Content is Kewl
#ConfabINT
At Studio 424, we’re always looking to improve on our practices and grow our expertise in services offered. Content strategy is a vast new world of processes and best-practices, and means something different depending on the type of organization or agency managing content. We wanted to strengthen our in-house approach to content strategy, and decided it was time for a new approach. Jamie traveled to Seattle a couple of weeks ago to attend ConFab Intensive — a series of workshops over three days, spanning various topics and methods for developing and managing content effectively.
Here’s a recap of those workshops, and what it means for Studio 424 and our clients:
Brand Driven Content Strategy
The first workshop of the week started bright and early on Monday morning, and had us diving immediately into brand exercises. The clear goal of this workshop was to define, streamline, and commit to a brand message. We worked through multiple exercises, including brand decks that defined organizations by three silos; Who We Are, Who We’re Not, Who We Want To Be. While we use a similar exercise with out clients, this workshop offered a new method for organizing message architecture, and, it reinforced that the studio is on track and using the right toolkit.
Visual Tools for Content Strategy
Monday afternoon’s workshop was focused on organizing and prioritizing content for teams and clients. This went beyond topical and campaign organization, and really drove home the mindset that you should only publish high-quality, dynamic content. This is quality over quantity, and eschewing the idea that you should publish content on a regular schedule for the sake of keeping a schedule. It’s about saying something that’s worth saying, rather than saying something mediocre to look busy.
Developing User Narratives
Who knew Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces would play a role in content strategy? This was easily the most enjoyable, creative workshop of the conference. We worked through digital user journeys using the lens of the Hero’s Journey — an established literary and storytelling theory that breaks down the cycle of adventure in great stories, compared it with Story Circle character theories, and then explored dualities between reflecting & acting, and concrete & abstract. It was abstract, refreshing, and really stretched our minds away from typical approaches to content strategy.
Content Tools & Deliverables
After a morning of creativity and conceptual thinking, it was tough to drill down into a tedious afternoon of organizing content deliverables. Luckily, this workshop reviewed many of the practices we already put into place at Studio 424, and reinforced the idea that you need to customize your toolkit in a way that best fits your operation and your clients. Using tools like page tables, creating content hierarchies, and testing user responses are all simple techniques for planning more effective content.
Content Governance & Workflows
Governance sounds boring, but it’s critical. Each role is dependent on the role that comes before it and after it. And, clearly defined roles are important to developing governance. Once roles are defined, it’s a matter of fitting them into a workflow: Plan, create, review, approve, publish, and maintain. While this is most useful for organizations that are creating content internally and need to publish regularly, Studio 424 is often asked to review and provide recommendations for our clients on their communication systems.
Designing Interfaces with Language
The final workshop of the conference was focused on language. This was an exercise in defining Voice and Tone, and then working through language for a hypothetical client. Here’s the gist of it: Voice is consistent — it’s the personality of the brand. If your voice is removed, you’re unrecognizable. Tone changes. It meets the user where they are, and should fit the moment. This is where style guides and editorial guidelines become critical, and should be the harbor for your philosophy. Define the following with your clients: We are This, but NOT This. Once defined, test this on your audience and refine your tone based on the best responses.
Now what?
After three days of working through various hypotheticals, testing new methods, and absorbing best-practices, we’re ready to put these strategies into action. The key outcome will be an internal guide to our content strategy process, as well as a refreshed toolkit for our client workshops. We’re excited to put these new skills into practice, and to share our progress with all of you!
In the near future, we’ll be planning a content workshop for peers and clients. Keep in touch for an announcement about when and where!
Stay tuned:
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