Designing a content material workflow is probably not probably the most thrilling a part of content material advertising—however it’s crucial to success.
Content material workflows inform who wants to finish what process at any given second, all whereas guaranteeing the content material is correct, in alignment together with your technique, and optimized for distribution. Merely put, they’re the key to any high-performing content material program.
Let’s take a look at how one can create higher workflows in your group.
Why Efficient Content material Workflows Matter
A workflow is a sequence of steps by which you manage your content material in order that it strikes seamlessly by means of the manufacturing course of. Naturally, your workflow will rely on many elements—together with the related events concerned within the content material creation course of, the scale of your staff or firm, and the scope of the challenge.
As a content material marketer, it’s possible you’ll be juggling a number of tasks without delay, so workflows will help maintain you on observe. They’ll additionally align expectations between contributors and assist overcome widespread content material roadblocks, like a prolonged stakeholder assessment.
However to craft workflows successfully, you want the appropriate instruments and folks in place, plus an understanding of how completely different dependencies will have an effect on the general course of. You must proactively iron out a high-level workflow for all content material when constructing your technique after which a extra granular workflow for every particular content material asset.
Including workflow administration instruments to your MarTech stack will help improve accountability and get rid of course of redundancies. What’s extra, they allow you to solidify and doc content material workflows, giving full transparency into the processes wanted to get tasks from ideation to distribution.
Constructing Environment friendly Workflows
Workflows are on the core of assembly your content material technique objectives, whether or not that be driving site visitors from natural search, producing income, or something in between. General, purpose for consistency and construction amongst workflows for various property, with some flexibility relying in your content material objectives.
When constructing environment friendly workflows, begin with these 5 steps:
1. Select the appropriate author for the job.
content material author will produce work developed with well-defined objectives. Contemplating your price range, determine anyone in your staff or exterior to your organization who understands your viewers, targets, and model’s wants. Chances are you’ll need to discover a freelancer or contributor with a background in your trade or rent a author with a powerful background in a selected format or channel. Bear in mind: Excessive-quality, audience-driven content material will assist drive effectivity.
Instruments like Contently will help you construct your artistic dream staff. Our Clever Expertise Suggestions function matches content material entrepreneurs with award-winning freelancers who’re proper for any job based mostly in your content material technique. Contently additionally assists with contributor staffing, administration, invoicing, and fee, so you’ll be able to focus your consideration on telling nice tales.
2. Incorporate subject material specialists into your workflow.
Some content material property, particularly these written for extra skilled or educated goal audiences, ought to have a layer of assessment from a topic skilled (SME) to make sure accuracy, which builds model credibility.
In my very own expertise, I’ve discovered that involving an inner skilled presents a way of consolation when publishing content material on a very complicated or delicate subject. SMEs can be useful in content material creation, whether or not you interview them for podcasts, flip a dialog right into a weblog submit, and even leverage them for influencer advertising. Plus, involving inner SMEs is a superb option to construct cross-departmental relationships and rapport throughout the group.
However SMEs who don’t be just right for you immediately or acknowledge the worth of content material might hesitate to take a position time in content material creation. That is the place solidifying a workflow, establishing clear deadlines, and articulating your objectives from the get-go will help.
With Contently, you may get inner or exterior SMEs to assessment content material, whether or not they’re a consumer on the platform or not. With the usual or off-platform tabs, you’ll be able to electronic mail the Contently hyperlink to an SME for assessment contained in the platform. Without having for a login, this off-platform step permits your whole edits to stay secure in a single place. This gives a transparent deadline, lets you observe a challenge’s progress, and maintains model management of your deliverable.
3. Embrace consistency and accuracy.
For readers to view your model as a thought chief, you’ll want to create factually sound content material. Offering incorrect or outdated info can injury your credibility. One resolution is to embrace fact-checking as a typical follow in your workflow, ideally within the early phases of assessment.
Consistency throughout the assessment cycle itself can also be important. It confirms that voice, tone, and model model throughout your content material property are aligned. Instruments or supplies like model guides could make this simpler, too.
Contently’s integration with IBM-Watson helps our purchasers keep a constant model voice all through the content material they create. Utilizing this machine studying algorithm, you’ll be able to assess how intently your content material aligns together with your model’s tone. Illustrated above, you’ll see the objectives of The Content material Strategist, rating a bit for the publication’s perfect tones of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness.
4. Get your authorized staff on board.
Establish upfront what tasks will want a further layer of assessment past the SMEs concerned. Together with your authorized staff in your workflow as an additional precaution will help shield you from authorized hurdles it’s possible you’ll face by publishing sure content material property.
A senior govt or your PR staff might must assessment content material the place, as an example, your model is taking a strong stance on a delicate subject. Take into consideration the potential ramifications of publishing a bit of content material and work backward when establishing your workflow.
With Contently, that is the place the off-platform function can turn out to be useful, particularly in case your authorized or PR staff is working exterior of the Contently platform. Within the screenshot above, you’ll see a spot to pick the off-platform approver. You possibly can even add this contingent assessment to a workflow template if it’s a repeatable process to save lots of time on future deliverables.
5. Doc your workflow.
Keep organized by documenting the steps of your workflow earlier than the content material creation course of begins, so you’ll be able to focus extra on the standard of your content material and fewer on operations. The Contently platform lets you create workflow templates for repeatable duties.
Workflow documentation additionally makes the modifying course of absolutely clear to all key stakeholders, who can then issue their particular duties into their to-do lists as they juggle a number of duties.
Leverage challenge administration software program or different instruments to set deadlines, create duties for key gamers, and notify workers of missed deadlines. For instance, Contently lets you create workflow templates that auto-populate dates based mostly on the beginning date of a challenge.
Content material Planning and Workflows With Contently
To drive leads to advertising, you want nice content material. But it surely’s arduous to get there with out first establishing the appropriate steps and processes. Efficient workflows can solely make your content material manufacturing that a lot stronger.
Within the Contently platform, you’ll be able to construct “sensible workflows” that guarantee compliance and course of adherence, with automated notifications to maintain writers on observe. You may also create an individualized workflow for every challenge you create, with clear visibility for everybody concerned in editorial processes and procedures.
With our expertise and freelancer community, you’ll be able to flip round content material shortly and simply with the appropriate instruments, dashboards, and stakeholders to drive measurable outcomes.
Request a demo to discover how Contently will help you create a content material workflow that drives effectivity.
