Lessons learned in_content_strategy_marcom_may 2017
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The document outlines the experience of Tourism Saskatchewan in developing a content strategy to improve their marketing and communications, emphasizing the need for a digital-first approach and effective team collaboration. Key challenges included an outdated structure, fragmented content, and a lengthy bid process, but successful outcomes were achieved through stakeholder engagement and mentoring. Lessons learned highlight the importance of staff involvement and the necessity for a mindset shift towards content strategy as an ongoing process.
Lessons learned in_content_strategy_marcom_may 2017
- 1. Canada’s only marketing and communications conference developed exclusively for the non-profit and public sectors. May 30-31, 2017 Shaw Centre Ottawa #MARCOMconf Produced by
- 2. Lessons learned in Content Strategy: A Tourism Saskatchewan Case Study
- 4. Elizabeth Braitenbach • Manager of Communications with Tourism Saskatchewan • Eight years directing the evolution of consumer print materials and strategic communications • Degrees in English and Education from the University of Saskatchewan • 10 years market research experience • Primary project lead for Tourism Saskatchewan’s content strategy • Integral role in implementing findings and recommendations across Tourism Saskatchewan’s consumer channels
- 5. Kathy Wagner @Kathy_CS_Inc @Team_CS_Inc • Founder of Content Strategy Inc. • Background in technical communication and customer experience research. • 15+ years leading content projects • Shared project lead for Tourism Saskatchewan’s content strategy project
- 6. Content strategy is… Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. ~ Kristina Halvorson
- 8. • A $2.15 billion year industry, and growing • Consumers need and want content • 80 full-time employees • 38 Marketing/Communications staff Tourism Saskatchewan
- 10. • An outdated organizational structure • Overemphasis on print • Siloed teams • Fragmented, inconsistent content Our challenge
- 11. Why content strategy? • To inspire more people to travel to and within Saskatchewan. • To create better experiences. • To adapt to an increasingly digital world. • To be more efficient and effective.
- 12. Bid process • Took 16 weeks from concept to awarding the contract • Revelation: There are few content strategy experts in Canada • Most firms focus on websites only, or content marketing • Content Strategy Inc. (CSI) stood out as the only firm who truly understood what we were looking for and had the capabilities to do it.
- 13. Discovery Strategy Design Phase 1 Solutions Dec & Jan February March Focus on content for consumer audiences CSI’s engagement
- 14. The secret sauce
- 16. • 15 stakeholder meetings • 5 small team workshops • 4 cross-functional workshops • 4 mentoring activities • 2 staff surveys Staff engagement
- 19. Part 1: Discovery Part 1: Discovery
- 27. Discovery
- 28. Discovery Key takeaways • Adopt an digital-first approach • Use brand journalism to raise awareness • Distinguish between consideration & awareness content • Restructure teams
- 29. Part 2: Strategy
- 31. Scott: New adventure seeker Val: Caretaker of family memories Chad: Fishing fanatic Strategy Three experience-based personas
- 33. Strategy
- 34. Strategy
- 35. Strategy Tourism Saskatchewan content helps target audiences to discover, choose, and celebrate uniquely Saskatchewan travel experiences. Content strategy statement
- 36. Strategy
- 37. Strategy Help people to discover more about what they’re already interested in. Rather than lure audiences into meeting organizational-focused goals. Brand journalism = Discovery content
- 38. Less like this: And more like this: Brand journalism focusing on the experience (not the place) and distributed where your audience already is, in the format they prefer. Strategy
- 39. Strategy Consideration content Easy-to-find and easy-to-use content that gives people the information they need to make travel decisions and plans they feel good about.
- 40. Less like this: And more like this: Strategy
- 41. Prefer print No preference Prefer online Strategy Digital first 48% 40% 12%
- 43. Solutions
- 44. Solutions
- 45. Solutions
- 46. Solutions
- 47. Team structure • More centralized (some distributed) • Specialized areas of expertise: writing, creative, marketing • Cross-functional working teams Solutions
- 48. Lessons Learned
- 49. Lessons learned • We were more fragmented than we thought • Essential to have staff engaged in the process • Mentoring was important for skill building and advocacy • We knew so much about our audiences, but we needed help shaping the knowledge into something useful • Content strategy is a process and mindset, not a project
- 50. Lessons learned • Government organizations can stick to tight timelines and review cycles. • Mentoring and assigning responsibilities to in-house teams was super valuable. • Everything works a whole lot better when there are no “nay-sayers”.
- 51. Public sector hurdles • The bid process was a good experience, but lengthy with lots of paperwork! • Very tight timeline constraints due to needing to wrap up by fiscal year-end of March 31. • Need to balance some recommendations with government sensitivities. Eg: putting print Saskatchewan guides on hiatus. • Union environment makes staffing changes complex.
- 52. What’s next? • Implementation team • Determine short/medium/ long- term goals • Communications plan • New organizational structure
- 54. Resources Resources Favourite starter books: • Content Strategy for the Web, by Halvorson & Rach • Don’t Make Me Think, by Steve Krug • Letting Go of the Words, by Ginny Reddish Favourite online resources: • Gathercontent.com/resources • NNgroup.com/articles • ContentMarketingInstitute.com • ContentStrategyInc.com/articles CSI newsletter: • ContentStrategyInc.com/articles