The Visual Content Strategist Michael J. Metts | @mjmetts | mjmetts.com Every deck needs narrative. Notes like this will appear throughout the presentation to give you an idea of what I was saying during the talk.

“What’s a content strategist?” You probably get this question all the time from colleagues, acquaintances and family. How do you respond?

Content strategy is to copywriting as information architecture is to design —Rachel Lovinger ! Content strategy plans for the creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content. —Kristina Halvorson ! Content strategy is just content planning. —Elizabeth McGuane ! ! ! ! Source: http://incisive.nu/2010/what-content-strategists-do/#sthash.GA1zKQyr.dpuf Erin Kissane collected these definitions and they do a great job describing the value we bring to a project. However, there’s also a common stereotype about our field…

very words so writer wow much style guide many spreadsheet Content strategists are viewed as word people. We write words, draft style guides about words, and create spreadsheets documenting words, so the stereotype makes sense, but does it affect how we think about our work?

It’s your work. Don’t limit yourself to the perceptions other people have about you. Visual communication is powerful and it can help every content strategist.

Comfort the stakeholders. Sometimes, stakeholders just want to see something. If you can visually represent your ideas, it will help them to have peace about the work you’re doing.

Direct the attention. When you can direct the attention of your audience to an accurate and useful visual artifact, you can be confident everyone is talking about the same thing.

Engage the audience. Visuals can be more engaging than text on a page. If you’re working with stakeholders who prefer not to spend time reading, try representing your ideas visually.

Show the scope. An accurate visual representation of the problem you’re dealing with can help your team step back and get perspective on what needs to be done.

FIVE IDEAS! I’ve got five techniques to show you. Hopefully, they’ll give you ideas about how to visually communicate the work you’re doing.

Sketch Map Diagram Mockup Hack First up is the sketch. Drawing things on paper or a whiteboard gets your ideas out quickly. It also helps other people understand your thought process because they can follow along as you sketch.

This was created to help a stakeholder understand how different components of a content model could be pulled into a web page from our CMS. It took about five minutes.

I drew this during the design process for an iPad app. I had a list of content requirements and this helped me see how they might look if they were all together in one place.

The Map Sketch Map Diagram Mockup Hack Sketch Map Diagram Mockup Hack Maps are great because they help us see how ideas are separated. They organize information so the viewer can process it quickly and find what they’re looking for.

Here’s a research plan I put together as a mind map. It helped my boss get a sense of what would be involved in the project and what she could expect as a result.

I was asked to work on improving a lengthy page of marketing content. However, the group couldn’t agree on what the current message architecture was, which made it difficult to move to the next steps.

I mapped out each section and audited the current messaging. This helped us compare the reality of the content to the mental models each of us had.

This is a visual content inventory. Each box is linked to an email. Color coding and box style indicate the type of email and whether it has been implemented.

The Diagram Sketch Map Diagram Mockup Hack Sketch Map Diagram Mockup Hack Diagrams show relationships. They’re great for demonstrating how objects and ideas affect each other.

Bi-Weekly Inputs & Outputs Feature Announcements As-Needed This is a timeline of two email campaigns. The one on top is sent every two weeks and the one on the bottom is sent whenever there is news to announce. It helped the stakeholders see when our customers would be hearing from us and what type of communication they would receive.

Flow diagrams are used all the time by UX designers, but they greatly benefit content strategists as well. If we don’t know how something works, how can we plan for the content that’s needed?

Sketch Map Diagram Mockup Hack Sketch Map Diagram Mockup Hack Mockups are typically used in UX design, but they can be very advantageous to those of us doing content work. Wireframes and prototypes help content come alive for stakeholders.

Explore WolframAlpha: Genetics Weather Scientists Star Trek Football WolframAlpha What would you like to know about? If you were a dog, what would daisies look like? Compute apply dog vision to image of daisy = How does the area of the world's land mass compare to the Pacific Ocean? Compute apply dog vision to image of daisy = How long should you cook your turkey? Compute how long to cook a turkey = Explore WolframAlpha: Genetics Weather Scientists Star Trek Football WolframAlpha Discover animals: If you were a dog, what would daisies look like? Compute apply dog vision to image of daisy = Compute = Would you like to know which dog breed is the tallest? Compute = Do you know the shaking frequency of a 50lb wet dog? Compute = Have you ever wondered if a peregrine falcon is faster than a cheetah? Compute = Would you like to know the personality of a York Chocolate cat? Explore WolframAlpha: Genetics Weather Scientists Star Trek Football WolframAlpha What will you discover today? If you were a dog, what would daisies look like? Compute apply dog vision to image of daisy = Sound interesting? You can also use an image as the subject of a query. Try it now ... How does the area of the world's land mass compare to the Pacific Ocean? Compute apply dog vision to image of daisy = How long should you cook your turkey? Compute how long to cook a turkey = When I worked on content for this email campaign, I turned in some wireframe concepts along with the text. This helped stakeholders see my vision for how the text could be used, even if the particulars changed later in the process.

A consulting company I was working with had a laundry list of requirements for their new iPad app. Writing sample content in the wireframe helped them visually see the information density they were asking for.

The Hack Sketch Map Diagram Mockup Hack Sketch Map Diagram Mockup Hack The idea behind the hack is to include visual information in a tool you already use.

I used Trello to collect the findings of a research project. I documented the content workflow within our company for each project and included a photo of the person responsible for each phase.

“Can I make this visual?” I hope this gives you a few ideas about how to visually communicate content strategy. The next time you’re struggling to communicate an idea, try making it visual.