“Content strategy focuses on the planning, creation, delivery, and governance of content.” usability.gov
User content strategy is a crucial component in the landscape of digital communication and marketing. It revolves around the creation and management of usable, useful content that is in line with the needs, preferences, and expectations of the target users.
The process begins with a deep understanding of the user's journey, which involves the path they take from the moment they first interact with your brand or product, through to the point of conversion and beyond. This journey can be mapped out and analysed to identify key touchpoints and opportunities for content delivery.
The next step is to provide users with the right content at the right time. This could range from informative articles that educate users about a product or service, instructional videos that guide users on how to use a product, interactive tools to engage users and provide personalised experiences, and other types of content that offer value to the user.
In creating these pieces of content, it's important to maintain a consistent tone of voice and messaging that aligns with your brand identity and resonates with your audience. The content should be easy to understand, accessible, and engaging, to draw the user in and keep them interested.
The ultimate goal of user content strategy is to engage the user effectively, meet their needs in a timely and valuable manner, and guide them towards a desired action. This action might be making a purchase, signing up for a service, subscribing to a newsletter, or any other action that fulfils a business goal.
By continuously refining and improving the user content strategy based on feedback and performance metrics, businesses can build stronger relationships with their users, enhance user satisfaction and loyalty, and drive growth.
The concept of User-generated content (UGC) intrigued me. UGC is another key aspect of content strategy. This term refers to any form of content, such as videos, images, reviews, and social media posts, that are created by users of an online platform or service, rather than by the brand itself.
UGC is a powerful tool for brands because it leverages the voice of the customer, providing authentic and relatable content that can deeply resonate with other users. It's generally seen as more trustworthy and credible than traditional brand-generated content because it reflects real users' experiences and opinions.
Incorporating UGC into a content strategy can help to foster a sense of community and encourage further engagement from users. By featuring UGC, brands can show that they value their users' input and experiences, which can in turn enhance brand loyalty and trust.
However, it's essential to manage UGC effectively to ensure that it aligns with the brand's values and meets quality standards. This can involve moderating UGC to filter out inappropriate content, and establishing clear guidelines for what kind of UGC is encouraged.
<aside> ⭐ REFLECTION: I really enjoyed this weeks lecture surrounding content strategies. It was something I found extremely interesting, especially UGC which I researched more about. User personas is something that I have enjoyed using for a while now but it was nice to have a refresher on this method of UX ideation.
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