Content Strategy for Print, Part II: Changing course in digital communications

Why do clients reject the need for a content strategy? Have you ever asked them how they would manage their Web content if all those Web pages were actual documents that needed to be printed, stored and managed?

In Part 1 of Content Strategy for Print, we talked to Charlene Haykel, a print content strategist about simplified communications, the importance of governance on any system of content, and Macrosimplification™. Today, we learn her thoughts on:

• What makes a great content strategist
• The future of content strategy for both print and Web
• Why the entire field of communications needs to change course

What makes a great content strategist?
According to Charlene, great content strategists are:
• Smart analytical thinkers, from a variety of intellectual disciplines, including history, journalism, languages, philosophy, etc.
• They can come up to speed quickly on massive amounts of unfamiliar content
• They can overlay conceptual frameworks on unorganized and disparate information
• And they can ask the right questions on behalf of any audience

How does this compare to Five Traits to Look for when Hiring a Content Strategist?

The future of content strategy for both print and Web
While Charlene is delighted by the fact that the Web has forced content awareness on Web practitioners, she’s concerned that other communication consultants in traditional marketing and advertising practices still lead with design rather than content. This imbalance, she thinks, continues to create less than optimum communications on Websites, in Web applications and in printed materials.

Why the entire field of communications needs to change course
According to Charlene, companies are going to have to change some basic business practices in order to create clear communications for the consumer. All of an organization’s communications functions need to become more centrally organized than is currently the case —no more IT departments managing the Website far far away from marketing. No more bills and correspondence solely controlled by operations and IT. “If companies don’t speak with one voice, they can’t control their message,” she comments.

Charlene also thinks distinctions between ad writers and Web writers, health writers and finance writers are useless. “The only attribute I look for in a writer’s portfolio,” she says, “Is clarity. If they can communicate the right information in the right amount on any topic to any audience — clearly and efficiently — then they’re hired.”

To conclude
Someone at the National Institutes of Cancer once said that all humans think they are at the end of history. While content strategists may think they are practicing a brand new discipline, it is important to know that writers, editors, graphic designers and marketers have practiced content strategy in the realm of print for a long time. What print content strategists know should inform the future digital content strategists of tomorrow, so we can learn the most efficient, practical approaches to creating clear, solid communications that align business objectives and help customers find what they need.

What is content strategy?

Content Strategy for Print: Always start with the content



Charlene Haykel

With all the focus on content strategy for the Web, it’s a wonder we haven’t focused on a similar approach to content for printed materials. The very medium of the Web calls for content strategy—the technology, seemingly endless storage and worldwide access to digital content—create challenges that demand a system with concrete rules. But print operates within an entirely different physical universe, begging the question: Does an organization also need a system to plan, create and govern the content of its printed materials?

Recently, I had the great pleasure to meet Charlene J. Haykel, Managing Principal of The Haykel Group, a print content strategy organization based in New York, NY. Her approach to content strategy both informs and illuminates the discipline of content strategy for the Web. In Part 1 of this series, I talk to Charlene about:

• Defining simplified communications
• Why content strategy is so important to any type of content
• Macrosimplification™: Charlene’s approach to print content strategy

Defining simplified communications
Get ready, because you’re about to hear something familiar. Charlene says, “Simplified communications was the approach I took over the years when I developed brochures and reports for companies—I always started with the content. My team would assess content for whether it was the right amount and the right value for its audience (useful, relevant) and, finally, whether it was properly written. Everything would stem from the content.”

Why content strategy is so important to any type of content
Charlene believes that corporate communications and marketing firms are limited in their effectiveness and service to clients because they lack a strong content focus. When Charlene moved to New York 25 years ago and started working at a graphic communications agency, she says she was shocked to find out that her colleagues thought communications were 75 percent design and 25 percent content. “The first firm I founded had a tagline, ‘We lead with our writing’, and it was true.” Content is the substance of a communication piece and design is its structure, she concludes, and adds: “Design elements should be used primarily to clarify content, not just to beautify it.”

Macrosimplification™: Charlene’s approach to print content strategy
Macrosimplification™ is both a concept and a process and Charlene feels it is her most important contribution to the field of simplified communications. It was born out of her experience analyzing, writing and redesigning single documents within larger communication systems.

She describes its origins this way: “I began to notice that every time two companies merged and created a new brand, they had to reprint every piece of paper that came out of the place. With Macrosimplification™, I took the techniques I had used to simplify single documents and applied them to hundreds and thousands of printed pieces across a company.”

Case study in Macrosimplification™
At a major financial services firm, Charlene and her team applied the Macrosimplification process — content analysis, reduction, and reorganization — to hundreds of retail brochures , piece by piece, through a total of 750 pieces. In the end, they were able to reduce the number of documents produced by the client by a whopping 60 percent. Think of all the trees they saved!

Here’s at the process the Haykel team used in this project. Notice how many points in her process line up very nicely with content strategy for the Web. In this project, the Macrosimplification™ team:

1. Conducted a very thorough content analysis to find excessive, useless, redundant, missing, poorly written, and mislabeled content (Content Audit)
2. Thoroughly documented the content recommended for elimination, or for a move from print to the Web. (Deployment)
3. Identified bloat and inefficiencies in the current system, as well as opportunities to save time and money. (Planning)
4. Created a financial impact statement for the executive team to document all costs currently associated with printed materials, including printing, fulfillment, storage and handling (Planning)
5. Created an architecture for the core information remaining after the Content Audit.
6. Illustrated how content could be better organized from the consumers’ point of view (Grids and guidelines for creating and managing content)
7. Rewrote all content in plain language and applied best practices in information design for maximum clarity and functionality.

