Content Strategy Insights

For nearly 40 years, Jared Spool has been helping publishers and software developers create better experiences for their users. Along the way, he has also helped companies apply UX design principles to the process of creating content for their customers. Jared is one of the best-known and most widely cited practitioners and educators in the UX field. We had a wide-ranging conversation on content strategy and how it manifests in user experience design.

Jason Preston & Steve Broback co-founded the Dent Conference, an annual gathering and a year-round community of innovators looking to make a dent in the universe. They quickly realized that the event was really the centerpiece of an ongoing, year-round community they had created.

Gerry McGovern helps customers complete their most important tasks when they arrive at a website. His proven process routinely results in the removal of as much as 90% of the content on a website. This requires content managers to shift their mindset from a simple production model to an ongoing customer-centric "eternal beta."

 Sarah Richards created the field of content design as she revamped gov.uk's web presence. From a messy amalgam of hundreds of government websites, she created a user-focused "storefront" where UK citizens could get their most common questions answered.

Todd Bishop and his colleagues at GeekWire have strategically blended business journalism with leading-edge media business practices to create a regional tech publication with worldwide readership.

Laura Porto Stockwell has developed a strategy process that connects the dots between business goals, brand aspirations, market opportunities, and user needs. That she says, "Is where the magic happens." Laura applies her strategic approach to both top-level digital strategies and to content strategies for her clients as the CEO of Big Thinkers Society.

Anika Anand loves engaging with her readers, not just giving them "fly-by content." In her role as a startup founder, she always asks, "What do we want people to do with what we're making?" This approach gives Anika plenty of opportunities to engage in one of her favorite activities: nerding out about content strategy.

Andrew Himes was one of the world's first digital content strategists. Working at Microsoft in the early 1990s, he helped found the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and helped build the first content management system, dynamically generating hypertext documents from a database.

David Fried integrates content strategy throughout his branding work at the digital agency EFM. Whether he's crafting a branding strategy from the ground up or executing a campaign for an existing brand, content is always a key element.

Russell Sparkman has been doing content marketing for almost 20 years. We talked about purpose-driven content marketing, how not to commit "random acts of content," and the neuroscience of storytelling.