The Elements of Content Strategy - Erin Kissane [27]
Provide example content for each piece of content on the template. For pieces that can be created in several ways (a list or a paragraph, a screenshot or video clip), provide examples of all options whenever possible.
FIG 4: A sample content template for WidgetCorp’s product pages. Product vocabulary borrowed from http://bkaprt.com/cs/11/.2
Planning for Content Creation
Content creation encompasses writing, illustration, information visualization, metadata and text-equivalent production, and interface writing, and is supported by creative direction and old-fashioned editorial leadership.
You may notice that I have not written “web writing,” and there’s a reason for that: While it’s true that writing for the web is different from writing for print, it is also increasingly true that “the web” is only one part of a larger internet publishing landscape. We do write for the web, but we also write for applications, email, mobile, and a horde of services that straddle multiple categories.
This is not a writing manual, nor a book about communication in general—not because these aren’t vital, central tasks, but because the world doesn’t need another book about web writing basics and the principles of visual communication. But all content strategists need to understand the challenges inherent in content development, and to be able to direct the production of content that meets the project’s requirements.
There are only three ways to produce content. You can get it from dedicated creators, from internal experts, or you can avoid the issue entirely by aggregating someone else’s content. In the fantasy world from which many marketing plans spring, these three methods are equally useful and entirely distinct. In reality, they are complex, messy, and often inseparable from each other.
Dedicated creators
Pros: Dedicated freelance or staff writers/video producers/communicators will have the time required to create the content you need. They’ll also be really good at their jobs (or you wouldn’t have hired them).
Cons: No matter who will write your text or create your illustrations and videos, someone must decide what they will communicate. If your content needs to sell the benefits of a complex product or educate readers about a complicated process, it’s unrealistic to expect that a freelance writer or web editor will be able to write knowledgeably about the subject without access to internal experts.
Internal experts
Pros: If you get people already on staff to create content, they will almost certainly have the right subject-matter knowledge. They’ll also often know the target audience inside and out, especially if they have a marketing background. Plus, they’ll know the existing company culture—which can be either a benefit or a danger.
Cons: The people with topical expertise are often too busy to produce content or unable to communicate their expertise in a way that serves the intended audience. One of the great challenges of content strategy—and especially of content production—is getting ideas from the heads of experts into the heads of content producers. If you rely on internal experts without a dedicated editor and approval process, you’re courting trouble.
Content curation
You might attempt to avoid the complexities of working with outside writers or internal experts by “curating”—or aggregating—content created by and for someone else.
Pros: By linking to a carefully chosen selection of content from elsewhere on the internet, and by annotating and framing this content in ways that add to the discussion, you can serve readers who don’t have the time to find the content on their own, or who rely on your editorial viewpoints.
Cons: May be seen as a quick, cheap alternative to creating original content—after all, how hard can it be to just collect links to other people’s work? But large-scale content curation is neither simple nor inexpensive. Done well, it requires the time and attention