The process was a win-win for both the company and its clients: the company could produce fewer printed materials, and the materials they created were clearer, more concise and more useful for customers.

In Part 2, we’ll talk about what makes a great content strategist, what the future of content strategy for both print and Web should be, and why the entire field of communications needs to change course.

How hospitals can use Facebook Places, Foursquare and QR codes

During an episode of Sex and the City, the four main characters converse over a conference line to discuss their Saturday night plans. Charlotte, confused by the number of voices on the line, says, “Is everyone on the phone?” To which Carrie replies, “It’s the future.”

Now the idea of a party line seems five minutes ago.  But when it was first introduced, it was revolutionary.  And we're watching the same types of changes in the way we communicate and interact with brands change as well.

For hospitals it is the future. Now is the time to think about how to use and capture the mobile audience.  And it's not all about the information hospitals send to a user’s phone, like health texts or appointment reminders; it's also about how users might use their phones to interface with you.

Some quick ideas:

1. Use Foursquare to make them feel welcome. When patients or family members check in, give them a dollar off something in the cafeteria. Or a parking coupon if your parking prices are high. Something nominal that gives you the chance to capture a loyal customer.
2. Use QR codes. QR, shorthand for “quick response,” are bar codes applied to physical objects in the world and decoded quickly using a smart phone. Embed parking information, cafeteria menus, an interactive map of the hospital…anything you can think of that will make your patients and family members feel as though you trying to help them navigate the often confusing space of a hospital.  Learn more about QR codes.
3. Use Facebook Charity Deals. When a user checks in to Facebook Places using their phone, send them the option to give a dollar donation immediately to any department or doctor of their choice.

Establishing a long-term relationship with your customers is so critical to hospitals—these patients or family members might come every day for months. Start thinking about how to give them needed information easily through their mobile device. In return, they will reward your efforts with positive word of mouth about their fantastic experience receiving treatment and care at your hospital.


Have other ideas about how hospitals can use mobile?  I'm interested to hear.

Content Strategy: How to make your content jump like Michael Jordan

During the content creation phase of working with clients, how many times have you heard these questions?
1. Do you think we should have a video made?
2. How do you feel about pictures?
3. Should we upload that brochure alongside our text content?

If you’re like me, and work as a content strategist and web writer, you are asked these questions—a lot. It makes sense—our jobs as content strategists are to define meaningful content and make sure our users can find and use it.

What is core content on a page?
Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Washington Capitals and Wizards, was on the radio today, discussing the future of both teams. When talking about tracking great championship NBA teams he commented:

“If you look at a majority of the teams that have won championships...they all were built around their high draft choices and they used free agency to compliment the Kobe Byrants, Michael Jordans, Tim Duncans."

The core content on a page is the Kobes, Michael and Tims--it's your high draft player that gets your results. Your core content needs to answer the questions users have when they engage. Defining those questions is incredibly important and often ignored by organizations, who use brochure-ware type websites as a way of communicating to their constituents.  However, only if you answer these questions, can you make the sale; or in our terminology, make sure the call to action if fulfilled.

Understanding the traditional sales model
During a traditional sales call, the sales representative opens up the conversation with the potential buyer. “I have a product that will help you do this better, etc…” Online, and in new media, potential buyers have already started the conversation with you, just by virtue of the fact that they are engaging with your content! How you create your core content is dependent on who started the conversation, because of the one natural thing that always gets in the way of the sale.

Natural reluctance to fail
Most buyers don’t buy because they’ve had bad experiences in the past—the curling iron that didn’t curl, the youth moisturizer that didn’t fade wrinkles, the sneakers that didn’t make their jumps sky-high. The most important thing to address at the point-of-sale is natural reluctance. How do we do this? By making sure your core content addresses major concerns.

So, who are the free agents in content?
Look, I know very little about basketball, which is kind of pathetic because my dad was a basketball coach (He was in sales though, so at least I paid attention to something).  But even though my bball skills may be lacking, I do know that complimentary content on a website is critical;  it reinforces a user’s decision to purchase. When you are deciding what types of complimentary content to use, follow these guidelines:

Video
Remember, people will only watch if your core content has answered their questions. If they are waffling about the sale, or still have further questions, they may watch a video to gather more information. Make sure the video addresses major issues up front and provides value by illustrating what textual content cannot.  For example, a video of a sky dive may prompt a user to sign up for lessons more than a written description of a sky dive.

Photos
For some sites, like ecommerce sites, photos are the core content. I write mainly for the healthcare space, and photos help reinforce major messages within the core content, like doctor/patient relationships and the comfort and accessibility of hospital services. However, if the core content on the page doesn’t answer how long it will take to have surgery, or what recovery is like, the photos won’t reinforce the decision to call and make an appointment.

Brochures
This depends on who wrote the brochure, when, and if it just repeats core content, or actually adds value. Think carefully when uploading a brochure in PDF, or other formats; it might make the most sense to adapt the content to a digital platform. One caveat: if the information on your site is takeaway, because the buying decision is made later, it makes sense to have some sort of printed takeaway for downloading.

User-generated content
Again, this can be core content for many sites. It can also be a landmine for other websites. Decide carefully where to make room for it, and make sure you watch carefully.

Any other forms of content you can’t decide about including? How do you determine your core content vs. your complimentary content? In the mood for a game of basketball? Let us know in the comments section; I’ve changed them so you don’t have to register a profile.

Content Strategy: Would lorem ipsum be better?




This just got sent to me.  I have to "add" in the words.  Is this better or worse than lorem ipsum?  I just can't tell.