Bournemouth University: content strategy maturity study

In 2021, Bournemouth University approached Pickle Jar Communications with a request to understand the level of content strategy in their organisation. This was with a view to implementing a full content strategy in the future. 

Using the Content Strategy Maturity Study Framework designed by Tracy Playle, CEO and Chief Content Strategist at Pickle Jar Communications we were able to assess maturity objectively and with a view to benchmarking within the HE sector. 

Our assessment used three separate research techniques. 

Document review

To begin with, we reviewed examples of content strategy at Bournemouth University. This included understanding what strategies were currently in place, where content calendars were used, what training materials were available, and whether there was a style guide or brand document available. 

Surveys

We used surveys to gain an understanding of the level of knowledge around content strategy. These were targeted at content professionals and those that perhaps contributed to content production but did not have it as part of their core role. 

We looked at audience understanding, workflow, ability to articulate what content strategy is and current training in this area. 

Interviews

A key part of the maturity study were interviews with teams involved with content production. We carried out 17 interviews. Some were one to one, others were team-based.  

In these interviews we were wanting to understand where Bournemouth ranked themselves in content strategy maturity across the 10 key pillars. We considered the ranking to be low, medium or high. 

But, the importance in these interviews was not just about a number or a rank, it was also about the insights and conversations we were having about why this was the case. 

We gathered all of this knowledge together to provide Bournemouth University with a full maturity study report. The report presented not only the current state of play, but highlighted priority areas for improvement and recommended approaches.

“The Content Maturity Study is a thorough and extremely valuable exercise to undertake with a supportive and strategically focused partner like Pickle Jar Communications. Whilst you may have to confront some of your demons along the way, the actionable output from the Pickle Jar Communication’s findings mean that BU now has a confident sense of direction to our future Content Strategy endeavours”

Matthew Usher

Digital Communications Manager

If you are interested in commissioning a Content Strategy Maturity Study, please get in touch.