Content Curation

A comprehensive overview of content curation and how to use content curation to manage your content production more effectively.

Content Curation

Content CurationContent curation is the strategic process of discovering, gathering, and organizing relevant information from diverse sources to present it in a meaningful and cohesive manner.

In this lesson, we provide a comprehensive overview of content curation and how to use content curation to manage your content production more effectively.

Understanding Content Curation

What is Content Curation?

Content curation is a method for creating valuable and engaging content by gathering, organizing, and presenting information from various sources in a meaningful and coherent way.

It goes beyond simple sharing and involves selecting, filtering, and adding value to content before presenting it to a specific audience.

Content curation involves sifting through the vast amount of information available online and selecting only the most relevant and valuable content for your audience.

Content curators act as information custodians, sifting through vast amounts of data to provide valuable insights, trends, or knowledge tailored to the interests and needs of their audience.

This practice not only helps build credibility but also fosters audience engagement by offering a curated experience that is both informative and targeted.

Why is Content Curation Important?

In today’s digital age, where information overload is a common issue, the ability to filter and organize content effectively has become more important than ever.

As a content curator, you play the role of a trusted resource for your audience, providing them with valuable and relevant information that helps them make informed decisions.

One of the key reasons why content curation is important is that it helps you build credibility and establish yourself as an authority in your niche. By consistently sharing high-quality content that resonates with your audience, you can position yourself as a go-to source for valuable insights and information. This, in turn, can help you attract a loyal following and build trust with your audience.

Content curation also helps you save time and resources. Instead of creating every piece of content from scratch, you can leverage existing content that is already available online. By curating content from reputable sources and adding your own unique perspective, you can provide value to your audience without having to invest a significant amount of time and effort.

Additionally, content curation can help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and developments in your industry. By regularly curating and sharing relevant content, you can demonstrate your expertise and keep your audience informed about important news and updates.

Overall, content curation is a valuable skill that can help you build credibility, save time, and stay informed. By incorporating content curation into your content marketing strategy, you can provide value to your audience and establish yourself as a trusted authority in your niche.

The Benefits of Content Curation

The key benefits of content curation include:

  • Save time and resources. Instead of creating all your content from scratch, you can leverage existing content from reputable sources and add your insights and commentary to enhance its value. This not only saves you time but also allows you to focus on other aspects of your business.
  • Build authority in your niche. By curating content, you can provide your audience with high-quality, high-value information, build credibility and trust with your audience, and position yourself as an expert in your niche.
  • Stay up-to-date with the latest trends and developments in your industry. By curating content from a variety of sources, you can keep your finger on the pulse of what’s happening in your niche and share timely and relevant information with your audience.

Types Of Curated Content

Content curation is a multifaceted practice, encompassing various approaches to present information cohesively. Diverse content curation strategies also offer flexibility in presenting information, catering to different preferences, and enhancing the overall user experience.

Types of curated content include:

1. Aggregation

  • This involves consolidating the most pertinent content on a particular topic into a singular location.
  • Widely adopted, this form serves as the foundation for many available content curation services.

2. Distillation

  • Strips away extraneous details from a topic, distilling it down to its fundamental concept.
  • Aims to simplify by highlighting key points essential for the audience’s understanding at a specific stage of the consumer journey.

3. Elevation

  • Curators extrapolate general insights or trends from an extensive pool of content.
  • This approach seeks to formulate hypotheses, ideas, or theories by identifying common threads in multiple content pieces.

4. Mashups

  • Involves blending diverse content types to generate a fresh and original perspective.
  • For instance, uncovering relevant content pieces within the same industry and connecting previously unnoticed correlations to present a new viewpoint.

5. Chronology

  • Takes a historiographical approach to content curation, mapping content pieces along a storyline or timeline.
  • Demonstrates the evolution of a concept or theory through a sequential arrangement of content, showcasing the contributions of individual pieces toward the endpoint.

Content Curation vs Content Repurposing

Content curation differs from content repurposing in the following ways:

1. Definition

  • Content Curation: Involves sourcing, selecting, and sharing existing content from various outlets to provide value to your audience.
  • Content Repurposing: Refers to updating or changing existing content into a different form or format to cater to a different audience or purpose.

2. Process

  • Content Curation: Involves discovering and organizing relevant content created by others.
  • Content Repurposing: Requires modifying or adapting existing content, often by presenting it in a new format or targeting a different audience.

3. Objective

  • Content Curation: Aims to provide a curated collection of valuable information to your audience.
  • Content Repurposing: Focuses on extending the life of content by adapting it for different platforms or audiences.

4. Creation vs. Adaptation

  • Content Curation: Utilizes existing content without modification, focusing on selection and organization.
  • Content Repurposing: Involves modifying, updating, or presenting existing content in a new way to serve a different purpose or audience.

Quick Guide To Content Curation

Below is a quick overview of the content curation process:

  1. Understand Content Curation: Content curation involves selecting and sharing high-quality digital content that resonates with your target audience.
  2. Identify Your Audience and Goals: Define your target audience and understand their interests and preferences to curate relevant content.
  3. Select Reliable Sources: Identify reputable sources that align with your niche or industry. Use social media management tools to find these.
  4. Use Content Curation Tools: Various content curation tools, including AI content research tools are available that can aid in finding curated content (see the Resources section below). Leverage these tools to streamline the curation process and discover valuable content.
  5. Organize and Share Content Categorize curated content to make it easily accessible. Share it on various platforms, adding your insights or commentary to provide value.
  6. Monitor Engagement: Track audience engagement using analytics tools. Adjust your curation strategy based on the content that resonates the most with your audience.

Example of Content Curation: Curating a Marketing Trends Roundup

  1. Define the Theme: Choose a theme, such as “Emerging Marketing Trends in 2024.”
  2. Select Your Sources: Utilize diverse sources like blogs, articles, and podcasts.
  3. Perform Comprehensive Search: Scour reputable platforms for up-to-date information. Explore examples from various industries, like those highlighted in this article.
  4. Add Value: Study the examples of curated content from Codecademy’s career paths page, Selzy’s email marketing resource, and SEO Notebook’s newsletter in this article.
  5. Organize and Attribute: Compile the curated content, giving credit to the original sources. Ensure proper attribution to maintain credibility.
  6. Add Visual Appeal: Enhance the presentation with visual elements. Incorporate statistics, infographics, and images.
  7. Provide Expert Insights: Include quotable quotes from industry experts found during the curation process.
  8. Publish and Share: Schedule the curated content in advance, following content curation best practices (see below)

Content Curation Best Practices

Effective content curation requires strategic thinking. The essential practices listed below wll help you develop a more strategic approach to curating content and enhance your content sharing:

1. Know Your Audience

  • Align curated content with your audience’s needs and your brand perception.
  • Before sharing, assess its relevance and value for your target customers.
  • Reference your content strategy and buyer personas for guidance.

2. Credit Your Sources

  • Always acknowledge and link to the original creators.
  • Avoid presenting curated content as your own to maintain brand integrity.
  • Tag creators using @ on platforms like X(Twitter) or Instagram.
  • If sharing from multiple sources, provide a preview and link to the full piece, crediting all sources.

3.  Add Your Insights

  • Enhance shared content with your thoughts to provide additional value.
  • A brief sentence or two introducing the share can be impactful.
  • Consider creating an image with a relevant quote to captivate your audience.

4. Schedule in Advance

  • Save time by scheduling curated and original content in advance.
  • Use social media management tools like to plan, analyze performance, and identify content gaps.
  • Ensure timely posting, avoiding last-minute rushes for campaign posts.

5. Offer a Diverse Content Mix:

  • Maintain a balanced content calendar with various content types, including curated posts.
  • Aim for a 40% original and 60% curated content ratio.
  • Prioritize high-quality, actionable, and fully original content to attract and engage your audience.

Remember, content curation complements your original content and contributes to a well-rounded social media strategy.

Curating Content Effectively

Create a Content Curation Strategy

The first step to curating content effectively is to create a content curation strategy.

Creating a content curation strategy is essential for effectively curating content that resonates with your target audience.

By following a structured approach, you can ensure that the content you share is relevant, valuable, and engaging.

Let’s explore the key steps involved in creating a content curation strategy that works for you.

1. Define your goals: Before you start curating content, it’s important to clearly define your goals. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, or establish thought leadership in your industry? By identifying your objectives, you can tailor your content curation strategy to achieve the desired outcomes.

2. Know your audience: Understanding your target audience is crucial for effective content curation. Take the time to research their interests, preferences, and pain points. This will help you curate content that is relevant and valuable to them, increasing engagement and building trust.

3. Identify your sources: Once you know your goals and audience, it’s time to identify sources for curating content. This may include industry publications, blogs, social media influencers, and news websites. By diversifying your sources, you can ensure a steady stream of high-quality content to share with your audience.

4. Curate with purpose: When curating content, it’s important to do so with purpose. Choose content that aligns with your brand values and supports your overall goals. Consider adding your own commentary or insights to provide additional value to your audience.

5. Measure and optimize: Finally, it’s crucial to measure the impact of your content curation efforts. Monitor key metrics such as engagement rates, website traffic, and lead generation to determine what is working and what can be improved. Use this data to optimize your content curation strategy for continued success.

By following these steps, you can create a content curation strategy that drives results and helps you connect with your audience on a deeper level. Remember, content curation is not just about sharing content – it’s about providing value and building relationships with your audience.

Find Quality Content

When curating content, use the process below to help you find quality content.

Identify Your Target Audience

Understanding your target audience is crucial in content curation. Knowing who you are creating content for will help you tailor your curation efforts to meet their needs and preferences. When you have a clear understanding of your target audience, you can curate content that resonates with them, engages them, and ultimately drives them to take action.

To identify your target audience, start by defining the demographics of your ideal audience. Consider factors such as age, gender, location, income level, education level, and interests. This will help you create a detailed profile of your target audience and guide your content curation efforts.

Next, consider the psychographics of your audience. Psychographics refer to the attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviors of your target audience. Understanding these factors will help you create content that speaks to their motivations, desires, and pain points.

It is also important to conduct market research to gather insights into your target audience. Use surveys, interviews, and social media analytics to gather information about your audience’s preferences, habits, and challenges. This will help you create content that addresses their needs and interests.

Once you have identified your target audience, create buyer personas to represent different segments of your audience. These personas will help you visualize and humanize your audience, making it easier to create content that resonates with them.

By understanding who your audience is, what they care about, and what motivates them, you can create curated content that engages and inspires them. Take the time to research and define your target audience to ensure that your content curation efforts are effective and impactful.

Utilize Content Curation Tools

As a content curator, you are responsible for finding, organizing, and sharing relevant and valuable content with your audience. However, with the sheer volume of information available online, it can be overwhelming to manually curate content.

This is where content curation tools come into play. These tools can help streamline the content curation process, making it easier and more efficient for you to find and share high-quality content. By utilizing these tools, you can save time, stay organized, and ensure that you are consistently providing your audience with valuable content.

For popular content curation tools that you can use, go here: Content Research Tools

When choosing a content curation tool, it’s important to consider your specific needs and goals. Look for a tool that aligns with your content curation strategy and workflow. Additionally, make sure the tool is user-friendly and offers the features you need to effectively curate content for your audience.

By incorporating content curation tools into your workflow, you can take your content curation efforts to the next level. These tools can help you stay organized, save time, and ensure that you are consistently providing your audience with valuable and relevant content.

Understand Copyright Laws

Understanding Copyright Laws is essential for anyone engaging in content curation. Copyright laws are in place to protect the intellectual property of creators, ensuring that they receive recognition and compensation for their work. As a content curator, it is crucial to be aware of these laws to avoid infringement and legal issues.

One key aspect of copyright laws to understand is that original works are automatically copyrighted upon creation. This means that any content you come across, whether it be written, visual, or audio, is protected by copyright unless stated otherwise. It is important to respect the rights of creators and obtain permission before using their work in your curated content.

Fair use is a concept within copyright laws that allows for the limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the creator. However, there are specific guidelines that must be followed to qualify for fair use, such as using the material for educational purposes, commentary, or parody. It is important to familiarize yourself with these guidelines to ensure that your curated content falls within the boundaries of fair use.

When curating content, always credit the original creator and provide a link back to the source. This not only shows respect for the creator but also helps to build credibility and trust with your audience. Additionally, consider using content that is licensed under Creative Commons, which allows for more lenient use of copyrighted material with proper attribution.

By understanding and following copyright laws, you can create curated content that is both ethical and legal. Stay informed on the latest developments in copyright laws to ensure that your content curation practices are up to date and compliant.

Organize Your Curated Content

Now that you have gathered a wealth of valuable content through your curation efforts, it’s time to focus on organizing it effectively. Organizing your curated content is crucial for maximizing its impact and making it easily accessible for your audience.

One of the first steps in organizing your curated content is to categorize it based on themes or topics. This will help you create a clear structure for your curated content and make it easier for your audience to navigate through the information.

You can use tools like a content management system or spreadsheets to create a system for organizing your curated content.

Next, consider the format in which you want to present your curated content. Do you want to create blog posts, infographics, or videos? By determining the format in advance, you can tailor your organization approach to fit the needs of that specific format.

It’s also important to establish a schedule for when you will release your curated content. Consistency is key in content curation, so make sure you have a plan in place for when and how often you will share your curated content with your audience.

Additionally, consider creating a tagging system for your curated content. Tags can help you easily search and retrieve specific pieces of content when needed. This can save you time and make it simpler to repurpose your curated content in the future.

By organizing your curated content effectively, you can enhance its value and make it more impactful for your audience. Take the time to establish a clear structure, determine the format, create a schedule, and implement a tagging system to streamline your content curation process.

Add Value to Curated Content

Adding value to curated content is essential in order to make it unique and valuable to your audience. Simply collecting and sharing content from various sources is not enough – you need to add your own insights, opinions, and expertise to make it stand out.

One way to add value to curated content is to provide context. Explain why you chose to include a particular piece of content, how it relates to your overall message, and what your audience can learn from it. This helps your audience understand the significance of the content and how it fits into the bigger picture.

Another way to add value is to offer your own commentary. Share your thoughts, opinions, and personal experiences related to the curated content. This not only helps to establish your expertise in the niche but also adds a personal touch that can resonate with your audience on a deeper level.

Additionally, you can add value by organizing and presenting curated content in a way that is easy to digest and navigate. This could involve categorizing content by topic, creating summaries or key takeaways, or even creating visual aids such as infographics or charts to enhance understanding.

Ultimately, adding value to curated content is about creating a unique and valuable experience for your audience. By providing context, sharing your insights, and organizing content effectively, you can set yourself apart as a trusted source of curated content in your niche. Remember, the goal is not just to share content, but to add value and make a meaningful impact on your audience.

Promoting Your Curated Content

Share Curated Content on Social Media

Sharing curated content on social media is a crucial step in maximizing the reach and impact of your curated collection.

When sharing curated content on social media, it is important to tailor your posts to the specific platform you are using. Each social media platform has its own unique audience and posting style, so make sure to customize your content accordingly. For example, on X(Twitter), you will need to keep your posts short and concise, while on Instagram, you can use visually appealing images to capture your audience’s attention.

Another important aspect of sharing curated content on social media is to add your own commentary or insights to the post. This not only adds value to the content you are sharing but also helps to establish your expertise in the field. By sharing your thoughts on the curated content, you can engage your audience and spark discussions around the topic.

Additionally, make sure to schedule your posts at optimal times to reach the largest audience possible. Use social media management tools to plan your posts in advance and ensure that they are posted at times when your followers are most active.

Overall, sharing curated content on social media is a powerful way to showcase your expertise, engage with your audience, and drive traffic to your curated collection. By following these best practices, you can maximize the impact of your curated content and build a strong online presence in the world of content curation.

Engage with Your Audience

Engaging with your audience is a crucial aspect of content curation. It is not enough to simply find and share interesting content; you must also interact with your audience to build a loyal following and create meaningful connections. In this subchapter, we will discuss some strategies for engaging with your audience effectively.

One of the most important ways to engage with your audience is to listen to their feedback. Pay attention to the comments and messages you receive on your curated content, and take the time to respond thoughtfully. This shows your audience that you value their input and are interested in what they have to say. It also helps you to build relationships with your followers and create a sense of community around your curated content.

Another way to engage with your audience is to ask for their input. Encourage your followers to share their opinions, thoughts, and ideas on the content you curate. This can be done through polls, surveys, or simply by asking open-ended questions in your posts. By involving your audience in the curation process, you show them that their opinions matter and help to make them feel like they are a part of your content curation journey.

Finally, don’t forget to show your personality and be authentic in your interactions with your audience. People are more likely to engage with content that feels genuine and relatable, so don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through in your curated content. Share personal stories, jokes, or insights that show your audience who you are and what you stand for.

By engaging with your audience in a meaningful way, you can build a loyal following, create a sense of community, and ultimately grow your influence as a content curator. So don’t be afraid to reach out, listen, and connect with your audience – they will appreciate it, and your curated content will be all the better for it.

Measure the Success of Your Curated Content

Measuring the success of your curated content is crucial in determining the effectiveness of your curation efforts. By analyzing key metrics, you can gain valuable insights into what is resonating with your audience and what can be improved upon. Here are some ways to measure the success of your curated content:

1. Engagement Metrics: One of the most important indicators of success is the level of engagement your curated content is receiving. This includes metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and click-through rates. By tracking these metrics, you can see which pieces of content are generating the most interest and adjust your curation strategy accordingly.

2. Traffic and Conversion Rates: Another key metric to track is the amount of traffic your curated content is driving to your website or landing pages. By monitoring your conversion rates, you can see how effective your curated content is at converting leads into customers. This can help you determine which types of content are most effective at driving conversions and focus on creating more of that content.

3. Brand Awareness: Measuring the impact of your curated content on brand awareness is also important. This can be done through metrics such as social media mentions, brand sentiment, and search engine rankings. By monitoring these metrics, you can see how your curated content is helping to increase brand visibility and reputation.

4. Feedback and Surveys: Gathering feedback from your audience through surveys or direct communication can provide valuable insights into the success of your curated content. By asking for feedback on the relevance, quality, and usefulness of your curated content, you can make informed decisions on how to improve your curation strategy.

Overall, by monitoring these key metrics and gathering feedback from your audience, you can measure the success of your curated content and make data-driven decisions to improve your curation efforts. Remember, success is not just about quantity but also about the quality and relevance of your curated content.

Overcoming Common Content Curation Challenges

Dealing with Information Overload

We are constantly bombarded with information from all directions. Whether it’s social media updates, news articles, or emails, it can be overwhelming to try and keep up with everything. This is where the importance of content curation comes into play.

As someone who is interested in content curation, you understand the value of sorting through the vast amount of information available online to find the most relevant and valuable content for your audience. However, even for seasoned curators, dealing with information overload can be a challenge.

One of the key strategies for managing information overload is to establish clear goals and priorities for your content curation efforts. By defining what you hope to achieve through your curation, you can focus your efforts on finding the content that aligns with these goals.

Another important aspect of dealing with information overload is to establish a routine for consuming and curating content. This could involve setting aside specific times each day to review new content, or using tools and technologies to help streamline the curation process.

It’s also important to be selective about the sources of information you rely on for your curation. By focusing on high-quality, reputable sources, you can ensure that the content you share with your audience is accurate and valuable.

Ultimately, dealing with information overload is an ongoing process that requires constant refinement and adjustment. By staying organized, setting clear goals, and being selective about your sources, you can effectively manage the deluge of information and create curated content that truly resonates with your audience.

Maintaining Consistency in Content Curation

Consistency is key when it comes to content curation. It’s not just about finding great content to share with your audience; it’s also about ensuring that you are consistently providing value and engaging your audience on a regular basis.

One of the most important things you can do to maintain consistency in your content curation is to create a content calendar. This will help you plan out your content in advance, ensuring that you are consistently posting and sharing content with your audience. A content calendar can also help you stay organized and avoid last-minute scrambling to find content to share.

Another tip for maintaining consistency in your content curation is to establish a posting schedule. Whether you are posting daily, weekly, or monthly, it’s important to stick to a consistent schedule so that your audience knows when to expect new content from you. This will help you build trust and credibility with your audience.

Additionally, it’s important to stay up to date with the latest trends and news in your industry. By staying informed, you can ensure that you are curating relevant and timely content for your audience. This will help you stay ahead of the curve and position yourself as a thought leader in your niche.

Overall, maintaining consistency in your content curation efforts is essential for building a loyal and engaged audience. By creating a content calendar, establishing a posting schedule, and staying informed about industry trends, you can ensure that you are consistently providing value to your audience and growing your online presence.

Avoiding Plagiarism in Curated Content

When it comes to content curation, one of the most important things to keep in mind is avoiding plagiarism. Plagiarism is the act of using someone else’s work or ideas without giving them proper credit. Not only is plagiarism unethical, but it can also have serious consequences for you and your reputation as a content curator.

To avoid plagiarism in your curated content, there are a few key things to keep in mind. First and foremost, always make sure to properly cite your sources. This means including a link to the original content or providing a clear attribution to the original author. By giving credit where credit is due, you can avoid any accusations of plagiarism.

Another important way to avoid plagiarism in curated content is to put the information you gather into your own words. Even if you are summarizing or quoting from a source, it is important to rephrase the information in a way that is unique to you. This not only helps to avoid plagiarism but also adds value to your curated content by providing your own perspective and insights.

Lastly, it is important to always double-check your work for any instances of potential plagiarism. There are many online tools available that can help you check for plagiarism in your content before you publish it. By taking the time to review and revise your curated content, you can ensure that it is original and free from any plagiarism.

Avoiding plagiarism in curated content is essential for maintaining your credibility as a content curator. By properly citing your sources, putting information into your own words, and double-checking for plagiarism, you can create high-quality curated content that is both informative and ethical.

Advanced Content Curation Techniques

Collaborate with Other Content Curators

Collaborating with other content curators can be a game-changer in your content curation journey. By working together with like-minded individuals who share your passion for discovering and sharing valuable content, you can amplify your impact and reach a wider audience.

One of the key benefits of collaborating with other content curators is the opportunity to tap into their unique perspectives and expertise. Each curator brings their own set of skills and knowledge to the table, which can help you discover new content sources, angles, and ideas that you may not have come across on your own.

By pooling your resources and sharing insights, you can create a more comprehensive and diverse range of curated content that will resonate with a larger audience.

Collaborating with other content curators also allows you to leverage each other’s networks and followers. By cross-promoting each other’s curated content, you can introduce your work to new audiences and gain exposure to potential followers who may be interested in your content.

This can help you grow your own following and establish yourself as a trusted source of curated content within your niche.

To start collaborating with other content curators, reach out to individuals or groups who share your interests and values. Establishing a mutually beneficial partnership based on trust and respect is key to a successful collaboration.

You can co-create curated content, host joint events or webinars, or simply share each other’s work on social media platforms.

Remember, collaboration is not about competition but about building a supportive community of content curators who can learn from each other and grow together. By working together, you can elevate your content curation skills and make a bigger impact in your niche.

Automate Your Content Curation Process with AI

Content curation is the process of finding, organizing, and sharing relevant content with your audience. However, manually curating content can be time-consuming and overwhelming.

This is where artificial intelligence (AI) comes in to revolutionize the way you curate content.

AI-powered content curation can automate and enhance processes related to managing vast amounts of digital content, ensuring efficient organization and delivery of relevant content to the right audiences.

How AI Transforms Content Curation

AI algorithms revolutionize content curation by analyzing extensive data from sources like social media, news, blogs, and customer feedback. They identify patterns and preferences, allowing for the automation of content sorting and personalization. This reduces manual effort and enhances user experience by delivering tailored content.

AI tools can help you automate the content curation process, making it more efficient and effective. These tools use algorithms to sift through vast amounts of information, helping you discover the most relevant and valuable content for your audience.

Many AI tools also cite their sources when compiling content from your prompts, effectively doing most of the content curation “heavy-lifting” for you.

