Content Workflow: What Marketers Need to Know

The champion contented creators make it look easy, but down each slick YouTube video and delightful blog station is simply a integer contented workflow that mightiness impact a mates group aliases a mates dozen.

Technology has not yet precocious to nan constituent wherever marketers tin threat their fingers to motorboat a successful email campaign, YouTube series, aliases blog.

Until then, contented requires extended planning, squad effort, and a accordant contented workflow to support everything and everyone connected track.

In this article, we'll research what a contented workflow is, why your squad needs one, and nan steps to building nan correct 1 for your trading goals.

Table of Contents

• What is simply a contented workflow?
• Content Creation Workflow: Task-based Workflows vs. Status-based Workflows
• Content Strategy Workflow: How to Build One

Defining roles, goals, and output is captious to an effective contented workflow. You’ll besides want to make (and adhere to) a realistic timeline.

Your contented workflow whitethorn alteration depending connected nan type of contented aliases resources disposable to you. It‘s normal for nan materials, people, and timelines defined successful 1 workflow to alteration depending connected nan contented you’re creating, specified arsenic a blog, video, unrecorded stream, aliases web copy.

Why Marketers Need a Content Workflow

Content workflows guarantee a task launches successfully without immoderate hiccups. With a contented workflow, you can:

• Create contented that is consistent, timely, and accurate.
• Guarantee realistic deadlines and outcomes.
• Proactively scheme for communal roadblocks successful content planning and launches
• Clearly found really each squad personnel fits successful nan large image of creating nan content

Essentially, a contented workflow keeps you and your squad connected way to a seamless launch. Without a contented workflow, you and your squad are much apt to miss deadlines, make errors, and acquisition trouble moving toward your communal goal.

Risks of Not Using Workflows

It whitethorn beryllium tempting to conscionable helping it, peculiarly if you person a mini editorial squad and a debased publishing cadence. I request of you: Don’t springiness in.

I’ve worked astatine respective places wherever a general workflow didn’t look basal because nan squad was truthful small. But arsenic nan institution grew, caller hires would get confused and disappointment by nan deficiency of building and documentation.

And eventually, group time off for caller jobs, and each that organization knowledge leaves pinch them.

According to a 2024 study by Marketing Charts, 50% of B2B tech marketers “build contented based connected investigation and website analytics,” and 39% “closely travel a contented almanac based connected campaigns developed to representation to nan merchandise transportation schedule.”

When your contented strategies impact cross-functional collaboration for illustration this, each teams request entree to your workflows.

If nan merchandise roadmap changes aliases if website analytics return a abrupt turn, you’ll request established processes to pass and course-correct. Even connected a mini team, nan replacement is often chaos.

Content Creation Workflow: Task-based Workflows vs. Status-based Workflows

Before learning really to build a contented creation workflow, you must understand which would use your squad nan most, a task- aliases a status-based workflow.

Knowing nan quality betwixt nan 2 will thief you strategize nan correct workflow for your adjacent project.

Task-based Workflows

Each shape of a task-based workflow is simply a task that needs to beryllium carried retired earlier moving connected to nan adjacent step. In a task-based workflow, each measurement is described successful detail, and everyone moving connected nan task knows what is expected of them.

Here’s a simplified illustration of a task-based workflow:

In this example, each portion of contented would person 4 associated tasks that would return it from investigation to publication. Task-based workflows are particularly useful for caller contented teams because of nan elaborate instructions astatine each stage.

Any writer, freelance aliases in-house, would beryllium capable to support nan contented moving done nan workflow.

Status-based Workflows

Status-based workflows are often preferred by much knowledgeable teams. In a status-based workflow, each shape is defined by status, and nan stages don't see elaborate descriptions aliases instructions for illustration successful task-based workflows.

Here’s a simplified illustration of what a status-based workflow mightiness look like:

In this example, location are 4 stages, aliases statuses: Unassigned, Writing, Ready for Approval, and Published. If these stages were integrated into a contented workflow, anybody looking astatine it could spot wherever each portion of contented was successful nan wide workflow. This tin make it easier to scheme and schedule high-volume content.

Status-based workflows whitethorn beryllium easier to way and tin beryllium utilized for a wide assortment of contented types. However, it's important your squad understands nan contented creation process and their roles wrong it.

Pro tip: Popular workflow devices for illustration Asana, Trello, and AirTable person dozens of templates for different workflows. Even if you extremity up utilizing a different tool, I find that it’s adjuvant to mock up a speedy workflow and locomotion done it pinch a fewer teammates. It’s often a faster measurement to place symptom points and fig retired what will activity champion for your team.

Here’s an illustration of 1 of AirTable’s contented trading guidance templates.

You tin spot that each portion of contented includes which customer personas it should beryllium targeted to; if you person a batch of contented and a batch of personas, this mightiness beryllium thing you’d want to recreate successful your ain workflow.

Source

Content Strategy Workflow: How to Build One

Follow these steps to trade a contented workflow for you and your team.

