How to Create a Data-Driven Content Strategy

McGuane, Snare

Confab
11:00 am, May 9

Notes by @brianjameskirk, @technicallym
All notes for the conference available here: http://simp.ly/publish/5GMHGD

Data, Context & Content Strategy

@randallsnare, @emcguane

Context: how to understand the people you're creating content for. How we organize and categorize is based on context, perhaps cultural. Recommendations from social networks/friends will drive choice. And position, juxtaposition and layout

Data - what is it?

5 types: Analytics, user testing data, metadata, my so called data, useless data

CONTEXT

Navigation Summaries: Tracking how users enter a page and where they go, then analyzing the content on the pages, redrafting wireframes to provide what's needed

Next Page data (navigation summaries): A referral widget was driving traffic to some pages, not others. But folks were apt to click the really easily-understandable language.

Data tells us when content doesn't engage. "Planning ahead" is not as engaging or clear as "How to start a budget." People want clear calls to action, not cutesy headlines, when it comes to Next Page links.

Data sez: People want clear calls to action, not cutesy headlines, when it comes to web navigation http://simp.ly/publish/xn81G4 #confab

TESTING CONTENT

What do people understand? Angela Colter's Testing Content is

Cloze test to check comfit with text, and difficulty with concepts;

Paper-based tests, a mad libs style way to test language. Only 10 percent said right answer: "Make sure your *budget/income* will allow you to make higher payments," while most people said bank/lender. On a banking website, they have to be clear.

METADATA
Keywords and IA — core part of content strategy that gives content longevity and extensibility.

When should data direct us?

For different clients, a solution might not be what you make of it: for a commercial art shop, they needed promotion and exclusivity and a focus on strong inbound links, as opposed to traditiona SEO strategies.

Data can't be the only thing that matters: qualitative data is just as important

LANGUAGE

Tone chart: Tone descriptor, "less like," "more like." Warm, for instance, can be instanced by first person, active voice. Make intangible qualities like tone more scientific.

Traditional writing practices, like setting scene, are important way to engage readers and drive interest.

SOCIAL LISTENING

Social Media Listening Audit: Look at what people are saying not only about your product, but competitive products, and the product in general.

In yogurt case, the word that came up the most was "creamy." The organization wasn't using the word creamy at all, and the conent strategy was able to impact the product strategy.

USELESS DATA

Data is valuable, but there's value in ignoring data that doesn't make sense in a content strategy.

THE BIG CONTEXTUAL PICTURE
Strategic contexts: understand all the things that we have to deal with (content audit, analytics reporting, dealing with content assets, concept and design, focus group research)
Customer contexts: self-directed, validators, avoiders, delegators (customer types)
Putting together all these layers - data informs what we do, but it is just a part of what we do. We have to be the advocate for the user and the advocate for the quality.

CONTEXT ON A SMALL SCALE

What questions do you ask a client to find the story? What is success? How do you measure it? What was done wrong?

Where do you look for this data? Analytics; conversion rates, what content is being looked at, how long they look at it. abandonment rates. Conversion rates to call center data. Search box terms. Intersections of page search vs. organic search. What high-quality sites are tehy coming from.

There are loads of data sets? Why do people donate?

Social data, user testing, analytics, location-based data

Context is about layering: gather data to create insight as a content strategist between analytics, user research, editorial and the business side.


Notes by @brianjameskirk, @technicallym
All notes for the conference available here: http://simp.ly/publish/5GMHGD