Benefits of AI in Content Curation

  • Efficiency and Accuracy: AI algorithms can process and interpret large volumes of data quickly, saving time and minimizing human error.
  • Personalization: One benefit of using AI for content curation is its ability to provide personalized content recommendations based on user preferences and behaviors. AI algorithms can analyze data such as user interactions, browsing history, and social media activity to recommend content that is tailored to each individual’s interests. This personalized approach can help you understand user behavior and preferences, engage your audience more effectively and increase overall user satisfaction.
  • Resource Optimization: Automating repetitive tasks allows human curators to focus on strategic activities and boost their productivity.
  • Competitive Advantage: AI can help you stay ahead of the curve by monitoring trends and predicting future content opportunities. By analyzing patterns and data from various sources, AI tools can identify emerging topics and opportunities for content creation. This proactive approach can give your business a competitive edge in your industry and help to position it as a thought leader.

Challenges and Ethical Considerations

While AI offers numerous benefits, it also comes with challenges:

  • Bias and Ethical Concerns: AI algorithms can perpetuate biases present in their training data. Ensuring diverse and unbiased datasets is crucial.
  • Balancing AI and Human Expertise: Human curators add unique insights and creativity. A balanced approach combining AI and human judgment will ensure high-quality content curation.

Best Practices for Implementing AI in Content Curation

  • Select Suitable AI Tools: Evaluate AI tools based on organizational goals, content types, and audience needs.
  • Train and Refine Algorithms: Continuous monitoring and refining of AI algorithms based on user feedback ensures optimal performance.
  • Integrate Human Expertise: Leverage both AI’s analytical capabilities and human curators’ creativity for enhanced content curation.

Future Trends in AI and Content Curation

  • Enhanced Personalization: Advanced AI algorithms will offer more granular content personalization, improving user engagement.
  • Predictive Analytics: AI-driven predictive analytics will enable proactive content curation, anticipating user needs and preferences.

AI-powered content curation offers significant advantages in terms of efficiency, personalization, and resource optimization. By automating your content curation process and leveraging AI, you can streamline your workflow, better engage your audience, improve the quality of your content, and save time and resources.

However, addressing ethical concerns and balancing AI with human expertise is essential. By adopting best practices, your business can leverage AI to create meaningful and engaging content experiences.

Personalize Your Curated Content

As you continue on your content curation journey, it’s important to consider how you can personalize the content you share with your audience.

Personalization is a key aspect of creating a unique and engaging experience for your followers. By tailoring your curated content to fit the interests and preferences of your audience, you can increase engagement, build trust, and establish yourself as a thought leader in your niche.

One way to personalize your curated content is to understand your audience’s preferences and interests. Take the time to research and analyze the demographics, behaviors, and preferences of your target audience. Use this information to curate content that resonates with their interests and provides value to them. By understanding what your audience is looking for, you can create curated content that is relevant and engaging.

Another way to personalize your curated content is to add your own unique perspective and voice to the content you share. Don’t just share content for the sake of sharing it; instead, add your own insights, opinions, and commentary to make the content more valuable and interesting to your audience. By adding your personal touch to the curated content you share, you can establish yourself as an authority in your niche and build a stronger connection with your audience.

Remember, personalizing your curated content doesn’t mean creating content from scratch. It’s about finding the right balance between sharing valuable content from others and adding your own unique touch to make it more engaging and relevant to your audience. By personalizing your curated content, you can create a more memorable and impactful content experience for your followers.

Tip: Many email marketing tools allow you to personalize your content and target segmented audiences.

Creating Your Ultimate Content Curation Plan

Set Goals for Your Content Curation

Setting goals for your content curation is essential to ensure that you are curating content that aligns with your objectives. Without clear goals in mind, your content curation efforts may lack direction and purpose.

The first step in setting goals for your content curation is to define what you hope to achieve through your curation efforts. Are you looking to increase website traffic, engage with your audience, or establish yourself as an authority in your niche? By clearly defining your goals, you can tailor your content curation strategy to support these objectives.

Once you have identified your goals, it is important to establish specific and measurable targets. For example, if your goal is to increase website traffic, you may set a target of increasing your monthly page views by a certain percentage. Setting specific targets will help you track your progress and assess the effectiveness of your content curation efforts.

It is also important to set realistic goals that are achievable within a reasonable timeframe. Setting overly ambitious goals can lead to frustration and demotivation if they are not met. Start with smaller, achievable goals and gradually increase the difficulty as you gain confidence in your content curation skills.

Finally, regularly review and adjust your goals as needed. The content curation landscape is constantly evolving, so it is important to be flexible and adapt your goals to reflect changes in your industry or audience preferences. By setting clear, achievable goals for your content curation efforts, you can ensure that your curated content is purposeful and effective in achieving your objectives.

Establish a Content Curation Schedule

Creating a consistent and effective content curation schedule is essential for successfully curating content that resonates with your audience. By establishing a schedule, you can ensure that you are consistently providing valuable and relevant content to your followers.

Here are some tips to help you create a content curation schedule that works for you:

1. Identify your audience: Before you can create a content curation schedule, you need to have a clear understanding of who your audience is and what type of content they are interested in. Take the time to research your target audience and identify their preferences, interests, and needs.

2. Set goals: Determine what you want to achieve with your content curation efforts. Are you looking to increase engagement, drive traffic to your website, or establish thought leadership in your niche? Setting clear goals will help you create a schedule that aligns with your objectives.

3. Choose the right tools: There are many content curation tools available that can help you streamline the process of finding and sharing content. Research and choose the tools that work best for you and your specific needs. (See the Resources section below for links to tools).

4. Create a content calendar: Once you have identified your audience, set goals, and chosen your tools, it’s time to create a content calendar. A content calendar will help you plan and organize your content curation efforts, ensuring that you are consistently sharing valuable content with your audience.

5. Be consistent: Consistency is key when it comes to content curation. Make sure that you stick to your content calendar and regularly share content with your audience. Consistency will help you build trust with your followers and establish yourself as a reliable source of information in your niche.

Establishing a content curation schedule takes time and effort, but the benefits are well worth it. By following these tips, you can create a schedule that works for you and helps you achieve your content curation goals.

Evaluate and Adjust Your Content Curation Plan

Evaluating and adjusting your content curation plan is a crucial step in ensuring the success of your content strategy.

Firstly, you should review the performance metrics of your curated content. Analyze metrics such as engagement rates, click-through rates, and social shares to determine which types of content are resonating with your audience. This will help you understand what is working well and what needs improvement.

Next, consider the relevance of the content you are curating. Are you providing valuable, up-to-date information that is aligned with the interests of your target audience? It is essential to regularly assess the relevance of your curated content to ensure that it continues to meet the needs and preferences of your audience.

Another important aspect to evaluate is the diversity of your content sources. Are you sourcing content from a wide range of reputable sources, or are you relying too heavily on a few sources? Diversifying your sources can help you provide a more balanced and comprehensive view of the topics you are curating.

Finally, don’t forget to regularly review and adjust your content curation schedule. Are you posting content at the right times and frequencies to maximize engagement? Experiment with different posting schedules and monitor the results to find the optimal posting times for your audience.

By regularly evaluating and adjusting your content curation plan based on these key factors, you can ensure that your curated content remains relevant, engaging, and valuable to your audience.

Remember, content curation is an ongoing process that requires constant monitoring and optimization to achieve the best results.

Content Curation – FAQs

Here are frequently asked questions about content curation:

What is content curation?

Content curation is the process of collecting, contextualizing, and sharing information that is relevant to a specific audience or topic. It involves sorting through large amounts of content and presenting the best pieces in a meaningful and organized way.

How does content curation differ from content creation?

Content curation involves gathering and sharing existing content from external sources, whereas content creation is about producing new content. Curation is used to enhance a content strategy by adding value through perspective and context.

Why is content curation important?

Content curation helps establish authority and expertise, keeps followers engaged with regular updates, and supplements original content without the additional resources needed for content creation. It can also help target content to specific audiences effectively.

What are the key considerations for effective content curation?

Key considerations include understanding your audience’s needs, selecting high-quality and relevant content, adding unique insights, and maintaining ethical standards such as proper attribution and respect for intellectual property.

What are some best practices for content curation?

Best practices include using reliable sources, curating content that aligns with your brand’s values, regularly updating curated collections, and using tools to streamline the curation process. Engaging with the content by adding personal insights or additional context is also crucial.

What tools can help with content curation?

There are several tools available for content curation, including Feedly for RSS feeds, Pocket for saving articles, and social media tools (e.g. Hootsuite) for scheduling and sharing curated content. These tools help curators save time and organize content efficiently.

How can content curation benefit learning and development?

In learning and development, content curation can provide learners with a variety of perspectives and expert insights, help keep learning materials up-to-date, and aid in building a continuous learning culture by making a wide range of resources accessible.

What is AI content curation?

AI content curation involves using artificial intelligence to gather, organize, and present relevant digital content from various sources. It helps to streamline the process of delivering high-quality content to target audiences.

How does AI content curation work?

AI algorithms analyze vast amounts of data, identify patterns, and select content based on relevance, quality, and user preferences. These systems often use machine learning to improve their curation over time.

What are the benefits of AI content curation?

Benefits include increased efficiency, personalized content delivery, improved audience engagement, reduced manual effort, and the ability to process large volumes of information quickly.

What are the disadvantages of AI content curation?

Disadvantages can include high initial setup costs, potential biases in algorithms, dependency on accurate data inputs, and the need for ongoing maintenance and updates.

What are the pros and cons of AI content curation?

  • Pros: Efficiency, personalization, scalability, and enhanced engagement.
  • Cons: Cost, complexity, potential biases, and maintenance needs.

What trends are shaping AI content curation?

Key trends include the integration of natural language processing (NLP), increased use of predictive analytics, enhanced user personalization, and the growing importance of ethical AI practices.

How can businesses leverage AI content curation effectively?

Businesses can leverage AI content curation by using it to deliver targeted content, enhance customer experiences, optimize content marketing strategies, and streamline internal knowledge management.

What should be considered when choosing an AI content curation tool?

Considerations include the tool’s scalability, integration capabilities, accuracy, ease of use, cost, and the level of support and training provided by the vendor.

What is the difference between AI content generation and AI content curation?

AI content generation involves creating new content using AI, while AI content curation focuses on selecting and organizing existing content from various sources.

How does AI content curation improve audience engagement?

By delivering personalized and relevant content, AI content curation helps keep the audience engaged and interested, leading to higher levels of interaction and satisfaction.

Resources

References

The content in the above lesson was curated from various sources, including the following:

***

Image: Resumes

Content Production Automation

Streamline your content production process and optimize your workflow with content production automation.

Content Production Automation

Learn how to streamline your content production process and optimize your workflow with these content production automation tips.

Content Production Automation - AI Generated imageContent production can be a complex and time-consuming process, involving tasks such as research, writing, editing, and publishing.

However, with the rise of content production automation, your business can streamline its workflow and increase its productivity.

This lesson is part of our content automation series and provides essential content production automation tips to help you optimize your processes and achieve better results.

Content Production Automation Tips

Use these content production automation tips to optimize your workflows, increase your productivity, and achieve better results:

1) Use AI-Powered Tools For Content Research And Analysis

AI-powered tools for content research and analysis can help you gather insights into your target audience, competitors, and industry trends. You can use these insights to create more targeted, relevant, and engaging content, and save time and effort in creating quality content.

Follow these steps to automate your content creation using AI tools:

  • Choose an AI-powered content research and analysis tool that meets your needs.
  • Use the tool to generate topic ideas, analyze keywords and search terms, and gather data on your competitors.
  • Use the insights from the tool to create high-quality, relevant content that meets the needs of your target audience.
  • Monitor and analyze the performance of your content using the tool to refine and optimize your content strategy.

Some popular AI-powered content research and analysis tools include:

  • SemRush – provides comprehensive data and insights on your competitors and helps you identify profitable keywords and topics for your content.
  • BuzzSumo – analyze the performance of your content and your competitors’ content on social media.
  • Clearscope – helps you optimize your content for search engines by analyzing your content and suggesting improvements.

See these lessons and resources for more information:

2) Use Templates For Content Creation And Formatting

Templates can help you streamline your content creation process and ensure consistency across different formats and channels.

You can use templates for blog posts, social media posts, email newsletters, and other types of content.

Follow these steps to automate your content creation and formatting using templates:

  1. Choose a content creation and formatting tool that offers templates.
  2. Choose a template that fits the type of content you want to create, such as a blog post, social media post, or email.
  3. Customize the template to fit your brand and message.
  4. Use the template as a guide to create high-quality, consistent content.

Some popular content creation and formatting tools that offer templates include:

  • Canva – provides templates for various types of content, including social media posts, flyers, and infographics.
  • HubSpot – offers templates for email campaigns, landing pages, and blog posts.
  • Grammarly – Grammarly offers templates for business writing, such as emails and reports.

See these lessons and resources for more information:

3) Automate Your Content Publishing And Distribution

Automating your content publishing and distribution can help you save time and ensure that your content reaches your target audience at the right time and on the right platforms.

You can use scheduling tools to publish your content on different channels and at optimal times.

Follow these steps to automate your content publishing and distribution:

  1. Choose a content management system that offers automation features.
  2. Create a content calendar that includes your publishing and distribution schedule.
  3. Use automation features to schedule your content for publishing and distribution on the appropriate platforms.
  4. Monitor and analyze the performance of your content using analytics tools and adjust your strategy as needed.

Some popular content management systems that offer automation features include:

  • WordPress – offers plugins and automation tools that allow you to schedule your posts and distribute your content across various platforms.
  • HubSpot – offers automation features for content creation, publishing, and distribution, as well as analytics and reporting tools.
  • Buffer – allows you to schedule and automate your social media posts and analyze the results.

See these lessons and resources for more information:

4) Use AI-Powered Tools For Content Optimization And SEO

AI-powered tools can help you optimize and improve the visibility and ranking of your content on search engines, and increase your organic traffic.

You can use these tools to identify relevant keywords, analyze your content’s readability and structure, and suggest ways to improve your SEO.

Follow these steps to automate your content optimization and SEO using AI-powered tools:

  • Choose an AI-powered content optimization and SEO tool that meets your needs.
  • Use the tool to analyze your content and suggest improvements to optimize it for search engines.
  • Use the insights from the tool to make changes to your content, such as adjusting keywords, optimizing meta tags, and improving readability.
  • Monitor and analyze the performance of your content using the tool to refine and optimize your content strategy.

Some popular AI-powered content optimization and SEO tools include:

  • SmartCrawl – a popular WordPress plugin that analyzes your content and provides suggestions for improving your SEO. It analyzes various elements such as content length, readability, and keyword usage, and provides suggestions for improving your content.
  • SemRush – provides the ability to conduct in-depth keyword research, analyze competitors’ strategies, track search engine rankings, identify content gaps, generate content ideas, and monitor brand mentions and backlinks.
  • Google Analytics –  provides insights into how users interact with your website and content. It can help you identify areas for improvement and track the performance of your content.

See these lessons and resources for more information:

5) Automate Your Content Quality Assurance And Editing

Automating your content quality assurance and editing can help you improve the quality and consistency of your content and ensure that your content is error-free.

You can use tools to check for grammar and spelling errors, ensure that your content follows your brand guidelines, and provide feedback to your writers.

Follow these steps to automate your content quality assurance and editing:

  1. Choose a content quality assurance and editing tool that meets your needs.
  2. Use the tool to check for errors such as spelling and grammar, as well as readability and style.
  3. Use the insights from the tool to make changes to your content.
  4. Monitor and analyze the performance of your content using analytics tools and adjust your strategy as needed.

Some popular content quality assurance and editing tools include:

  • Grammarly – checks for spelling and grammar errors, as well as readability and tone.
  • ProWritingAid ProWritingAid checks for errors and provides suggestions for improving your writing, including style and structure.
  • Hemingway Editorchecks for readability and suggests improvements to make your writing more clear and more concise.

See these lessons and resources for more information:

Save Time Automating Your Content Processes

See the lessons below for additional ways to automate your content processes:

Content Planning Automation

Content Planning Automation

Streamline your content planning process and maximize your team's productivity with content planning automation.
Content Production Automation

Content Production Automation

Streamline your content production process and optimize your workflow with content production automation.
Content Promotion Automation

Content Promotion Automation

Streamline your content promotion process and optimize your workflow with content promotion automation.
Content Management Automation

Content Management Automation

Streamline your workflow and maximize your team's potential with content management automation.

***

Image: AI-Generated (Dall-e)

Content Types For Different Business Models

Learn about different types of content that you can use in different business models.

Content Types For Different Business Models

Learn about different types of content that you can use in different business models to meet your target audience’s needs.

Different Business Models - Office with laptopCreating content for your business is an essential aspect of digital marketing.

However, it’s not enough to simply create content; it’s crucial to understand which types of content are best suited for your business model.

Different business models require different types of content to be effective in reaching and converting potential customers.

In this article, we’ll explore different types of content that different business models can use to better resonate with their target audience.

info

For more details about different content types, including the challenges associated with creating these, recommended best practices, and links to useful tutorials, tools, and other helpful resources, see this lesson: Content Types

***

Business Models And Suitable Content Types

Knowing which type of content will resonate best with your target audience depends on a number of things, including how well you understand your target audience and the buyer journey.

The type of business that you operate also plays an important part in choosing the types of content that you will create for your audience.

Some content types can suit many different business models.

For example, if your business wants to create content that is visually appealing and emotionally engaging, then the types of content you would create would include videos, infographics, social media posts, and webinars that showcase your products or services in an attractive and relatable way.

Similarly, if your aim is to inform, educate, and persuade your audience, then the types of content you could consider creating would include articles, whitepapers, case studies, podcasts, and eBooks focusing on the specific problems or challenges that your target audience faces and how your products or services can help to solve these.

Additionally, thought leadership content, such as blog posts, webinars, whitepapers, case studies, podcasts, and ebooks can also be useful in positioning your business as an authority in your industry.

Below is a brief overview of different business models with a general guide to the different content types that may best suit their audience.

B2B (Business-To-Business)

This business model involves selling products or services to other businesses, rather than to individual consumers.

Examples of B2B businesses:

  • Salesforce (cloud-based software services)
  • 3M (manufacturer of industrial and consumer goods)
  • FedEx (transportation, e-commerce, and business services)

Content types that suit a business-to-business (B2B) audience include whitepapers, case studies, webinars, research reports, infographics, blog posts, e-books, and industry news focusing on specific problems or challenges, and solutions.

B2C (Business-To-Consumer)

This business model involves selling products or services directly to consumers.

Examples of B2C businesses:

  • Amazon (e-commerce)
  • McDonald’s (fast food)
  • Nike (apparel and footwear)

Content types that suit a B2C audience include product videos, product demos, customer reviews, influencer partnerships, lifestyle photography, infographics, and social media posts showcasing the benefits and uses of products or services in an attractive and relatable way.

Additionally, creating content focused on the customer’s experience, such as customer testimonials or user-generated content, can also be effective in building trust and credibility with potential customers.

D2C (Direct-To-Consumer)

This business model involves companies selling products or services directly to consumers, bypassing traditional retail channels.

Examples of D2C businesses:

  • Warby Parker (eyewear)
  • Casper (mattresses)
  • Dollar Shave Club (grooming products)

Content types that suit a D2C audience include creating highly targeted and personalized content to reach and convert potential customers, such as email campaigns, retargeting ads, and personalized product recommendations that are tailored to the specific interests and needs of the target audience.

Additionally, brand storytelling, behind-the-scenes content, user-generated content, influencer partnerships, and social media posts to build trust and a sense of community with customers, and creating interactive content, such as quizzes or surveys, can also be effective in engaging with potential customers and gathering valuable data about their preferences and behavior.

C2C (Consumer-To-Consumer)

This business model involves consumers buying and selling products or services to other consumers, often through online marketplaces.

Examples of C2C businesses:

  • eBay (online marketplace)
  • Craigslist (online marketplace)
  • Airbnb (online marketplace for lodging)

Content types that suit a C2C audience include user-generated content, such as product photos or videos, product reviews and ratings, user reviews, testimonials, social media posts, and community-building efforts.

Creating content that focuses on the customer experience, such as step-by-step guides on how to use the product, can also be effective in building trust and credibility with potential customers.

Additionally, creating interactive content, such as quizzes or surveys, can also be effective in engaging with potential customers and gathering valuable data about their preferences and behavior.

P2P (Peer-To-Peer)

This model involves individuals or businesses providing goods or services to other individuals or businesses without a centralized intermediary.

Examples of P2P businesses:

  • Uber (ride-sharing)
  • Lending Club (peer-to-peer lending)
  • Spotify (peer-to-peer music streaming)

Content types that suit a P2P audience include blog posts, user tutorials and social media posts, customer reviews, testimonials, feedback to help build trust and credibility, safety and security tips, and success stories from other users to build trust and encourage participation in the platform.

F2F (Franchise-To-Franchisee)

This model allows a business to expand by giving other businesses the right to use its brand name and sell its products or services in a specific area.

Examples of F2F businesses:

  • McDonald’s (fast food)
  • Subway (fast food)
  • 7-Eleven (convenience stores)

Content types that suit a F2F audience include creating content focused on the customer experience, such as step-by-step guides on how to use the product, interactive content such as quizzes or surveys, and content that focuses on the support and benefits of being a franchisee and helps to attract potential franchisees, such as success stories of existing franchisees, training materials, best practices, webinars, and newsletters.

Affiliate Marketing

This model involves earning a commission by promoting other people’s or company’s products and getting a percentage of the sale when a customer clicks through an affiliate link and makes a purchase.

Examples of affiliate marketing businesses:

  • Amazon (affiliate program)
  • Shareasale (affiliate program)
  • Commission Junction (affiliate marketing network)

Content types that suit this business model include blog posts, videos, webinars, social media posts, and email campaigns focusing on the benefits of using affiliate marketing, potential earning opportunities, and strategies and tips for effectively promoting affiliate products and earning commissions to attract potential affiliate partners.

More info: Managing Your Affiliate Content

Bartering

Bartering businesses exchange goods or services with other businesses or individuals without using money as a medium of exchange.

Examples of bartering businesses:

  • Bartercard (barter exchange network)
  • Barter.net (barter exchange network)
  • ITEX (barter exchange network)

Content types that suit this business model include articles, videos, social media posts, webinars, newsletters, and case studies that explain the process and benefits of bartering goods or services and provide tips on finding suitable trading partners, creating a fair exchange, and building a successful bartering network.

Co-Creation

Co-creation businesses work with customers to design and develop products or services, allowing them to co-create value.

Examples of co-creation businesses:

  • Lego (toy building blocks)
  • Threadless (crowdsourced t-shirt designs)
  • Quirky (crowdsourced product development)

Content types that suit this business model include blog posts, videos, and case studies showcasing the process and benefits of co-creating products or services with customers to encourage customers to actively participate in the design and development of a product or service.

Examples include open-source software development, crowdsourced product design, and online forums for customer feedback.

Collaborative Consumption

This model involves sharing access to products or services, such as car-sharing or tool-sharing, rather than owning them outright.

Examples of collaborative consumption businesses:

  • Zipcar (car-sharing)
  • Airbnb (lodging)
  • ThredUp (clothing swapping)

Content types that suit this business model include blog posts, infographics, and case studies that educate on the benefits of sharing and renting products instead of buying them outright and highlight the environmental and social benefits of sharing resources, such as reduced consumption and increased community engagement.

Examples include infographics, videos, and articles that highlight the impact of collaborative consumption on the environment, local communities, and the economy.

Community-Based

Community-based businesses rely on the support and participation of a specific community, such as a local neighborhood or interest group, in order to succeed.

Examples of community-based businesses:

  • Nextdoor (social networking for neighborhoods)
  • Meetup (social networking for groups)
  • Kickstarter (crowdfunding platform)

Content types that suit this business model include videos, blog posts, and social media posts highlighting the impact of community engagement on business success, case studies of successful community-based businesses, and content emphasizing the importance of community and the benefits of building strong relationships with customers and other stakeholders.

Crowdfunding

This business model involves raising funds for a project or venture by soliciting small contributions from a large number of people, usually through the internet.

Examples of crowdfunding businesses:

  • Kickstarter (crowdfunding platform)
  • Indiegogo (crowdfunding platform)
  • GoFundMe (crowdfunding platform)

Content types that suit this business model include videos, blog posts, social media posts, success stories, testimonials, and behind-the-scenes content focusing on the story behind the idea, the impact it will have on the community, and the benefits and perks of supporting the project to build trust and credibility with potential funders, and encourage participation in the crowdfunding campaign.

