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Robert MillsContent Strategist, GatherContent@RobertMills rob@gathercontent.com

Content lifecycles

“It is less important what the stages are called and more important that the practitioner have a unified process for managing the entirety of the lifecycle.” - The Language of Content Strategy

Strategy &

Planning

Measure-ment Publishing

ProductionRefinement

5 core stages of any content lifecycle

1. Strategy & Planning

Understanding Who We Are:

★ Company culture (remote working)★ Mission statement★ Brand identity and personality★ Voice and tone★ Challenges we face as a business★ Objective Key Results★ Collaboration and departments needs and goals

1. Strategy & Planning

Understanding Your Audience:

★ Difference between knowing and understanding★ All audience insights allow you to make informed decisions★ Validate assumptions or gain new learnings★ Move from top-level stats to needs, behaviours, motivations★ Audience cycle, like all others, is perpetual★ Outputs: use cases, user journeys, personas

1. Strategy & Planning

The Core Model:

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Business Goals s

User Needs

1. Strategy & Planning

Content Audits and Inventories:

★ Inventory - spreadsheet accounting for all content on site★ Audit - Review of your content and recommendations★ Must read - Content Audits and Inventories: A Handbook

1. Strategy & Planning

Mapping Content:

★ What use cases is it relevant to?★ Which part of our marketing funnel does it fill?★ Is it gated or ungated content?★ What will define its success and how can we measure that?

A Typical Content Production Process(for website content)

2. Production

2. Production

Establish a Clear Workflow:

★ What stages do you need? ★ Who is responsible for each stage?★ Are the stages linear or fluid?

2. Production

2. Production

Effective Content Collaboration:

★ Define roles (copywriter, editor, etc)★ Confirm responsibilities (approval, editing, production)★ Communicate where they fit into the workflow★ Ensure there’s an effective way to provide feedback★ Manage expectations - what is due and by when

2. Production

Other Considerations:

★ SEO/Meta titles and tags★ Creating and enforcing content style guide★ Tagging and categories★ Technology★ Accessibility★ Maintenance/Governance

2. Production

Proto-content:

★ Existing content★ Competitor content★ Write your own content★ Draft content★ Commission sample content

2. Production

Repurposing and Content Upgrades:

★ Making use case specific or generic★ Creating different content formats from guides★ If you read that you might like this

3. Publishing

Editorial Calendars:

★ Plan what is being published and when★ Allows you to ‘stuff the pipeline’★ Who, what and when★ Measure resource needed and what impact increasing

frequency will have★ Visual overview

3. Publishing

Technology Requirements:

★ What do you need to get the content published?★ Important to involve devs in the content process (asap!)★ Who is responsible for publishing? (do they need training?)d

3. Publishing

Testing Content:

★ Links to measurement section of lifecycle★ User testing/observation★ A/B testing

3. Publishing

Content Promotion:

★ Content isn’t ‘done’ once published★ Needs to reach the desired audience(s)★ Start of the maintenance/governance phase

4. Measurement

Is Your Content Working?

★ Define what you want to measure and how★ Did it achieve desired result? E.g. fewer support tickets★ Tools and data★ Engagement (social)★ Frequency of measurement, how long after publishing★ Before/after. What can you learn?★ Disseminate findings

5. Refinement

What Are You Refining?

★ Content or strategy?

5. Refinement

Action the insights:

★ Spectrum: copy tweaks to adding/removing sections★ Content inventory - living document, record actions here★ Measure the refined/changed content (repeat as needed)

5. Refinement

Maintenance and Governance:

★ Not necessarily based on measurement insights★ Plan for on-going content production★ Putting a new site live is just the beginning★ What resources are needed post-launch?★ New/different workflow/roles and responsibilities

“Reassessing your strategy regularly is important, especially as your business model or priorities change, new competitors come on the scene, or your target audience shifts.” - Meghan Casey, The Content Strategy Toolkit

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The content lifecycle is perpetual. Plan, produce, publish. Review, refine and repeat. Content is never ‘done’.

Robert Mills

Thank you.

Robert MillsContent Strategist, GatherContent@RobertMills rob@gathercontent.com