Content Strategy at Work : Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project

Content is king... and the new kingmaker... and your message needs to align with your model and metrics and other mumbo jumbo, right? Whether you're slogging through theory or buzzwords, there's no denying content strategy is coming of age. But what's in it for you? And if you're not a content strategist, why should you care?

Because even if content strategy isn't your job, content's probably your problem--and probably more than you think. You or your business has a message you want to deliver, right? You can deliver that message through various channels and content types, from Tweets to testimonials and photo galleries galore, and your audience has just as many ways of engaging with it. So many ways, so much content... so where's the problem? That is the problem. And you can measure it in time, creativity, money, lost opportunity, and the sobs you hear equally from creative directors, project managers, and search engine marketing specialists.

The solution is content strategy, and this book offers real-world examples and approaches you can adopt, no matter your role on the team. Put content strategy to work for you by taking in never-before-seen case studies from teams at Johns Hopkins Medicine, MINI, Icebreaker, and more. Content Strategy at Work is a book for designers, information architects, copywriters, project managers, social media consultants, and anyone who works with visual or verbal content. If communication matters for your company or client, put content strategy to work for you.

• Explore a content strategy framework and processes from both consultancies and in-house marketing departments


• Dig into case studies and interviews from brands in academia, apparel, network television, the non-profit sector, retail, and more


• Gather practical sales techniques and examples to sell content strategy--or to use content strategy to sell other services and larger projects

Margot Bloomstein is the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston. For more than a decade, she's partnered with retailers, universities, and other organizations to create brand-appropriate user experiences that engage their target audiences and project key messages with consistency and clarity through both traditional and social media.

A participant in the inaugural Content Strategy Consortium, Margot speaks regularly—and energetically—about the evolving challenges for content strategy. Recent engagements include Content Strategy Forum London, Confab, edUi, SXSW, Web 2.0 Expo, Web Content, and more intimate regional events across the country. She also helps organize Content Strategy New England.

Margot is the author of Content Strategy at Work (Morgan Kaufmann, March 2012), a collection of case studies, examples, and processes that help teams embrace content strategy on every interactive project. Content Strategy at Work is a book for designers, information architects, copywriters, project managers, SEO consultants, and anyone who wants to create better user experiences, whether in in-house marketing departments or agency consulting engagements.

Margot lives outside Boston with her husband Mike and Ringo, their adorable and talkative white German Shepherd.