Dropshipping

This model involves an online retailer who accepts customer orders but does not keep goods sold in stock, instead, it transfers customer orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer, another retailer, or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to the customer.

Examples of dropshipping businesses:

  • Wayfair (online furniture retailer)
  • Zulily (online retailer)
  • Overstock (online retailer)

Content types that suit this business model include blog posts, videos, ebooks, webinars, and case studies focusing on the benefits and value of dropshipping for e-commerce businesses, such as low overhead costs and flexible inventory management to attract potential customers.

Freemium

Freemium businesses offer a basic service or product for free but charge for additional features or higher levels of service.

Examples of freemium businesses:

  • LinkedIn (professional networking)
  • Spotify (music streaming)
  • Dropbox (cloud storage)

Content types that suit this business model include comparison charts, feature breakdowns, and success stories that focus on the benefits and value of the premium version of the product or service, highlight the additional benefits of upgrading to a paid subscription, and help to convert free users into paying customers.

Hybrid

Hybrid businesses combine elements of different business models to create a unique approach to selling products or services.

Examples of hybrid businesses:

  • Amazon (e-commerce and cloud computing)
  • Tesla (automotive and energy)
  • Netflix (streaming video and DVD rental)

Content types that suit this business model include a variety of content types like case studies, infographics, videos, and blog posts tailored to the different aspects of the business that communicate the unique value proposition of the hybrid business model.

This can include creating informative and educational content for B2B aspects, visually appealing and emotionally engaging content for B2C aspects, and targeted and personalized content for D2C aspects.

Additionally, creating interactive content, such as quizzes or surveys, can also be effective in engaging with potential customers and gathering valuable data about their preferences and behavior.

Licensing

Licensing businesses grant the right to use a specific asset, such as a patent, trademark, or copyrighted material, in exchange for a fee or royalty payment.

Examples of licensing businesses:

  • Microsoft (technology licensing)
  • McDonald’s (franchise licensing)
  • Disney (entertainment licensing)

Content types that suit this business model include content focusing on specific terms and benefits of the licensing agreement and the value of using the products or services, such as license agreements, FAQs, and testimonials to attract potential licensees.

Low-Cost

Low-cost businesses offer products or services at lower prices than competitors by keeping costs low and efficiency high.

Examples of low-cost businesses:

  • Ryanair (airline)
  • Aldi (grocery store)
  • Dollar Tree (discount store)

Content types that suit this business model include blog posts, videos, case studies, infographics, comparison charts, and customer testimonials that illustrate the cost-saving measures and strategies the business uses to offer low prices, demonstrate how businesses can operate successfully while keeping costs low, and emphasize the benefits of low-cost business models, such as affordability, and scalability.

Non-Profit

Non-profit businesses operate solely for the purpose of achieving a social or environmental mission, rather than to make a profit.

Examples of non-profit companies:

  • Amnesty International (human rights organization)
  • UNICEF (children’s rights and emergency relief)
  • Oxfam (poverty alleviation)

Content types that suit this business model include videos, articles, social media posts, infographics,  impact reports, and donation or volunteer call-to-action content explaining the mission and goals of a non-profit organization, the importance of non-profits in society, how they are funded, how they measure success, how they differ from for-profit businesses and highlighting success stories of those who have benefited from the organization’s programs or services to encourage more donations or support.

On-Demand

On-demand businesses provide goods or services to customers immediately, as soon as they are requested, rather than in advance.

Examples of on-demand businesses:

  • Uber (ride-sharing)
  • GrubHub (food delivery)
  • Instacart (grocery delivery)

Content types that suit this business model include video demonstrations of on-demand services, customer testimonials, guides on how to use on-demand services, blog posts, social media posts, infographics, and case studies explaining the benefits of on-demand services, such as convenience, flexibility, and immediacy.

Pay-Per-Performance

Pay-per-performance businesses charge customers based on the performance of a product or service, such as pay-per-lead or pay-per-sale.

Examples of pay-per-performance businesses:

  • Google AdWords (pay-per-click advertising)
  • Amazon Mechanical Turk (human intelligence tasks)
  • Upwork (freelance marketplace)

Content types that suit this business model include metrics, case studies, and testimonials emphasizing the results that customers can expect from using a product or service, such as increased productivity, improved sales, or higher ROI.

Pay-Per-Use

Pay-per-use businesses charge customers based on the number of times they use a product or service, such as pay-per-view or pay-per-click.

Examples of pay-per-use businesses:

  • Zipcar (car-sharing)
  • Netflix (streaming video)
  • Spotify (music streaming)

Content types that suit this business model include content highlighting the benefits of using a product or service on a pay-per-use basis, such as cost savings, flexibility, and convenience with information on pricing and usage.

Examples include articles and video tutorials on how to use a software platform or product demonstrations of rental equipment.

Pay-What-You-Want

Pay-what-you-want businesses allow customers to pay what they want for a product or service, with the option to pay nothing at all.

Examples of pay-what-you-want businesses:

  • Radiohead (music band)
  • Humble Bundle (digital storefront)
  • Some independent coffee shops or cafes

Content types that suit this business model include blog posts, videos, social media posts, and success stories focusing on the benefits and value of the product, service, and pricing model to attract potential customers.

Pop-Up

Pop-up businesses open temporarily in a specific location, such as a shopping mall, before moving on to a different location.

Examples of pop-up businesses:

  • Warby Parker (eyewear)
  • Rent the Runway (clothing rental)
  • Birchbox (subscription box service)

Content types that suit this business model include videos, articles, social media posts, and behind-the-scenes content highlighting the unique and temporary nature of the pop-up, with discounts and promotions to encourage customers to visit before the pop-up shop or event is gone.

Platform-Based

Platform-based businesses create a platform that connects different parties, such as buyers and sellers, and earn revenue through commissions or fees.

Examples of platform-based businesses:

  • Uber (ride-sharing)
  • Airbnb (lodging)
  • Amazon (e-commerce)

Content types that suit this business model include videos, social media posts, user tutorials, webinars, and success stories that help users navigate and make the most out of the platform and content that focuses on the benefits and value of using the platform, such as testimonials from satisfied customers, to help attract new users and retain existing ones.

Reverse Auction

Reverse auction businesses allow customers to bid on products or services, with the lowest bid winning.

Examples of reverse auction businesses:

  • Priceline (online travel agency)
  • eBay (online marketplace)
  • Uber (ride-sharing)

Content types that suit this business model include infographics, videos, and articles that explain how the reverse auction model works and its benefits, such as cost savings and increased competition among suppliers, step-by-step guides on how to participate in a reverse auction, case studies of successful reverse auctions, tips for buyers on how to get the best deals, and information on the specific terms and benefits of this pricing model.

Sharing Economy

Sharing economy businesses allow customers to share resources, such as cars, tools, or equipment, as well as services, such as accommodation or transportation, rather than owning them outright.

Examples of sharing economy businesses:

  • Uber (ride-sharing)
  • Airbnb (lodging)
  • Zipcar (car-sharing)

Content types that suit this business model include blog posts, infographics, videos, and case studies explaining how the sharing economy works and how it can benefit individuals and communities, success stories from companies that have implemented it, and content emphasizing the benefits of sharing resources, such as cost savings and increased access to goods and services.

Social Enterprise

Social enterprise businesses prioritize social and environmental impact alongside financial success.

Examples of social enterprise businesses:

  • TOMS (shoes)
  • Warby Parker (eyewear)
  • Patagonia (apparel)

Content types that suit this business model include videos, articles, and social media explaining the principles of social enterprise to achieve social and environmental goals and content that explains the concept and benefits of integrating social and environmental impact into the business model.

Subscription-Based

This model involves customers paying a recurring fee to access a product or service, such as a monthly magazine subscription or a streaming service.

Examples of subscription-based businesses:

  • Netflix (streaming video)
  • Spotify (music streaming)
  • Birchbox (subscription box service)

Content types that suit this business model include videos, infographics, social media posts, customer testimonials, and user-generated content.

Also, creating educational content such as how-to guides, expert interviews, webinars, and newsletters focusing on the benefits and value of the subscription and the unique features of the product or service to attract and retain subscribers and justify the ongoing cost of a subscription.

Virtual Business

This model refers to businesses that are entirely online-based and do not have a physical storefront or location.

Examples of virtual businesses:

  • Alibaba (online marketplaces)
  • Amazon (e-commerce)
  • Automattic (the company that runs WordPress)

Content types that suit this business model include blog posts, webinars, ebooks, social media posts,  and case studies explaining the benefits and logistics of running a virtual business such as lower overhead costs, greater flexibility, and the ability to reach a global audience, and how the business operates entirely or primarily online.

Wholesale

Wholesale businesses purchase products in bulk from manufacturers or distributors and resell them to retailers or directly to consumers at a higher price.

Examples of wholesale businesses:

  • Costco (membership-based warehouse club)
  • BJ’s Wholesale Club (membership-based warehouse club)
  • Sam’s Club (membership-based warehouse club)

Content types that suit this business model include content that educates other businesses on the benefits and cost savings of buying in bulk, such as product catalogs, bulk pricing information, videos, blog posts, and case studies.

info

There are many other different business models and variations, and new ones can be created as the market and technology evolve.

Additionally, some businesses may also use a combination of different business models to achieve their goals.

Creating content tailored to your business model is crucial in reaching and converting potential customers. Whether you have a B2B, B2C, or D2C model, understanding the specific needs and preferences of your target audience is key to creating content that resonates with them.

By focusing on the types of content that are most effective for your business model, you can increase your chances of reaching and converting potential customers, and ultimately, driving business growth.

***

Image: Office Desk

Content Workflow

Learn how to define a content workflow for your organization, from content ideation and creation to scheduling and publishing. 

Content Workflow

Learn how to define a content workflow for your organization, from content ideation and creation to scheduling and publishing. 

WhiteboardKeeping content projects on track and on time requires organizing and managing processes with specific tasks, done in a specific order, by team members assigned to specific roles.

If you are building a content pipeline and your content team is working on various projects, things can quickly become unwieldy and difficult to manage. People will start to get confused about where things are at, and projects will end up getting stuck and delayed.

This is where having a defined content workflow can help.

In this lesson, we’ll cover:

  • What is a content workflow?
  • The importance of defining your content workflow.
  • Key elements of an effective content workflow.

Before You Begin

Make sure to review the Content Production Overview lesson before starting this lesson.

What Is A Content Workflow?

The Content Marketing Institute defines a content workflow as follows:

“A content workflow is a set of tasks that a team needs to complete for a given client or content type — a web page, a blog post, a white paper, an email, or any other kind of content that the group needs to deliver.”

Source: Content Marketing Institute

The article also mentions Kristina Halvorson, author of Content Strategy For The Web, as saying that a content workflow determines “how content is requested, sourced, created, reviewed, approved, and delivered,” and goes on to explain:

  • Why a business needs to define a content workflow
  • How to define a content workflow, and
  • How to:
    • Identify the roles (who is involved in production)
    • Identify the tasks (what each role does)
    • Determine when tasks should get done by to maintain consistent production flow, and
    • Assign accountability for overseeing and tracking projects through to completion.

This lesson will cover these areas, but we also recommend reading the article: Marketing Workflow: How To Keep Content Production On Track

The Importance Of Defining Your Content Flow

As we touched on in the Content Production Overview lesson, creating a content workflow involves defining things like the steps involved, who does what to make each step happen, how/when the process should move from one step to the next, what formats, guidelines, and procedures should be followed to ensure consistent standards, how/when to deliver each step, etc.

Even a simple content workflow can have many moving parts. For example, consider the steps involved in writing an article for a blog.

At first glance, it may look something like this:

  • Create an outline.
  • Write a draft.
  • Review the draft.
  • Edit the draft.
  • Get changes approved.
  • Publish the article.
Simple content production workflow.
A simple content workflow.

However, if you map out the sequence of all the steps involved in the actual article writing process, you may find that your article creation workflow ends up looking something more like this:

Content workflow for creating an article.
Your content workflow for creating articles could look like this.

From the above, it should be clear that:

  1. Certain aspects of the process need to be assigned to and performed by different roles.
  2. Some steps cannot proceed until other steps have first been completed.
  3. Certain processes involve steps that “loop” (i.e. repeat) before the workflow can move to the next phase.
  4. Different content requires different content workflows – a workflow used to create content like blog articles won’t necessarily work for other types of content (e.g. videos).

It’s important, then, to define content workflows in the content production process, as it helps the content team to:

  • Keep everything organized, saving time, reducing costs, and increasing production efficiency,
  • Break down different processes into manageable tasks,
  • Identify each stage of development and what needs to happen for the item to move forward and get approved,
  • Know who should take over responsibility for each step and when,
  • Identify and deal with bottlenecks in the production process.
  • Identify different workflows for different types of content.

Content Workflow Goals And Objectives

Common content workflow goals and objectives include:

  • Efficiency: The goal is to streamline the content creation process and reduce the time and effort required to produce, review, and publish content. This can be achieved by creating a content calendar, using project management tools, and automating repetitive tasks.
  • Collaboration: The goal is to promote collaboration and communication among team members to ensure that content is created and reviewed in a timely and effective manner. This can be achieved by using shared tools for content creation, review, and publishing, setting up regular meetings and check-ins, and providing clear guidelines and instructions.
  • Quality control: The goal is to ensure that all content meets the established standards for quality, accuracy, and compliance with legal, ethical, and brand guidelines. This can be achieved by creating and enforcing a content style guide, regularly reviewing and updating content, and ensuring that all content is accessible and inclusive.
  • Scalability: The goal is to ensure that the content workflow can easily adapt and scale to accommodate changes in content volume, team size, and complexity. This can be achieved by using cloud-based tools, creating a flexible and modular content creation process, and implementing a version control system.
  • Security: The goal is to protect the confidentiality and integrity of the content and the workflows by implementing security protocols. This can be achieved by using encryption and access controls, creating backups, and monitoring for unauthorized access.
  • Flexibility: The goal is to ensure that the content workflow can be easily adapted to changing business needs and goals. This can be achieved by incorporating a feedback and testing process, making it easy for stakeholders to provide input and feedback, and implementing agile methodologies.
  • Automation: The goal is to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks to improve the speed and efficiency of the content workflow. This can be achieved by using a content management system (CMS) to automate the publishing process, using workflow automation tools, and integrating with other tools and software.
  • Integration: The goal is to integrate the content workflow with other systems and tools to improve efficiency, collaboration, and automation. This can be achieved by integrating with a CRM system, integrating with social media platforms, and integrating with analytics and reporting tools.

Key Elements Of An Effective Content Workflow

As mentioned, you may need to define different content workflows depending on the content strategy of the business and the purpose of the content it intends to create.

For example, consider the following types of content:

  • Blog articles to boost search engine visibility and drive traffic to the business,
  • Videos to inform and introduce products to potential customers,
  • Social media posts to increase brand awareness.

Each type of content listed above requires different processes to create and serves a different purpose. Each of these processes needs to be clearly defined to ensure efficient content production and consistent standards of quality.

While each of these content types requires different workflow processes, they also have certain elements in common.

Let’s look at these.

Content Production Phases

Content Production Phases
Different phases of content production.

While different content production processes result in the creation of different content types, they all tend to move through similar phases.

Your content workflow has to move content production through the various phases below:

1. Concept Development / Strategic Ideation

In this phase, team members brainstorm content ideas. Ideally, this will flow from the content strategy and include input from all stakeholders (e.g. the content team, designers, writers, editors, channel managers, creative agencies, etc.) to provide a fuller perspective of all the essential aspects of the project.

This phase should also involve a discussion of factors that can affect the project, like concept, style, budget, resources, timeframes, etc.

2. Pre-Production

This is the preparation phase where you source, gather and line up everything you will need before starting the actual process of creating the content. Depending on which project the team is working on, pre-production may include activities like researching, preparing outlines, sourcing graphics, scripting, etc.

For example, if you are shooting a video, pre-production will probably involve doing things like:

  • Create a video timeline
  • Write a creative brief
  • Estimate the video budget
  • Write the video script
  • Draw the video storyboard
  • Recruit video talent

Source: Vidyard.com

On the other hand, if you are planning to write an article for a blog, pre-production will involve different activities, such as:

  • Create an outline
  • Research information
  • Gather quotes, stats, etc.
  • Source media (images, banners, videos, etc.)
  • Interview subject experts
  • etc.

3. Production

This is where the content gets assembled. Production can take place internally (e.g. by the content team) or externally (e.g. an agency or outsourced provider), or split between the two.

4. Post-Production

In this phase, content either gets fine-tuned and polished (e.g. adding video titles and intros/outros to videos) or prepared for different channels and purposes (e.g., adding video transcripts or translations, creating longer and shorter versions of videos, repurposing articles for social media, infographics, slide presentations, videos, etc.).

Post-production activities can also be split between internal and external teams.

5. Feedback Loop

Once the content is ready for initial review (e.g. an article draft or video rough), it will typically bounce around a loop (e.g. Draft 1 > Review 1 > Draft 2 > Review 2 > Draft 3 > Review 3) involving different people (e.g. editors, subject experts, managers) or different departments (e.g. HR, legal) who provide feedback and additional suggestions until the final content is approved.

6. Final Delivery / Publishing

This is where the content is approved for publishing or distribution via the agreed channels (e.g. blog, social media, email newsletters, etc.)

Content Purpose

There are different ways to define your content’s purpose. For example, the overall purpose of the content may be to help the business achieve a strategic goal, such as building brand awareness or generating leads and sales.

While knowing why you are creating a certain piece of content is important and should be incorporated into the workflow’s production notes and the content brief (see further below), asking a writer to write an article or a video producer to create a video designed to “build brand awareness” doesn’t provide sufficient direction to help them with the actual article writing or video scripting process.

So, additional information about the purpose of the content may be required.

For example, SEOptimer describes the three types of content produced for most websites, often to be used in conjunction with one another:

  • Cornerstone Content – This is longer, authoritative content that will remain mostly unchanged, covering single topics in a definitive way to build awareness of your brand and establish authority rather than to sell products. Cornerstone content is the content you want to rank highest in the search engines, so it needs to be well written, updated often, and targeted to rank for your most competitive keywords.
  • Gated Content – This is content (usually of very high value) designed to be exchanged for something of equally high value (e.g. opt-in subscriber or lead information), such as email newsletters, downloadable guides or templates, podcasts, etc.
  • Evolving Content –  This is content produced regularly that changes over time and often needs frequent updates, such as blog posts, news, a video series, etc.

While the aim of content marketing is to use content to convince your audience to take an intended action (e.g. buy something), the aim of content production is to connect with individual members of that audience, and this also has to be reflected in the content’s purpose.

EngageContent describes three types of content that connect with individuals:

  • Entertaining content – Content that connects with people on an emotional level, such as subjective stories centered around people.
  • Educational content – Content that connects with people on an intellectual level, such as objective content that describes processes or analysis of data.
  • Informative content – Content that connects with people on an attentional level, e.g. news content that attracts the reader’s attention because it’s current, new, and relevant.

Understanding the above differences and incorporating these into your content workflow will help your team create and deliver content that is on-purpose.

Content Types

Your content workflow may be geared exclusively to the production of one type of content or to multiple content types, such as blog articles, videos, emails, social media posts, downloadable PDF guides, whitepapers, infographics, templates, etc., and/or produced for print and digital formats.

See the Content Types lesson to learn more about different types of content that can be included in your content workflow and content production.

Team Roles

When defining a content workflow, it’s important to understand and identify:

  • Who will be involved in the content production process,
  • Which stage of the project they will be required to participate in, and
  • What the responsibilities of each role will be.

A project may require assigning different roles to people who may also be working on other projects or areas of the business at the same time, so it’s important to define how all the different roles will work together seamlessly and efficiently in the workflow.

Swimlane diagrams, for, example, are a useful way to map roles in content workflows.

Example workflow - swimlane diagram
A ‘swimlane’ content workflow involving a number of roles. Source: Content Marketing Institute.

We provide an entire section dedicated to helping you understand different team roles in a content production team and a digital organization.

Tasks

After identifying the roles in the workflow, the next step involves the following:

  1. Identifying the tasks required to complete a project (i.e. what needs to be done).
  2. Defining each task in detail (to minimize time-wasting and confusion once the project gets underway).
  3. Assigning tasks to the roles (i.e. who will do what).
  4. Organizing tasks in a logical and sequential order (i.e. their flow).

Without clearly-defined tasks, things can fall through the cracks, especially if there are multiple people working on a project and/or or multiple teams responsible for ensuring the completion of projects. Vaguely-defined tasks can lead to confusion and lack of accountability (e.g. “I didn’t know I was supposed to do that…I thought such and such was looking after that area!”).

For this reason, it’s important that tasks be made clear enough so that anyone occupying the role assigned to the task will know exactly what needs to be done to complete their part and move it along to the next stage of the production process.

Here’s how to ensure this happens:

  • Break each task down into its smallest possible elements. For example, after a blog article has been approved for publishing and before hitting the “publish” button, there may be additional steps involved to the post itself (i.e. not the content), like adding a post excerpt, meta description, author’s note, related articles, categories, tags, etc.
  • Work out who is responsible for each element. For example, if you are creating an infographic, make sure to specify who will do the research and who will supply the graphic designer or illustrator with accurate data (and in which format, e.g. a list, table, slide mock up, etc.). Similarly, who will upload the final article to the blog and hit the publish button…the writer, the editor, or the production manager?
  • Assign each element of the task to a specific team member. This will help you work out whether certain roles have excessive workloads in the production process and whether these can be distributed, reassigned, or consolidated within existing roles and the available resources.
  • Ask for feedback when assigning tasks. It may be more efficient for someone else to take on a task. For example, when writing a technical article, a product manager may be more suitable for writing out all of the key points and then handing this to a writer for making the content flow in a more readable way to the audience. This can be worked out during the team production meeting.
  • Work out agreed ways to signal the completion of a task. Using good workflow management tools can help in this area.

As most tasks in workflows tend to be repeatable processes, it’s best to document these tasks and anything else that helps to complete them, like style guidelines, company information (e.g. mission, vision, and value statements, legal compliance policies, etc.), and store this documentation somewhere where your team can easily access it.

Timelines

Ideally, you would start from the deadline or final publication date for the content, then work backward to create a timeline, adding in specific dates or time frames for all the steps in the process. This way, each team member knows when their task is coming up and when it is due and can plan their workload accordingly.

For example, Let’s say that you are in the first week of July and during your production meeting, the team is informed about a new product due for release on August 1st that needs an accompanying article to be written and ready to publish by the end of July.

Let’s also say that from past experience, you know that it takes articles one working week to go through the feedback loop for reviews and approvals, 2-3 days to write the first draft, and 2-3 days to research and create an outline once the writer is given a content brief.

Working backward from the deadline, the initial schedule for making sure that the article will be ready in time for publishing would look something like this…

Example of a content production calendar with project milestones written in.
What your production calendar timeline would look like working backward from a deadline for submitting publish-ready content.

From the above schedule, you would then assign all the tasks required to complete the project to different roles and incorporate your content workflow into your content management tool to track its progress.

While this approach may work for getting content delivered in sync with a specific marketing promotion or event (e.g. a “Black Friday” sale) and is quite useful for content planning purposes, things often don’t work out to plan, so it’s important to include enough time into the content production process for additional edits, revisions, and unexpected events, such as:

  • A team member gets sick or goes on leave,
  • Competing priorities create delays, hold-ups, or bottlenecks in the production process,
  • The project schedule is brought forward (e.g. to match a product release or company announcement).

Tools

Using the right tools allows everyone involved in the project to have a clear idea of what, when, and where their contribution is required in the workflow, and to keep track of where things are at during production.

We cover this area in more detail in this lesson: Content Production Tools

Workflow Approach

Once everything has been defined — phases, timelines, roles, tasks, etc., the next step is to choose a workflow approach and arrange all production elements in a way that will work for the business or organization.

