The picture above says it all, doesn't it? If you ever find yourself wondering why your website traffic may not be where you want it to be, it could have a lot to do with the way your content is being presented. Content is all about providing an audience with something to read, see, learn, and experience, and your content strategy needs to reflect that. If you can honestly ask and answer these questions: 1) Am I letting people know what I'm about? 2) Does the content really reflect my identity? 3) Are there images that can explain who I am better than words? Then you're on the right track to developing a pretty solid content strategy.
There is an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. It's true of course, depending on the image you select. A powerful image can speak volumes. It can tell an audience who you are, and what you're about. It can provide context in a way that words sometimes can't capture, depending of course on the image you select - like this for example:
Look at it closely - is it not persuasive? Are you being informed? Is it instructive? Does it validate the message? You better believe it does. This is the sort of imagery you need to create in order to capture and hold a viewers attention, exactly what you need to do regarding website content. A far less controversial, but nonetheless effective, way to capture content strategy with images, is with food.
Who doesn't love a burger? More importantly, who wouldn't be compelled to learn more about what the image was presenting? The use of the hamburger bun, toppings, and meat to illustrate the importance of each component of content strategy is brilliant. Ultimately the main point of this image is to put some thought into your content strategy!
Finally, we have the equal importance of content and context:
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Simple, but effective non? So why does this image succeed? Not to be repetitive, but again, because it’s simple. It’s easy to remember and sometimes that is all you need. When you’re creating content for your site, it's so easy to get lost in the weeds. You want to create something that stands out, that looks different from all the rest, but thorough planning of your content will make all the difference to how your site looks, feels and most importantly in what you’re trying to say.
I like your take on the assignment. I focused on content strategy infographics perhaps too much and your approach was refreshing. I to posted the hamburger infographic - it is a great and simplistic illustration of the importance of content!
ReplyDeleteThanks Veronica, I definitely appreciate your comments.I read your post and the focus was on form and extremely informative!! I know that Boyd mentioned he tends to prefer a much more technical approach, and I've tried (at first) to write that way, but somehow I end up with a more populist (intent to appeal to everyone) rather than segmented post..think I may need to work on that!
ReplyDeleteI love the burger picture! You’re right, who doesn’t love burgers? But more importantly, the overall diagram reminds the writer that the message is such a tiny part of the overall post. How you chose to display it, the tone you use, the wording, the image that you include with it, the specific audience you are reaching, etc. It makes me wonder how many wasted hours are spent on posts that no one reads or bothers to click on because they aren’t strategized enough if it all. Looking at this makes me dissect what catches my eye on social media, and what content I am actually absorbing. Great job Steve!!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a lot of us posted the burger infographic! Just goes to show us all that it's definitely a great example of informative, creative, attention-catching and effective. It's great how the image gets your attention and then the legend really gives you more detail and context and the image actually serves as an important analogy to the different ideas it explains.
ReplyDeleteIt won't allow me to edit the post to my full name...so here it is!
DeleteHi Steve,
ReplyDeleteThe pictures you used to describe content strategy were uniquely creative, especially the one in the subway, as it creates emotion and provides information and instruction, as well as persuades the audience to pay attention, even possibly take action. The burger picture is a very effective way to capture and communicate information and data. The image of the crowns will help me to remember that content is king and context is queen!