How to Use Design Thinking in Your Content Strategy

Design thinking isn’t limited to designers alone. Everyone can (and should) learn from this proven methodology and especially apply it to their content. But what exactly is it and how can you start using it in your content strategy and initiatives? Let’s take a closer look:

What is Design Thinking?

Simply put, design thinking is a process where you dig deeper to understand your users, breaking down any preconceived notions or assumptions you may have about what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. The goal with design thinking is to come up with alternative strategies that might not be noticed at first glance.

What’s great about this process, especially when applied to content, is that it allows you to empathize with your user, and being able to speak to them on their level is crucial for encouraging them to act and engaging them further down the funnel. And just like conversion rate optimization, design thinking means not being afraid to break the mold and experiment, test new ideas and tweak them.

Built with a Foundation of Improvement

Applying a design thinking mindset to your content creation means understanding how users interact with your content and your brand, and what drives them to do so. You may be creating tests and content right now based on certain assumptions without even realizing it.

Think back to the year 2001. DVDs were all the rage. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings came up with the idea of streaming movies into people’s homes back in 1997, when the internet was just a novelty. He started researching and experimenting in 2001, spending over $10 million dollars a year to see whether he could bring his idea to fruition. He finally succeeded when technology caught up to him in 2010, the point at which Netflix discontinued their DVD rental service and went full-stream ahead.

This is precisely the idea of design thinking in a nutshell. So how can you apply it to your content marketing and strategy?

Design Thinking Meets Content Strategy

Both customer personas and journey mapping are vital to making the most out of the design thinking methodology when creating your content. You can use customer personas to better understand each target audience group’s motivations, challenges, and how they prefer to receive information. The customer journey helps you see how this fits into the overall steps of your sales funnel to help them have all the information they need to make an informed decision.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be confusing or frustrating to get started implementing a design thinking process as part of your content strategy. When you connect with the experts at Workdom, we’ll take the time to work with you to better understand your unique needs and how to leverage content strategy and content marketing to the fullest to help you achieve your goals.

Reach out to our content experts today and let’s work together to take your content strategy to the next level!