Building a data-driven content strategy

Conduct a content audit to understand what content we have and what state it’s in? Of course. Conduct user research to understand the goals, pain points, and context of our audience, and how well the current state is working for them? Of course. Both activities generate valuable observations and insights—but it’s just, well, a lot. It can be hard to synthesize from either activity, much less bridge the two. Plus, many findings are qualitative, which have value, but are stronger when supported by quantitative findings.

This session will share methods and tools for building a user-centered, data-driven content strategy.

Transcript

1. Building a data-driven content strategy Holly Munson Senior Content Strategist, Think Company Connecting content audits and user research CONFAB 2019
2. Think Company delivers design and technology leadership to create and manage impactful cross-channel experiences.
3. Think Company delivers design and technology leadership to create and manage impactful cross-channel experiences.
4. User-centered, data-driven content
5. Takeaway How to use both quantitative and qualitative data, drawn from user research and a content audit, to build a content strategy
6. You can do it!
7. A note about data Quantitative Measurements If you want to know how much something happens, or how many of something there are Qualitative Descriptions If your question is about what happens or why something happens Definitions from Just Enough Research by Erika Hall
8. Another note about data This is data. This is data.
9. The process
10. Questions
11. Questions What do people need?
12. Questions What do people need? What content do we have?
13. Questions What do people need? What content do we have? Where are the gaps?
14. Questions What do people need? Where are the gaps? What do we want to do about the gaps? What content do we have?
15. Activities What do people need? Where are the gaps? What do we want to do about the gaps? What content do we have?
16. Activities Where are the gaps? What do we want to do about the gaps? User research What content do we have?
17. Activities Where are the gaps? What do we want to do about the gaps? User research Content audit
18. Activities What do we want to do about the gaps? User research Content audit Synthesis and analysis
19. Activities User research Content audit Synthesis and analysis Content strategy and implementation
20. Challenges User research Content audit Synthesis and analysis Content strategy and implementation
21. Challenges Silos Content audit Synthesis and analysis Content strategy and implementation
22. Challenges Silos Inconsistency Synthesis and analysis Content strategy and implementation
23. Challenges Silos Inconsistency Information overload Content strategy and implementation
24. Challenges Silos Inconsistency Information overload Unclear next steps
25. Solutions Silos Inconsistency Information overload Unclear next steps
26. Solutions Clear connection points Inconsistency Information overload Unclear next steps
27. Solutions Clear connection points Consistency Information overload Unclear next steps
28. Solutions Clear connection points Consistency Clear themes and stronger insights Unclear next steps
29. Solutions Clear connection points Consistency Clear themes and stronger insights Clear next steps
30. The case study
31. The case study Pharma.com* *Not its real name
32. The project Redesign a website that delivers pharmaceutical product information and services to more than 600,000 U.S. health care professionals annually
33. The goal Build a content strategy to unify 20+ teams and shift the content process and culture toward user-centered, data-driven design
34. Activities 1. User research 2. Content audit 3. Synthesis and analysis 4. Content strategy and implementation
35. User research
36. User research What do people need?
37. Research questions What are the top concerns of U.S. health care professionals?
38. Research questions Generative/exploratory research = What is a good problem to solve for this audience? Definition adapted from Just Enough Research by Erika Hall
39. Research method Industry report
40. “I am concerned about the impact of the increase of cost of care for my patients” Research findings 88% of U.S. physicians agree:
41. In which of the following areas is it most important for pharma to focus on over the next year? Research findings 49% Managing patient costs 8% Medication adherence 7% Simplified information 6% Medical education 5% Integrated data sources 5% Caregiver resources
42. In which of the following areas is it most important for pharma to focus on over the next year? Research findings 49% Managing patient costs 8% Medication adherence 7% Simplified information 6% Medical education 5% Integrated data sources 5% Caregiver resources
43. Research findings Managing patient costs Key user need
44. Research questions Where do health care professionals find information about managing patient costs? How satisfied are they with their current resources? How receptive are they to getting this kind of information from a pharma company?
45. Research questions Descriptive/explanatory research = What is the best way to solve the problem we’ve identified? Definition adapted from Just Enough Research by Erika Hall
46. Research method In-depth interviews
47. Research method Please write a letter of advice to a doctor, PA, RN, or office manager that is entering their first job. In your letter, please give an example of some challenges that you or your staff have encountered related to some key topics (below), and how you solved them. Please include any resources (people, websites, conferences, products, services, etc.) that were helpful in solving these challenges.
