Live from Congility: Content Strategy at a Micro Scale

Content Strategy at a micro scale, by Clara Gausch

Clara works with small teams

• Sometimes very small companies (1 or 3 people!)
• Sometimes very little content
• They all need high quality web content
• All users want useful content – no matter how big or small the company is.

Are micro companies generally creating better content than big organizations?

• No!
• A small music school with a small website still needs to answer:
  • What instruments can I learn?
  • Do they teach children and/or adults?
• A small restaurant with a small website needs to tell us:
  • Do they rent the place for private event?
  • How can I contact you?
• These are bad experiences.

The real danger:

• Companies that can’t do great content but think they can
• It’s as dangerous as a child thinking he knows how to swim, when he doesn’t
• It looks feasible – they see content everywhere
• They don’t know what they don’t know
• They don’t know what they’re risking by having poor content – so they see no reason to solve it

What are the fundamental problems?

• They don’t know their key messages (what makes them special)
• They don’t know why they need a website
• They don’t know their voice and tone (what their identity is)
• They know their users, but don’t think to use this knowledge on their website

How can content strategy help?

• Don’t give up on small companies for not knowing what they don’t know. They know lots of other things!
• Help them understand that content comes first. It’s incredibly valuable.
• Systemically think through the problems before putting together the content.
• Content matters a lot to everyone – even a single person company.
• Be there for them. Be flexible, analyze, and help with the pieces before the execution.
• Get them specific – what are the key messages, the goals, the user needs?

Content strategy at a micro scale has a big, direct impact.