Content Strategy for the Masses

“Can’t You Just” and its equally evil cousin “Can You Just” can be applied to any profession. It’s when someone believes they’re providing a simple solution to a complex problem. Here’s a perfect example written from a designer, pulled from the hilarious website, Clients From Hell.

While a lot of people in the tech industry are on the receiving end of these three words, it can happen at any time to anyone. “Can’t you just use Photoshop?” “Can’t you just do just hire the writers from the Simpsons for your new TV show?” “Can’t you just build another Facebook?”

What are your best “Can’t you just” moments? Share in the comments…

Ginny Redish, the author of Letting Go of the Words, says Good Web Writing is based on usability and:

• is like a conversation
• answers peoples questions
• lets people grab and go

Using this as a base, let’s look at an email alert I received this week and determine if it was successful in its digital writing to get me excited about a new product.

Who am I?:  I signed up for this newsletter because I love coupons. It’s true. No shame.

(Lesson: A pay-off will get someone to sign up for a newsletter. Coupons, recognition, additional secret information that no one else could get… If you’re creating a persona around people who sign up for your newsletters, be sure to include one who is in it to get something)

Their latest newsletter featured a link to coupons, but also prominently featured a new product. I thought maybe I’d get another pay-off if I clicked on “check it out” to learn more about the product. Why else would they want me to click on it? The newsletter blurb gave me all the information I need… why would I need to know more?

 (Lesson: Don’t automatically assume your users are as excited about your new product as you are – if you want visitors to read more on the product, provide a reason to click on the link other than ‘to provide more information.’ Also, stop using “check it out” online. Just. Stop.)

So, I clicked on the “check it out” to enter the site.  It featured lots of information about the product (which I didn’t read), rollovers on a graphic (some of which didn’t work) and links with animations to show the razor’s different features (of which I clicked on one).

(Lesson: If good web content is like a conversation, this one was one-sided. It successfully answers questions a user may have about the product, but doesn’t answer: why am I here?

The website also featured a “love it, pass it on!” link, which I thought – ok – maybe sending info will also provide a coupon. So, I clicked on it.

Who in their right mind would send their friend an email about a new razor? Really think about this… What is interesting about this?

(Lesson: Including interactivity and opportunities to share content is great – but not all content is worth sharing. Adding a pay-off “send to 5 friends for a free sample” would encourage more use of this form)

I clicked on this “buy it now” link, thinking it might be good to find out where to buy one – and maybe I’d find a deal:

So, I click Buy It Now, and the following pop-up appears:

Wait… wha? Why is it even an option?

(Lesson: Anticipate what the user will do when they come to the site. Good web writing answers a visitor’s question – not make them ask more. Also, if you offer something on your site, such as “Buy it Now!” or “See the video clip now!” it’s in your best interest to make sure the content exists every time. Also, avoid industry speak. Rather than partner online retailer, try “online shops” and let the user know where they can find it in the real world, if that option is available)

How Did This Email Campaign Do?

• the web writing was like a conversation – not really. While there were efforts to share the information, there was no anticipation of the user’s part of conversation when they would open this site.
• the website answered questions – the campaign answered questions the who, what and how about the razor, but did so in the well written introductory paragraph on the newsletter. It didn’t effectively anticipate the where and why questions a visitor would ask, such as “where can I buy this?” or “why am I here?”
• the website let me grab and go – since the campaign didn’t answer real user questions, there was nothing to “go” with on this site. I could grab the link to the site and send it to a friend, but what am I grabbing and why would I share it?

This one-hour video highlights how some television companies sync their TV content with apps downloaded on a mobile. If you don’t have time to watch it right now, I’ve got some highlights below, and a tip on how to make it work for your audience:

The most popular new app technology that syncs a handheld with a TV show is Nielsen’s Media Sync. This technology created buzz last February when ABC launched its Grey’s Anatomy app, where users were encouraged to open the app while watching the episode.

How it works

Using Nielsen’ audio watermark, which embeds audio triggers throughout a TV show to gather Nielsen television ratings, show content can be picked up by the microphones on smartphones to launch episode-specific activities, such as behind the scene footage, polls, and other additional content.

The video above shows two different examples of the application, and it does present a lot of opportunities to allow your audience to easily interact with the content, which is important because Yahoo! reported in January 2011 that 86% use their mobile while watching television.

How to Make this Work for Your TV Show

To make an app like this work with your TV show means considering the user experience and providing value for the interactivity.

This type of application seems like a natural fit for sporting events or live reality shows, but what can be accomplished to engage the user of a dramatic series like Grey’s Anatomy beyond providing trivia and poll questions?

As this technology grows, content creators and TV producers need to understand how the content they put into this application will be used by the user, and identify what will make their viewers want to participate each time the show is broadcast.

Producers and broadcasters must also be willing to admit when this type of interactivity may not be a natural fit for their TV program. To maximize this potential (or recognize its usefulness early), it’s important to consider the content implications during the development and scriptwriting phase, in order to properly exploit its opportunities. By engaging in this technology at the earliest stage, there are opportunities to create your own audio watermarks to make the audience do something with their iPad and create a truly interactive experience.

If you don’t have the budget to hire professional digital writers, The Oatmeal published some fantastic one-page comics to help you and your team navigate the scary world of proper grammar usage to make sure your digital writing is clean and professional.

Check out 10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling.

Here are some tips on how to properly use i.e. in a sentence.

And finally, how to use the semicolon, what they call the most feared punctuation on earth.

Of course, proper grammar isn’t the only thing you need to ensure your online copy and content strategy is on target. A full copy audit, an online editorial calendar, and creating branding guidelines and a content bible are all elements you’ll need to create usable copy that’s on-brand and user friendly. If you say “nuts to this” and you want someone to do it for you, contact me!

BBC.com has reached profitability two years ahead of schedule, according to its BBC Worldwide blog today: BBC.com reaches new heights | BBC Worldwide Blog.

Their success comes from three key areas:

- Understanding their international audience, by bringing in local stories balanced with a global perspective

- Tailoring its editorial  and product offering to expand across multiple platforms, such as mobile and smart TV apps

- Building sales and marketing capability to lure in local clients. “We still had to assume that the medi buyer we were pitching to in, say Chicago had never heard of us before.”

In the coming weeks, stay tuned to this blog as I’ll show you how investing in Content Strategy can help you achieve revenue growth and a better understanding of BBC.com’s 3 key areas for success: audience; tailoring content; and marketing.