As explained in this article, there are three main workflow approaches:

  • Status-based: The workflow is organized around the status of a content piece.
  • Task-based: The workflow is organized around the tasks needed to complete the project.
  • Swim lane: The workflow is organized across different roles over time.
Swimlane Diagram
An example of tasks organized using the ‘swim lane’ workflow approach. Source: Smartsheet.com

Project/Content Brief

A content brief (or project brief, or creative brief) is a document that outlines the project’s context, purpose, and deliverables. It provides whoever is assigned to create the content with all the information and direction they need to make sure that their efforts will be on track and on purpose.

A content brief helps to:

  • Set out project expectations clearly and concisely.
  • Make the team focus on the most important areas of the project.
  • Save unnecessary editing and revisions.
  • Deliver content that fits the purpose and goals of the organization’s content strategy.

Depending on the project type, a content brief may include/address the following areas:

  • Project background (i.e. why is this content required?)
  • Target audience/buyer persona (if the organization targets multiple audiences)
  • Content type(s) and deliverables
  • Project timeline, deadline, and key milestones
  • Suggested titles, target keywords
  • Initial research (e.g.  competing articles, reference sources, etc.)
  • Resources (e.g. supporting statistics, quotes, related articles for internal linking, etc.)
  • Access to subject matter experts (if required). This can be as simple as pointing out who to contact in the organization to obtain information (e.g. a product manager), or something more elaborate, such as lining up interviews with industry experts.

To help you understand what a content brief looks like, here is an example of a content brief for an article listing the best espresso coffee machines:

*** Start Content Brief ***

Title: “Top 10 Best Espresso Coffee Machines for At-Home Brewing”

Purpose: To provide readers with a list of the best espresso coffee machines for at-home brewing, based on factors such as performance, ease of use, and price.

Target audience: Home coffee enthusiasts who are interested in purchasing an espresso coffee machine for at-home brewing.

Objectives:

  • To help readers find the best espresso coffee machine for their needs and budget.
  • To provide detailed information about the features and performance of each espresso coffee machine.
  • To offer tips and recommendations for selecting the right espresso coffee machine.

Keywords: espresso, coffee machine, at-home brewing, performance, ease of use, price, features

Outline:

    1. Introduction
  • Explain the purpose of the article and introduce the topic of espresso coffee machines.
  • Provide a brief overview of the different types of espresso coffee machines available, and explain why they are a popular choice for at-home brewing.

2. Top 10 Best Espresso Coffee Machines

  • Introduce the list of the top 10 best espresso coffee machines, and explain the criteria used to select them (performance, ease of use, price, etc.).
  • For each espresso coffee machine on the list, provide a brief overview of its features and performance, and explain why it made the top 10.

3. Tips and Recommendations

  • Offer tips and recommendations for selecting the right espresso coffee machine, based on factors such as budget, intended use, and personal preferences.
  • Provide guidance on how to properly use and maintain an espresso coffee machine to ensure optimal performance.

4. Conclusion

  • Summarize the main points of the article and encourage readers to consider purchasing one of the top 10 best espresso coffee machines for at-home brewing.

**** End Content Brief ***

Content briefs are not only useful for helping your content team nail projects when creating standardized content types internally but they can also be used in projects that involve working with new or inexperienced writers and content creators, outsourced (e.g. freelance) writers and marketing agencies, partners who are writing content about your company, or when creating projects on behalf of clients.

In all of the above instances, writing content or creative briefs before starting on the work will help content creators stay focused on the project’s goals, audiences, topics, keywords, etc., and deliver content that will meet your defined standard, voice, style, and needs.

Useful Tips:

  • Don’t overload content creators by supplying them with more information than they need to complete the project.
  • Ideally, the brief would also incorporate some form of initial meeting or discussion with the content team and individuals involved in the project to address any questions or concerns they may have and to make sure that everyone clearly understands the project and what is expected of them.
  • It’s also useful to develop a content brief template that the team can easily understand and follow.

For additional information on creating content briefs, see the ‘Resources’ and ‘References’ sections at the end of this lesson.

Workflow Sub-Processes

Depending on the size of your business and the complexity of its projects, certain aspects of content production may take place in different areas of the business or outside the organization.

In this case, you may want to consider creating separate workflow sub-processes to ensure that content production remains manageable.

For example, in larger companies, content approval and content publishing often involve more people, different departments, or outsourcing to professionals outside the organization, so the business may want to consider treating these as sub-processes of the content production process and having separate workflows to manage these areas.

The content approval workflow would then focus on the ‘sign-off’ process and deal specifically with content approval or rejection, while the content publishing workflow would focus specifically on the publication process.

Document Storage

An efficient content production process needs a system that allows content to be stored, organized, and retrieved at each stage of production.

This will depend on what works best for your organization.

You can use workflow management software to do this or just simply set up a numbered series of folders on a shared drive or cloud storage location that allows each member of the team to go into the folder on a specified date and see at a glance whether there is work waiting for them to do and what their tasks and responsibilities are for that day.

Ideally, you will use a combination of both methods. For example, you can run content projects from a workflow management tool and allow team members to add and access media elements such as images, videos, and downloadable files from numbered folders saved on a shared drive.

Example of using numbered folders to organize a content project
You can organize your content project using content workflow software of numbered folders. Source: EngageContent.com.au

We cover this area in more detail here: Content Workflow Documentation

Content Production Schedule

The next step after defining your content workflow is to create a content production schedule.

This is the schedule that your content team will work to in order to meet content production targets and deliver content within specific deadlines.

The content production schedule will depend on how much content the business needs to create and the structure of your content team. This schedule can be refined as you go.

Once your content team gets into its stride, you will have a better idea of how long it takes to create content outlines, edit drafts, wait for people to review articles, coordinate items and events between different calendars (e.g. content production and content promotion calendars), what days are best to publish content, etc.

This is covered in more detail in this lesson: Content Production Team Schedule.

Content Workflow Checklist

  • Define the goals and objectives of your content workflow: Clearly define the goals and objectives of the content workflow, such as streamlining the content creation process and ensuring consistency in the quality of the content.
  • Identify all stakeholders: Identify all stakeholders involved in the content creation process, including content creators, editors, and approvers.
  • Define roles and responsibilities: Define the roles and responsibilities for each stakeholder in the content creation process.
  • Establish a content creation process: Establish a content creation process that outlines the steps for creating, reviewing, editing, and publishing content.
  • Use a content management system (CMS): Use a content management system (CMS) to manage and organize the content creation process.
  • Set deadlines and milestones: Set deadlines and milestones for each step of the content creation process.
  • Implement a content review process: Implement a content review process to ensure the quality and consistency of the content.
  • Use a version control system: Use a version control system to keep track of the different versions of the content and ensure that the final version is accurate.
  • Set up an approval process: Set up an approval process for the final version of the content before it is published.
  • Continuously monitor and improve: Continuously monitor and improve the content workflow based on the results and feedback.

Content Workflow – FAQs

Here are frequently asked questions about content workflow:

What is content workflow?

Content workflow refers to the structured processes and steps involved in creating, managing, and distributing content. It ensures consistent execution and quality across content projects.

Why is content workflow important?

Content workflow is crucial because it helps teams maintain efficiency, consistency, and quality in content creation and distribution. It also facilitates better collaboration and accountability among team members.

What are the typical stages of a content workflow?

The stages usually include planning, creation, review, approval, publication, and analysis. These stages help in managing the content lifecycle effectively.

What tools are commonly used in content workflows?

Tools like CMS (Content Management Systems), image creation and editing tools, and word processors are frequently used for creating and managing content. Digital asset management systems are also essential for handling multimedia content.

How do I choose the right content workflow for my team?

Assess your team’s specific needs, the types of content you produce, your publication frequency, and your team’s size. It might also be beneficial to consider customizable templates or software that can adapt to your organization’s changing needs.

What are the benefits of a well-defined content workflow?

A well-defined workflow improves operational efficiency, reduces errors, ensures content quality, and helps meet deadlines. It can also lead to better content alignment with business goals.

Can content workflow impact content quality?

Yes, a well-managed workflow ensures that all content is properly vetted and refined through stages like editing and approval, which significantly enhances the quality of the final output.

Summary

Defining content workflows ensures that the content production process works efficiently by following a logical and repeatable order.

Content workflows also help your content team set clear milestones and recognize any dependencies required to help them meet project deadlines on time.

Action Steps

Identify and document all the different content workflows your organization requires to meet its strategic objectives.

Resources

References

Next Step

Learn how to document content workflows: Workflow Documentation

***

Image: Whiteboard

Workflow Documentation

Learn how to document your content workflow for ease of use and quick access to everything your content team needs for content production. 

Content Workflow Documentation

Learn how to document your content workflow for ease of use and quick access to everything your content team needs for content production. 

Workflow DocumentationDocumenting your content workflow is not only important to ensure the efficiency of your content production process, but it is also an important aspect of your organization’s overall content documentation system.

In this lesson, we’ll cover:

  • The Importance Of Documenting Your Content Workflow
  • Workflow Management Tools
  • Additional Workflow Documentation
  • Storing Workflow Documentation
  • Accessing Workflow Documentation

***

The Importance Of Documenting Your Content Workflow

According to the Content Marketing Institute, documenting your content workflow:

  • Provides structure and visibility to content production processes
  • Increases execution efficiency to help deliver content on time
  • Helps your team to better understand how dependencies affect processes
  • Increases clarity into when and how to push work forward
  • Enables faster content approvals and less rework

Documenting workflows not only helps to define the roles, tasks, processes, and steps involved in the production of content, it also helps to organize content ideas, prioritize projects, track their execution, determine what happens to the content after its published, and record how and where all the information gets stored.

Workflow Management Tools

In the Content Workflow lesson, you were asked to identify what each role in the content production process does for any given workflow, break these down into tasks, assign each task to a role, and order these tasks in a logical and sequential order of completion.

After you have done this, where do you then record all this information so everyone in your team can access it to begin and track content production?

You can do this manually (e.g. using a spreadsheet or drawing it on a whiteboard), use workflow management software, or a combination of both. It all depends on how your business works and what works best.

As long as workflow processes are defined and written down somewhere (and don’t exist only in someone’s head), you have documentation that others can access and refer to. Later in this lesson, we’ll look at how to organize this documentation more efficiently for easy access and retrieval.

For now, let’s look at using various tools to document your workflow processes.

Spreadsheets

If you have been tasked with designing, building, and documenting a content workflow for your organization, spreadsheets are a great way to develop a prototype for your content production workflows.

Using spreadsheets can help you focus on streamlining the production stages and tasks in your workflow, identify dependencies and issues, and track your content production team’s progress.

Case Study

When I began working as a blog writer for a web development services provider, my team consisted of myself, two other blog writers, and our CEO who was also filling in for the role of Editor.

Each week, we would discuss ideas for new articles during our weekly team meeting. Each writer would then go and write the articles, and get them reviewed until these were approved and published, and we would then repeat the process the following week.

After a short while, our small team began to grow. Additional writers and illustrators were brought in, and I soon found myself having to schedule the production of new content for the blog in addition to reviewing and updating existing content.

We had guidelines for getting the work done but no clearly defined workflows for managing and tracking the people and processes involved, so I created a spreadsheet with various color-coded sections and workflow columns to schedule new projects and keep track of our content production.

Workflow Documentation - Blog Team Content Production Spreadsheet
Our team initially used a spreadsheet-based content production board to schedule and track the production of new articles for our blog.

As we began to rely more on this spreadsheet to plan and manage our team’s workload, I then fine-tuned, inserted, and rearranged some columns within the spreadsheet to improve workflow efficiency.

Workflow Documentation - Blog Team - Content Workflow Spreadsheet
Starting with a spreadsheet is a useful way to test, improve, and document your content workflow.

tip

When working with spreadsheets, we also recommend adding comments to all the column headings so your content team knows exactly what they are required to do every step of the way.

Adding comments to Excel spreadsheet
Adding comments to spreadsheet column headers is a great way to document your workflow processes.

In addition to content writing, our blog articles also require custom artwork such as featured images (hero banners). This is done by our illustrators.

WPMU DEV Blog
Creating articles for this blog involves using illustrators to create featured images and documenting this in the workflow as a sub-process. Source: WPMU DEV.

Our illustrators and designers, however, create artwork for the entire company, not just the blog team. Also, each writer in the blog team is responsible for sourcing images, creating screenshots, and requesting artwork for their articles, so the blog team mostly uses the company’s illustrators to request featured images for articles.

Given this structure, we decided to incorporate the task of requesting and tracking the delivery of featured images into the workflow as a sub-process, using a separate spreadsheet.

Workflow Documentation - Post banner requests - workflow tracking spreadsheet.
Featured images for blog articles are requested separately using a banner request spreadsheet.

All our illustrators have to do is:

  1. Check the spreadsheet for new banner requests (when a writer requests a new banner we notify our artwork team via our team messaging software)
  2. Assign the creation of the banner to one of their team members (they decide who to assign the work to internally, we just place the request)
  3. Provide a link to download the artwork when the banner is done.

Whichever writer requested the banner then uploads the featured image to their article and marks the task as completed (“done”) in the artwork team’s spreadsheet.

Workflow Documentation - Post banner requests - workflow tracking spreadsheet.
Once images are created and delivered, the task is marked off on the spreadsheet.

The writer then marks this task as done in the blog team’s main content tracking spreadsheet.

Workflow Documentation - Blog Team - Main content workflow spreadsheet.
Featured images for blog articles are also marked off in the team’s main content spreadsheet.

In addition to featured images, some of our blog articles include cartoons created by one of our team members who is a professional cartoonist.

Screenshot of an article from WPMU DEV blog with an embedded cartoon image.
Requesting cartoons for blog articles is a separate process. Source: WPMU DEV

As our illustrators are not involved in creating cartoons, this is another sub-process of the blog’s content workflow, so the team uses a different spreadsheet to submit cartoon requests and to track the completion and delivery of the artwork.

Workflow Documentation - Screenshot of a spreadsheet used to request and track delivery of cartoon artwork
Requests for cartoon artwork for blog articles are tracked on a separate spreadsheet.

The blog team also makes all published blog articles available to the SEO team to review, analyze, and look for ways to improve their performance.

As we don’t want to overload the SEO team with unnecessary and unrelated “content production” information, we treat this as another sub-process of our content workflow and track it on a separate spreadsheet after articles are published on the blog.

Workflow Documentation - Screenshot of WPMU DEV's Blog SEO Review spreadsheet.
Another spreadsheet is used to keep a log of all published blog articles for review by the company’s SEO team.

In addition to using spreadsheets, our team uses tools like Slack (our team messaging software) to add content writing task reminders for deadlines and schedules during times when team members and other company staff are away on leave, holidays, etc. (you can also use an editorial calendar.)

Screenshot of Slack thread with content writing schedules and reminders.
Use tools like Slack to communicate with team members and add content writing schedules and reminders.

A production and performance summary report is also compiled from the spreadsheets at the end of the year and posted to the team on Slack.

Screenshot: Blog team production summary report - Slack
We publish a simple blog team summary production summary report at the end of the year.

As you can see from the above, documenting the content workflow of something as simple as the production of a single content type (e.g. blog articles) can involve various processes.

If your workflow management needs outgrow spreadsheets, then consider using other software tools.

Workflow Management Software

While spreadsheets are a great way to document some workflow processes, you may want to use a workflow management software.

For instance, with the example we’re using in this lesson, spreadsheets are sufficient to document certain sub-processes like requesting images/artwork and for tracking SEO progress. Documenting the entire content production workflow, however, required using a more flexible tool.

Getting approval for blog articles, for example, often involves members from other teams (e.g. software development, hosting, support, and business development teams), and work priorities often change to align with other events taking place in the company, such as releasing new product features and new service launches (or launch delays).

So, we turned to workflow management software when spreadsheets were no longer adequate to help us manage content production.

There are many great workflow management tools available and the right tool for your organization depends on its needs and preferences. In this case, we decided to use Jira to document and manage our workflow processes, as most of our teams were already using it to manage their workflows.

A workflow management software is not just a great content production tool, it is also a powerful workflow documentation tool.

As mentioned earlier, starting with a spreadsheet is useful for developing prototype workflows. After learning the basics of how to use the software, all we had to do was to map out the content workflow processes in the tool.

Jira screen: Assignment workflow
A tool like Jira automatically documents the workflow as you configure processes on your kanban board.

Once this step was done, managing content workflow became much easier. The tool itself became one of the main components of our workflow documentation process.

Jira board screen.
The columns display the content production workflow.

Some of the benefits of using a workflow management tool to document processes include the following:

Any team member can contribute to improving workflow documentation by modifying the workflow management tool itself.

Jira board screen.
Rearrange columns on the kanban board to update workflow processes.

For example, team feedback and discussions contributed to improving the order of processes to improve production flow and efficiency. Adding, removing, or rearranging the columns on the tool’s kanban board automatically updates the workflow documentation.

Jira - Task transition menu
A workflow management tool like Jira lets you easily assign tasks to different stages of the production process.

Using agreed standards and conventions for creating projects in the tool also benefits the workflow documentation.

Screenshot of a section of a Jira board showing a task added to a workflow column.
Using agreed standards when adding tasks to the workflow tool helps the content team and is also part of the workflow documentation.

Additionally, you can improve the workflow documentation by building “templates” for new jobs into the workflow processes.

These templates can include essential elements of the project brief, such as:

  • Project description – This section provides notes and background to help whoever is assigned the job understand what is required.
  • Reference – Here, we add any links to internal conversations and discussions about the project. Writers can then get a better idea of things like context, suggestions made by other team members, things to highlight or avoid in the content, etc.
  • Keywords – Keyword research information goes here. The writer knows then which keywords to focus on when creating or updating the article.
  • Internal Links – Here we list the URLs of other blog posts related to the topic so the writer can link to these in the article where and when appropriate.
  • Competition – Here, we provide a list of competing articles on the topic or keywords that we are targeting. This helps the writer research the topic and gives them a better idea of what the article needs to cover to rank competitively with other existing articles.
Screenshot of a job in Jira with built-in workflow templates.
Add templates to your workflow management tool to improve workflow documentation.

Templates can improve workflow (and workflow documentation) significantly. When a writer is assigned a new blog article project, for example, they already have all the information they need to get started…

Screenshot of Jira job with sections of a job template filled in.
Templates can improve workflow documentation significantly.

This can also help the writer save time with other tasks, such as doing research or linking to existing topic-related articles on the blog…

Screenshot of Jira job with sections of a job template filled in.
A workflow management tool not only documents the workflow, it also saves the content used to create your projects.

Collaboration features such as team commenting are also part of the workflow documentation.

Screenshot of Jira comments section.
A workflow management tool allows team members to add comments to communicate and collaborate with other team members on projects.

A workflow management tool, in fact, documents everything associated with a project’s workflow. This includes brief notes, comments, attachments, production time, etc.

Screenshot of Jira job board.
Everything associated with the project’s workflow is recorded, documented, and archived.

Workflow documentation isn’t confined to using a great content production and workflow management tool, however.

Additional Workflow Documentation

In the content workflow lesson, we explain the importance of breaking down and defining each task in as much detail as is necessary to minimize confusion, avoid unnecessary steps, save time, and improve workflow efficiency.

This all requires additional documentation.

For example, let’s say that a new writer has to create an article about one of the company’s main products or services.

Where does the writer go to get information about the company and the products, request or download artwork, obtain access logins for certain tools or services required to complete the article, standards and guidelines for spelling and grammar, accuracy, voice and tone, or compliance with certain policies or legal requirements?

These aren’t documented in the workflow management tool. They require additional workflow documentation.

Below are some of the essential types of documentation your organization should have and be able to provide to its content team. It will help them save time planning, researching, and accessing commonly-used information (and minimize disrupting other team members from doing their work):

Company Information

  • Vision, Mission, Value statements
  • HR documents (e.g. compliance, security, codes of conduct, requesting time off, etc.)
  • Company training manuals
  • Team member details (names, description of role, contact info)
  • Logins and passwords to services pertaining to their roles

Marketing Information

Product Information

  • Landing Pages (Sales/Pricing)
  • User Manuals
  • FAQs
  • Roadmap

Style Guidelines

  • Standards and guidelines for spelling and grammar, accuracy, voice, and tone, etc.

See this excellent article if you need help putting together a Content Style Guide: Content Style Guide – A Step-By-Step Guide To Creating Your Own

Templates

  • Content Brief
  • Call-T0-Action (CTA)

Checklists

WordPress Plugin - Pre-Publish Checklist
Pre-publishing checklists can be built into your Content Management System (CMS). Image: Pre-Publish Checklist Plugin.

For a complete list of useful documentation for your content writing team, refer to the Content Documentation lesson.

For tasks that require more details than the workflow tool can provide, we recommend building an online guide for your content team with regularly updated links to internal documentation, style guidelines, useful information, tips, tutorials, login details for online services, code snippets, shortcuts, time-saving hacks, etc.

The purpose of this guide is to point your team to all the information and resources they will need to complete their projects (e.g. where to find company information, audience profiles, word-count goals, style guidelines for voice, tone, and format, etc.).

This is a great way to help your team save time with content production and onboard new team members.

Screenshot - WPMU DEV Blog Team Guide
Build an online guide for your content team with links to all the documentation they need to produce content.

You can build this helpful guide starting with just the basic information like useful links to company documentation, get your team to contribute to it (e.g. whenever someone experiences an issue and finds a way to solve it), and appoint someone to manage the guide and be responsible for keeping the content in it up-to-date and accurate.

Screenshot - WPMU DEV Blog Team Guide
Make all workflow documentation accessible to your content team from a central location.

You can build this guide online in a subfolder of your main domain (e.g. yourdomain.com/content-guide) and make it private using a content management system like WordPress or build it on a platform like Google Sites.

Storing and Accessing Workflow Documentation

Your Workflow Management software can document some of your workflow processes, but where do you store additional documentation used in your content workflow, such as style guides, content brief templates, etc.?

We address this topic in the Content Documentation lesson.

Content Workflow Documentation Checklist

  • Define the purpose of your content workflow documentation: This step involves identifying the goals and objectives of creating the documentation, such as improving team collaboration, streamlining the content creation process, and ensuring consistency in the content produced.
  • Gather information: This step involves collecting information about the current content creation process, including the roles and responsibilities of team members, the tools and software used, and any existing documentation or guidelines.
  • Identify key stakeholders: This step involves identifying the individuals or teams who will be impacted by the content workflow documentation, such as content creators, editors, and marketers.
  • Create a template: This step involves creating a template for the content workflow documentation, including sections for an introduction, roles and responsibilities, the content creation process, tools and software, and any relevant guidelines or best practices.
  • Outline the content creation process: This step involves outlining your step-by-step process for creating content, from idea generation to publication.
  • Assign roles and responsibilities: This step involves assigning roles and responsibilities to team members, including who is responsible for creating, editing, and publishing content.
  • Identify tools and software: This step involves identifying the tools and software used in the content creation process, such as content management systems, project management tools, and design software.
  • Develop guidelines and best practices: This step involves developing guidelines and best practices for the content creation process, such as style and tone guidelines, and accessibility standards.
  • Document procedures: After defining all of the above steps, it’s important to document your procedures.
  • Review and test: This step involves reviewing and testing the content workflow documentation, seeking feedback from key stakeholders, and making any necessary revisions.
  • Finalize and distribute: This step involves finalizing the content workflow documentation and distributing it to the appropriate team members, ensuring that everyone has access to the latest version.

Content Workflow Documentation – FAQs

Here are frequently asked questions about content workflow documentation:

What is content workflow documentation?

Content workflow documentation outlines the step-by-step process of how content is created, reviewed, approved, and published within an organization’s content management system (CMS).

Why is content workflow documentation important?

It ensures consistency, efficiency, and accountability in content creation processes, helping teams understand their roles and responsibilities.

What elements are included in content workflow documentation?

It typically includes workflow diagrams, role descriptions, content templates, approval criteria, and escalation procedures.

How do organizations create content workflow documentation?

Organizations analyze their content creation process, identify key stakeholders, define roles, map out workflow steps, and document these processes using tools like flowcharts or specialized software.

How does content workflow documentation improve collaboration?

It fosters clear communication between team members by outlining who is responsible for each task, reducing misunderstandings and streamlining collaboration.

What are the benefits of documenting content workflows?

Benefits include increased productivity, reduced errors, faster turnaround times, better content quality, and compliance with regulatory requirements.

