Content strategy has evolved in some ways, but as its core, it’s a tool that enables information to be streamlined in a way that’s most useful to the end user. This comes in different forms both in the digital world and physical world and it impacts everyone. I believe that’s one of the reasons why I admire the field so much. Everyone can benefit from a well-executed content strategy.
My Content Strategy Beginnings
I didn’t know content strategy existed until approximately 2 months before starting my first content strategy position. I was fortunate that I followed my curiosity when I came across a class called Introduction to Integrated Design at my school, The University of Texas at Austin. After reading its brief description, I was sold. I thought to myself, “this is the kind of work I’d love to dedicate myself to.”
Fast forward and I began my career at Charles Schwab. Quite fascinating. The world of organization had opened up to me. As time passed, my career expanded and I worked agency at T3, in-house at SupportNinja and most recently, freelancing with companies like Factor San Fransisco, Huge and Swift Fit Events.
Obviously, I dedicated my time to numerous projects during that time. It was in that moment when I decided to reflect and explore just what types of projects really inspire me.
#1: Onboarding Experiences
There’s something so grounding about working on onboarding experiences. You have to put yourself in the position of a completely new user. Not only that, but you also have to consider different scenarios and types of people such as those with differing sight abilities, typing abilities, etc.
You must ground yourself in humanity and empathy.
In the above case, the UPS onboarding experience, we explored various ways to present the most important information to the first-time user. It’s one of my favorite experiences to help improve because not only does it help many people, but it also is a great exercise for me and the team to better understand the key user tasks to take into consideration.
#2: Help & Support Center
For a long time, I got frustrated when I was tasked to help with a help center project. I had come to believe that help centers shouldn’t have to exist if the content strategy on your website was correct. I changed my tune once I took note of the metrics and shifted my mindset to one more aligned with “digital hospitality.”
Digital hospitality leverages the benefits of in-person hospitality such as greetings, troubleshooting and trust.
Now, hospitality goes a long way in so many moments, but what I’ve also noticed over the years is that people want the path of least resistance. This goes for many things in life, and especially for moments where the task just needs to get done and crossed off the checklist.
In comes, shipping, tracking, coordinating, rewards points, etc.
When working on these kinds of projects you notice just how useful a help and support center can be to the end user. It facilitates things for them, but I’ve also recognized that it supports the team as well. From the metrics, we can determine the best way to simplify the user journey.
#3: Strategy Guidelines
One of my favorite ways to support a client is to give them the tools they need to be successful should we ever part ways. Strategy guidelines is one of the ways I do this.
Guidelines not only provide an overview of the best ways to meet business and user needs, but it also creates trust. Trust between myself, the client and the end user.
Strategy needs tend to differ between clients and projects, so it’s always a great exercise to develop general guidelines, but also specific guidelines for channels, projects and so on. Additionally, in my experience of developing guidelines, I’ve learned how much value you create when documenting guidelines such as these. There have been moments where guidelines aren’t recorded and therefore, projects miss key components to being successful.
Content Strategy Lives Everywhere
Now, of course, these are just some of my favorites projects when it comes to content strategy, but it truly is endless. The next time you find yourself looking for something in-person or online, consider, “is there a way to improve this experience?” and chances are, there is.
Want to work together? Send me a message at connect.w.luna@gmail.com and we can discuss your goals when it comes to your content strategy.
luna tidrick 