A cheat sheet of methods and tools for content strategists

Constraints. The "necessary evil.” And the plain ole’ necessary.

The role of the content strategist is to bring together the needs and objectives of technical, marketing and user experience teams under one umbrella business objective. Let's explore the specific activities and interrelated activities associated with different "flavors" of content strategy.

It’s easy to overlook things that are critically important until they start failing. Just like we don’t notice the structure of a house until it’s in question (“Hmm, should I be walking on this?”), a site’s information architecture typically goes unnoticed until it fails to do its job (“Why can’t I find what I need?!”).

Sometimes closing that laptop, turning off the screens and putting away the tablet is the best way to get things done. Here's how I use them for client workshop facilitation, rapid ideation and prototyping.

The terms “strategic” and “tactical” carry different weights within many organizations, and unfortunately one gains more attention or credence (often strategy). But in reality, both need each other. Strategy without execution chops—and execution without strategy—is a rudderless endeavor that leads nowhere.

Most often in life we look to “things” for direction—data, statistics, trusted perspectives, our own experiences—when I wonder if the quiet, the absence of direction, is where we’d find more meaningful answers.

The term "overthinker" is a label nobody wants. But fear not, my fellow overthinkers, there's hope for us yet.