How often should content workflow documentation be updated?

It should be reviewed regularly to reflect any changes in processes, personnel, or technology to ensure its relevance and effectiveness.

Summary

Documenting workflow processes helps your content production team know what they are doing (or what they are supposed to do) and shows them how to do it in the most efficient and effective way possible.

This frees everyone in your team to focus more of their time and energy on creating better content.

Action Steps

If you haven’t begun to document your content workflow processes yet, then it’s important to make a beginning.

You can start simply by writing down or typing out processes and procedures in bullet point form so they are recorded and stored somewhere, and bookmarking links to frequently accessed pages of your website or other sites, shared drive folders, useful tools, resources, etc.

Documentation is an ongoing process, so get started and continually add to it. Get everyone in your team or company to contribute to growing and improving this documentation and remember to schedule periodic reviews to make sure everything is kept up-to-date.

Resources

References

Next Step

***

Image: Writing Pad

Screenshots published with permission from WPMU DEV and members of the WPMU DEV blog team.

Content Production

Learn how to develop an effective content production process that delivers consistently high-quality content on a regular basis. 

Content Production

Learn how to develop an effective content production process that delivers consistently high-quality content on a regular basis. 

ContentManagementCourse.com - Content Production Module

Typewriter
Content…a website’s gotta have it!

Your business needs to produce high-quality content to attract leads and engage with your audience, delivered regularly, and often adapted to multiple channels.

This requires developing and maintaining an effective content production process.

In this lesson, we’ll cover:

  • What Is Content Production?
  • The Key Components Of A Content Production Process
  • Troubleshooting Common Content Production Problems

***

Before You Begin

Make sure to review and complete the lessons in the Content Strategy and Content Planning modules before you begin.

Additionally, we recommend subscribing to our free content management course email lessons if you haven’t already, as these provide a practical step-by-step way to implement the lessons in this course.

As a subscriber, you will also get notified when new posts containing practical information and valuable content management tips are added to our blog.

What Is Content Production?

Let’s look at some definitions from the web…

“Content production is the process of creating written and visual products for distribution as part of an overall content marketing strategy.”

Source: SEOptimer

And…

“Content production is the process of developing and creating visual or written assets, such as videos, eBooks, blog posts, whitepapers, or infographics.”

Source: Upland Software

As the above suggests, content production is a process.

Content production, however, is more than just a process. It’s also a system. And like every system, it requires inputs and outputs.

Your Content System: Content Strategy And Content Production

Having a content strategy is not the same as having a content production system:

Content strategy = the plan that informs what you publish, how you publish and why you publish (ie business value)”

vs…

Content production = the series of defined, documented, steps that take each piece of content from idea to publication and analyze its effectiveness in advancing your content strategy.”

Source: SEOptimer

Both your content strategy and content production process, however, are essential parts of a “self-looping” feedback system that can create and deliver content of great value to help your organization achieve its objectives.

Content Strategy and Content Production
Having a content strategy and a content production process is essential to creating content that delivers results to your business.

In fact, a content strategy (and the content plan derived from its strategic objectives) are the inputs the content production process needs to output the various types of content your business needs to meet its strategic goals and objectives.

Content Production process.
A content production system should deliver content that helps your business meet the goals outlined in your content strategy.

A good content production system, then, allows your business to:

  • Produce quality content for one or more content types that serve a definite purpose for your organization.
  • Maintain a steady flow of newly published content of a consistent standard.
  • Communicate roles and responsibilities clearly within the content production team and across other teams.
  • Identify, prevent, reduce, solve, and/or eliminate problems that arise in the content production process.
  • Adjust the types of content it produces if there are any changes made to the content strategy or content plan.
  • Scale its efforts.

It can’t be emphasized enough that content needs to be created (and distributed, and managed) as part of a well-thought-out system.

Your business may create an occasional brilliant piece of content ad-hoc, but without a strategy, planning, and systems, it will have no way to understand what makes the content resonate with your audience, what your true cost of production is, and how to duplicate this success across other topics or different content types.

The Key Components Of A Content Production Process

Now that we have established the importance of thinking of content production as being part of a system, let’s look at the main components of the content production process.

Content Production components.
Key components of the content production process.

Content Ideas

Coming up with ideas for your content can be a challenging part of the content creation process.

With the right sources and methods, however, you can generate a steady stream of ideas to keep your content fresh and engaging.

Some sources and methods you can use to generate ideas for your content include:

  • Your audience: Your audience is a great source of ideas for content. Consider what questions, problems, or interests your audience has, and create content that addresses those topics.
  • Industry experts and thought leaders: Follow industry experts and thought leaders in your field and look for ideas for content that align with their work and insights.
  • Trends and news: Stay up-to-date on current trends and news in your industry, and use them as inspiration for your content.
  • Social media: Social media is a great source of inspiration for content ideas. Look for conversations, hashtags, and trends on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
  • Brainstorming: Get your team together and have a brainstorming session to generate ideas for content. This can be a fun and creative way to come up with new and innovative ideas.
  • Competitor analysis: Take a look at what your competitors are doing and see if there are any gaps in their content. This can help you identify opportunities for your own content.

By using these sources and methods, you can generate a wide range of ideas for your content and keep your audience engaged with fresh and relevant material.

tip

We’ve created a comprehensive email course on how to keep coming up with endless new content ideas for website articles, blog posts, and newsletters…100% free!

Learn more here: Free Content Ideas Course

Your Content Workflow

If your business intends to create and publish content repeatedly, then it needs an effective content production process to keep moving concepts from ideas to published content.

For example, writing an article for your company’s blog may involve the following steps:

  • Create an outline.
  • Write a draft.
  • Review the draft.
  • Edit the draft.
  • Get changes approved.
  • Publish the article.

These steps form a simple content workflow.

Simple content production workflow.
A simple content workflow.

Creating a content workflow involves defining:

  • The steps involved.
  • Who is responsible for doing each step.
  • What each step involves doing.
  • How and when should a process move to the next step.
  • What formats, guidelines, and procedures need to be followed to ensure that consistent standards are maintained.
  • How and when to deliver each step.
  • etc.

It also involves documenting:

  • How each step should be documented (and who will do this).
  • How and where the documentation should be stored.
  • Who can access and modify the documentation, processes, etc. (and how this should be done.)

While a workflow may define the process for creating one type of content (e.g. blog articles), it may not suit the production of other content types, such as videos, podcasts, slide presentations, ebooks, etc.

Some workflows may be simple, while others can be quite complex. Some projects may also require several different workflows to be assigned to different teams.

It’s important, therefore, to define workflows for all the different content processes that your business will engage in and all the different types of content it will create.

See the lessons below for details on how to create and document a content workflow for your business:

Content Team Roles

Let’s come back to this simple workflow…

Simple content production workflow.
Tasks of a typical content workflow.

The above process may be fine if you are the only person creating and publishing the content. In many businesses and organizations, however, a digital team comprised of multiple roles is often required to oversee and perform various content production tasks.

For example:

When multiple people are involved, the content workflow can look more like the swimlane diagram shown below.

Content workflow example - swimlane diagram
A content workflow with multiple roles involved in content production. Source: Content Marketing Institute.

A key component of the content production process, then, is being able to identify the specific roles required to perform and complete any given workflow, work out all the tasks involved, and assign each task to the respective role in its correct sequence.

Workflow Documentation

Documenting workflows not only helps to define the roles, tasks, processes, and steps involved in the production of content, but it also helps to organize content ideas, prioritize projects, track their execution, determine what happens to the content after its published, and record how and where all the information gets stored.

For more details on all of the above, see this lesson: Workflow Documentation

Content Production Tools

Many excellent tools can assist with content production, from managing the process itself to actually helping you to create the content.

For more details on various tools you can use, see this lesson: Content Production Tools

Content Production Review, Evaluation, And Measurement

To determine if your content production process is efficient and find ways to improve it, you must be able to measure, review, and evaluate it.

There are several ways to do this. For example, you can measure its qualitative and quantitative outputs:

  • Qualitative Outputs – Has the content met its brief? Were content guidelines for structure, style, formatting, etc. followed correctly?
  • Quantitative Outputs – Are content production targets being met? How much new content is being added and coming through the pipeline?
Content Production Efficiency = Qualitative Outputs and Quantitative Outputs
Having measurable outputs can help you evaluate content production efficiency.

You can also measure content production efficiency using time/cost-based metrics, such as:

1. Time to publish – how long it takes to move a piece from ideation to publication.
2. Time to distribute – how long it takes to get published content in the hands of the intended audience(s).
3. Withdrawal time – how quickly can published content with errors be withdrawn from public access or outdated content be reviewed.
4. Production cost – how much a piece costs to create.
5. Distribution cost – how much publishing a piece to each targeted channel costs.

Source: Vodori

A time/cost model for measuring content production efficiency.
A time/cost model for measuring content production efficiency. Source: Vodori

You can also use a combination of metrics to measure B2B content production efficiency, such as those used by Upland:

Measuring content production efficiency
B2B Content Metrics. Source: Upland

For more details on the above metrics, see this article: How To Measure Content Production Efficiency

Once you have a way to measure your content production efficiency, you can review and evaluate it by surveying key project stakeholders and getting their feedback regarding the processes involved.

Your Content Production Plan

Now that you understand the content production process better, it’s time to create your content production plan.

Your content production plan is a document that outlines the strategy and schedule for creating, publishing, and promoting content for your business.

It typically includes the goals and objectives for your content, your target audience, the types of content you will produce, the distribution channels you will use, and the key performance indicators (KPIs) you will use to measure the success of your content production efforts.

Your business needs a content production plan because it helps you to align your content efforts with your overall marketing and business goals and to ensure that you are creating content that is relevant, valuable, and engaging for your target audience.

It also allows your business to allocate its resources and budget more efficiently toward content creation and track your content’s performance over time.

Additionally, a content production plan can help your business to identify and fill gaps in your content offerings, and stay consistent and on-brand with your messaging.

In short, a content production plan is a detailed plan that outlines the specific actions and resources that your business will use to create and publish its content.

It is a more detailed version of your content plan and will help your business stay organized and on schedule when creating content.

Content Production Plan Goals And Objectives

Common content production plan goals and objectives include:

  • Content planning: The goal is to plan and strategize the creation, distribution, and promotion of content. This can be achieved by creating an editorial calendar, identifying a target audience, and defining KPIs.
  • Content creation: The goal is to create high-quality, engaging, and relevant content that meets the needs of your target audience. This can be achieved by writing blog posts, creating videos, and designing graphics and infographics
  • Content optimization: The goal is to improve the quality and performance of your content by ensuring it is well-written, visually appealing, and optimized for search engines and social media. This can be achieved by optimizing headlines, meta descriptions, and images, using keywords and hashtags, and making sure the content is mobile-friendly.
  • Content distribution: The goal is to distribute and promote content through various channels, such as social media, email, and other digital platforms. This can be achieved by publishing content on your website, sharing it on social media, and sending newsletters.
  • Content measurement and analytics: The goal is to track and measure your content’s performance in terms of engagement, conversion, and other key performance indicators (KPIs). This can be achieved by using analytics tools to track website traffic, social media engagement, and conversion rates
  • Content repurposing: The goal is to repurpose your existing content in new and different formats for different channels and audiences. This can be achieved by republishing a blog post as a video, creating an e-book from a series of blog posts, and turning a podcast episode into a transcript
  • Content updating: The goal is to keep your content up-to-date and relevant by updating or removing outdated information. This can be achieved by updating a blog post with new information, removing a broken link, or revising an old video.

How To Create A Content Production Plan

Here are the steps you can follow to create a content production plan for your business:

  • Review your content plan: Review your content plan and make sure that you have a clear understanding of your audience, goals, topics, and distribution channels.
  • Assign roles and responsibilities: Determine who will be responsible for each aspect of the content creation process. This might include research, writing, editing, design, and distribution.
  • Create a content calendar: Use a calendar or scheduling tool to plan out when each piece of content will be created, reviewed, and published. This will help you stay on track and ensure that you have a steady stream of content to share with your audience.
  • Define your workflow: Create a detailed workflow outlining the specific steps that will be taken for each piece of content. This should include research, writing, editing, design, and distribution.
  • Outline your process for creating each type of content: Identify the tools, resources, and steps required to create different types of content, such as blogs, videos, podcasts, infographics, etc.
  • Review and optimize: Regularly review your content production plan and make adjustments as needed. Use metrics to measure the success of your content and make changes that will help improve results over time.

Example Of A Content Production Plan

Here is an example of what a simple content production plan for a fashion e-commerce store might look like:

  • Audience: Women between the ages of 20-35
  • Goals: Increase brand awareness, generate leads, boost sales
  • Competitors: Asos, Zara, H&M
  • Topics:
    • Latest fashion trends
    • Outfit inspiration
    • How to style different clothing items
  • Plan:
    • Blog post: once a week
    • Instagram video: 3 times a week
    • Instagram Reel: Once a week
    • Pinterest Board: Once a month
  • Distribution:
    • Social media: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest
    • Email marketing: Weekly newsletter
    • Paid Advertising: Instagram Ads, Facebook Ads
  • Roles and responsibilities:
    • Research: Marketing team
    • Writing: Marketing team
    • Editing: Marketing team
    • Design: Graphic designer
    • Distribution: Social media manager
  • Workflow:
    • Research: 2 days
    • Writing: 3 days
    • Editing: 2 days
    • Design: 2 days
    • Distribution: 1 day

With a content production plan in place, the e-commerce store will be able to create and distribute a steady stream of high-quality content that resonates with its target audience, aligning with the overall business goals.

Content Creation – Best Practices

Creating high-quality and engaging content is crucial for your content marketing strategy.

Not only will it help you attract and retain an audience, but it will also help build trust and credibility for your brand.

Here are some best practices to follow when creating high-quality and engaging content:

  • Plan your content: Creating a content calendar or editorial plan can help you stay organized and ensure that you have a steady stream of ideas for your content.
  • Use relevant and reliable sources: Make sure to use credible sources when researching and creating your content. This will help you produce content that is accurate and trustworthy.
  • Start with a strong headline: Your headline is the first thing your audience will see, so make sure it’s attention-grabbing and clearly conveys the main message of your content.
  • Use formatting and design elements to enhance readability: Use formatting techniques like headings, bullet points, and bold text to make your content easier to read and scan.
  • Use visuals: Adding visual elements to your content like images, videos, and infographics can help break up text and make your content more engaging and easier for your audience to understand. Just make sure to use high-quality images and optimize your videos for mobile.
  • Know your audience: Understanding who your target audience is and what they are interested in will help you create content that resonates with them.
  • Write for your audience: Your content should be tailored to your target audience. Consider their interests, problems, and needs, and create content that addresses those topics.
  • Keep it simple: Use clear, concise language and avoid unnecessary jargon or complex concepts. This will help your content be more accessible and easier for your audience to read and understand.
  • Optimize for SEO: Use keywords and other SEO best practices to ensure that your content is discoverable by search engines and your target audience.
  • Use data and research to support your points: Including data and research in your content adds credibility and can help you make a stronger case for your points.
  • Edit and proofread: Make sure to edit and proofread your content to ensure it’s error-free and easy to understand.

By following these best practices, you can create high-quality and engaging content that resonates with your audience and helps you achieve your content goals.

Content Production Challenges

While content production is a crucial and necessary part of your content strategy, it can also present some challenges, especially as you try to create unique and original content for your business and website.

Here are some of the main challenges you may experience with content production:

  • Defining your target audience: One of the main hurdles of creating content for a website is defining your target audience and understanding their needs, interests, and pain points. This is crucial for creating relevant and valuable content that will engage them.
  • Content strategy: Another hurdle is to develop a content strategy that defines the type of content you will create, the topics you will cover, and the goals you will achieve.
  • Research and information gathering: One of the main challenges of creating unique and original content is researching and gathering the necessary information. This can take a significant amount of time and effort, and it can be difficult to find reliable and accurate sources of information.
  • Originality: Another challenge is to come up with original ideas and perspectives, as it’s easy to fall into the trap of creating content that is similar to what’s already out there.
  • Writing quality and style: Maintaining a consistent writing style and quality throughout the content is crucial for engaging the audience and building trust, but it can be challenging to achieve without the necessary skills and tools. It requires a good understanding of grammar, punctuation, and the target audience.
  • Formatting and design: Creating unique and original content requires the use of effective formatting and design, which can be challenging to achieve without the necessary skills and tools.
  • SEO and keyword research: Creating unique and original content that is optimized for search engines can be challenging, as it requires a good understanding of SEO and keyword research.
  • Time management: Creating unique and original content can be time-consuming, and it’s important to manage time effectively to ensure that the content is delivered on schedule.
  • Keeping up with trends: Another challenge is to keep up with trends and changes in the industry, which requires staying up to date with the latest developments and news.
  • Meeting the needs of the audience: Creating unique and original content that meets the needs of the target audience can be challenging, as it requires a good understanding of their preferences, interests, and pain points.
  • Measuring success: Measuring the success of your content can be a hurdle, as it requires tracking metrics such as engagement, traffic, and conversion rates.

Content Production Checklist

  • Define the purpose and target audience for the content: Before starting to create any content, it’s essential to understand why it’s being created and who it’s being created for. This will help guide the overall tone and style of the content.
  • Research and gather information: Gather all the information and resources you need to create the content, this includes researching industry trends, competitor content, and audience behavior.
  • Create an outline: Organize the information you’ve gathered into a logical structure, this will be your guide when creating the final piece of content.
  • Write the content: Using the outline as a guide, begin writing the content. Be sure to keep the tone and style consistent with the purpose and target audience defined in step one.
  • Edit and proofread: Once the content is written, read it over several times to catch any errors or inconsistencies. Make sure the content is clear, concise, and easy to understand.
  • Add media: Add any relevant images, videos, or other media to enhance the content and make it more engaging for the audience.
  • Optimize for SEO: Optimize the content for search engines by including relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and alt tags.
  • Publish and distribute: Once the content is final, publish it on your website or other platforms and promote it through social media and other channels to reach your target audience.
  • Track and analyze performance: Use analytics tools to track the performance of the content and gather insights on how to improve future content.

Troubleshooting Common Content Production Problems

Sometimes, problems affecting content creation may not surface until you reach the content production phase.

For example, once your team actually starts to create the content, they may discover an issue with their website that may prevent or limit the content from fulfilling its intended purpose. This can happen if an organization needs to implement a particular content model to achieve its goals and objectives that they did not incorporate during the web design process, leaving the business to try and force “round pegs into square holes”.

Knowing how to quickly identify and troubleshoot any problems or issues in content production ensures the best return on investment for businesses using content as a strategy for growth.

Content production problems may be related to inefficiencies that lead to content marketing waste or to the process itself.

Use the chart below to identify and troubleshoot any problems or issues that need fixing in your content production process.

Content Production - Troubleshooting Process
Troubleshooting Content Production

No Content Pipeline

Creating a content pipeline for content production can be challenging, but there are several strategies that can help you overcome this difficulty, including:

  • Define clear content goals: Having clear goals for the content that is being produced can help to ensure that your content is aligned with the overall objectives of your business. Develop a content strategy that outlines your business’s goals, target audience, and the type of content that will be created. Use this strategy as a guide for all your content creation efforts.
  • Create an editorial calendar: An editorial calendar can help to ensure that content is being produced on a consistent basis and that it aligns with the overall content strategy of your business. Create an editorial calendar that outlines the topics and types of content that will be created, and assign specific individuals or teams to create and publish content on a regular basis.
  • Establish a content creation process: Having a clear process in place for creating and approving content can help to streamline your content creation process. Establish a content creation process that includes stages such as researching, creating, editing, and publishing. Assign specific roles and responsibilities to team members at each stage of the process.
  • Automate tasks: Automating repetitive tasks can help to free up time and resources for more important tasks, such as creating new content. Use tools such as marketing automation software, scheduling tools, and social media management tools to automate tasks such as scheduling posts, creating content, and publishing content.
  • Repurpose and recycle content: Repurposing and recycling existing content can help to reduce the time and resources needed to create new content. Identify existing content that can be repurposed or recycled, such as blog posts or videos, and use them in different formats, such as an infographic or a podcast.
  • Outsource content creation: Outsourcing content creation can help to fill any gaps in the content pipeline and ensure that there is a consistent flow of high-quality content. Hire freelance writers, designers, or other content creators to help with content production. Make sure to set clear guidelines and instructions for the content being outsourced.

By implementing these strategies, your business can create a content pipeline that is efficient, effective, and aligned with your overall content strategy. This also helps to ensure that your business is able to produce high-quality content on a consistent basis and meet your content marketing goals.

Content Output Is Low

Suppose your content plan requires publishing 8 new articles on the company blog each month, but your content team is only delivering 3 or 4.

Check if this low output in content production is caused by one of the following reasons:

Resources

Low content output can be caused by having insufficient resources.

Does your business:

Workload

If your business has sufficient resources but content production output is low, the cause of the problem may be unrealistic workload expectations on individual team members.

For example, let’s say that your business expects a content writer to create well-researched long articles or tutorials (e.g. 1,500 – 2,000+ words) with links to authoritative references, detailed screenshots, charts/tables, and an accompanying video.

While the writer may have the tools and skills to perform all the tasks, the requirements may simply be too complex for one role to take everything on and complete it all within the expected time frame.

Additionally, the writer may be expected to perform other writing tasks for the company or be a shared resource for different departments, so their time and focus are being split into other areas.

In this case, a review of individual workloads may be necessary where an adjustment is either made to the expectations of the role or additional resources are brought in.

tip

If you need new content ideas for your website, blog, or newsletter, subscribe to our FREE Infinite Content Ideas course.

Content Is Late

If your content production metrics show that the content output is on target but the content is frequently being delivered late, then look for issues in areas like delivery rates and workflow bottlenecks.

For example:

  • Has someone been made accountable for meeting project deadlines? If so, start by asking them what they see as causing the issue.
  • If the issue is caused by multiple stakeholders having a say in the content approval phase and not being able to agree on the final version, assign the final call to one person.
  • Are there too many dependencies or too many reviewers in the content workflow? If so, these can significantly extend production times and create delays and holdups in your content pipeline. Look for ways to improve process efficiency and eliminate non-essential decision-makers from your workflow.

Content Is Below Standard

If the content output is fine and the content is being delivered on time but the quality of the finished content is substandard, then look for issues in the following areas:

Content Brief & Guidelines

  • Review your content brief to make sure that it has clearly and concisely set out your expectations and the areas of importance that should have been covered in the content (if you need help creating a brief, read this article).
  • Does your organization have clear and documented guidelines for content creation? If you need help in this area, see the lesson on Workflow Documentation.

Meet With The Content Creator

If the brief and/or content guidelines are not the issue, then schedule a meeting with the content creator to find out why the content was below standard.

Check if:

  • They have read and understood the brief.
  • They have read and are familiar with the content creation guidelines.
  • There were any personal issues involved that affected their work.

Content Production – FAQs

Here are frequently asked questions about content production:

What is content production?

Content production refers to the process of researching, creating, editing, and publishing information in various formats, including text, images, and videos, intended for a specific audience.

Why is content production important for businesses?

Content production helps businesses engage with their audience, improve their brand presence, and drive sales through informed and appealing information dissemination.

What are the key stages of the content production process?

The key stages include:

What skills are essential for content producers?

Essential skills include strong writing and editing capabilities, SEO knowledge, creativity, research proficiency, and technical skills related to content management systems and digital publishing tools.

How can one improve the effectiveness of content production?

To enhance effectiveness, focus on understanding the target audience, utilizing SEO best practices, maintaining a consistent voice and style, and regularly evaluating analytics to refine strategies.

What tools are used in content production?

Common tools include content management systems (CMS), graphic design software, SEO tools, and analytics platforms.

How do content production strategies differ across media types?

Strategies vary significantly; for example, social media content requires brevity and visual appeal, while blog posts might focus more on detailed information and keyword integration.

What trends are currently shaping content production?

Current trends include the increasing importance of video content, personalization, interactive content, and the use of artificial intelligence in content creation.

What is the role of analytics in content production?

Analytics help producers understand what content performs best, who the audience is, and how they interact with the content, thereby guiding future content strategies.

