The Dreaded Matrix: How to Make Your Content Dance by Sarah Beckley CMS Expo 2013

Sarah Beckley

Senior Content Strategist, Razorfish, Chicago

7 years in Content Strategy

10 years tech/web/print publishing

Specialize in financial services, contextual help, online applications, content matrix development

Client projects include work for Allstate, Citadel, HSBC, STAR Financial Network, and the Options Industry Council.

@sarahbeckley

Sarah.Beckley@Razorfish.com

Razorfish

3rd largest US digital agency

2 years running on Ad Age’s Agency A-List

300+ staff in Chicago

2,500+ staff worldwide

Owned by Publicis

One of Forbes’ Top 100 Global Ad Agencies That Know Social Media and Google

AGENDA

What You’ll Learn Today

The What/Why/When of Matrices

A Matrix Methodology

Matrix Challenges

Summary

Resources

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN TODAY

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN TODAY

• A repeatable methodology to create powerful matrices to help you and your stakeholders make better business decisions around content

• Methods for automating/accelerating Excel

• What we’re not going to cover:

– How to turn a matrix into C-suite consumables

THE WHAT/WHY/WHEN OF MATRICES

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY CONTENT MATRIX?

It is what we make it

WHY DO I NEED A CONTENT MATRIX?

WHEN DO YOU USE A CONTENT MATRIX?

Any time you need to understand your content

Structure unstructured content

Whenever you need a:

– Content inventory

– audit/assessment

– Gap analysis

– Migration plan

– Content development tracking

– Capture any data about content

“A superficial understanding of content isn’t going to cut it anymore.” -Rachel Lovinger

WHEN BY PROJECT PHASE

Discovery: inventory, audit, gap analysis

Design: site map, content model

Develop: page templates, tracking

Deploy: migration plans

Govern: metadata, taxonomy

WHEN DON’T YOU USE A CONTENT MATRIX?

Your CMS can produce all the reports you need

Your company uses automated inventory tools

– But you may still be validating both of those, which were probably exported into Excel or a proprietary spreadsheet

A MATRIX METHODOLOGY

A MATRIX METHODOLOGY: DISCOVER

Before you build:

– Plan for the handoff; consider the entire project lifecycle’s needs

– Matrix goals: audit, gap, migration, content dev. Tracking

– Matrix audience(s): content owners, SMEs, legal, developers

– Client needs: offshore developers, reviewers, legal approval, external compliance

A MATRIX METHODOLOGY: DEFINE

Determine matrix requirements:

– Outputs: audit findings, site map, charts, gap analysis, keyword tracking, etc.

– Required fields: page name, url, content type, reviewer, template

– Can one matrix rule them all?

A MATRIX METHODOLOGY: DESIGN

Add bells and whistles:

– What can you automate or accelerate?

– Create filters, formulas, macros, and/or pivot tables

– Test your design: is it client proof?

– Format for ease of use and readability

– Assign numerical values to content when appropriate

ACCELERATOR: FILTERS

• Sort matrix on one or more fields

• Find content (values)

• Slight overlap with value formulas

• Turns spreadsheet into a table on a Mac

• Not good for cross Mac-PC files

• Excel, Data, Filter

• Searches in a Filtered sheet won’t search

• hidden content

• Limited: Can only filter by one value at a time

SAMPLE MATRIX INPUTS

• Content

– Text, images, whole Word docs

• Metadata

– Structural, admin, descriptive, 508(c)

• Reviewers

– Legal, lines of business SMEs

• Status

– With business, with legal

• Ratings

– Brand, accessible, tagged

ACCELERATOR: VALUE FORMULAS

• Excel formula that references textual cell content

• “Data mine” content

• Gather quantitative data

– Search and sum keywords, content types, templates, etc.

• Aggregate values for audit/gap analysis

• Use Conditional Formatting formulas to highlight key content

• Excel’s Conditional Formatting is on the Home Ribbon

ACCELERATOR: MACROS

• Automates repetitive tasks, including formatting

• Reduces time to create inventories or parse large spreadsheets

• Don’t need to code to create macros

• Easier to create than you think

• Tip: Tools> Macro> Security: set it to medium or low or macros may be blocked from running

ACCELERATOR: PIVOT TABLES

• Create “sub” matrix from original with a subset of the content/data

– Great for special audiences and audits

• Gather detailed stats quickly

– E.g., How many pages in each category use a particular template?

