The document discusses the importance of content strategy in experience design. It recommends evaluating existing content and user needs, setting clear goals and priorities for new content, and testing content with users before and after launch. The key messages are that content should be considered from the start of any digital project, that user needs are more important than business goals alone, and that collaboration across teams is important for developing content effectively.

1. Powered by
What’s Next:
Content Strategy in
Experience Design

2. Welcome
Melissa Sepe
Principal Experience Designer
Ogilvy
José Arteaga
Creative Digital Strategist
Ogilvy Consulting

3. Tell us
where you
are dialing
in from!
What’s the weather
like in your city?

4. Do you
want this
deck?
It will be available for download
shortly after the webinar on:
slideshare.net/socialogilvy
Ogilvy staff: It’s also on
The Market!
themarket.ogilvy.com

5. Hello!
Thanks for joining.

6. July 20, 2018 6
WHAT TO EXPECT
• How content fits into experience design
• Our approach to user-centered content
• Tips for content specialists, designers,
and other team members who want to
work better and faster together

7. This session is not about
content marketing.
DISCLAIMER

8. July 20, 2018 8
DIGITAL EXPERIENCES HAVE BEEN
AROUND FOR A LONG TIME.

9. July 20, 2018 9
CONTENT STRATEGY ISN’T
NEW, EITHER!

10. July 20, 2018 10
AND YET WE’RE STILL
STRUGGLING WITH
OUR CONTENT.
• “The content didn’t fit into our designs, so then
we had to rework them.”
• “Our subject matter expert gave us a pile of
jargon and wanted it to go directly onto the site.”
• “We wrote rounds and rounds of copy but kept
getting conflicting feedback.”
• “The site launched late…really, really late.”

11. July 20, 2018 11
IT CAN FEEL BETTER TO
START WITH DESIGN.
• It’s exciting, beautiful, and tangible
• Everyone can provide feedback at once
• It feels like progress

12. July 20, 2018 12
BUT WE OFTEN
FORGET TO ASK:
• What information lives in this design?
• Are we sure that’s the right content?
• Who’s going to own it?
• How will we know it’s working?
• Does anyone even care about this?

13. July 20, 2018
“Content is the entire reason why people
come to the design in the first place.
13
- Steph Hay, VP of Design, Capital One

14. July 20, 2018 14
ON CONTENT STRATEGY IN
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
• No matter the goal, someone’s content is going to be affected
• We’re asking more of our content than ever before, but that takes
readiness, planning, and the right technology
• Content strategy drives cross-team conversations, asking:
“Why this?”
“Where are we today?”
“Where are the gaps?”
“What are the alternatives?”

15. July 20, 2018
We discovered the secret to super-easy, super-
fast, amazing content…and you’ll never believe
what happened next!
15

16. “
July 20, 2018
Good content isn’t magic. It takes
planning and time.
- Karen McGrane @ UX Melbourne, 2010
16

17. …start working on content after design
is well underway?
…focus mainly on the content that
satisfies our own business goals?
…assume we know what information
our users are looking for?
…organize our content based on how
our business works?
…don’t test content with users because
there’s no budget/time/buy-in?
What happens
when we…
July 20, 2018

18. July 20, 2018
https://xkcd.com/773/

19. • High bounce/exit rate
• Low conversion or engagement rate
• Low % of qualified leads
• High call center volume
• Frequent user errors
• Negative reviews and social posts
• Poor CSAT and NPS scores
Signs your
content isn’t
working:
July 20, 2018

20. “
July 20, 2018
If you think good design is expensive, you
should look at the cost of bad design.
- Dr. Ralf Speth, CEO, Jaguar
20
content
content

21. Got it.
Content is important.
Now what?

22. Get comfortable with
uncomfortable conversations.
WHY IT MATTERS
Practicing content strategy is change management.
It takes courage to ask “why” and say “no.”
FIRST

23. July 20, 2018
Evaluate the content
you have. Listen to
your users and
understand their
content journey.
Build a strong
foundation. Set
goals, prioritize, and
bring content to the
table on day 1.
Collaborate across
disciplines and
between teams to
create content
rapidly, thoughtfully,
and iteratively.
23
DISCOVER CREATEALIGN

24. ALIGN

25. ALIGN
WHY IT MATTERS
Starting design and dev without involving content creates debt
that someone will have to pay later.
Start thinking about content
upfront to avoid pain later.

