influential tech comm/content strategists and I placed at 18 out of 400!
I’m excited and honored by the recognition. The list is impressive. Many of the people I watch and listen to (and sometimes know!) are also on the list. I’m delighted to be in this company at any level.
To find out more and follow the list, go here.
I read once that when TV first showed up as a technology, it was viewed as a way for rooms of people to watch an event as a group. People could perhaps go to a theater and all watch a TV together. And TV shows were thought of as radio shows, but showing people too.
When a new technology shows up, this way of thinking is normal. We map what we know from existing stuff to the new technology and extend what we currently do onto the new thing. It can take years for a new technology to be used in a really new way.
New technology allows new stuff, or not
I was thinking about this as I was looking at how some companies are using social media.
I’m seeing companies using social media to:
It’s public relations as social media in 1994. Throw your message over the wall and hope it resonates with someone somewhere. Maybe.
Maybe someone will find our message. Let's hope.
Hope is not a plan.
Social media is, well, new
Social media is a way to:
Social media is a way to understand who your users are and what they need. You can actually talk to them and they can talk back. You can position your brand(s) and company so it has relevance to your users.
This is like a dream, really.
Because hope is not a plan
You need a plan to use social media effectively and get the results you want. You can’t just hand over the social media to each sales person and hope they are communicating what you want.
I recently saw a tweet with vile language creating a disturbing image from someone who identified his employer in his Twitter bio! I have no problems with people using what ever language they wish in their personal accounts. It is a personal account.
But now I know who he works for because he put that information in his bio. That language, the image, and his tweet are now in my head with his employers name. The company brand is tied to the vile profanity and disturbing image.
Not cool, man. Not cool at all. And I doubt that was the plan.
I’m not a strong visual learner. I like words and getting my hands on things. But many people are strong visual learners and I need to accommodate them in any content I develop. So, since I like words, I found a book that helps me with visual information. I thought I’d share some highlights with you in case you’re also not a strong visual learner.
By the way, to find out your learning strengths, take the VARK quiz.
The book is a classic: William Horton’s Illustrating Computer Documentation. Wiley Press, 1991.
I realize it’s older but the concepts and principles are valid regardless of when it was written. If it’s not on your shelf, I strongly recommend you get it. Mine is dog eared and written in and tagged all over.
Design content for scanning
Since I like words so much, I was delighted to discover that words can be graphical elements, too. Lists and tables are visual and need to be designed as such to support your visual learners.
While tables are inherently a grid, you can make tables harder to read by using horizontal AND vertical lines. Pick one (and you may not even need that) that suits the information and stay with that. Make any lines thin enough to let the eye follow but not thick enough to visually draw the eye.
Since humans are hard wired (because of the rods and cones in our eyes) to see lines, we want the thickness of the line to not overwhelm the visual field.
Lists are always a good thing to use. If you use lists, make sure they are used correctly.
Organizing content visually
Screen captures are good and we all use them, assuming you’re developing content for software. But think about how else you can visually show information.
For example, the last time I was documentation manager, I instituted a policy that every chapter (section) must have an introductory paragraph(s) and then a graphic that illustrated the ideas in the paragraph(s). This supported both our word learners and our visual learners. It visually organized the content in that section.
Typically, we had a flowchart, showing information flow through the system but sometimes we showed how parts worked together. It depended on the content in that section. We single-sourced that graphic to the online help to support the different learners there as well. Had we the time and the staff, the graphics might have become animations online.
It seems like social media is everywhere – from Twitter to Facebook to Foursquare. Many people have their personal social media accounts but most companies are not taking advantage of the value of social media.
Why is that?
Often, it’s because companies are looking for the RIO (return on investment) for the costs of social media.
“If we invest time and money on social media, what dollar value does that add to us and our business goals?”
Social media is critical to your business.
That’s why social media is critical to your success as a company.