48. Research findings Participants ranked “managing patient costs” as an area of need with the highest importance and lowest satisfaction I. M. P. O. R. T. A. N. C. E S. A. T. I. S. F. A. C. T. I. O. N
49. Research findings “It could be the best drug in the world, but if the patient can’t afford it, you’re done.” –Registered nurse
50. Research findings “My poor office manager stays late every Friday just to do prior authorizations.” –Primary care physician
51. Research method Analytics and SEO
52. Research findings The pages on the current site with the most views were related to billing and insurance coverage
53. Research findings There were high monthly search volumes for terms like “[product name] coupon,” “patient assistance,” and “billing code”
54. Research findings Quantitative Qualitative
55. Research findings Secondary research Primary research
56. Research findings Managing patient costs Coverage status Patient assistance Coupons and samples Billing codes Key user need Key content types
57. Content audit
58. Content audit What content do we have?
59. Content audit process Define research question Decide scope Decide criteria Audit
60. Research questions Evaluative research = Are we getting close to solving the problem? Definition adapted from Just Enough Research by Erika Hall
61. Research questions Where is content located? How much content do we have overall?
62. Research questions Where is content located? How much content do we have overall? What content do we have related to managing patient costs?
63. Research questions Where is content located? How much content do we have overall? What content do we have related to managing patient costs? How good is it?
64. Decide scope and criteria Content audit kickoff Kickoff agenda
65. Decide scope Rough content inventory
66. Decide scope Scope exercise
67. Decide scope 15 websites 150 pages to audit 900 pages to inventory
68. Decide criteria What even is good?
69. Decide criteria Criteria = a category used to judge “Back in Jacksonville, I was in charge of a 60-person dance crew. Whenever we auditioned a new dancer, we would rate them in five categories: dancing ability, coolness, dopeness, freshness, and smart-brained.” Image: Social News XYZ
70. Decide criteria Accessible Actionable Clear Consistent Controllable Credible Findable Functional Readable Sustainable Useful
71. Decide criteria Accessible Actionable Clear Consistent Controllable Credible Findable Functional Readable Sustainable Useful
72. Audit TIME TO ACTUALLY AUDIT
73. Audit (with Airtable) Airtable template
74. Inventory 900 pages to inventory Where is content located? How much content do we have overall? What content do we have related to managing patient costs?
75. Content topics Managing patient costs Coverage status Patient assistance Coupons and samples Billing codes Key user need Key content types
76. Topic tags
77. Topic tags
78. Audit 150 pages to audit How good is it?
79. Audit
80. Audit Image: Allie Brosh
81. Checklists Example: Readable checklist • Does it use bullets, bolded keywords, and subheads? • Are words simple instead of complicated? • Are sentences simple and short (no more than 20 words)? • Is it free of jargon and internal terms? • Does it use active voice? • Is information organized in a logical way? (Is the most important information first/most visually prominent?) Content criteria checklist
82. Audit notes
83. Audit notes
84. Audit tags Restructure with bullets, bolded keywords, and/or subheads
85. Audit tags
86. Audit tags
87. Audit findings Percentage of product sections with content related to managing patient costs 85% Samples and coupons 22% Billing and insurance support 1% Coverage status
88. Audit findings Pages about billing and insurance support are not sufficiently readable Most common edit needed: Make the most important information visually prominent Readable
89. Audit findings 55% of all pages are not sufficiently findable Most common edit needed: Convert content in PDF or JPG into HTML text Findable
90. Research findings Quantitative Qualitative
91. A note about timing Content audit after user research is ideal If not, you can: Use topic tags and cross-reference with research later and/or Rely on content criteria to improve general usability
92. Audit Research to guide which topics to focus on Checklists for more consistent observations Tags to quantify observations
93. Synthesis and analysis
94. Synthesis and analysis Where are the gaps?
95. Synthesis and analysis User research + Content audit Qualitative + Quantitative
96. The life-changing magic of tags
97. Pulling it all together
98. Pulling it all together The term “[product name] coupon” has a monthly search volume of 8,000. One registered nurse said, “It could be the best drug in the world, but if the patient can’t afford it, you’re done.” On Pharma.com, 85% of product sections provide info about samples and coupons.