Summary

Creating consistently high-quality content requires an effective content production system with defined and documented workflows and periodic reviews of the content strategy and content plan.

Creating unique and original content also requires a good understanding of your target audience, your topics, and your industry. It also requires having the necessary skills and tools to format and design the content effectively, maintaining a consistent effort to stay up-to-date with the latest developments and trends, and measuring and analyzing the performance of your content.

Action Steps

Review your content plan and create a content workflow with documented workflow processes for each content type that your business needs to create to meet its strategic goals.

Resources

See the following sections for useful tools and resources for content production:

References

Next Steps

The list below contains all the lessons included in this module:

Content Production

Content Production

Learn how to develop an effective content production process that delivers consistently high-quality content on a regular basis. 
Content Production Management

Content Production Management

Develop a robust content production process to help your organization meet its content strategy and business goals.
Content Workflow

Content Workflow

Learn how to define a content workflow for your organization, from content ideation and creation to scheduling and publishing. 
Workflow Documentation

Workflow Documentation

Learn how to document your content workflow for ease of use and quick access to everything your content team needs for content production. 
Content Production Schedule

Content Production Schedule

This section looks at structuring your team's content production schedule to meet content production targets.
Content Types

Content Types

Learn about the different types of content you can create to help meet your organization's strategic goals.
Content Repurposing

Content Repurposing

Learn how to maximize your content production efforts and resources with content repurposing strategies. 
Content Curation

Content Curation

A comprehensive overview of content curation and how to use content curation to manage your content production more effectively.
Content Production Tools

Content Production Tools

Useful tools and resources to help you speed up your content planning and content production.
Content Production Automation

Content Production Automation

Streamline your content production process and optimize your workflow with content production automation.

***

Image: Typewriter

Content Production Management

Develop a robust content production process to help your organization meet its content strategy and business goals.

Content Production Management

Learn how to develop a robust content production process to help your organization meet its content strategy and business goals.

Content Team Production Schedule - Online Meeting on LaptopContent production management involves overseeing the creation, distribution, and strategic implementation of content to engage and inform audiences effectively.

This guide will provide a step-by-step approach to mastering the role of a content production manager, covering essential aspects from planning to evaluation.

Before You Begin

Make sure to review the modules below before beginning this lesson:

Content Production Management Guide

Effective content production management requires a strategic approach, continuous learning, and adaptability.  As a content production manager, you are responsible for overseeing content creation and production, ensuring alignment with the marketing goals of your business, managing a content team, and maintaining quality standards.

This requires various skills, including project management and editorial skills, strategic thinking, and having proficiency in content management systems.

This guide will help content production managers create and implement a robust and efficient content production process to drive engagement and achieve business goals. It also provides a practical blueprint for becoming an effective content manager.

Before we look at how to develop and implement an efficient content production process, make sure you are familiar with these areas and responsibilities of the content production manager role:

1) Planning and Developing a Content Strategy

As a content production manager, you will need a content strategy to help you achieve the marketing goals of your organization. We have an entire course module dedicated to helping you understand what a content strategy is and how to create a content strategy for your business or organization.

This involves areas like:

  • Setting Objectives: Defining clear goals and KPIs that align with business objectives.
  • Audience Analysis: Identifying and understanding target audiences to tailor content effectively.
  • Content Audit: Evaluating existing content to identify gaps and opportunities.
  • Editorial Calendar: Creating a content calendar to plan and schedule content production and content distribution.

2) Content Creation

As a content production manager, it’s very important to develop an understanding of areas like:

  • Content Ideation and Research: Generating content ideas through brainstorming and research trends.
  • Content Formats: Choosing the appropriate formats (blogs, videos, infographics) based on audience preferences.
  • Content Writing and Design: Developing engaging and high-quality content, incorporating SEO best practices.

3) Content Distribution

Another key aspect of the role of a content production manager, is being familiar with areas of content distribution like:

  • Channels and Platforms: Selecting the right channels (social media, email, website) for content dissemination.
  • Content Promotion: Implementing strategies for amplifying content reach, including paid promotions and collaborations and knowing how to use content promotion tools.

4) Managing the Content Team

Content production management involves managing and coordinating a content team. This involves understanding areas like:

  • Team Structure: Defining roles and responsibilities within the content team.
  • Collaboration Tools: Using tools for project management and team collaboration.
  • Training and Development: Providing ongoing training to enhance team skills and keeping up with industry trends.

5) Monitoring and Evaluation

Keeping production on track involves understanding areas like:

  • Performance Metrics: Tracking content performance using analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics).
  • Feedback and Iteration: Collecting feedback and continuously improving content based on data insights and audience reactions.
  • Reporting: Creating regular reports to communicate results and insights to stakeholders.

6) Governance and Compliance

Maintaining quality standards in content production involves understanding and the practical application of areas like:

  • Content Governance: Establishing guidelines for content creation and approval processes to maintain consistency.
  • Legal and Ethical Considerations: Ensuring content adheres to copyright laws, privacy regulations, and ethical standards.

Understanding Content Production

Content Production Process - Key Components Chart
Content Production Process – Key Components

At its core, content production encompasses the planning, creation, and delivery of content across diverse channels. This process isn’t confined to a single format or platform; it involves creating various content types tailored to engage audiences across different mediums.

Crafting a robust content production process is indispensable for any team aiming to create content that will resonate with their target audience and achieve desired and expected outcomes.

Without a structured framework, your team risks encountering bottlenecks, compromising quality, missing deadlines, and hindering the scalability of your content strategy.

To establish an efficient content production process, these key factors must be considered:

  • Define Goals: Clearly define your objectives to guide your content creation efforts and ensure alignment with broader business objectives. Using the SMART methodology—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound—ensures your goals are well-defined and trackable.
  • Assign Roles: Assign responsibilities within your team to foster accountability and efficiency. Assigning roles and responsibilities within your team ensures accountability and enhances collaboration. Clear role definitions will encourage mutual respect and cooperation among team members and contribute to a harmonious and productive working environment.
  • Define Tasks: List all necessary steps to ensure a smooth workflow and avoid bottlenecks. Breaking down the content production process into specific tasks streamlines workflow and minimizes the risk of overlooking crucial steps. Each task will contribute to the overall creation, editing, and publishing of content.
  • Set Task Order: Sequence tasks logically to streamline the production process, ensure an efficient workflow, and minimize delays. Executing tasks concurrently where applicable will help to speed up your production process and enhance coordination among your team members.
  • Set Timeline and Due Dates: Set realistic timelines and due dates to keep your projects and your team on track, and ensure the timely delivery of content. Regular monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs) will help you assess the effectiveness of the content production process.
  • Content Inventory System: Maintaining a repository of content ideas and assets ensures a steady and consistent stream of topics and resources for content creation. Regular updates and reviews of content inventory will enhance productivity and creativity within your team.

Developing an effective content production process is more than just about churning out material; it’s about orchestrating a seamless flow that involves meticulous planning and collaborative effort, aligns with your business objectives, streamlines your workflow, produces high-quality content consistently, and engages with your target audience.

Let’s look, then, at how to develop a robust and effective content production management strategy:

Content Production Process

As we’ve just seen, content production encompasses the planning, creation, and delivery of content across various channels to your target audience. It’s a multifaceted journey from ideation to distribution, involving diverse content formats and channels.

Here are the key steps to creating a robust content production process:

Identify Content Goals

Setting clear content goals forms the cornerstone of a robust content management strategy. Use this guide to identify and establish content goals:

Align content goals with business objectives

It’s essential to ensure that your content goals are in line with broader business objectives. For instance, if your business aims to boost sales, content goals may focus on creating informative product guides to drive conversions.

Each piece of content should serve a specific business goal. Whether it’s boosting search rankings, enhancing brand awareness, driving lead generation, or achieving other strategic objectives, clear goals empower you to measure performance and refine future content efforts.

Consider the “Big Picture”

Take a holistic view of your business objectives to formulate content goals that will contribute meaningfully to your overall success. Establish clear objectives early in the process to avoid confusion and delays.

Assign goals during the topic planning stage

This can occur during project discovery or kick-off phases for website projects.

If overarching business goals, such as increasing lead generation, aren’t reflected in your content goals, reassess your topic planning to realign with strategic objectives.

Set SMART Goals

Follow the SMART methodology—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound—to set clear and actionable content goals.

For instance, if the aim is to increase sales, a specific content goal could be to create informative product guides targeting bottom-of-funnel customers to drive purchases.

Another SMART content goal could be to increase website visitors by 15% in Q2 compared to Q1.

Plan Content Topics in Bulk

To streamline the process, plan content topics in advance for the upcoming quarter or year and enter these into your content calendar.

For example, after listing blog post topics for the first quarter, assign a goal to each topic.

Review goals to ensure alignment with overall marketing objectives.

Planning content ahead allows for insights on broader business strategies and timely adjustments to optimize content marketing strategies.

Select Content Format

Align content objectives with suitable content formats; choose formats based on the immediacy of impact required, such as social media posts or advertising for instant visibility, long-form blog posts for organic search ranking, etc.

Monitor KPIs

Track key performance indicators (KPIs) like website traffic, click-through rates, leads generated, conversion rates, and revenue to assess and adjust the effectiveness of your content strategy.

Clear content goals aligned with business objectives, SMART goal setting, and regular monitoring of KPIs are crucial for a successful content production strategy.

Define your goals early and monitor key performance metrics to optimize and align your content production strategy with business goals and effective growth.

Define Team Roles and Responsibilities

Having clarity in your team’s roles and responsibilities helps to avoid project delays and maintains healthy team dynamics.

How to Define Roles and Responsibilities

Task Assignment

Assign each task to the team member responsible for its completion. Without clear ownership, deadlines are jeopardized, and conflicts may arise.

For example, if one team member is proficient in graphic design, assign them tasks related to creating visuals for content pieces.

Another example would be to designate one team member as the content writer, another as the editor, and another as the SEO specialist.

Make sure to leverage individual capabilities and maximize team performance by assigning roles based on individual capabilities and expertise. For example, assign complex technical writing tasks to team members with relevant expertise.

  • Transparency and Agreement: Ensure transparency by discussing responsibilities openly with team members. Seek agreement on the scope of tasks to avoid misunderstandings. For example, hold a meeting where each team member reviews their assigned tasks and agrees to their responsibilities.
  • Subtask Breakdown: If a task requires input from multiple team members, consider breaking it down into subtasks. This ensures clarity on who is accountable for each aspect. For example, for a content piece requiring both writing and editing, assign the writing task to one team member and the editing task to another.

Written Documentation

Maintain a written list of responsibilities for easy reference. Written documentation helps prevent misunderstandings and facilitates smoother collaboration.

For example, the responsibilities in your content creation team could be divided as follows:

  • Content Writer: Responsible for generating written content.
  • Editor: In charge of reviewing and refining content for quality and clarity.
  • SEO Specialist: Tasked with optimizing content for search engines to improve visibility.

Create a shared document or spreadsheet listing each team member’s roles and tasks for ongoing projects.

Benefits of Clear Role Definitions

  • Accountability: Assigning specific roles fosters accountability, ensuring that each team member contributes effectively to content creation.
  • Quality Enhancement: By assigning tasks based on individual capabilities, the quality of the final output is enhanced, as each aspect is handled by someone with the appropriate skills.
  • Improved Cooperation: Clear role definitions promote mutual respect and cooperation among team members, leading to a more harmonious and effective working environment.

Defining roles and responsibilities ensures smoother collaboration, enhances accountability, and ultimately improves the effectiveness of your content workflow.

Choose the Right Content Management System (CMS)

Selecting an appropriate content management system (CMS) is crucial for efficiently managing your content assets.

A CMS functions as a central repository for storing, organizing, and managing all content assets. For instance, WordPress is a widely-used CMS that offers robust features for content management and modification.

Also, consider using task-tracking or project management tools like Trello or Asana to gain visibility into content assets and monitor progress. These platforms provide a bird’s-eye view of your content pipeline and help track the status of tasks associated with each piece of content.

Additionally, having an organized content inventory system enables you to monitor the status of content pieces and associated tasks. For example, when a task, such as writing a video script, is completed, the corresponding status in the CMS should be updated accordingly.

For more information, go here: Content Management Systems

Define Content Formats

Map out a structured production process tailored to different content types according to your goals, budget, and resources.

For example, your content production process may include the following content types and tasks:

  • Written Content: Start with a brief, followed by research, drafting, review, revision, and final publication.
  • Video Content: Begin with a brief and project setup, proceeding to research, drafting, review, optimization, and distribution.
  • Interactive Content: Draft a brief, conduct project setup, proceed with drafting, review, revision, final review, publication, and monitoring.
  • Live Content: Start with a brief and project setup, followed by drafting, review, dry runs, optimization (if applicable), final review, staging, distribution, and monitoring.

Build a Repository of Content Assets

Establishing a repository of content assets is essential for streamlining content creation efforts and ensuring a consistent flow of ideas.

Here’s a guide to help content production managers create and maintain such a repository:

  • Generating Content Ideas: Use various methods such as keyword research, trend monitoring, competitor analysis, and audience feedback to generate a diverse range of content ideas. This ensures a steady stream of topics to explore.
  • Centralized Storage: Use content organizing tools and store all generated content ideas in a centralized location accessible to all team members. This could be a shared document on Google Drive, a board on Notion or Trello, or a dedicated content management system. Centralization facilitates collaboration and prevents duplication of efforts.
  • Swipe File for Inspiration: Maintain a swipe file containing successful marketing materials from your industry. Include examples like impactful marketing campaigns, viral social media posts, and innovative content strategies. This serves as a source of inspiration for crafting engaging content. Also, see this lesson: Managing Your Content Ideas.
  • Regular Updates and Reviews: Regularly update and review both the content idea repository and the swipe file. This ensures that the repository remains relevant and up-to-date, fostering ongoing creativity and innovation.

Defining Tasks and Steps

Without a clear delineation of tasks involved in content production, projects risk delays and content not being published as scheduled, and frustration among stakeholders.

For instance, focusing solely on writing and editing without allocating time for design and revisions can lead to unexpected demands on other team members, causing delays.

To enhance your content creation workflow, develop a comprehensive content production process document encompassing all necessary stages.

Develop a comprehensive document outlining all stages of content creation, ensuring a logical sequence of steps, clearly outline each step of the content creation process, and arrange them in a sequential order to establish a structured content workflow.

For example, here’s an example of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Blog Post Creation:

  1. Conduct Keyword Research: Identify relevant keywords to target audience needs and preferences and create a list of pertinent keywords for content optimization.
  2. Write a Brief: Develop a document outlining the article’s structure, target audience, and specific content requirements as a guideline for writers.
  3. Assign the Brief to a Writer/Write: Delegate the content brief to a writer who initiates the first draft based on the brief and research conducted.
  4. Provide Feedback and Edit: Review the initial draft for clarity, accuracy, and adherence to the content brief, involving content editors and subject matter experts as necessary.
  5. Review the Updated Submission: Assess the revised content based on feedback. This may entail rewriting sections, incorporating additional information, or rectifying errors.
  6. Optimize for SEO: Implement on-page SEO practices such as keyword optimization and internal linking to enhance search engine visibility.
  7. Upload and Publish to CMS: Finalize the content and upload it to the Content Management System (CMS) for publication.
  8. Promote: Engage in activities like building backlinks and promoting content through email newsletters, social media, and other relevant channels.
  9. Review Performance and Update as Necessary: Regularly evaluate the blog post’s performance, making necessary edits and updates every 90 days or as needed.

By meticulously detailing each step and sub-step, you will ensure a smooth workflow that consistently delivers high-quality content.

How to Define Tasks

  • Comprehensive Listing: List every action necessary for content to progress from the briefing stage to approval and publication. Be detailed, and list every each step, including sub-steps, For example, specify distinct revision types individually (e.g., copy revision, headline revision, and graphics revision) rather than listing a generic “revision” task and consolidating these tasks.
  • Detailed Approach: Avoid premature consolidation of stages. Instead, emphasize granularity to capture all nuances of the production process effectively. Include critical stages like fact-checking, proofreading, translation, and legal review to refine the process comprehensively.
  • Collaborative Validation: Solicit input from team members to validate the task list. This collaborative effort ensures inclusivity and guards against overlooking critical steps. Seek feedback from writers, designers, editors, and other stakeholders to ensure all necessary tasks are accounted for.
  • Additionally, consider establishing editorial and brand guidelines to maintain consistency in tone and style across all content and develop an editorial strategy to guide content distribution and presentation on different platforms.

Understanding the intricacies of your content production process is crucial to ensure timely delivery and avoid project derailment.

A well-defined content production process, outlining tasks and steps, ensures efficient collaboration and enables team members to work concurrently, enhancing productivity.

Content Production Scheduling

Efficient content production relies on well-defined timelines, ensuring tasks are completed promptly and content is published on schedule.

Importance of Task Sequencing

Sequencing tasks appropriately is vital for a smooth workflow. For instance, designing an infographic should follow research and copywriting to prevent delays and ensure efficiency.

However, some tasks can be executed concurrently. While a blog post is being written, your social media team can prepare promotional content simultaneously, expediting the production process and enhancing team coordination.

Defining the Content Production Process

Efficient content production relies on well-planned scheduling to ensure tasks are completed promptly and smoothly.

Here’s how content production managers can optimize task scheduling:

  • Establish Clear Timelines: Clearly defined timelines create a structured framework for task completion, keeping everyone aligned and ensuring timely content delivery.
  • Emphasize Task Sequencing: Establishing a logical order of tasks is crucial to prevent confusion and streamline content creation. Ensure tasks are sequenced to maximize efficiency and minimize lead times. For instance, conducting research and copywriting before designing an infographic prevents delays and enhances productivity. In graphic design tasks, sourcing images should precede editing them, to prevent unnecessary delays.
  • Identify Concurrent Task Opportunities: While some tasks require sequential completion, others can be executed concurrently to expedite the process. For instance, while blog content is being written, social media promotion can be prepared simultaneously, enhancing coordination and speeding up production.
  • Use Project Management Tools: Employ project management tools to monitor progress and track task completion. These tools offer insights into team efficiency, allowing for adjustments and improvements to optimize the content production process.
  • Ensure Resource Utilization: Effective scheduling ensures optimal resource allocation, preventing critical tasks from being overlooked and maximizing productivity.

Setting Timelines and Due Dates

Timelines and due dates are essential for a well-structured content production process. Collaborate with task owners to estimate task durations accurately, and consider potential consolidations to optimize efficiency.

Defining Content Timelines:

  • Estimate task durations realistically, rounding up for accuracy.
  • Map out tasks backward from the publish date to ensure timely completion.
  • Involve all stakeholders to refine timescales and allocate resources effectively.
  • Refine your content production scheduling to enhance efficiency, identify opportunities for task consolidation, and allocate adequate time for quality checks to ensure optimal content delivery.

Content Inventory System

In content production, it’s important to define content inventory responsibilities to prevent the misplacement of valuable content assets.

Each team member should understand their role in managing the content inventory effectively.

Implementing Content Inventory Responsibilities

To ensure seamless content management, integrate content inventory responsibilities into your existing workflow.

Here’s how you can approach it:

  • Assign Specific Responsibilities: Allocate content inventory tasks to relevant team members based on their roles in the content production process. For example, the individual tasked with writing the first draft should be responsible for creating a document containing the draft.
  • Maintain Consistency Across Tasks: Ensure consistency in file management practices across different tasks to streamline the content inventory process. When sourcing images, for example, the responsible team member should share them with the individual in charge of editing, who then stores the graphics appropriately.
  • Integrate Inventory Tasks into Workflows: Incorporate content inventory tasks into your content production workflows to avoid overlooking critical steps. For instance, alongside the task “Generate 5 headline versions,” include a subtask to create a headlines file in the designated folder.

By integrating content inventory responsibilities into your production process, you will ensure that all team members are aligned and equipped to manage content assets efficiently, reducing the risk of misplacement and ensuring accessibility when needed.

Assess Your Current Process

After developing and implementing a content production process and allowing it to run for a period of time (e.g. 3-6 months), evaluate the process to identify areas for improvement.

Look for the following:

  • Identify Delays: Pinpoint any bottlenecks or delays encountered during content creation.
  • Dependency Issues: Note instances where tasks were halted due to dependencies on other team members.
  • Content Inventory Review: Evaluate the state of your content inventory, noting any necessary fixes post-publication.
  • Task Ownership: Address situations where ownership over tasks was ambiguous.

Once you’ve identified weak spots, gather your team to strategize improvements.

Summary

As a content production manager, your responsibility is to oversee content creation and production, ensure alignment with the marketing goals of your business, manage a content team, and maintain quality standards.

To meet your responsibilities successfully, begin by developing a content production strategy using the following recommended approach:

  1. Define Content Goals: Clearly articulate the purpose of your content, whether it’s lead generation, SEO enhancement, or thought leadership.
  2. Understand Your Audience: Analyze the demographics, preferences, and intent of your target audience to tailor content effectively.
  3. Determine Distribution Channels: Select appropriate channels such as search engines, social media, or newsletters for content dissemination.
  4. Identify Necessary Assets: Determine the additional resources required, such as custom images or videos, to complement your content.
  5. Allocate Responsibilities: Assign roles to team members involved in the content creation process, including designers, copywriters, and managers.
  6. Establish Timelines and Metrics: Set clear deadlines for content delivery and define key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success.

Action Steps

Review your latest content and analyze the steps taken to produce it, focusing on the following aspects:

  • Delays: Were there any points in the process where progress was stalled?
  • Dependencies: Were any tasks delayed due to reliance on another team member?
  • Content Inventory: Assess the condition of your content inventory and any corrections made post-publication.
  • Task Ownership: Highlight moments where it was unclear who was responsible for a task.

Compile the above information to help pinpoint any weak spots in your content production process. Allocate time with your team (or alone if you manage all stages) to review, address, and improve issues using the approach described in this lesson.

Remember to document each step thoroughly to create a more effective and efficient content production process.

Resources

Next Lesson

***

Source: Office workers

Content Production Schedule

This section looks at structuring your team’s content production schedule to meet content production targets.

Content Production Schedule

This section looks at how to structure your content team’s production schedule to meet content production targets.

Content Team Production Schedule - Online Meeting on LaptopIn order to deliver content that consistently meets high-quality standards and production targets, your content team needs to run like a well-oiled machine.

A well-oiled machine, however, consists of different moving parts that must work together frictionlessly and seamlessly.

In this lesson, we’ll briefly review what parts your content team needs to run like a well-oiled machine, and look at ways to structure your content team’s production schedule to ensure that it is able to consistently meet the content quality standards and content production targets set by the business.

We’ll also look at different options for structuring your content team’s production schedule depending on whether you have a larger or smaller team.

Before You Begin

Make sure to complete all the lessons in the modules below before beginning this lesson:

Turning Your Content Production Team Into A Well-Oiled Machine

The phrase “to run like a well-oiled machine” is typically used to describe teams and organizations where all the parts are coordinated effectively so that everything works smoothly, operates efficiently, and results are delivered consistently on time, and to high standards.

To make sure that your content production team can run like a well-oiled machine, however, you need to have parts like the ones listed below working frictionlessly and seamlessly together:

  • Documentation
  • Resources
  • Time Management
  • Expertise
  • Skills
  • Tools
  • Training
  • Communication
Content Production Team Chart segmented into: Documentation, Resources, Time Management, Expertise, Skills, Tools, Communication, Training
Your content production team’s ability to run like a well-oiled machine depends on how well these parts work together.

Let’s go briefly through each of these:

Documentation

To operate efficiently and effectively, your content team needs access to good documentation.

This includes:

  • A content strategy and content plan.
  • Documented workflow systems and processes.
  • Guidelines, procedures, and best practices for:
    • Creating content,
    • Organizing, storing, and archiving media and other content production files, etc.

The better the documentation you can provide to your content production team, the less time and problems they will experience creating and delivering content that meets the quality standards and production targets set by the organization.

To learn more about the types of documentation your business should create, go here: Content Documentation

Resources

Your organization’s resources determine your content team structure, what kind of team roles you can fulfill through internal hiring or outsourcing, what type of content marketing activities your business can engage in, the types of content you can produce, how much content you can create, and how to track your results, so this is quite an important area.

