Content Strategy Principles by Erin Kissane
Good Content is Appropriate
Publish content that is right for the user and for the business
Good Content is Useful
Define a clear, specific purpose for each piece of content; evaluate content against this purpose
Good Content is Appropriate
Publish content that is right for the user and for the business
- Sell products -> too vague
- Sell this product -> selling is a process of smaller steps: discussing benefits, mapping them to features, demonstrating results and value, asking people to buy. Which task do you want the content to perform?
- List & demonstrate the benefits of this product -> Who is suppose to benefit from the product?
- Show how this product helps nurse practitioners -> Bingo!
Good Content is User-Centered
Adopt the cognitive framework of your users
Content must adopt the cognitive frameworks of the user. That includes everything from your users’ model of the world to the ways in which they use specitif terms and phrases.
Good Content is Clear
Seek clarityin all things
Create useful style guides, consult on publishing workflow, run writing and editorial workshops and develop tools like content templates.
Good Content is Consistent
Mandate consistency, within reason
Adopt a style guide, like the Chicago Manuel of Style
Good Content is Concise
Omit needless content
Like: mission statements, vision statements, and core values / press releases / long, unreadable legal pages / endless feature lists / redundant documentation / audiovisual dust bunnies
Good Content is Supported
Publish no content without a support plan
Update your content. (This requires to recognize content and publishing tasks as time consuming and complexe and to include them in jobs descriptions, performance reviews and ressource planning)