Course Description
In this age of breakneck technological innovation, digital products – apps, websites, and software – have become crucial to business success. Down the line, in your professional roles, you might be expected to contribute directly or indirectly to these digital products, perhaps as marketers, communications specialists, developers, designers, or business strategists, etc. You’ll realize the success of these products hinges heavily on the quality of their content. The right content at the right time for the right reasons helps meet business goals, build brand perception, and shape user experience. And the planning, creation and delivery of this right content requires some serious strategy.
This course is designed to introduce students to the critical role content strategy plays in fulfilling user needs and achieving business goals. It offers a comprehensive overview of this evolving discipline, and helps students understand and clearly articulate how content can enhance an organization’s overall strategic goals. More importantly, it offers actionable tips, best practices and resources that will help prepare students for a role in this coveted and critical field.
Students will engage with all aspects of the content lifecycle and learn some core content strategy skills such as how to conduct research and analysis, audit existing content, gather business requirements, conduct user research and gap analysis, optimize content for search, and prioritize it for delivery. They will also become familiar with some complimentary and nice-to-have skills required to excel in this field. The course will take a hybrid approach and combine online and in-class instruction.
What you'll learn
At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
- Understand what Content Strategy entails - the practice and the process
- Get introduced to the core and complimentary skills needed and how to acquire them
- Learn how to gain experience, create a portfolio and prepare for a job interview
- Get tips on how to excel in a role of Content Strategist
Requirements
- No previous content creation experience is needed.
Recommended reading
- Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halverson
- The Elements of Content Strategyby Erin Kissane
- Content Design by Sarah Richards