{"id":188589,"date":"2023-07-13T23:12:21","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T23:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.rm.gfolkdev.net\/?page_id=188589"},"modified":"2023-07-13T23:19:44","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T23:19:44","slug":"sample-chapter-strategic-content-design","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/sample-chapter-strategic-content-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Sample Chapter: Strategic Content Design"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a sample chapter from Erica Jorgensen’s<\/a> book Strategic Content Design: Tools and Research Techniques for Better UX<\/em>. 2023, Rosenfeld Media.<\/p>\n

Chapter 1<\/h2>\n

The Power of Content Research<\/h3>\n

Here’s an astonishing example of the power of content research.<\/p>\n

While I was working for a major health insurance company, the digital experience team was called into an urgent meeting. We were selling health insurance policies during the national open-enrollment period. That meant we had only 10 weeks to promote and sell health insurance plans. Two weeks into that 10-week window, the senior director of digital experience had alarming news to share: sales were only at a fraction of what was expected. Senior executives at the company were sounding the alarms. We needed to make up for lost time and \u201cfix\u201d the customer experience, immediately. But what was going on?<\/em> After months of feverish user research with prospective customers, we\u2019d created a visually appealing, simplified customer experience\u2014or so we thought.<\/p>\n

Like all insurance companies, we were offering three \u201cflavors\u201d of insurance plans: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. As you\u2019d expect, the Bronze plans were the least expensive (though still pricey!). Silver plans were in the middle. Gold plans were the most expensive, but provided the widest choice of doctors, clinics, and hospitals.<\/p>\n

In this meeting of the digital experience team, we collectively hypothesized about what might be happening from a customer experience point of view. All of the health plans were expensive. With this being the first year of mandated health insurance coverage, customers were understandably reluctant to choose a plan, because they were being forced to do so. People who previously had no health insurance were being asked to pay hundreds of dollars a month. And health insurance is an emotionally charged topic, and one that\u2019s famously complicated\u2014it\u2019s one of the industries that\u2019s least trusted by the public, even less so than used-car salespeople!<\/p>\n

For customers who qualified, government-funded subsidies were available to reduce the monthly cost\u2014but required that customers jump through some application hoops and provide a lot of paperwork to provide proof of their income.<\/p>\n

The digital experience team\u2014including product managers, experience designers, content strategists\u2014collectively put our heads together. Could we simplify the subsidy sign-up process? Part of that experience was out of our control; customers who wanted to apply for a subsidy were directed to a government website with complicated terminology\u2014that is, when the site wasn\u2019t crashing from a huge volume of visitors. But, perhaps we on the digital experience team could provide a better online glossary and step-by-step guidance for customers, to help ease them through that process?<\/p>\n

One of the product managers chimed in: \u201cThe sales of the Silver plans were so low,\u201d she said, \u201cthat perhaps there was a code error.\u201d Was the HTML buggy? Was the \u201cBuy a Silver plan\u201d call-to-action button on the home page even working (which would be a huge embarrassment for our team, as we had done quality-assurance checks prior to the campaign launch date).<\/p>\n

What seemed like a good hypothesis was shot down. The CTA button was working. Could there be something else cooking with this customer experience?<\/p>\n

Collectively, we decided there was some more user research to be done\u2014and quickly. We needed to find out why people were buying gold and bronze plans but avoiding the Silver plans like the plague.<\/p>\n

A few hours later, a simple SurveyMonkey survey was shared with a sample of prospective customers. What we uncovered with that survey was gob-smacking, and helped save the day for the sales campaign. People replied to the survey and said things like, \u201cI can only afford a Bronze plan. I would like better coverage but can\u2019t afford the Gold plan. And the Silver plan, that is not for me, because I\u2019m not over 65.\u201d<\/p>\n

Say what?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A pattern quickly emerged from surveying just 20 customers. Silver plans were perceived to be \u201cdifferent.\u201d Customers thought they were Medicare plans and only intended for people 65- years-old and older. Silver plan, Silver Sneakers, Silver Fox, Centrum Silver vitamins\u2026the \u201cbranding\u201d of silver was getting in the way of our health plan sales! This was probably further complicated by how the website home page (and radio ads, and ads on buses, and social media promotions, and other advertising) was wholly focused on selling Medicare plans for the other 42 weeks of the year.<\/p>\n

Damn.<\/p>\n

With about two minutes of work, the content strategy team added two simple sentences to the home page, just above the Buy a Silver Plan call-to-action button, which made all the difference: \u201cSilver plans are Affordable Care Act plans that provide a medium level of coverage. If you are over 65, shop for Medicare plans.\u201d That Medicare link sent customers to the Medicare plan landing page.<\/p>\n

What a difference some clarifying content can make. Once that content went live, it was if a light switch had flipped. Silver plan sales took off within the hour. Within a few days, sales were reaching the levels that the executive team had forecasted. It was like we waved a magic wand.<\/p>\n

It was fortunate that we focused on the content, instead of trying to simplify the subsidy sign-up process. It was a lesson in never taking for granted how your content is being perceived by your audience.<\/p>\n\n

Simply put, content research is a trifecta of goodness. First, it\u2019s an incredibly powerful tool for you, as a content professional. It makes your words work better and it creates a groundswell of influence for you and your team. Second, your customers benefit when you use clearer, easier-to-understand language. And third, it provides a boost for your business, because customers are more likely to trust your company and be loyal to your products, services, and brand when content speaks to them in an engaging, and relatable way. You know the phrase, \u201cYou\u2019re speaking my language?\u201d Content research uncovers information about which specific words and phrases are clear and understandable and makes people feel recognized because you\u2019re talking their talk.<\/p>\n

What Is Content Research?<\/h3>\n

Content research involves asking your customers or audience for focused feedback on your content\u2014for example, what they like, what they don\u2019t like, and why\u2014and then using that feedback to improve your content. Sometimes this might be called content testing<\/em>, especially if you\u2019re asking customers which words or phrases they prefer (\u201cpreference testing\u201d). In this book, I\u2019ll primarily refer to it as content research<\/em> because it more fully encompasses what this practice involves\u2014providing insights that are key to you as a content creator. As with usability research, the insights gleaned from content research are like golden nuggets that can translate into a deeper understanding of your customers and their needs, which can result in improved business performance.<\/p>\n

Content research helps you accomplish the following goals, all of which contribute to your doing a better job as a content creator:<\/p>\n