WHEN TO USE PIVOT vs. MACRO

• Pivot tables summarize and highlight values

– How many instances of “purple” appear in Section 5?

– Identify all uses of the brand name in the red template

– Custom filters can duplicate some pivot table functions

– Excel Pivot Wizard “baked in”

• Macros automate actions

– Hide and unhide rows or columns

– Add or remove formatting

– Copy and paste content

A MATRIX METHODOLOGY: DEPLOY

Share the matrix:

– Socialize, socialize, socialize

– Morph to accommodate different audiences

Content Strategist

User Experience

SEO Team Dev. Team

Design Team

CMS Admin

MATRIX CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS

CHALLENGE: MAPPING CONTENT

• Auto quote content needs to map to Business Requirements, Wireframes, and include Standard Path, Alternate Path, plus Help copy

• Content in both wireframes and copy deck

• How do you map your content (in the matrix) to multiple deliverables?

SOLUTION: COLOR CODE AND TRACK

CHALLENGE: MANUAL INVENTORY

• Non-profit needs a content inventory

• Small project (~500 pages)

– Or sample-size inventory of larger site

• What inputs do you need?

• Can you automate it? How?

SOLUTION: Inventory with macro

CHALLENGE: CONTENT AUDIT

• Large site with many SMEs

• Need to evaluate content for quality

• Client has politically sensitive content

• Can you quantify quality?

• What inputs do you need?

SOLUTION: QUANTIFIED RATINGS AUDIT

CHALLENGE: MULTIPLE AUDIENCES

• Insurance company wants one matrix for the auto quote authors, legal, developers, and marketing

• Different views needed across audiences

• Large volume of content

• How can you accommodate everyone without every audience seeing all content?

SOLUTION: AUDIENCE MACRO

More features than filters, but sometimes fragile

CHALLENGE: MULTIPLE VERSIONS

• National company’s product varies by state due to legal requirements

• How do you track the content variances?

• Can you automate it?

SOLUTION: VARIATIONS MACRO

CHALLENGE: MATRIX-SHY REVIEWERS

• Company stakeholders refuse to review a “regular” matrix

• Many reviewers, little collaboration between them

• Client won’t consolidate review feedback

• How can you get good feedback and automate feedback consolidation?

SOLUTION: DYNAMIC PROTOTYPE

CHALLENGE: THE DEVELOPER VERSION

• Bank is handing off content to offshore developers and it must map to the page template

• Content editing and delivery must be in a matrix

• Copy has long and short content blocks

• Must map to other deliverables

• How do you deliver this content?

SOLUTION: GET GRANULAR

Bank Bank

Bank

Bank

Bank

Bank

Bank

Bank

Bank

SOLUTION: EMBED WORD FILES

DON’T LET IT CREATE THE MATRIX ALONE

Bank

Bank

Bank

Bank Bank

SUMMARY

A MATRIX METHODOLOGY

Discover: what is the desired end result? Define: what/who are the inputs and audience? Design: Build in accelerators and automation Deploy: Socialize and tweak

RESOURCES

RESOURCES: AUTOMATED INVENTORY

• XML SiteMaps

• Snap Sitemap

• CAT Content Analysis Tool

• Website Auditor

RESOURCES: TEMPLATES

• KPN: kevinpnichols.com

• Intentional Design (Rahel Bailie)

• Web Content Strategist’s Bible

• CMS Consultants

RESOURCES: EXCEL MASTERY

• Excel Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools by David E. Hawley, O’Reilly

• Excel Annoyances: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things about Your Favorite Spreadsheet by Curtis Frye, O’Reilly Publishers

• “Become Awesome in Excel”

• Count (value) formulas

• Learn VBA

• Excel macros video

• Filter intro; Custom filters

• Pivot tables video

THANK YOU!

• Questions? • Contact/info:

– @sarahbeckley – Sarah.Beckley@razorfish.com – Linkedin/in/sarahbeckley – www.razorfish.com