{"id":2986,"date":"2012-05-08T08:01:32","date_gmt":"2012-05-08T12:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?p=2986"},"modified":"2017-04-20T00:17:18","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T04:17:18","slug":"case-in-point-content-strategy-at-n-c-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/case-in-point-content-strategy-at-n-c-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Case in Point: Content Strategy at N.C. State"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tim Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Learning the principles behind creating and sustaining effective web content is important, but it\u2019s always helpful to see how someone else has put them into practice. With that in mind, we reached out to Tim Jones<\/a>, executive creative director<\/a> at North Carolina State University<\/a>, to talk about how he is using content strategy at his institution.<\/p>\n

Jones came to content strategy through journalism, working as a newspaper reporter for almost a year after college. In 2001, he took a job as an information officer at the College of William and Mary in 2001, arriving just as the college began transitioning many print publications to the web. <\/p>\n

In 2007, Jones came to North Carolina State University as the director of web communications, leading a new group created to support a recent redesign. Last year, he spent seven months as interim chief communications office before assuming his current role, where he oversees web, print, digital, photography and video.<\/p>\n

“We do a lot of marketing and communications, which is a really great vantage for content strategy, because you are looking at how all of these things fit together,” Jones says of his current role. <\/p>\n

In a wide-ranging discussion, Jones touched on editorial process, mobile, multichannel publishing, institutional buy-in for content strategy, advocating for content, embracing a strategic approach and much more. (Please note: audio transcripts are available by clicking through to the SoundCloud page for each audio clip.)<\/p>\n

Establishing an Editorial Process<\/h2>\n

MC: You mentioned that you came on in \u201807 to take the reins after this redesign project. And so, obviously your background in content came to shape the direction that communications at NC State took. Can you talk a little bit about how that came to be? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Jones<\/strong>: N.C. State had a pretty understated web presence before they went through the redesign process, and a big focus for the redesign that I inherited was improving the value of the homepage real estate. <\/p>\n

It was a content-heavy design. So, we took advantage of that and really tried hard to define clearly what we were doing from an editorial perspective, spending a lot of time outlining the kinds of stories that we were using, why we were choosing those stories, and what we hoped we could influence as a result of those decisions. <\/p>\n

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We learned early on that consistency in editorial judgment is really critical, and to do that we needed to put it in writing, at least internally.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

When you manage the central homepage there is a lot of interest in the way that you make decisions about what content you choose and what you choose not to use. We learned early on that consistency in editorial judgment is really critical, and to do that we needed to put it in writing at least internally. So we had a guidebook on how we made decisions about what kind of content we were going to promote, what we were going to use where and also providing those outlets for content that wasn’t going to make the homepage cut. And that process is enlightening. You learn what your university values are, you learn what people find important, who your audiences are, and you really have to spend some time and commit to those kinds of decisions. <\/p>\n

We spent a good bit of time on that, and using that as a real educational opportunity. Just sitting down with the communications folks and talking through what works in the digital space, what’s not going to work, what we’re trying to do at the university level in terms of recruitment or fundraising or general support and awareness efforts and how we were going to go about that. And then really trying to work with folks to bring them along and get them engaged and helping contribute to that process. <\/p>\n

The Mobile Impact<\/h2>\n

MC: Tell me a little bit about how N.C. State’s focus on content has evolved with the emergence of mobile and the emergence of location-based services, and what new considerations you’ve had for content in the context of these new platforms.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jones<\/strong>: We started working on a location-based services tool sort of at the height of the Foursquare and Gowalla check-in [craze], really trying to get in on that identity. We got the check-in working, we got the geolocation stuff working, and we got all that working, but we had nothing in the tool or no real reason to have it outside of it being a nifty tech trick. <\/p>\n

We came to the realization that we needed a content first approach there. Once we took a step back and moved in that direction, we spent a lot more time deconstructing our existing content, looking for sources of content that might populate and feed this tool, things that might make the most sense in the mobile context. And that process alone was therapeutic in a lot of ways and really enlightening. We were able to evaluate what we have, what works and what doesn’t in certain contexts, how to structure better, what technologies we needed to put in place to improve that process. The calendaring system that we had wasn’t producing the kind of code that would work in this context, so we had to make some adjustments. <\/p>\n

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Evaluating [the application] from a content-first perspective changed the entire project. Now we have a tool where it\u2019s a lot clearer what we\u2019re trying to do with it.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

That whole process, just evaluating it from a content first perspective, changed the entire project. It’s been a long process. It’s delayed it quite a bit, but I think for the right reasons. Now we have a tool where it\u2019s a lot clearer what we’re trying to do with it\u2014we’re trying to get people to contribute content, but also the opportunity to deliver content in the mobile space. We focused a lot on events early on, because of talking to students about what would be most useful in the mobile context: \u201cI just want to know what’s going on around campus.\u201d It’s a big, sprawling, 2,000-acre campus, and so if I’m in the library and I want to take a study break, I need to find something to do. And mobile context is perfect for that, but not all event-driven content is perfect for the mobile context. <\/p>\n

There is this moment where you look at this thing and say, hey, we’ve done some awesome work with this content. We can use this in our social space, we can use this in our homepage, and we provide this to the other colleges and units, and we can do it all because we spent the time analyzing and structuring our content to be effective across the platforms. And that really sort of shaped the direction we moved with the location-based services, with mobile and ultimately with our broader web strategy. <\/p>\n

Content Strategy for Communications<\/h2>\n

MC: Can you talk a about communications\u2014news, media relations, social media\u2014and how the content first approach has influenced those communications channels and how you’re telling N.C. State’s story to a range of audiences?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hear Tim Jones\u2019 response:<\/em><\/p>\n