Without sufficient or adequate resources, your entire content strategy could boil down to being able to write only an occasional blog article or post a social media update.

Having said this, most businesses operate with limited resources, so they need to become “resourceful” and use ingenuity, creativity, and willingness to operate efficiently.

Later in this lesson, we will look at examples of how to schedule content production whether you are a team operating on limited resources or have no resources at all.

Time Management

All members of your content team need to develop and implement efficient time management practices to produce and deliver high-quality content on time, especially as they will probably be required to wear different hats and assume other responsibilities.

As we will see later in this lesson, the best way to implement effective time management systems is to build these into your production schedule.

Expertise

Your content strategy should tell you what kind of expertise your content team will require.

For example, if your content strategy is to utilize content marketing methods like blogging, video marketing, and email marketing, then your team will need people who have expertise in article writing, video making, and copyrighting.

For more information on different types of digital-based roles and the expertise required to fulfill those roles in an organization, go here: Team Roles

Skills

Your team members may have the expertise required to fill the role, but do they have the skills to create the types of content your organization intends to produce?

Ideally, the answer should be “yes.” However, with all the new, emerging, and different technologies and platforms available, having the knowledge and expertise of knowing “what to do” doesn’t always equate with knowing “how to do it.”

For example, if your organization lacks the resources, in addition to having writing skills, your humble blog article writer may need to develop skills in different areas like:

  • SEO
  • Data Analytics
  • Video Production
  • Media Editing
  • Graphic Design
  • Lead Generation
  • Conversion Tracking
  • Content Management Systems
  • etc.

Tools

All professionals need “tools of the trade” to deliver results.

In addition to having the necessary expertise and skills to perform their responsibilities successfully, your content team may also need to develop proficiency using various tools, such as:

Developing competency and proficiency using tools requires not only documentation and resources but also…

Training

Your business has probably already invested a significant amount of money into specific platforms, solutions, and tools, and developing and implementing processes and procedures to fit your workflow around these.

Creating an effective onboarding process to train new and existing team members to use these platforms, solutions, and tools, and follow your processes and procedures requires additional documentation, resources, time management, expertise, skills, tools, etc.

Many software platforms and tools include their own training and documentation, so make sure to add this into your own internal training documentation (e.g. create a “Quick-Start” manual or guide on how to access and use these tools).

Additionally, you may need to invest in external training courses (e.g. online video courses) to help skill up your content team.

Communication

In addition to everything we’ve listed so far, turning your content production team into a well-oiled machine requires a seamless communication process.

This is especially important if your company employs remote-based team members, as many companies do nowadays.

An effective team-based communication system typically involves using various workflow and digital processes, documentation, work collaboration tools, project management software, and basic communication tools like email, phone apps, and face-to-face meetings.

Content Production Team Schedule

Now that we have looked at what components are required to create a “well-oiled machine,” let’s look at how to put together an effective content production team schedule to ensure that all content will be produced and delivered on time, to high-quality standards, and can meet your content production targets.

We recommend starting your content team’s production schedule with a basic framework that the team can refine as they work together.

Once production gets into its stride, your team will have a better idea of how long it takes to create an article outline, edit a draft, wait for relevant parties to review content and provide feedback, what days work best to publish content, etc.

You can then apply this useful information as a group to coordinate content production, schedule content promotion, and manage your editorial calendar.

To help make this a practical lesson, let’s focus on two different but realistic scenarios:

  1. A small-to-medium business with limited content creation resources.
  2. A solo business with little to no resources to hire/outsource a content team.

Scenario #1 – SME Business With Limited Resources

For this example, we’ll use my regular job as a blog editor and content writer for a privately-owned SME technology company.

The company sells digital B2B products and services worldwide and employs a distributed workforce with around 150+ team members located all around the world.

My role is to help ensure that the company’s blog produces and publishes regular content to a large readership base (over 2 million unique visitors annually).

Google Analytics - Unique Blog Visitors 2021
I’m part of a content production team for a tech blog that gets over 2 million visitors annually.

Additionally, the blog’s audience is tech-savvy and well-versed in the technology platform the company specializes in, so the content always needs to be expertly written, of very high quality, informative, educational, engaging, and authoritative.

To deliver the above, here’s what our content team consists of and what our content production schedule looks like:

The Content Team

Our blog’s content production team currently consists of:

  • 3 x blog writers (including myself with additional editing duties), responsible for researching and writing articles, creating screenshots, proofing copy, checking content SEO and formatting guidelines, replying to comments left on blog posts, etc.

The blog team also has access to the following internal resources:

  • 1 x marketer (who mostly works on landing pages, email marketing, promotional ads, copyrighting, and social media, but provides editing assistance to the blog team).
  • 3 x illustrators (for blog post banners and additional artwork).
  • 1 x documentation person (for content feedback).
  • 1 x SEO adviser (for assistance with content strategy).
  • Technical development and product support team (150+ people) – these provide mostly technical feedback and technical checks during the content’s final review stage.
  • The company’s CEO (who fills the role of senior content editor).

As you can see, it’s not a very large content publishing team, given the size of the company’s customer base and target audience. Most of the organization, in fact, is comprised of people filling technical software development roles.

Content Production Targets

The blog team described above has a target of publishing at least 2-3 new high-quality articles on the company blog every week (while continually reviewing and updating existing content).

Also, new content has to be published by no later than the close of business each Thursday.

Here is the reason why:

  • The marketing team needs to include links to the new articles in its weekly email round-up to subscribers, and promote these on the company’s social media channels each week.  Emails are scheduled to go out every Thursday night.
  • I work for a distributed company that prioritizes customer responsiveness and employee work-life balance, so while it aims to deal immediately with all customer issues, our team members are located all around the world and have weekends off. If the content is published after Thursday and there is an issue with it, we won’t know about it until the start of the new business week on Monday. Hence, we have an internal policy that nothing new gets published or released on Fridays. This helps to avoid any situations that could create negative customer experiences (e.g. having unanswered comments left on blog posts).

Team Meetings

To make sure that our content production workflow is on track, the content writing team meets virtually twice every week (audio call meetings only).

We meet early on Tuesday mornings (Monday evening for some of our team members) for an hour to focus on the specific assignments each team member is working on and to discuss any issues or roadblocks that may prevent the article from getting published by its deadline.

We also meet mid-morning on Thursdays (Wednesday evening for some of our team members) with the CEO to discuss content production issues at a higher (i.e. strategic) level and to clarify any unresolved issues regarding specific assignments or projects.

Throughout the week, the team stays in constant communication with each other and with other teams via the Slack messaging software.

Note: given the fact that our team members live in different countries and across different time zones, sometimes we don’t get a reply until the following day.

Content Production Team Meeting Agenda

Here’s a simple template you can use to create your content production team meeting’s agenda:

  1. Review of the previous week’s content production progress
  2. Approval of upcoming content calendar
  3. Discussion of any production challenges or delays
  4. Review of analytics for recent content
  5. Brainstorming for new content ideas
  6. Assigning tasks for next week’s production
  7. Review of any new tools or resources that can improve the production process
  8. Any other relevant items or concerns (e.g. ask team members if there are any upcoming leaves or time-off planned that may affect production schedules).

Content Workflow

Once the topic of a new article is agreed on and assigned to one of the writing team members, it goes through the following workflow sequence:

  • Outline – This includes a headline, intro, section headings, and a rough description of the content for each section.
  • Outline Review – This is to make sure that the article presented in the outline is on track and aligned with the agreed content strategy and content plan, and to make any additional suggestions or corrections to the content structure.
  • Initial Draft – Initial draft gets written with screenshots, internal links, etc. content
  • Initial Review – The editor and team members review this draft and make additional comments, suggestions, corrections, etc.
  • Draft 1 – The writer incorporates initial review notes into the article, polishes up the article, and transfers content to the blog (CMS).
  • Review 1 – The editor and team members review the amended draft and make additional comments, suggestions, corrections, etc.
  • Draft 2 – The writer incorporates review notes into the article.
  • Technical Review – If the article contains technical or product-specific information, it needs to be reviewed by someone with expert technical or product knowledge to make sure the information is 100% accurate.
  • Final Draft – The writer incorporates feedback, comments, suggestions, recommendations, etc. from the technical review
  • Final Review –  The team and CEO (Senior Editor) give the article one final check and read over. If everything is ok, it’s approved for publishing.
  • Publish – Pre-publish checks are made (e.g. website URL slug, post excerpt, categories, feature image added, SEO elements, etc. and the article is then published.

All of the above has to factor in the fact that team members and anyone involved in reviewing and approving the content happen to live in different parts of the world and work in different time zones, so a draft article can sometimes take a day or more to be reviewed.

After the article is published, it gets logged on a spreadsheet (for future content reviews)…

Spreadsheet - New Content Blog Posts Log
We log every newly published blog post on a spreadsheet. Source: WPMU DEV

The team is then notified via the company’s communication app…

New blog post notification on Slack
The team gets notified on Slack after each new blog post is published. Source: WPMU DEV

And the content is then promoted through various channels (e.g. email, social media, etc.)

Email Roundup
New blog posts get promoted to email subscribers and social media followers. Source: WPMU DEV

Content Production Tools

In the example shown above, there are lots of moving parts, so a number of different tools are used in content production.

For example, the blog team’s content production schedule is tracked using Jira

WPMU DEV's Jira blog Board
Content production is documented on the team’s Blog Board on Jira.

Post drafts are created using GDocs (where editors and other team members can leave comments, feedback, and suggestions)…

Google Docs - Draft Article
The blog team uses Google Docs to create article outlines and draft articles.

Once articles have been reviewed and edited, they are then moved into WordPress

WordPress Post editor
This blog post has been added to WordPress and is ready for final review and publishing.

And all communication related to content projects being worked on is done via team channels on Slack

WPMU DEV Slack Channels
All communications with team members are done on Slack.

For more details on the above, see the Content Production Tools section.

Scenario #2 – Solo Business

ContentManagementCourse.com (i.e. the site you are looking at) is a great example of a solo business with a lot of content to manage.

Since there is only one person looking after all of the content on this site (i.e. me 👋), a spreadsheet is enough to track the site’s content production and workflow.

After formulating a content strategy and content plan for this course, a list of all the content that would need to be created for the course lessons was added to a spreadsheet. Additional columns were added for workflow processes and checks.

Content Production Team Schedule - Content Production Spreadsheet.
This spreadsheet contains a list of all the course’s planned lessons.

As each lesson is worked on, its corresponding entry on the spreadsheet is highlighted in yellow…

Content Production Team Schedule - Content Production Spreadsheet - Work in Progress
As each lesson is worked on, it is highlighted in yellow.

After each lesson is completed and all the workflow columns are checked off, the highlight color is then changed to green…

Content Production Team Schedule - Content Production Spreadsheet. Work in progress with some tasks completed.
Completed lessons are highlighted in green.

Once all of the content scheduled on this production spreadsheet was completed and all workflow processes done and checked off, this site was finally ready to launch and go live.

Content Production Team Schedule - Content Production Spreadsheet completed.
After months of work, this is what the content production spreadsheet for this course looks like.

Of course, content production never ends.

As new content is scheduled for production, it is entered into the content production spreadsheet and the process then repeats all over again.

Content Production Team Schedule - Content Production Spreadsheet with new and ongoing tasks.
This course has ongoing content planned and being worked on. Everything is tracked on a spreadsheet.

Note: Additional subtasks are added to worksheets (e.g. link redirects, content fixes, updates, rewrites, etc.) for future content reviews.

To learn more about the planning involved in creating this course site, go here: What Effective Content Management Looks Like

Content Production Scheduling – FAQs

Here are frequently asked questions about content production scheduling:

What is content production scheduling?

Content production scheduling is the process of planning, organizing, and managing the creation and publication of content across various platforms and channels.

Why is content production scheduling important?

Content production scheduling helps maintain consistency, meet deadlines, allocate resources effectively, and ensure content aligns with strategic goals.

What are the key components of content production scheduling?

Key components include defining goals, identifying target audience, creating a content calendar, allocating resources, setting deadlines, and monitoring performance.

How do I create a content production schedule?

Start by identifying your goals, audience, and available resources. Then, create a content calendar outlining topics, deadlines, and responsible team members.

What tools can help with content production scheduling?

Tools like project management software, content calendars, and collaboration platforms can streamline content production scheduling processes.

How can I optimize my content production schedule for efficiency?

Optimize by batching similar tasks together, automating repetitive processes, delegating responsibilities effectively, and regularly reviewing and adjusting your schedule.

What are common challenges in content production scheduling?

Common challenges include managing tight deadlines, dealing with unexpected delays, balancing quality and quantity, and coordinating cross-functional teams.

How can I adapt my content production schedule to changes in priorities or resources?

Stay flexible by building buffer time into your schedule, communicating openly with stakeholders, and regularly reassessing and adjusting your plans as needed.

Summary

For your content production team to run like a well-oiled machine, various parts must work frictionlessly and seamlessly together, and follow a clear team production schedule with document workflow processes and regular meetings to communicate about new and existing projects.

This lesson shows you how to put this together, whether you are a business operating with limited resources or a team of one.

Action Steps

  1. Assess each of the areas that can affect your content production team to ensure that it will run like a well-oiled machine (i.e. documentation, resources, time management, expertise, skills, tools, training, and communication)
  2. Work with the team to create a content production team schedule with the aim of consistently meeting the content quality standards and content production targets set by the business.

Resources

Visit our tools and resources section for additional courses, guides, and helpful tools and resources.

References

Next Lesson

***

Source: Office workers

Content Repurposing

Learn how to maximize your content production efforts and resources with content repurposing strategies. 

Content Repurposing

Learn how to maximize your content production efforts and resources with content repurposing strategies. 

Man staring at whiteboard filled with notes and ideas.Creating high-quality content on a regular basis involves a significant investment of time and resources.

With a little planning, you can get more value from the time and effort you have invested and recycle and breathe new life into your existing content by repurposing it into other content types.

In this lesson, we’ll look at the benefits of repurposing content and provide different examples of content repurposing.

***

What Is Content Repurposing?

Content repurposing is re-using your existing content and presenting it in a new or different format to expand its reach and maximize its lifespan.

Essentially, content repurposing is the process of taking existing content and adapting it for use on different platforms or in different formats.

This can include things like turning a blog post into a video, republishing an article on a different website, or creating an infographic from a research report.

The goal of repurposing content is to get the most out of the content you have already created and to reach new audiences.

Benefits Of Repurposing Content

Repurposing content has several benefits, including:

  • Increased reach: By republishing content on different platforms, you can reach new audiences and expand your reach. For example, republishing a blog post on LinkedIn can help you reach a professional audience.
  • Cost-effective: Repurposing content allows you to get the most out of the content you have already created, which can save you time and resources.
  • Reinforcing brand awareness: By republishing content on different platforms, you can reinforce your brand and make it more familiar to your target audience.
  • Increased engagement: Repurposing content in different formats can lead to increased engagement. For example, a video version of a blog post can increase audience engagement.
  • SEO improvement: By republishing content on different platforms and linking them to your website can help to improve your website’s SEO.
  • Audience targeting: Repurposing content in different format and platforms allows you to target specific audience. For example, republishing a podcast episode on YouTube can help reach a younger audience who may not listen to podcasts.
  • Long-term value: Repurposing content can provide long-term value, as the content can continue to be useful and relevant to your audience even after it’s first published.

Content Repurposing Examples

Once you have created a great piece of content, all the hard work involved in researching, planning, and creating it is already done. You have an asset you can use to help promote and grow your business.

Sometimes, content created for a very specific purpose can have a limited lifespan. For example, let’s say you put a great deal of effort into researching and writing a great blog article, which then gets promoted to your newsletter subscribers and posted on your social media channels.

For a week or two, your blog article gets a lot of attention and attracts a good number of visitors, thanks to your team’s promotional efforts.

Then, new content gets published on your blog, pushing the article down the list, and traffic to your post drops. If that post isn’t ranking high on the search engines, traffic can dwindle significantly.

Now, you have a great piece of content with lots of useful information sitting on your site doing very little for your business.

What if you took that great content and reused it in different formats?

For example, let’s say you create a really great series of blog articles with well-researched statistical data, detailed screenshots, memorable quotes, etc.

With a little planning, you could easily repurpose these blog articles into new content types, such as:

  • Long-Form Content: Compile your blog posts into a guide, eBook, online course, or report.
  • Short-Form Content: Use testimonials, quotes, and statistical data to create sharable social media posts, tweetable quotes, news releases, etc.
  • Emails: Turn your blog content into full email newsletter articles or email snippets pointing to your articles, or compile these into an email course (e.g. a “7-day course”)
  • Images: Turn your information and images into an infographic, or a slide presentation.
  • Videos: Turn your information into sales videos or video tutorials (tip: turn your blog posts into a slide presentation and use screen capture software to turn your slide presentation into narrated videos).
  • Audios: Use Text-To-Speech software to create audio narrations for accessibility purposes, turn your articles into podcasts, etc.
Diagram showing blog articles being repurposed into new content types, such as guides, ebooks, email newsletters, infographics,slides, videos, and podcasts.
Content repurposing lets you turn your existing content into different content types.

You can do the same thing if you create a more comprehensive piece of content like a guide or eBook (i.e. turn the content into a series of blog articles and all of the above content types).

More Content Repurposing Examples

  • Repurposing a blog post into a video for social media.
  • Repurposing a webinar into a podcast episode.
  • Repurposing a whitepaper into an infographic.
  • Repurposing a podcast episode into a written article for a blog.
  • Repurposing a research paper into a slide deck for a presentation.
  • Repurposing a video tutorial into a written guide.
  • Repurposing a live event into a recorded video.
  • Repurposing a social media post into a graphic for a website.
  • Repurposing a keynote presentation into an ebook.
  • Repurposing a product demo video into a gif for social media.
  • Republishing a blog post as a LinkedIn article.
  • Creating a YouTube video from a podcast episode.
  • Turning a webinar into a white paper or ebook.
  • Repackaging a series of tweets into an Instagram post.
  • Transcribing a video into a blog post.
  • Creating an infographic from a research report.
  • Using quotes from a podcast episode in a social media campaign.
  • Repurposing a presentation into a series of slides on SlideShare.
  • Turning a case study into a testimonial video.
  • Creating a podcast episode from a Facebook Live Q&A session.

As you can see, you can get a lot of mileage from content repurposing.

In fact, the more time and effort you invest into researching and creating high-quality content with useful in-depth information, the more valuable content repurposing becomes as a content marketing strategy.

Content Repurposing – FAQs

Here are frequently asked questions about content repurposing:

What is content repurposing?

Content repurposing involves adapting your existing content into different formats or for different platforms to expand its reach and lifespan.

How does content repurposing differ from cross-posting or reposting?

Content repurposing is about transforming content to suit different formats or contexts, while cross-posting involves sharing the same content across various platforms without modification. Reposting generally means re-sharing the exact same content on the same platform.

What are the benefits of content repurposing?

It can extend the life of the original content, reach a broader audience, enhance SEO, save resources, and provide more value from the content already created.

Which types of content are best suited for repurposing?

High-performing content such as popular blog posts, videos with high engagement, and content with timeless relevance are ideal candidates for repurposing.

What are some effective strategies for content repurposing?

You can turn blog posts into podcasts or videos, create infographics from data-rich content, use webinar content to produce guides or e-books, or convert a series of related posts into an email course.

How does repurposing content impact SEO?

Repurposing helps target various keywords, increases content visibility across platforms, and can generate more backlinks to your original content.

What challenges might I face while repurposing content?

Finding the right balance between reuse and freshness, maintaining the quality and relevance of the content, and ensuring it fits the new format or platform can be challenging.

How can I measure the success of repurposed content?

Track metrics such as engagement rates, traffic sources, conversion rates, and overall reach compared to the original piece of content.

Summary

Content repurposing is a great way to maximize the value of your content and your organization’s resources and reach new audiences.

Content repurposing can also be used to increase your reach and visibility online using different content channels, help improve your SEO, nurture lead generation streams, improve engagement and retention, and garner new insights to help you continually refine and improve your content strategy.

With the right strategy and approach, repurposing content can be a powerful tool for growing your online presence and driving results.

Action Steps

Take a great piece of content that your team has invested time and effort into creating, list all the ways you can repurpose it, and turn it into new content types.

Rinse and repeat this process with other additional existing content, and begin to incorporate content repurposing into your content planning.

Resources

  • Free Content Ideas Course – Learn how to never run out of great content ideas for your blog, website, or email newsletters.
  • Video Courses – Links to video courses on content creation for different content types (e.g. blogging, videos, emails, podcasting, etc.)
  • Tools & Resources – Useful tools and resources for planning, producing, and promoting different content types.

References

Next Step

***

Image: Whiteboard

Content Types

Learn about the different types of content you can create to help meet your organization’s strategic goals.

Content Types

Learn about the different types of content you can create to help meet your organization’s strategic goals.

Woman writing on laptopThe type of content your business or organization decides to create will depend on its content strategy and its audience’s content preferences.

In this lesson, we cover the following:

  • Why Create Different Types Of Content
  • Content Types vs Content Deliverables
  • Overview Of Content Types (with a summary of best practices and challenges of creating this content)

***

Why Create Different Types Of Content

Different users learn and consume content differently. While some users may prefer reading text on a screen, others may want something more visual like videos or infographics. Another group of users may find that they engage better with information via audio content formats, such as podcasts and narrated articles.

Content preferences also vary depending on the type of business you are and the audience you are targeting (e.g. B2B, B2C, etc.), the phase of the customer or buyer journey they are at, their search intent, and trends over time.

For example, according to a B2B content survey carried out by sales and marketing research company Demand Gen Report, B2B customers report relying increasingly more on well-researched content backed by data filled with insights to research and make their purchasing decisions, such as webinars and research-based content (e.g. survey and third-party analyst reports), ebooks, blogs, white papers, case studies, and community-based sources, such as industry newsletters.

Demand Gen Report 2022 Content Survey Report Chart - Which Forms of Content Have You Consumed During The Past Year? Webinars 67%, eBooks 56%, Research/survey reports 55%, Blog posts 54%, White Papers 52%, Case Studies 49%.
The main forms of content B2B companies are consuming. Source: Demand Gen Report

Additionally, the research showed that users preferred different content at different stages of their buying journey.

For example, the most popular content formats for early-stage research were informational content like infographics, blogs, and podcasts, while assessments, webinars, and case studies were the preferred content types they researched during the mid-stage. For late-stage research, buyers cited the most useful content types being those that present concrete evidence such as user reviews, third-party analyst reports, and ROI calculators.

Demand Gen Report 2022 Content Survey Report Chart - Which Content Types Are Most Valuable For Early, Mid, and Late Stages Of The Buying Process?
Types of content that B2B companies consume at different stages of their buying journey. Source: Demand Gen Report

While B2B companies seem to choose content types backed by data and research, B2C companies make different choices.

For example, research from the Content Marketing Institute shows that B2C companies focused on creating content like short articles, videos, and infographics to reach their audiences.

Chart: Content Assets B2C Marketers Created/Used in Last 12 Months
Preferred content types of B2C Companies in 2022. Source: Content Marketing Institute

B2C companies also seemed to experience better results using content types like short posts, videos, and virtual events/webinars/online courses.

Chart: B2C Content Assets That Produced the Best Results in Last 12 Months (Top 3) - 2022
The best-performing content types for B2C Companies in 2022. Source: Content Marketing Institute

As mentioned earlier, it’s also important to be aware of changes in content preferences over time.

For example, if you look at content marketing trends before and after the global pandemic, you can see that there’s been a change in the content types favored by B2C companies, especially in areas like social media content and in-person events.

Chart: Content Types B2C Marketers Used in Last 12 Months (Top 6) - 2022
Preferred content types of B2C Companies in 2019. Source: Content Marketing Institute

Before deciding on the content type you will create, then, ask yourself questions like:

  • What type of business model does your business fall into?
  • Which audience group are you targeting?
  • Which phase of the buyer journey are you addressing?
  • What type(s) of content are companies similar to yours currently creating to reach your target audience?

Content Types vs Content Deliverables

According to Draft.dev, content types set the overall tone of an article, help the writer understand what perspective they should write from, and sets client expectations, while content deliverables define the actual contents of the article.

