A new view on Content Strategy by Joe Gollner

Adobe Tech Comm recently hosted visionary content strategist Joe Gollner on the topic of “Content Strategies for the Real World.” This blog summarizes key concepts covered in the webinar. You may view a recording of the entire webinar by clicking here.

Joe started his discussion with his definition of “The Intelligent Content Imperative”. A Global Economy calls for:

• continuous process improvement
• maximized automation
• dynamically tailored products
• localized (translated) delivery and support
• reconfigurable supply chains
• This demands …
  • standardized parts
  • flexible and dynamic assembly for products, services & content
  • only intelligent content has a future in this world

Once again, as with the Scott Abel webinar covered in our previous blog “It’s All About Structure! Fill in your knowledge gaps with recorded webinar”, we are finding another thought leader who is moving the definition and demands of content far beyond the scope of a traditional page/web based authoring model.

Intelligent Content Defined

Joe Gollner succinctly defines intelligent content in the slide below, which was pulled from this recorded webinar:

The logical basis of intelligent content is XML, which can reveal the meaning of the content to be “readable” by both people and machines.

Why Automation is essential

Automation cannot be successfully deployed “in a timely manner” in today’s world without intelligent content. This must be down to:

• shorten update cycles
• bring down costs
• streamline work processes
• and optimize information products
  • for different users
  • for different markets
  • for different locales
  • for different devices
  • for different situations
  • for different needs
  • … in a way that can be both measured and improved

The Special Challenge of Intelligent Content Projects

Gollner makes clear that there are two main challenges associated with intelligent content projects:

1. These projects fall into a complex area of overlapping disciplines that include knowledge, technology and business.
2. The challenges related to project management in the software domain are significantly magnified.
3. Most significant, goals of such projects have historically not attracted nor held the attention of management.

Core Activities of an Intelligent Content Lifecycle Model

Joe Gollner has devised an original set of 4 related categories of activities to illustrate this challenge seen in the slide capture below. You will need to view the entire recorded webinar to capture the full intelligence he shares with each of these core activities.

Content Engagement may still be a new concept to some readers. Its goals are to:

• incorporate user content contributions
• tap into social media to build and maintain user engagement

Some of us are in the habit of thinking of social networking and social media as a separate field or discipline. In that last few years content engagement has become part of the basic fabric of our content, which significantly affects its perceived value.

Creating an Intelligent Content Strategy Map

Joe Gollner shared a highly original approach to measuring progress or success with intelligent content. Gollner captured the fields for essential criteria into a visual Excel spreadsheet, which he shared with webinar attendees on an “as asked for” basis. If you view the webinar, you will find contact information for Joe Gollner and can request this same map.

The essential strategy was to select measurable criteria for each quadrant (Content Delivery, Content Acquisition, Content Management and Content Engagement, illustrated in the previous screen capture) that resembles the list below:

• Revenues
• Expenditures
• Competitiveness
• Accountability
• Sustainability
• Performance
• Adaptability
• Measurability
• Reliability
• Usability

A Fresh Approach to Content Strategy

Not too long ago, many content strategists shared scanty information that would give potential customers a vague notion of what may be involved in determining a strategy. All too often, upper management would be persuaded to select an authoring or content management tool before any type of strategy was formulated. Since each company or workgroup will have slightly different needs, Gollner makes it clear the “putting the horse before the cart” involves creating a measurable strategy and pilot program first, before investing six figures in what could be an overly complex solution.

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