1. Establish your contented goals and audience.

Your goals will pass nan contented you want to create and nan assemblage you're trying to reach. As always, knowing your customer is nan instauration of awesome content.

If you request to build aliases refine your customer profiles, cheque retired our guide pinch templates.

Is your extremity to create marque awareness? If so, you‘ll apt want to create product-led blogs aliases engaging societal media posts. If you’re moving to delight and clasp your existent customers, an effective email run mightiness beryllium a amended fit.

You’ll besides want to group realistic parameters — your contented workflow won’t win if your goals outpace your resources.

2. Clearly specify nan roles and responsibilities of everyone connected your team.

Once you cognize your contented goals and target audience, you're fresh to determine who connected your trading squad will beryllium progressive successful nan project.

For contented creation workflows, you'll request contented creators (bloggers, YouTubers, videographers, etc.), editors, and different stakeholders progressive successful contented creation.

Whether your squad is utilizing a task-based workflow aliases a status-based workflow, everyone progressive must person a clear meaning of their role, duties, and wherever they fresh wrong nan process.

For example, if your workflow is for a YouTube contented series, nan contented creators will beryllium successful complaint of crafting nan content. The editors will beryllium tasked pinch ensuring nan contented is of nan champion value and contains nary errors.

Senior editors aliases task managers will springiness nan last support to motorboat each section successful nan series.

This is besides nan clip to fig retired nan devices and materials your squad will request to create and motorboat nan content.

For example, content guidance systems for illustration Content Hub are basal for publishing blog posts. Canva and Adobe Photoshop are awesome design tools.

You'll besides request to see your fund for devices for illustration mics and cameras for videos, aliases email automation package for email campaigns.

3. Decide nan contented types and wave of output.

Figure retired nan benignant of contented you want to create and really often you want to put this contented out. For example, you whitethorn want to people YouTube videos erstwhile a week aliases Instagram Reels each different day.

Now is besides a awesome clip to create a contented almanac to scheme your projects and to guarantee your contented launches connected time. In nan LinkedIn newsletter Marketing Strategies 4 Growth, Joe Kovacs suggests readying a quarter’s worthy of contented astatine a time.

If you’re stuck astatine this point, Kovacs has immoderate awesome advice that tin thief you determine connected contented types and wave (he’s specifically talking astir scalable content, but I deliberation it’s wide applicable): Center your buyers aliases customers.

“Your privilege will beryllium their problems, which you’ve defined successful your purchaser personas,” he writes. “Your solutions … [are] nan instauration of your contented planning.”

4. Develop nan contented creation process.

Brainstorm pinch your squad nan different steps that must return spot for your brand‘s contented to motorboat successfully. These steps will alteration depending connected nan benignant of contented you’re creating.

For example, nan process to trade and people a blog post whitethorn look thing for illustration this:

1. Strategizing
2. Planning
3. Creating
4. Editing
5. Publishing
6. Analyzing

These tasks whitethorn look broad, but this is wherever you want to expand. For example, strategizing typically intends performing contented audits, creating purchaser personas, and conducting keyword research.

Editing mightiness impact implementing SEO techniques aliases adding images and links.

Every measurement successful nan process needs to beryllium accounted for truthful it tin beryllium assigned to nan due squad member.

5. Document and automate your workflow.

According to a 2024 study by nan Content Marketing Institute, astir half (45%) of B2B marketers who usage generative AI opportunity they person much businesslike workflows.

If you haven’t jumped connected nan AI bandwagon yet, workflow automation is simply a awesome spot to start.

Jamie Juviler, managing editor of HubSpot’s Website Blog, utilized ChatGPT to thief him create a instrumentality called BlogBot, which automates a awesome symptom constituent for HubSpot writers: transferring our posts from Google Docs to nan CMS.

Juviler has what he describes arsenic a “light background” successful coding, but he says that “there’s nary measurement I would person built this instrumentality arsenic efficiently arsenic I did without ChatGPT’s help.”

And there’s nary measurement HubSpot writers would beryllium capable to people astatine nan measurement we do without BlogBot, which has collectively saved, nary joke, thousands of hours.

Juviler besides uses AI to sort, filter, and extract information from a database aliases list. “For example, if I person a database of hundreds of blog posts and I want to spot which ones would beryllium bully candidates for a definite CTA, I’ll inquire ChatGPT to prime retired nan astir applicable blog posts based connected nan station titles.”

Pro tip: If you usage HubSpot (or are funny astir it), workflow automated software that allows users to align each of their teams‘ processes truthful there’s nary disorder aliases hiccups from task to task.

The Future of Workflows

Content workflows are a must-have if you want to create contented regularly and efficiently pinch your squad informed each measurement of nan measurement — deliberation of it for illustration a roadmap for a seamless contented launch.

And now that AI has entered nan chat, it’s easier and faster than ever to create, test, and automate workflows, whether you’re utilizing a free type of Asana aliases HubSpot’s endeavor customer platform.

Editor's note: This station was primitively published successful June 2022 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.