The Elements of Content Strategy - Erin Kissane [0]
All rights reserved
Publisher: Jeffrey Zeldman
Designer: Jason Santa Maria
Editor: Mandy Brown
Copyeditor: Krista Stevens
ISBN 978-0-9844425-6-0
A Book Apart
New York, New York
http://books.alistapart.com
Foreword
“As you can see, the scourge is upon us, and we must, every one of us, be prepared to fight.”
—ERIN KISSANE, “Attack of the Zombie Copy”
CONTENT IS A HAIRY, complicated beast. There’s stuff to research, sift through, create, curate, correct, schedule—and that’s before we start to think about publishing. What layout makes the most sense for this content? What organization? What metaschema? What platforms? Never mind post-launch plans, or lack of resources, or stakeholder alignment, or, or . . . yikes. No wonder we want to hide under the bed.
The content beast does not scare Erin Kissane. In fact, for her entire adult life, she’s been quietly taming it with a firm but gentle hand. As part of her hero’s journey, Kissane has collaborated with countless designers, developers, UXers, marketers, editors, and writers on projects of all sizes. This is good news for you: no matter what role you play, she gets what you do and knows why it’s important. And, because she cares, she wants to help you understand how content strategy can help make your life a little easier—and your end products a little more awesome.
Not that long ago, I wrote an article that called upon readers to “take up the torch for content strategy.” The book you hold in your hands is that torch. So run with it. Hold it high. Be confident in your pursuit of better content. You have The Elements of Content Strategy to light your way.
Come on out from under the bed. We have work to do.
—Kristina Halvorson
Author, Content Strategy for the Web
CEO, Brain Traffic
Introduction
“Content strategy is to copywriting as information architecture is to design.”
—RACHEL LOVINGER
“Content strategy plans for the creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content.”
—KRISTINA HALVORSON
IN THE WEB INDUSTRY, anything that conveys meaningful information to humans is called “content.”
Every website has content. Companies with three-page websites probably only need a writer. But those with hundreds or thousands of pieces of online content need someone who can stand back and figure out what all that content should communicate. They also need someone to decide how best to communicate it, who should make it, and so on—a sort of combination editor-in-chief and air traffic controller. They need a content strategist.
In the last few years, the value of content strategy has been articulated in dozens of blog posts, articles, and books, but it’s quite simple and worth repeating. Done well, content strategy:
Helps companies understand and produce the kind of content their target audiences really need.
Allows organizations to develop realistic, sustainable, and measurable publishing plans that keep their content on track in the long term.
Cuts costs by reducing redundant or extraneous publishing efforts, while increasing the effectiveness of existing assets.
Aligns communication across channels so that web content, print collateral, social media conversations, and internal knowledge management are working toward the same goals (in channel-appropriate ways).
Prevents web projects from being derailed by the often major delays caused by underestimating the time and effort required to produce great content.
And this is only the beginning. Our discipline is in its infancy, and we’ve had only the tiniest peek at the internet’s full impact on the way we live and do business. Content strategy is rising because organizations all over the world have begun to realize that they desperately need it to handle their rapidly expanding online communications. Unless the planet gets hit by a comet, this trend is unlikely to reverse.
What’s in this book
This book is not an argument for the importance of content strategy. Neither is it a tutorial, a workbook, or a gallery of deliverables. It will not show you how