How stackable is your content strategy?
Front end, back end, full stack. The idea of full stack development is definitely known. Some people even debate full stack design. I get this question a lot: what is full stack in terms of content?
Front end? The experience, what’s displayed, the interactive parts
Back end? The infrastructure, what isn’t visible, under the hood
Full stack? A hybrid of the two, working on both sides of the screen
Developers have posted hilarious meme’s about this. Enjoy!
“Full stack” content strategy
Content strategy requires a full stack approach, blurring the line between front and back end. Truthfully, the line was probably arbitrary to begin with. It should be assumed that your strategy is full stack. Giving yourself the title of full stack content strategist would sound silly and pretty much BS-y, wouldn’t it?
If you’re going to succeed, your core strategy has to thread throughout the stack. Follow the content. You can’t tackle the experience in isolation to solve content problems. The ability to execute is dependent on orchestration from front to back, back to front.
Quick examples
Nō 1 The strategy is to combine content sources and create a sort for users, but there are two metadata models in play and no new one to migrate to
To solve, describe the two bodies of content, figure out how they overlap, or might be classified as one. Then understand from users how they want to find the content. You’ll need a metadata model and a plan for migrating and re-tagging the content with developers.
Nō 2 The strategy is to personalize content for several types of users, but the logic is missing to do more than simply include or exclude content
To solve, work with your business partners to define your user segments. From there, document what content users need and how it would vary by segment, when and where. Then, write logic and help writers create versions to publish them.
Totally faking and oversimplifying these. Hopefully you get my point about providing input along the way.
Full stack is full view
Of course, the easiest solutions are the ones you can make in the experience, like removing and rewriting content, changing a message or refreshing your voice. Doing that moves the needle quickly and inexpensively. That’s go-to content work.
Besides this, strategists need to communicate widely how that work differs from evolving your capabilities systemically to keep up with customer expectations and market pressures. Go beyond the screen:
- Take on the long term in parallel with the short
- Confront legacy and mess
- Fill missing knowledge gaps in your content teams
- Improve usability and effectiveness of content tools
- Organize content so it renders the optimal experience
- Identify content performance targets and steps to achieving them
Why it’s our job
I’ve heard many content people say, “I don’t care about the back end. I just want it to work.” My questions is, if you’re not shaping how it’s built, and holding partners to their commitment, how’s that happening at all? It’s not fair just to complain about being constrained in doing this or that.
Content strategy partnership won’t come from anywhere else but content people. Otherwise you chance it and hope input doesn’t come from the wrong place. Engineering, marketing and product teams aren’t bringing input from our perspective. How could they?
Expanded understanding
Conceptual knowledge is enough to participate. Of course, you can’t know everything about content, nor do you need to be technical. That’s why we have partners.
What if you never learn how content gets into the experience you’re aiming for? Without knowing what links the content strategy to the ability to deliver it, we can get in our own way.
For instance, focusing discussions on things like voice and style doesn’t result in innovation or new partnerships. Voice and style are valuable. I just don’t find them to be the leading issues in our time outside our own tribe. There’s a whole additional set of topics to press that require help from other teams.
More influence
As content strategists, we have to make space among everything else we’re trying to accomplish. When we don’t step in and own larger challenges, it feeds the perception that content is cheap or easy:
- Some punctuation marks
- A few words
- Another template
- Anyone can write
- We already have the content
- It’s already solved
These notions lead to an underestimation of our effort that comes to feel natural inside a company. There’s always underestimating. The sense that a timeline is unrealistic or under-resourced—we can deal with that.
I’m more concerned about the sort of thinking and decision-making that leads to slow neglect and deterioration of content capabilities and quality. When it goes on for too long, it becomes a hole you can’t climb out of.
Do you know what needs to be done or where to start? Does your team composition fit the problems and opportunities you face? Do you have resources to invest? Who supports change? What are the benefits?
> Go find out