99. Pulling it all together The term “[product name] coupon” has a monthly search volume of 8,000. One registered nurse said, “It could be the best drug in the world, but if the patient can’t afford it, you’re done.” On Pharma.com, 85% of product sections provide info about samples and coupons.
100. Pulling it all together 88% of health care professionals surveyed agreed, “I am concerned about the impact of the increase of cost of care for my patients.” On Pharma.com, only 1% of product sections provide information about coverage, and they have the most page views on the site.
101. Pulling it all together 88% of health care professionals surveyed agreed, “I am concerned about the impact of the increase of cost of care for my patients.” On Pharma.com, only 1% of product sections provide information about coverage, and they have the most page views on the site.
102. Pulling it all together The term “billing code” has a monthly search volume of 10,620. One primary care physician noted, “My poor office manager stays late every Friday just to do prior authorizations.” On Pharma.com, 22% of product sections provide information about billing and insurance support. Most pages about billing are insufficiently readable.
103. Pulling it all together The term “billing code” has a monthly search volume of 10,620. One primary care physician noted, “My poor office manager stays late every Friday just to do prior authorizations.” On Pharma.com, 22% of product sections provide information about billing and insurance support. Most pages about billing are insufficiently readable.
104. Pulling it all together TL;DR We know how well we’re doing in fulfilling this user need, and have some idea of what we could change
105. Content strategy and implementation
106. Content strategy and implementation What do we do about the gaps?
107. Strategy Strategy workshop agenda
108. Content revision planning
109. Content revision planning Content owner A, here’s the plan for revising your content. • 8 pages need revising • Estimated effort: 20 hours Here’s the list of pages and the changes needed for each… Coupons page • Restructure with subheads Coverage Status page • Create new page
110. Guidelines Content type: Coverage status This content type should include these elements… Here’s how those elements should be structured… Here are some editorial guidelines to keep in mind… Why this content type is important From our [date] research we learned: 88% of surveyed health care professionals agreed, “I am concerned about the impact of the increase of cost of care for my patients.” At the time, only 1% of product sections on Pharma.com provided information about coverage, and they had the most page views on the site.
111. Governance Response to a content request Based on insights about what is most relevant to our audience, we deprioritized Content Type A and prioritized Coverage Status content. You can get more details in [document], but some highlights are [research insight 1] and [research insight 2].
112. The outcome A website that improved the customer experience A cultural shift toward user-centered, data-driven content
113. User-centered, data-driven content User research Content audit Synthesis and analysis Content strategy and implementation
114. Thank you! Questions?
115. Resources
116. Resources ◦ Content audit kickoff agenda ◦ Content criteria checklist ◦ Strategy workshop agenda hollyvwmunson.com/speaking ◦ Airtable content audit template https://airtable.com/universe/exp qPWtoSFgpmUegy/website-conte nt-audit ◦ Airtable content audit tutorial https://www.thinkcompany.com/2 018/08/how-to-use-airtable-for-co ntent-audits-part-1/ https://www.thinkcompany.com/2 018/08/how-to-use-airtable-for-co ntent-audits-part-2/
117. References Content criteria adapted from these sources: ◦ Meghan Casey, The Content Strategy Toolkit https://www.contentstrategy.com/the-content-strategy-toolkit ◦ Abby Covert, IA Heuristics Checklist https://understandinggroup.com/learn/posters/ia-heuristics-checklist/ ◦ Ahava Leibtag, Creating Valuable Content: A Step-by-Step Checklist https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2016/09/checklist-valuable-content/ ◦ Erin Kissane, A Checklist for Content Work https://alistapart.com/article/a-checklist-for-content-work ◦ GatherContent, How to Set Up a Content Evaluation Plan http://gathercontent.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/GatherContent-cont ent-evaluation.pdf?__s=e5ipewads6qedstgykdk
118. Special thanks! For help with refining this deck/talk: Dave Thomas, Matthew Bartholomew, Alli Hossack, Sunkwon Bush, Jess Ryan, Susana Galarza, Darian Davis, Brad Sukala, Kristi Olphin, and Chris Nappi For being the literal best: Dave Munson and Lars Munson