It has been a year now since we begin our master’s degree in the Content Strategy domain, since then a lot of things happened, you can imagine the number of new things I learned, the amount of time spent figuring out a new assignment, or the challenge to work and study within all the chaos of last year. But we made it! I gained a lot of experience in new topics, enlarged my knowledge, and gained amazing friends.
Doing a master’s degree is a whole new experience itself, never to mention working while studying, which is another level of organization skills. In my opinion, how someone deals with this experience differs from one another and can have a lifetime impact on lives and careers, that is why I can say I am enjoying this ride; it can be hard and challenging at times, but it is certainly worth it, and now that we are at the beginning of our third semester, I can’t express how enthusiastic I am to the new experiences, knowledge and of course challenges!
What I learned most.
As we went through the two last semesters we got introduced to a lot of topics, such as Content Audit, Brand values, Business Strategy for digital Markets, Digital Publishing Platforms, Qualitative/Quantitative Social Research, Information Architecture, User Experience, Writing for the web, Cross-Platform Storytelling, and a lot more!
For sure, certain topics got my attention more than others, I enjoyed learning about them and the lectures were an enjoyable time!
Content Audit
It was very interesting to learn with Paula Land the steps for conducting a content audit, how we first have to list our inventories, qualitative and quantitative audits. It was eyes opening to see how we can study what content the sites contain and how much information is missing or is also not valuable on certain websites. I also should emphasize here the great book by Paula Land herself “Content Audit and Inventories” which I recommend for anyone who wants to not only get introduced to the Content Audit topic but also deepen his/her knowledge.
Brand Values
Brand Values was another inspiring class with Margot Bloomstein, she introduced us to card sorting, message architecture, and strategic communications topics.
I think the most that stuck in my head was the card sorting exercise, which can be done with any organization, this technique encourages engagement and communication within the company, identify pain points, and encourage prioritization.
Qualitative/Quantitative Social Research
Qualitative and Qualitative Social Research is an important part to deepen your research on a certain topic and getting accurate data, it might not be fun (at least for me) but also it is important to know how they work and what benefits they provide for us as content strategist, marketers, and students.
Qualitative research is important as it focuses on the “how” and “why” questions and provides a deeper level of understanding of the researched topic. In a nutshell, qualitative research allows you to ask questions that cannot be easily answered.
On the other hand, the purpose of quantitative research is to get a deeper understanding of the social world. Quantitative research generates statistical and numerical data that can be clearly communicated.
Developing Content for a complex environment.
In this special course with Rahel Anna Bailie, I learned about: Complex environments, Fundamentals of structured content, and Benefits and potential. The interesting part for me was the clear definition of complexity, complex environment, and how to address customers’ life cycle challenges.
Also, an important part was the intelligent content and its definition, it was surely the first time I hear this term but that have a strong and very defined meaning.
Conclusion
With all the diversification of the subjects we learned about in our first year at the Content Strategy master program, I can confidently say that my knowledge had deepened, I had an eye-opening moment on some topics and terms and also I feel stronger and more equipped for the challenges in the working places.
Further Recommended Readings:
Margot Bloomstein, Content Strategy at Work.
Paula Land, Content Audits and Inventories.
Rahel Anne Bailie, The language of Content Strategy.