stakeholder
Potential stumbling blocks – and suggested solutions
Also used for print FrameMaker and Word output

19. So what is a content strategy?
In this plan, include details about…
Relationships with other department
Content they deliver
Content goal
Where are they getting this
Tools used
Also used for print FrameMaker and Word output

20. So what is a content strategy?
In this plan, include details about…
Output plans (pdf, epub, web-based help)
For all departments including yours
List all output options
List those you plan to use
Associate each output with the department need
Address those you cannot satisfy - why

21. So what is a content strategy?
In this plan, include details about…
Deliverables plan (video, visual walk through, full help systems, tip sheets, getting started)
For all departments including yours
List all deliverable options
List those you plan to use
Associate each with the department need
Address those you cannot satisfy - why

22. So what is a content strategy?
In this plan, include details about…
Future needs
Make sure your plan anticipates these
List known shortcomings
Industry/market research
Staying current with trends
Understand biz goals

23. So what is a content strategy?
In this plan, include details about…
Biz goals
Know current and future goals
Moving to the cloud?
SAAS?
Product diversification?
Market positioning?

24. So what is a content strategy?
In this plan, include details about…
Current/anticipated talent needs
Current talents
Missing talents
Anticipated talent needs - justifications

25. So what is a content strategy?
In this plan, include details about…
Governance
Relates primarily to architecture
Who?
What are their powers/responsibilities?
How strictly do they enforce?
Define reporting workflow/process

26. So what is a content strategy?
This is a living document
Plan for reassessments
Be prepared to revisit elements

27. Legacy Content vs. new content
New is easier
New stuff
Simply apply new stagey from start
Neat and clean
Legacy content
Content audit
Cleanup plan
Messy

28. What is a content audit? In very broad terms
Tracking of all content you currently publish
Foundation of a successful content strategy

29. What is a content audit? A bit more specific
Quantitative analysis that answers 5 basic questions about your content:
What’s there?
Who’s responsible for the content?
How are users locating what they need?
Is it satisfying the users’ needs?
Is it up-to-date?

30. Where to start? Determine the size of your audit Full audit:
Every piece of content currently in your system
Partial audit:
Varies, but usually focuses on the top few levels in your information hierarchy
Or, content created during a specific time period (past three months, oldest-to-newest)
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31. Where to start? Determine the size of your audit Sample content
Least detailed
A random collection of content

32. Resources
Content Strategy 101: Transform Technical Content into a Business Asset.
Content Strategy Failure in 10 Easy Steps
Reuse is a Good Tactic but a Poor Strategy
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33. Questions?
My contact information: