Show and it will tell ... hopefully

           

This week we are expected to examine how well images and diagrams reflect the elements of a content strategy, which according to Kristina Halvorson and MellisaRach, has ‘core content’ at its center, with substance/structure accounting for additional ‘content components’ and workflow/governance accounting for ‘people components.

They define the five elements as:

• Core strategy:  defines how an organization will use content to achieve its objectives and meet it user needs
• Substance: What kinds of content do we need (topics, types, sources,etc.)?What messages does content need to communicate to our audience?
•  Structure; How is content prioritized, organized, formatted, and displayed?
•  Workflow: What processes, tools, and human resources are required for content initiatives to launch successfully and maintain ongoing quality?
• Governance: How are key decisions about content and content strategy made? How are changes initiated and communicated?

The simple diagram they use in their book is literal, straightforward and communicates their message effectively as they put core strategy in the center of attention and everything else in the orbit.

The second image that caught my eye in a one-minute web search -- who would believe we'd go through so much trouble for this assignment! -- is the Periodic Table of Content by Andy Crestodina.

I found it interesting and intriguing as many would probably relate to it on a geeky level (or nostalgia in my case), TV buffs and the fans of Breaking Bad would also “get it” and show off! The picture communicates immediately with the viewer, who would look more closely to figure what they stand for. It is inclusive of pretty much every vehicle and social media tool, but it stops there, as it does not touch on who is going to decide what to put out there and check if it works.

And the third one, seven stages to organisational content maturity, is a great attention grabber. It is colourful, and building on a popular theatrical monologue, uses words irrelevant to content strategy, but which resonate with people, who don’t have to be Shakespeare fans, but inevitably go through all these stages in life.

It goes beyond basic definitions and gets into the specifics of content development and maturation. It is a very informative capsule squeezing in everything that you wanted to know about content evolution, but were afraid or (too uninterested) to ask. Without being literal, it does a good job on elements of structure and substance and maybe even governance.

The winning image though is what I initially spotted on Carol’s blog.  Although it needs an explanation of ingredients to figure what is this burger all about, it is simple and effectively illustrative and communicates with everyone – maybe not vegetarians –  It also breaks the content strategy elements down to audience, theme, tone, format and platform, which is much easier to say in one breath and remember than the one by Halvorson and Rach.