Enterprise content teams face many operational hurdles to ensure consistent and high-quality content production. The mechanics behind content management involve a lot of complex parts. Such a process seeks to encompass all areas of content marketing — strategy, planning, production, publishing, and promotion.
To simplify and streamline these workflows, create a content management methodology. In this post, we’ll review what content management is and the steps necessary to develop a methodology.
What Is Content Management?
Content management is the processes and technology you use for planning, developing, launching, archiving, and measuring content. Many refer to it as the “brain” of content marketing. When you have a robust content management system, you’ll have more control over the entire process.
Content management also involves standardization and quality assurance checks on all content types. One of the best ways to handle and centralize all activities is by using a content marketing platform.
Content Management Methodology Essentials
You’ll need a few important tools alongside the processes to define within a content management methodology. Limiting this number is a good practice for implementation and adoption. There isn’t one system that does everything, but integrations make content workflows easier to manage. Seek out these three primary tools for content management methodology development.
Content Planning and Scheduling Tool
The foundation for planning and scheduling is a content calendar. It’s the single source of truth for every project. It also provides clarity on the status of the project. With such a platform, you have total transparency and accountability.
Content calendars solve the disorganization problem of content management. It does so by making content collaboration part of its capabilities. These features enable all parties to complete their tasks from ideation to promotion.
In comparing content calendar tools, seek out these features:
- Ability to manage multiple shared and private calendars
- Structure organization by team, region, department, and more
- Filtering by category, keyword, team member, and more
- Calendar views for each user type (i.e., creators, reviewers, etc.)
A Content Workflow Tool
Content workflows are key to better content management. A content workflow is like a checklist of all the tasks required to take a project from idea to promotion. Tasks are concise and directive. Each one also has a timeline.
In developing workflows, you want to ensure they are repeatable and scalable. You can create various ones based on the content format or any other aspect.
Content Storage, Publishing, and Delivery
As you produce content, you need somewhere to store it. Assets can include text, images, video, or other files. It’s critical to group these items together so content workflows don’t hit obstacles in review and final publishing.
Most often, content assets live in various places without any governance. If this is the case, efficiency and collaboration will suffer from inefficiencies.
A strong content management methodology will use a centralized content storage hub:
- Accessible by all producers and stakeholders
- Inclusive of workflow editing capabilities
- Searchable to find past content projects and assets
- Able to integrate with other publishing and delivery platforms
Steps to Creating a Content Management Methodology
Follow these steps to develop a content management methodology for your brand.
Step One: Strategy and Scope
Your content strategy dictates the scope and requirements of a content management methodology. It should consist of:
- Objectives: Determine the role content management plays in achieving content marketing goals. For example, if you want to increase content frequency, your process and tools will need a tune-up for efficiency.
- Organizational structure: An enterprise content team has many roles. Additionally, people outside of your department may play a part in content creation. A scalable process makes visibility and collaboration easier for large teams.
- Content channels and properties: Document your channels and content properties that require support. Consider how this impacts each and if separation across teams is necessary.
- Content types and formats: Each content type will involve different workflows and stakeholders. Standardizing this can save time and ensure consistency.
- Technology: Seek the tools and platforms that best fit your process and content scope.
- Measurement: Define the metrics that matter and how you’ll measure them to demonstrate success.
Step Two: Design
The content management methodology design centers around two areas: workflows and content formats. Technology is integral for managing both elements. However, the design process will look different for each.
To map out a workflow, consider the stakeholders, the steps for production, review, approval, publishing, promotion, and measurement. Assign a person or group that is responsible for each. This step can be overwhelming because of all the tasks involved. If you want to boost efficiency and master content management, you’ll need to complete this phase.
Step Three: Deployment
You’ve strategized and planned. Now it’s time to launch the methodology to all parties. You’ll also need technology in place to support the deployment. Communicate the content management process to all involved and provide training if necessary. Do all that you can to ensure adoption for all users.
Step Four: Evaluation and Analysis
After implementing your content management methodology, you’ll want to see how it’s working. You’re likely to hit some bumps, but that’s normal for any change. Get feedback from users on what’s working well and what needs improvement. Make adjustments as you go and test out new things to see if they improve any setbacks.
Step Five: Governance
All content has a lifecycle. Some content will no longer drive value because it’s specific to a time or event. Others will live longer lives through regular auditing and updating.
This is where content governance helps. It needs to be part of your content management methodology. Executing a governance routine will be unique for every company. It depends on your industry, audience, and many other factors.
To complete this step, define governance requirements for all content properties and channels. Then determine the following:
- Who is responsible for reviewing and maintaining content?
- What tools do you need for auditing and updating?
- When should you review content (i.e., annually or some other timespan specific to your vertical)?
Content Management Methodology: Easy and Simple with Divvy
Your content management methodology is critical to the execution of your content strategy. Understanding what it consists of and how to build one will be valuable for all aspects of content marketing. You’ll need robust technology to support these efforts, and DivvyHQ has a powerful content marketing platform to help. See how it works by starting a free trial today.