26. July 20, 2018
EARLY-STAGE PLANNING
QUESTIONS
• Who created our current content? What did we
learn from that process?
• Do we have a clear brand voice? How does it
translate to digital experiences?
• What content resources do we have on our team?
Will they be able to work on this effort?

27. July 20, 2018
CONTENT-FOCUSED
STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS
• How much content do you currently publish? Will that
increase, decrease, or stay the same?
• How often do you update your content?
• How long does it take to get a new content initiative published?
• If this experience went away tomorrow, what effect would it
have on the business?

28. ALIGN
WHY IT MATTERS
If you figure the marketer who’s juggling 10 other projects
can just whip up some copy for the new website,
have fun launching 18 months from never.
Don’t assume that the content
will just happen.

29. July 20, 2018
29
SAMPLE ROLES +
RESPONSIBILITIES
Content Gathering Copy Creation Copy Approval
Proofreading
& Copy Edits
Page Design
& Construction
CMS Content Entry Image Selection
Image Editing
& Uploading
Technology Support Pre-launch QA
Thought Leadership
Migration
Design Review
& Approval

30. ALIGN
WHY IT MATTERS
A north star steers the team in the right direction and
helps you say “no” when needed.
Define (and distribute) clear goals
and a vision for success.

31. July 20, 2018
31
CONTENT VISION
STATEMENT TEMPLATE
In order to BUSINESS GOAL, we
will provide USER TYPE with
CONTENT DESCRIPTION so
they can USER GOAL.

32. July 20, 2018
32
SAMPLE CONTENT
VISION STATEMENT
In order to attract the most qualified candidates,
we will provide highly skilled technology
professionals with visually rich narrative examples
of our office, teams, and career tracks so they can
understand what it’s like to work here and how we
can help them grow in their careers.

33. DISCOVER

34. Make content a priority when
researching and mapping the
customer journey.
WHY IT MATTERS
Pain points in the customer journey are often due to
missing or inappropriate content.
DISCOVER

35. Ask “What do our users
need?”— not just “What do
we want them to know?”
WHY IT MATTERS
Your users’ needs aren’t the same as your business goals.
Don’t sacrifice the former for the latter.
DISCOVER

36. July 20, 2018
36
USER NEEDS BRAINSTORM
How did this person get here?
What prior knowledge do they have?
What are they trying to do or learn?
Where do they need to go next?
What questions do they have?

37. Gather and evaluate what
you already have.
WHY IT MATTERS
Auditing your content ecosystem can help your team work
smarter and faster. Great content can lurk in unexpected places.
DISCOVER

38. July 20, 2018
38
CONTENT MAPPING
What can we keep?
What needs to be transformed?
What are we missing?
What can we archive?

39. CREATE

40. Prioritize ruthlessly
and be realistic.
WHY IT MATTERS
1) Your users are busy. Respect their time.
2) An ambitious content plan is useless if it’s not compatible
with your team’s skills, availability, and timeline.
CREATE

41. Work content-first to
accelerate progress.
WHY IT MATTERS
Getting a clear sense of the content upfront reduces risk and
makes everyone’s lives easier.
CREATE

42. July 20, 2018 42
DON’T
“Hi [writer], can you put some
copy in the prototype
for this new feature?”
DO
“Hi [writer], we’re going to start
sketching this new feature. Are
you free to help?”

43. July 20, 2018
CONTENT
PROTOTYPES

44. July 20, 2018
MODULAR
OUTLINE

45. Test your content
before launch. Measure and
refine over time.
WHY IT MATTERS
Testing with real users ensures your content is
understandable, useful, and valuable. Ongoing measurement
helps you keep improving after launch.
CREATE

46. July 20, 2018
Evaluate the content
you have. Listen to
your users and
understand their
content journey.
Build a strong
foundation. Set
goals, prioritize, and
bring content to the
table on day 1.
Collaborate across
disciplines and
between teams to
create content
rapidly, thoughtfully,
and iteratively.
46
DISCOVER CREATEALIGN

47. Questions?
José Arteaga
Creative Digital Strategist
Ogilvy Consulting
Melissa Sepe
Principal Experience Designer
Ogilvy

48. Thank you.