Governance
Governance is all about the rules you set in place for content success. It's everything from the brand, voice, and style guidelines to the infrastructure on which you create and host your content. Governance includes planning your editorial calendar and measuring the success of your content after the fact. Governance also includes workflow, but that's a big enough topic that we're saving it for a section of its own.
Before getting crisp on governance, brands may have had a few people from all over the company creating whatever content was needed in whatever way they could get it done. That's a good way to fill gaps when you're getting started, but it's not a great way to build a strong brand image. As you grow into your rebrand, you're going to need to consider the following:
Brand guidelines
What font do you use? How big are headings anyway? Are there certain types of images or videos that communicate your new identity? Is there anything you don't want to see on the site? Anything that must be on every page?
Your designer gave you a start with the new site and we know there are some guidelines that accompany that redesign. Now is the time to formalize a few more. This document can start small and should be a living document that can shift over time and everyone has access to. Start by keeping a Google Doc that everyone can contribute to, then ask your content manager to settle any disputes and cement some of your decisions.
Style and voice guide
Changing your voice is a big deal and it will take some time to get it right. You already know that you want something more fun and creative. You also need to retain some of the trustworthiness because you're handling people's data. It's a challenging balance and you'll want to experiment. Also research sites your target audience visits and build a lexicon.
Use a similar process to developing those brand guidelines as you flesh out your grammar pet peeves and any jargon that should (and should not) be clarified. If you need an example, check out MailChimp's guidelines. Remember, this should also be a living document. And it's okay if the voice is a little different across channels.
Writing for the web
As part of the above guidelines, make sure that your content is easy to read online. People look for online text to be easily scannable so think about ways to break up text with shorter paragraphs, bullets, and illustrations.
Don't forget about SEO
Part of governance is making sure that details like metadata and title tags are taken care of. Keyword incorporation should be natural, with the focus on serving the best and most complete information to the reader, showcasing your brand's expertise and knowledge on the topic. A tool like Keyword Explorer can help you research the best keywords and topics to chase for your content.