“So what ist that what you study exactly?”. As content strategy is a quite new discipline – especially in the German speaking area – questions like this sound quite familiar to me.

When combing through the internet for easy explanations of content strategy, the first time I came across the term, I stumbled upon a lot of great analogies, which in my opinion really help to understand.

I love metaphors. On the one hand they are such a simple form of communication as well as a good way to explain complex things in a figurative language. On the other hand, they always tell a great story. In plain text: They help to visualize a concept in a way that doesn’t require critical thinking.

And since this blogpost should be a beginners-guide for people who are completely new in the field of content strategy I listed you some of my favorites below. 

But first, to kind of create a consensus of what we are actually talking about I don’t want to keep back the de facto definition of Kristina Halvorson, founder of Brain Traffic and author of Content Strategy for the Web, herself. Halvorson defines content strategy as “Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content.” Mismatching a lot of interpretations, content strategy is not social media, website design, copywriting or information architecture – in fact it encompasses all of that and even more.

Ready? Here are two mind-blowing content strategy analogies: 

When onboarding new people onto the content strategy plane, the comparison with air travel and flying a plane from Mael Roth really does a good job in explaining what it is all about. A plane is a very complex object that has changed the way we perceive our world. And even though flying seems to be quite banal nowadays, there was a time it was not and in retrospect it’s one of the most technological achievements of our time. A complex field of expertise that involves a lot of puzzle pieces fitting together. Sounds a bit like content strategy, right? ;-)

 -          What are the roles on board?

Think of the last time you took a flight. It always the same. From the time you (i.e. customer) arrive to the airport until you are in the air, there are clear rules and processes to follow (check in, security check, boarding, etc.). The pilot (i.e. content strategist) speaks to the control tower (i.e. manager) and takes care of all technicalities and roadmap approvals. Depending on the size of the airplane and the duration of the flight there could be a co-pilot assisting the pilot. Flight attendants (i.e. the content team) try to make the flight as pleasant as possible for passengers (clients / potential customers / your stakeholders / etc.) serving free food and beverage (useful content!), informing them of any turbulences or other important information and communicating regularly with the cockpit.

-          What happens in the air?

During the flight it seems that nothing really exciting is happening. That’s because there are clear rules and guidelines how to get from A to B and how to behave during unexpected turbulences, etc. Most important is to stick to the roadmap/plan, take care of your passengers, be prepared to make adaptions and most important communicate. The pilot (and maybe co-pilot) sitting in the cockpit are the experts in knowing how to fly that plane while communicating with all people on the aircraft (i.e. the content team, stakeholders, etc.) and control towers (i.e. manager). To do so, they’re well-provided with a variety of control instruments and dashboards.

-          How to keep the plane flying?

Even though passengers may not be aware of what’s going on behind the scenes, it is a substantial part of an airline to keep the plane in good condition by making updates, repairing or replacing parts (i.e. content updates and maintenance) and having a planned schedule. And in the end of course there is also the technological aspect: The pilot needs the best fitting technological solution to be able to fly safely from A to B (to plan, create and implement your content strategy). 

Another good analogy to explain Content Strategy is the one of a behind-the-scenes restaurant or cooking at home by Julia McCoy. Content Strategy is the planning, the food preparation and in a restaurant also reservations and the staff schedule. Depending on whether you need to feed a family of four persons, or you prepare food for a whole restaurant with 40 guests the size of the required pans and pots as well as the amount of ingredients will differ. That seems obvious, doesn’t it?

Apart from that, questions like these may arise: Who is our audience? What do they prefer to eat? Should we provide food for kids? What ingredients should we use? Is local produce a priority? How many waiters do we need to organize? Just like in a restaurant or in your kitchen at home, content strategy is the planning, preparation, and methods you have to come up with to deliver the best customer experience. It is the framework you put in place to deliver the content to readers.

PS: To all analogy-lovers out there. If that was not enough for you, there is another fabulous content strategy metaphor by Rahle A. Bailie (one of the founders of the discipline of content strategy, author of one of the first books on this subject and one of our Content Strategy master's programme at the FH Joanneum Graz). It’s about doctors. Here we go. 

Also check out the blogposts my fellow students Polina and Antonia wrote about this topic. :)