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 job at any given second, all whereas guaranteeing the content material is correct, in alignment along 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 arrange your content material in order that it strikes seamlessly by the manufacturing course of. Naturally, your workflow will depend upon many elements—together with the related events concerned within the content material creation course of, the scale of your group or firm, and the scope of the challenge.
As a content material marketer, chances are you’ll be juggling a number of initiatives directly, so workflows can assist maintain you on observe. They will additionally align expectations between contributors and assist overcome widespread content material roadblocks, like a prolonged stakeholder overview.
However to craft workflows successfully, you want the precise 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 can assist enhance accountability and eradicate 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 initiatives 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 precise author for the job.
A superb content material author will produce work developed with well-defined objectives. Contemplating your finances, determine any individual in your group or exterior to your organization who understands your viewers, aims, and model’s wants. Chances are you’ll need to discover a freelancer or contributor with a background in your business or rent a author with a powerful background in a particular format or channel. Keep in mind: Excessive-quality, audience-driven content material will assist drive effectivity.
Instruments like Contently can assist you construct your artistic dream group. Our Clever Expertise Suggestions characteristic matches content material entrepreneurs with award-winning freelancers who’re proper for any job primarily based in your content material technique. Contently additionally assists with contributor staffing, administration, invoicing, and cost, so you may focus your consideration on telling nice tales.
2. Incorporate 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 overview from an issue knowledgeable (SME) to make sure accuracy, which builds model credibility.
In my very own expertise, I’ve discovered that involving an inner knowledgeable gives a way of consolation when publishing content material on a very advanced 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 put up, and even leverage them for influencer advertising. Plus, involving inner SMEs is a wonderful method to construct cross-departmental relationships and rapport throughout the group.
However SMEs who don’t give you the results you want straight or acknowledge the worth of content material could 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 can assist.
With Contently, you may get inner or exterior SMEs to overview content material, whether or not they’re a person on the platform or not. With the usual or off-platform tabs, you may electronic mail the Contently hyperlink to an SME for overview contained in the platform. Without having for a login, this off-platform step allows your whole edits to stay protected in a single place. This supplies a transparent deadline, allows you to 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 could create factually sound content material. Offering incorrect or outdated info can injury your credibility. One answer is to embrace fact-checking as an ordinary follow in your workflow, ideally within the early phases of overview.
Consistency inside the overview cycle itself can be important. It confirms that voice, tone, and model type throughout your content material property are aligned. Instruments or supplies like type guides could make this simpler, too.
Contently’s integration with IBM-Watson helps our shoppers preserve a constant model voice all through the content material they create. Utilizing this machine studying algorithm, you may assess how carefully your content material aligns along with your model’s tone. Illustrated above, you’ll see the objectives of The Content material Strategist, rating a bit for the publication’s superb tones of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness.
4. Get your authorized group on board.
Determine upfront what initiatives will want a further layer of overview past the SMEs concerned. Together with your authorized group in your workflow as an additional precaution can assist shield you from authorized hurdles chances are you’ll face by publishing sure content material property.
A senior government or your PR group could must overview 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 characteristic can turn out to be useful, particularly in case your authorized or PR group is working outdoors of the Contently platform. Within the screenshot above, you’ll see a spot to pick out the off-platform approver. You may even add this contingent overview to a workflow template if it’s a repeatable job to avoid wasting 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 may focus extra on the standard of your content material and fewer on operations. The Contently platform allows you to create workflow templates for repeatable duties.
Workflow documentation additionally makes the modifying course of totally 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 allows you to create workflow templates that auto-populate dates primarily based on the beginning date of a challenge.
Content material Planning and Workflows With Contently
To drive leads to advertising, you want nice content material. However it’s laborious to get there with out first establishing the precise steps and processes. Efficient workflows can solely make your content material manufacturing that a lot stronger.
Within the Contently platform, you may construct “good workflows” that guarantee compliance and course of adherence, with automated notifications to maintain writers on observe. It’s also possible to create an individualized workflow for every challenge you create, with clear visibility for everybody concerned in editorial processes and procedures.
With our know-how and freelancer community, you may flip round content material rapidly and simply with the precise instruments, dashboards, and stakeholders to drive measurable outcomes.
Request a demo to discover how Contently can assist you create a content material workflow that drives effectivity.
