Comments on: Content Strategists: What Do They Do?

By: Syd

Syd — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:36:58 +0000

Great post. Also, while I get Gabe’s point about “Information Designer” I think that term would mislead people into thinking we are delivering a visual design. As a content strategist, design and IA are important but only in context of how it delivers the content. But I do think have a quick explanation is as useful as the full detailed list you’ve provided.

I think this is a growing field that many content specialist/writers/editors have been filling for years. Only now are we seeing the discipline better defined thanks to great articles like this one.

By: Eddie VanArsdall

Eddie VanArsdall — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:16:53 +0000

Dan, thank you for this excellent post. You have provided one of the best overviews of content strategy that I have found.

By: Mike Connell

Mike Connell — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:52:59 +0000

Really interesting post. I did a quick response on a like-minded thread on LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/isnIO8…

It’s a little “higher level,” so I really like how this post has gone more granular in what the role can encompass.

In the digital space, a content strategist aligns communications, marketing and sales strategies with distinct, clear and compelling stories. Similar to traditional editorial strategy for media, a content strategist develops value-add messaging for target audiences, but in an inclusive, engaging manner to draw in any and all interested parties and facilitate feedback at the same time. A content strategist strays from traditional media tools and tactics by focusing on cross-channel/platform dissemination that ensures integration of your messages, but with an eye for minimizing message overload.

Ultimately, a content strategist drives and populates the meat of most digital strategies. Whether it’s a website, SEO, paid search or social media campaign, you need consistent, structured and supported (not to mention well written for digital) content to breathe life into the activity.

By: James

James — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 15:32:47 +0000

Thanks for this great post Dan – we featured it in our “content testing” newsletter here : http://fublo.net/post/1462238368/november-newsletter-content-testing

Cheers,

James

By: Adam Kleinberg

Adam Kleinberg — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:34:54 +0000

Thanks for writing this post. I put together a presentation to my agency on Content Strategy and your post was a great reference. I threw it up on SlideShare (http://www.slideshare.net/TrendsWithTraction/a-content-strategy-toolkit), so I hope you find it useful. It’s pretty top-level, but it gives an overview of some of the tools that I think contribute to effective content planning and some thoughts on how to measure and optimize the effectiveness of your content strategy.

Cheers,

Adam Kleinberg
http://www.tractionco.com
http://www.twitter.com/adamkleinberg

By: Dechay Watts

Dechay Watts — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:59:01 +0000

Great post. I especially appreciate the “What do they do?” section. We get asked that all the time and we’re still working on an elevator pitch. It’s also interesting that of the 763 content strategists, we list a variety of categories as our Main Industry in LinkedIn, from “writing and editing” to “internet” to “marketing and advertising.”

By: Gabe

Gabe — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:52:18 +0000

If 763 people are calling themselves Content Strategists, that’s a significant number because the above description of the role is similar to “Information Designer.”

Personally speaking, when you’re talking to clients I think they’ll get the idea of a designer of information far more quickly than they would a strategist of content, because to the person signing the contract, “designer” sounds like you’re actually producing something whereas “strategist” sounds like you’re just offering advice (i.e. being a consultant.)

I’m all for the idea of defining to clients what a Content Strategist does, but the all-inclusive list above may be too generalized. Try to explain all that in a 15-second “elevator speech”! Might be easier just to say you offer end-to-end, comprehensive content services for Web projects.

By: Terrintokyo

Terrintokyo — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:11:42 +0000

This is a very helpful summary, seeing as how I have just gotten my head around the idea that I am a content strategist, with a focus on audio, video and app content development. And I do it for small businesses, which is, as you note, a challenge; but a rewarding one.

thanks!

By: Diana Railton

Diana Railton — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 10:35:30 +0000

Very useful post.

As you point out, both the words ‘content’ and ‘strategy’ are ambiguous – but the former much more than the latter.

You say ‘generally anything that communicates on behalf of the organization – no matter how small – can be classified as content’. Should we not differentiate between ‘communication channels’ such as websites, web pages, blogs, blog posts, videos, printed publications) and the ‘content’ that goes into them? Essentially people communicate on behalf of the organisation, using different communication channels.

We could go on to say that content is the substance of any message, written or spoken.

This is where the role of the content strategist can get extra complicated. Would it be clearer for everyone if we always said ‘web content strategist’?

I may be overlooking/unaware of earlier discussion on this – so would be very interested in hearing what you and others think.

By: Roger Choate

Roger Choate — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 21:31:32 +0000

Like Katie, I didn’t realize I was a content strategist until reading Dan’s terrific article