Omnichannel by OmnichannelX

In this episode, we hear from Cruce Saunders, the founder, and principal at [A] (simplea.com). We explore the role of content structure to shape omnichannel enterprise publishing, and to support multiple modes of content delivery. Also, we dive deep into the organizational structures that help support teamwork around the intelligent, modular content that is the foundation for next-generation customer experiences.

The difference between omnichannel, multichannel, and cross-channel

We begin by defining the aspects of omnichannel, multichannel, and cross-channel content. Hear how they differ and why they shouldn’t hinder workflow.

Cruce describes omnichannel as “…a service-oriented approach to publishing in which any future channel may be added without impacting the overall process of creating, managing, and delivering the content.”

Too many organizations compound efforts when attempting to scale delivery, but by deploying better practices centered around content intelligence, they reduce ongoing internal effort, and open up content to reach more endpoints.

What’s holding organizations back from delivering omnichannel experiences?

Delivering omnichannel experiences requires not just structured content, but also a structured and improved content creation process.

“Omnichannel content derives from content that is structured. [The content model] structures the authoring process, which then structures the management and delivery process. Today, all of those things are disconnected.”

Cruce shares common blockers organizations face and the importance of structured content. Structured content he sees as the key to delivering the next-generation of customer experiences, and calls on practitioners to dive into the change process.

“It’s 2020, we need to get over our allergy to these concepts that are foundational and fundamental to the future.”

You can listen to this podcast here or Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

In this episode, we talk with Sarah Richards of Content Design London, the founder of what has become an entire movement in the world of content: content design.

Like all good movements, and in line with the movement's own philosophy, it is synthesis and clarification of what came before. Content design has aspects you might consider content strategy, UX research, and customer journey mapping, all under a unified umbrella discipline. It is a research-driven approach to passing content requirements, planning, content strategy and copywriting through a design thinking and service design lens. It’s based on a research and human-centric approach which puts user needs at the center of all content decisions. Rather than considering producing a deliverable or format in a channel as a goal – for example, creating a webpage or video – the goal is satisfying the requirements laid out in a user story. 

In our conversation, we discuss how content design came to be and how Sarah both needed it and used it to reset the conversation with the entire organisation of UK government about what a content professional is and does, and how the inter-team dynamics need to work to make sure that content is meeting the user's real goals.

Finally, we discuss the many resources that Sarah publishes where you can learn more. Oh, and Noz gets his first job-title change in over a decade!

In this episode, Programme Director Noz Urbina interviews Mark Grannan, Senior Analyst from Forrester Research. Mark takes us through Forrester’s new term: “Agile CMS” and how it separates content management, planning, and analytics from the channel end-points to enable content-as-a-service for all potential channels at once from a single, central hub. Mark’s contributed to several whitepapers on omnichannel and focuses especially on platform and systems, making him a valuable resource for understanding market trends around content management, planning, measurement, and distribution.

Design thought-leader and lecturer at Rutgers University Chris Avore and globally recognised Content Strategy specialist Matt Grocki discuss what it means to operationalise your omnichannel efforts.

In this session, we look at questions like:

• How do you best research the diverse sets of stakeholders involved in omnichannel? Are brainstorming and workshops still the best way?
• Does omnichannel strategy implementation need to turn your whole organisation upside down?
• What role do executives and leadership play in improving omnichannel customer experience?
• How technical does a content or design practitioner need to be?
• And, many more.

Enterprise or start-up – brands need to differentiate & engage. Gina Balarin presents a repeatable model for your omnichannel success: Stories as a Service.

Gina Balarin – content marketer by profession, story-teller by passion – helps organisations tell their customer's stories better. Stories inherently transcend channels and departments by addressing to overall brand/customer relationship. And customers can’t tell really good stories if they haven’t good experiences across all stages of the customer lifecycle and across all channels. So, who could be a better interviewee for the Omnichannel Podcast?

 

Margot Bloomstein and Noz Urbina explore how building audience relationships based on trust starts from inside the organisation, and how digital transformation doesn't always mean disruption. More on https://OmnichannelX.digital Twitter:@OmniXconf Margot:@mbloomstein

An interview with Ryan Skinner, Senior analyst serving B2C marketing professionals for Forrester, that spans topics from the challenges around organizational silos that most organizations deal with every day to how to prepare for artificial intelligence now to keep ahead of the curve in years to come. Twitter:@OmniXconf

Enjoy our interview with content strategist Marie Girard of IBM Paris! Marie is responsible for a unifying strategy that cuts across: Marketing websites, Social media channels, Online Marketplace, Developer communities and forums, Software as a Service user interfaces with text inside the applications, Documentation and help, Technical support and knowledge bases, and Training material.

Twitter:@OmniXconf