Creating & Executing a Great Content Strategy

ESSAE Annual Meeting 2014

About Me

Helping organizations communicate online

more effectively since 1996

Hilary  Marsh,  Content  Company     Confab,  June  5  2013    

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Why do people visit your website?

Design? Graphics?

Widgets?

The carousel on your homepage?

http://shouldiuseacarousel.com/

Content lets users do what they need to do

•  Take advantage of what you offer •  Find out why they should join or stay

•  Learn how your association helps them in their profession

•  Not need to call you to answer a question

Content lets you achieve your goals

•  Attract prospective members •  Retain and engage current members

•  Increase use of programs, resources, tools, and information

•  Increase awareness of and participation in political advocacy efforts

•  Increase non-dues revenue

Content problems?

•  Language/jargon •  Prioritized promotion

•  Content hoarding

•  Bad editorial processes

•  New content missing

•  Different content on different channels

Yes, content problems

•  Hard to find information •  Too many publishers

•  Who’s in charge of the home page?

•  “4002.pdf”

•  Website is based on our org chart

•  Not accessible from a mobile device

•  “We should be on YouTube”

Content exercise

What’s in the bag?

Content lessons

•  You are not your member •  You are not your audience

h<p://xkcd.com/773/  

Who What When of publishing Where content online WHY How

What is content strategy?

Myths your members think about digital • It’s free, instant, and you can do it in your spare time

• Search engines will find your information instantly and display it at the top of the first page of what anyone searches for

• Any video they make will go viral

• Every member wants to share information about the board’s latest initiative

• Your home page and social media posts should be primarily about your association

The real facts

• Every digital channel needs a strategy and the right identity. The more channels, the more time and complexity.

• Page views are not a goal – the goal is the goal.

• You can’t succeed in your goals unless your users succeed in theirs

• Success builds over time

• Think > plan > do – all three steps are required

Quality Takes Time Good web writing is

• Short

• Active

• Scannable: uses bullets and subheads

• Leads with the most important information

• Readable – aim for 9th grade

– test at read-able.com

• Free of jargon

• Has compelling headlines that will make sense even out of context

“I  have  made  this  [le.er]  longer  than  usual  because  I  have  not  had  7me  to  make  it  shorter.”     Blaise Pascal, 1657"

 

Content Lifecycle

Conceive   Create   Publish   Promote   Maintain   ReHre  

Conceive and create

•  Conceive •  Set goals

–  Business: make or save money

–  User: increase satisfaction/encourage use or decrease dissatisfaction/reduce customer service needs & costs

•  Create

•  Optimize –  On-site –  Search engines

–  Other outlets

Publish and promote

•  Publish –  Review process: quality, facts

–  Content Management System (Wordpress)

•  Promote –  On-site: home page, landing pages, topics

–  Off-site: e-newsletters, social media, advertising

Maintain and retire

•  Maintain •  Measure

–  Test and tweak

–  Refine

•  Retire –  Archive/Delete/”Unpublish”

–  Renew

Who’s involved?

•  Staff –  Technology

– Marketing –  Communications

– Membership –  Programming

•  Committees –  All of the above

Associations are complicated

Everything is content

•  Programs •  Products

•  Services

•  Publications

•  Webinars

•  Reports

•  Events

Similar topics – are they connected? •  Programs •  Products

•  Services

•  Publications

•  Webinars

•  Reports

•  Events

Be a “deejay” for your content

•  Save time •  Save $$

•  Help members help themselves

Content strategy for membership

•  User goals •  Business needs

•  Promotion timeline/calendar

•  Testing and tweaking

•  Content reuse

Content strategy for events

•  User goals •  Business needs

•  Promotion timeline/calendar

•  Testing and tweaking

•  Content reuse

Content exercise

•  Create a page table

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Content exercise

•  Start filling in a calendar

Hilary  Marsh,  Content  Company     Confab,  June  5  2013    

h<p://www.lightboxcollaboraHve.com/2014-­‐editorial-­‐calendar  

Thank you

hilary@hilarymarsh.com @hilarymarsh www.hilarymarsh.com