So while a content type helps to define the difference between creating an article as a “tutorial” or as a “guide,” the elements that will be included in the article, like screenshots, stock images, diagrams, code samples, etc. are the content deliverables.

Understanding this difference is important, because…

“Defining content types and deliverables helps to assign articles to the writers best suited for them, resulting in great content.”

Source: Draft.dev

For resources on sourcing content deliverables like stock images and screenshot/image editing software, see our Tools & Resources section.

Now that we have looked at why businesses may need to consider creating different types of content and the difference between content types and content deliverables, let’s look at different content formats and different content types.

Content Formats

There are many different types of content formats, including:

  • Text: This is the most basic and common type of content and includes anything from articles and blog posts to emails and social media updates.
  • Images: This type of content includes photographs, illustrations, and infographics. They can be used to supplement text or to convey information on their own.
  • Video: This type of content includes anything from short clips and animations to full-length films and documentaries. Video can be used to tell stories, provide instructions, or demonstrate products.
  • Audio: This type of content includes podcasts, music, and sound recordings. Audio can be used to tell stories, provide information, or entertain.
  • Interactive: This type of content includes quizzes, polls, and interactive infographics. It allows the audience to engage with the content and can be used to gather information from the audience.
  • Virtual reality (VR) and Augmented reality (AR): This type of content provides immersive experiences, allowing the user to explore and interact with a digital environment. It can be used in gaming, education, and other industries.
  • Live streaming: This type of content is a real-time broadcast of an event or activity. It can be used for events, news, and entertainment.

Content Types

Content can be delivered in digital or printed (i.e. physical) formats. The type of content and format your organization chooses to create will determine the content production process and content workflow to follow.

Although there are more than 100 ways of using content in content marketing, here are the main content types you may want to consider creating for your organization:

Articles & Blog Posts

Articles are a form of content suitable for publishing on the blog section of a website or as a page of the website itself (e.g. a landing page, company page, or product/services page).

Different types of articles can be written to suit different purposes. For example:

Tutorials

Tutorials are “how-to” articles that provide information showing readers how to complete certain tasks and how to achieve specific results. Tutorials can include detailed (or bullet point) step-by-step instructions videos, screenshots, examples (e.g. before and after images), etc.

You can write “how-to” tutorials on just about anything and everything. Simply open your web browser and type in “how to” into Google and you will see all kinds of suggestions popping up for “how to” searches that users are looking for.

Listicles

A listicle, or “list post,” is an article written in list format. Listicles (also sometimes referred to as “Roundups”) provide a list of comparable products, tools, or items where each item is typically only a few sentences or paragraphs long and aimed at educating or entertaining readers.

Listicles can be fun or informational and typically have titles like “The 100 Best Rock Album Covers Of All Time” (fun), or “9 Essential Ingredients Every Cook’s Kitchen Should Have” (informational). Great listicles often get shared widely online.

Here is a great article on how to write a listicle.

Comparisons

Comparison articles are educational pieces that compare different products and services to help potential buyers assess their options and make a decision.

Comparison articles are similar to listicles but are much more in-depth, typically focusing on comparing two or three options only across different categories or competing brands, and presenting the “pros and cons” of using the products or services.

Here are some great examples of comparison articles.

Reviews

These articles typically focus on reviewing products, services, events, etc.

Writing product review articles (or creating product review videos) is a strategy that is often used in affiliate marketing.

Ideally, the review writer will have used the product, experienced the service, or attended the event they are reviewing. Review articles typically define their target audience (e.g. people interested in home cooking, moviegoers, etc.), list the upsides and downsides or good and bad aspects of the product, provide visual proof (e.g. photos, videos, etc.), try to take a balanced and honest approach, and offer some form of helpful conclusion.

Persuasive Writing

According to Grammarly, persuasive writing “is any written work that tries to convince the reader of the writer’s opinion and point of view. Persuasive writing tries to appeal to emotion alongside factual evidence and data to support its claims.”

Business-related content like sales copywriting uses persuasive writing to influence readers to choose the company’s products or services over their competitors.

To learn more about using persuasive writing, see this article: 6 Successful Persuasive Writing Strategies

Other Articles

Other types of articles you can create include press/news releases, essays, opinion pieces (op-eds), question and answer articles (e.g. interviews), skyscraper articles, personality profiles, and short posts (e.g. news, company announcements, tips, etc.).

Best Practices For Creating Blog Posts And Other Types Of Articles
  • Use a clear and attention-grabbing headline: The headline is the first thing that readers will see, so it’s important to make sure that it is engaging and makes them want to read more.
  • Organize content into short paragraphs and use subheadings: Breaking up the text into smaller chunks and using subheadings makes it easier for readers to scan and understand the content.
  • Use images, videos, and infographics to break up text and make the post more visually appealing: Adding multimedia elements can help to make the post more engaging and make it easier for readers to understand the content.
  • Optimize for SEO by including keywords in the post and meta description: This will help search engines understand the content of the post and make it easier for people to find it.
  • End the post with a call-to-action, such as asking readers to leave a comment or share the post on social media: This will encourage engagement and make it more likely that the post will be shared.
Challenges Of Creating Blog Posts And Other Types Of Articles
  • Coming up with new and interesting topics to write about: Finding new and engaging topics to write about can be challenging, particularly if you are writing on the same subject over a long period of time.
  • Creating engaging and well-written content: Writing content that is interesting, engaging, and well-written can be challenging, particularly if you are not a natural writer.
  • Optimizing for SEO: Incorporating keywords and optimizing for search engines can be a time-consuming and complex process.
  • Staying consistent: Creating regular blog posts can be challenging, particularly if you are busy or have a limited budget.
  • Keeping up with industry trends: Staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends and changes in search algorithms can be difficult and time-consuming.

eBooks And Guides

eBooks and Guides provide readers with a more comprehensive understanding of a specific topic or a particular area of interest and can be used as a high-value asset in lead generation (e.g. offer the eBook or guide to potential clients in exchange for giving you their email address and subscribing to your newsletter).

In terms of content planning, an effective way to write an eBook/guide is to start by creating an outline of all the chapters you plan to include arranged in a logical sequence and then write each chapter as an in-depth and self-contained article.

This approach lets you repurpose the chapters of your guide later on as separate articles or as an article series on your blog or website, or even expand the content into an eBook.

Alternatively, you can start by creating an in-depth article series with some foreplanning, and then publish these collectively later as a downloadable guide or eBook.

For more information, go here: How To Create eBooks & Online Courses

Best Practices for Creating eBooks
  • Use a clear and attention-grabbing title and description: The title and description should be engaging and make people want to read more.
  • Use a consistent format and design throughout the eBook: A consistent format and design will make the e-book easier to understand and more visually appealing.
  • Use well-researched and engaging content: Make sure that the content is well-researched, accurate, and engaging, to keep readers interested.
  • Use images, videos, and infographics to break up text and make the eBook more visually appealing: Adding multimedia elements can help to make the e-book more engaging and make it easier for readers to understand the content.
  • Include a call-to-action at the end of the eBook, such as directing readers to a landing page or asking them to subscribe to a newsletter: This will encourage engagement and make it more likely that the eBook will be shared.
Challenges of Creating eBooks
  • Creating a clear and attention-grabbing title and description: Creating a title and description that is engaging and makes people want to read more can be challenging.
  • Writing well-researched and engaging content: Writing content that is interesting, engaging, and well-researched can be challenging, particularly if you are not a natural writer.
  • Finding the right images and graphics: Finding the right images and graphics to supplement the text can be time-consuming.
  • Staying consistent: Creating regular eBooks can be challenging, particularly if you are busy or have a limited budget.
  • Keeping up with industry trends: Staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends and changes in technology can be difficult and time-consuming.

Online Courses

Online courses are a type of digital learning experience that can be delivered over the internet.

Online courses can also be used to generate leads, and also to nurture leads through the funnel, by providing more in-depth and comprehensive information.

Online courses can include a wide range of content such as videos, audio, text, images, and interactive elements such as quizzes, assessments, and forums. They can be self-paced or instructor-led and can range from a few minutes to several hours in length.

Examples of using online courses as part of content marketing include:

  • Product or service training: Create online courses that provide training on how to use your products or services. For example, a software company could create a course that teaches customers how to use their software effectively and how to optimize their performance. Or, a company in the finance industry could create an online course that provides training on financial planning, investment strategies, and other related topics.
  • Industry-specific education: Create online courses that provide education on a specific industry or topic. For example, a marketing agency could create a course that teaches the principles of digital marketing.
  • Self-Improvement And Personal development: Create online courses that provide information and guidance on personal development topics such as leadership, time management, and stress management. For example, a company in the health and wellness industry could create an online course that provides information and guidance on topics like nutrition, exercise, and stress management.
  • Thought leadership: Create online courses that provide insights and advice on industry-specific topics, which will position your company as a thought leader in the industry and increase your visibility and credibility. For example, a company could create an online course that provides insights and advice on industry-specific topics, which will position the company as a thought leader in the industry and increase its visibility and credibility.
  • Certification: Create online courses that provide training and certifications on a specific skill or technology. For example, a company in the technology industry could create an online course that provides training and certifications on a specific technology or programming language.
Best Practices For Creating Online Courses
  • Define your target audience: Understand your target audience and their needs, interests, and pain points. This will help you create content that is relevant and valuable to them.
  • Create a clear learning outcome: Define a clear learning outcome for the course, and make sure that all the content and activities support that outcome.
  • Keep it interactive and engaging: Use interactive elements such as quizzes, polls, and discussion boards to keep the course engaging and interactive.
  • Use multimedia: Use a variety of multimedia elements such as videos, images, and audio to make the course more engaging and to appeal to different learning styles.
  • Use storytelling: Use storytelling to make the course more engaging and to help learners relate to the content.
  • Provide assessments and quizzes: Provide assessments and quizzes to help learners check their understanding and to provide feedback on their progress.
  • Use feedback and testing: Use feedback and testing to assess learners’ understanding and to identify areas for improvement.
  • Provide support and assistance: Provide support and assistance to learners, such as answering questions, providing feedback on assignments and offering additional resources.
  • Be mobile-friendly: Ensure that the course is mobile-friendly and accessible on different devices and platforms.
  • Monitor and analyze: Monitor and analyze the course engagement and completion rates to understand the effectiveness of the course and to identify areas for improvement.
  • Keep it updated: Keep the course updated to ensure that the content is accurate and relevant.
Challenges Of Creating Online Courses

Creating online courses can be a powerful way to provide valuable information and education to customers, but it can also present some challenges.

Here are a few examples of the challenges of creating online courses:

  • Developing high-quality content: Creating engaging and informative content that is relevant to the audience can be time-consuming and challenging. It requires a good understanding of the topic, the target audience, and the format of the course.
  • Maintaining consistency and quality: Online courses often include multiple modules or lessons, and it can be challenging to maintain consistency and quality throughout the course.
  • Designing and developing interactive elements: Online courses should be interactive and engaging, which requires the development of interactive elements such as quizzes, polls, and interactive videos.
  • Marketing and promoting the course: Once the course is created, it needs to be promoted and marketed effectively to reach the target audience.
  • Tracking and measuring success: Measuring the success of the course can be challenging, as it requires tracking engagement, completion rates, and other metrics.
  • Keeping up with technology: Online courses should be designed to be mobile-friendly and accessible across different devices and platforms, this also requires keeping up with the latest technology trends.
  • Providing support and assistance: Online courses often require support and assistance, such as answering questions and providing feedback on assignments.
  • Staying current and up-to-date: The topic of the course may change rapidly, and it’s important to keep the course updated to ensure that it stays relevant and valuable to the audience.

Creating online courses can be a significant investment of time and resources, but it can also be a powerful and effective way to educate and engage customers and position your company as a thought leader and authority in your industry.

For more information, go here:

Emails

Internet marketers often state that “the money is in the list.”

Emails are a great way to keep readers informed and updated about new products and services, useful tips, training, and more.

Running a regular email newsletter and email campaigns is one of the most effective ways to build a subscriber list and nurture leads. Email marketing consistently delivers great ROI and is a proven method used by B2B and B2C organizations to generate sales and grow their business cost-effectively.

Writing a series of short, concise emails with compelling headlines and calls to action with links to more detailed website pages (e.g. landing pages, sales pages, e-commerce or product information pages, tutorials, etc.) can be very effective when used as lead nurturing follow-ups or short email-based subscriber/customer training courses (e.g. a 7-day course on using your products).

Emails can also be triggered by user behavior and used to rescue sales and reduce eCommerce shopping cart abandonment.

Most reputable email service companies provide email personalization, campaign segmentation features, and statistical data reporting tools that allow you to analyze the results of your email campaigns and improve the content of your emails and your sales process.

Best Practices For Creating Emails
  • Segmenting your email list: Segmenting your email list allows you to send targeted, personalized messages to specific groups of people. This can increase the relevance and effectiveness of your emails.
  • Keeping the subject line short and clear: The subject line is the first thing that people see when they receive an email, so it’s important to make sure it’s clear and to the point.
  • Creating a clear and compelling call to action: Make sure your emails have a clear and compelling call to action, such as a link to a landing page or a button to make a purchase.
  • Optimizing for mobile devices: More and more people are checking their email on mobile devices, so it’s important to make sure your emails are optimized for mobile devices.
  • Testing and analyzing: Test your emails and analyze the results to see what works and what doesn’t. This will help you improve your emails over time.
Challenges Of Creating Emails
  • Standing out in a crowded inbox: With so many emails being sent every day, it can be difficult to make your emails stand out.
  • Avoiding spam filters: Spam filters are designed to block unwanted emails, so it’s important to make sure your emails are not flagged as spam.
  • Maintaining high open and click-through rates: High open and click-through rates are key indicators of email success, but they can be difficult to achieve.
  • Creating content that resonates with the audience: Creating content that resonates with your audience can be challenging, as you need to understand their needs, interests, and pain points.
  • Keeping up with regulations: There are a number of laws and regulations that govern email marketing, such as the CAN-SPAM Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), so it’s important to make sure you are compliant with these regulations.

Videos

Video is everywhere and video marketing is one of the most effective forms of content marketing available. Millions of online consumers worldwide are reached using videos and the demand for video content is increasing each year (see the “Infographics” section below).

There are many forms of video content you can create, including:

  • Explainer videos (short videos explaining products or services)
  • Simple Sales Videos (e.g. video narrations of PowerPoint slides)
  • Vlogs (video blogs)
  • Video interviews
  • Video presentations and recorded webinars
  • Video tutorials
  • Product reviews
  • Product demos and walkthroughs
  • Live stream recordings
  • Video testimonials
  • Video ads

As the chart below shows, video content serves a wide range of purposes.

Chart - Purpose of videos created.
Most popular uses for videos. Source: State Of Video Marketing Report

Video production for your products and services doesn’t have to be expensive. Businesses can produce videos cost-effectively in-house (i.e. shot on smartphones or recorded and edited using screen capture software), and even outsourced inexpensively on freelancer sites (e.g. explainer videos).

For tools and resources to help you create or source video content, see Media Creation Tools.

For the latest video marketing statistics, see these articles:

Best Practices For Creating Videos
  • Keep the video short and to the point, ideally less than 2-3 minutes: The attention span of viewers is limited, so it’s important to make sure that the video is concise and gets to the point quickly.
  • Use a strong and clear script: A script will help to keep the video on-topic and make it easier for viewers to understand the message.
  • Use high-quality visuals and audio: Good lighting, sound, and editing are essential for creating a high-quality video that is visually appealing and easy to understand.
  • Optimize for search by including a title, description, and keywords: This will help search engines understand the content of the video and make it easier for people to find it.
  • Include a call-to-action at the end of the video, such as directing viewers to a landing page or asking them to subscribe to a channel: This will encourage engagement and make it more likely that the video will be shared.
Challenges Of Creating Videos
  • Ensuring that the final product is high-quality and visually appealing: Creating high-quality videos can be time-consuming and require specialized equipment and skills.
  • Script-writing and storyboarding: Writing an engaging and compelling script and storyboard for the video can be challenging for non-creative people.
  • Producing videos can be time-consuming and expensive: The process of creating a video, from pre-production, filming, post-production, and editing, can be time-consuming and costly.
  • Staying on top of industry trends: Keeping up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in video production can be difficult and time-consuming.
  • Measuring the performance of videos: Measuring the performance of videos can be difficult, as it’s hard to track how many people have watched the video, how long they watched it for, and how engaged they were with it.

Webinars

Webinars gained a significant increase in popularity as a preferred content type for many audiences after the global pandemic.

As the charts at the top of this lesson show, 67% of B2B  and 48% of B2C consumers prefer watching webinars.  The research also shows that while most buyers typically spend between five to 30 minutes reviewing nearly all
content formats, many are willing to invest 30 to 60+ minutes watching
a webinar.

Here are some additional stats you may want to know about using webinars as content…

State of Webinars 2020 Infographic
Source: ClickMeeting.com

Webinars are great for:

  • Lead Generation: Webinar participants typically register with their contact information before attending. You can capture their information, then follow up with content on topics that you know they’re already interested in (e.g. using a sequence of pre-written, personalized emails).
  • Community Building: Webinars can be very engaging and a great way to build relationships with customers. They allow you to position your brand while users interact with experts and thought leaders in your organization. Most webinar tools allow participants to chat and ask questions, providing instant engagement and a way to address concerns and objections directly in real-time.
  • Cost-effective Marketing: Webinars may not be as powerful or effective as live events, but when you consider that webinars require far less time, money, and resources to coordinate and put together than a live event, even if you get a smaller return on investment, running a successful webinar should more than offset and justify the risks vs trying to run a live event. Additionally, consider the downsides. There is less risk of experiencing a significant financial loss if you cancel a webinar due to low registrations than canceling a live event. Also, should you decide to run a webinar with fewer attendees than expected, this will give you more time to answer their questions and address their concerns, resulting in better engagement and interactivity with your target audience than live events.
  • Repurposing Content: You can repurpose webinar content for use in other distribution channels. For example, you can turn webinar topics into a series of blog articles, a video course, or sharable tweets (using memorable quotes or stats), and turn questions from attendees into new content like FAQs, tutorials, etc. Additionally, you can turn your webinars into slides for sharing on sites like SlideShare.
  • Evergreen Content: Record your webinars and add them to a “Resources” or client training page, or use them as high-value content for your lead generation campaigns. Webinars can continue delivering results long after making an initial investment of effort to create them.

Go here to learn how to host your first webinar.

Best Practices For Creating Webinars
  • Use a clear and attention-grabbing title and description: The title and description should be engaging and make people want to attend the webinar.
  • Use a consistent format and design throughout the webinar: A consistent format and design will make the webinar easier to understand and more visually appealing.
  • Use a clear and engaging presentation: Make sure that the presentation is clear, engaging, and easy to understand for the audience.
  • Use images, videos, and infographics to break up text and make the webinar more visually appealing: Adding multimedia elements can help to make the webinar more engaging and make it easier for attendees to understand the content.
  • Include a call-to-action at the end of the webinar, such as directing attendees to a landing page or asking them to subscribe to a newsletter: This will encourage engagement and make it more likely that the webinar will be shared.
Challenges Of Creating Webinars
  • Creating a clear and attention-grabbing title and description: Creating a title and description that is engaging and makes people want to attend the webinar can be challenging.
  • Preparing a clear and engaging presentation: Preparing a clear and engaging presentation can be challenging, particularly if you are not a natural speaker or presenter.
  • Finding the right images and graphics: Finding the right images and graphics to supplement the text can be time-consuming.
  • Staying consistent: Creating regular webinars can be challenging, particularly if you are busy or have a limited budget.
  • Keeping up with industry trends: Staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends and changes in technology can be difficult and time-consuming.

Audios

Audio-based web content creates new opportunities for content creators and content publishers to expand their range of products and services.

Audio content can help government, corporate, and business websites by:

  • Increasing online user engagement
  • Strengthening social responsibility
  • Expanding content reach and consumption by making information available in different formats for different types of users, and
  • Helping to create a more inclusive internet for everyone.

Podcasts

Podcasts are a highly engaging form of content and podcasting is becoming increasingly popular as a source of entertainment, education, and news.

Currently, there are over 2 million podcasts available and hundreds of millions of podcast listeners worldwide.

As the chart below shows, listeners prefer some podcast genres over others, so depending on the industry and niche of your business, creating and distributing podcasts could be an effective way to reach new audiences.

Chart - Most Popular Podcast Genres
Most popular podcasting genres. Source: BuzzSprout

An effective way to market your business with podcasts is to interview experts or leaders in your field to get advice and helpful information, discuss hot industry trends, provide useful tips and ‘how-tos’, etc. This lets you build your reputation as a reliable source of information your audience can trust.

For tools and resources to help you with podcasting, see Media Creation Tools.

For more stats on podcasting, see these articles:

Text-To-Speech

New AI developments in voice technology allow text-to-speech to convert your text files and documents into lifelike audio narrations, deliver realistic-sounding voice narrations to your web content, and provide audio content to help make the web more inclusive by giving users with special learning needs, visual impairments or disabilities access to information in a format that they can more easily consume and digest.

The latest AI text-to-speech voice technology also allows you to translate your text files and documents into dozens of languages and turn these into high-quality voice narrations using hundreds of different male and female AI voices.

You can use text-to-speech voice recordings to create audio-based content like:

  • Educational videos, sales videos, training videos, explainer videos, product review videos, webinars, etc.
  • Narrated audio presentations and documentation.
  • e-Learning courses
  • Audiobooks and audio-based digital products.
  • Podcasts.
  • Spoken web pages.
  • Online/video/social media/radio advertising.
  • Translating your training or HR documentation into different languages
  • Creating audio content for visually-impaired users
  • Recording document drafts that can be listened to and reviewed on the way to and from work
  • Recorded greetings and announcements.
  • Other content and media formats

In summary, some of the benefits of using text-to-speech for content creation include:

  • Save time and money creating and publishing content. Getting text-to-speech voice narrators to enunciate your courses or narrate your podcasts or audiobooks is an economical and time-saving solution compared to hiring voice talent.
  • Create e-courses and audio products faster with less time and less cost.
    If you plan to use human voice talent for your finished product, text-to-speech allows you to create drafts and audio scripts for professional narrators.
  • Create better content. If you plan to create an audiobook, podcast, e-learning product, or training course, listening to an audio draft helps to improve content structure and layout, fix spelling or grammatical errors, and generate new ideas.
  • Write more effective content. Hearing your sales pitch or content read aloud helps you to focus on your message, improve your copywriting and writing skills, and write more effective sales or training video scripts and presentations, web content, radio ads, and many other forms of content.
  • Create and deliver content to a global audience by making it easier to create multilingual audio content and audio products from language translations.

tip

If you need help creating audio-based content using text-to-speech, see this excellent Text-to-Speech Course (narrated entirely using AI voices) or see the Content Production Tools section for text-to-speech software.

Best Practices For Creating Podcasts
  • Use a clear and attention-grabbing title and description: The title and description should be engaging and make people want to listen to the podcast.
  • Use a consistent format and theme throughout the podcast: A consistent format and theme will make the podcast easier to understand and more engaging for listeners.
  • Use high-quality audio equipment: Good sound quality is essential for creating a professional-sounding podcast that is easy to listen to.
  • Use engaging and well-researched content: Make sure that the content is engaging, well-researched, and relevant to the audience.
  • Include a call-to-action at the end of the podcast, such as directing listeners to a landing page or asking them to subscribe to the podcast: This will encourage engagement and make it more likely that the podcast will be shared.
Challenges Of Creating Podcasts
  • Creating a clear and attention-grabbing title and description: Creating a title and description that is engaging and makes people want to listen to the podcast can be challenging.
  • Preparing engaging and well-researched content: Preparing engaging and well-researched content can be challenging, particularly if you are not a natural writer or researcher.
  • Finding the right equipment: Finding the right equipment to produce a high-quality podcast can be expensive and time-consuming.
  • Staying consistent: Creating regular podcasts can be challenging, particularly if you are busy or have a limited budget.
  • Keeping up with industry trends: Staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends and changes in technology can be difficult and time-consuming.

For more information, go here:

Social Media Posts

Promoting products and services using specially crafted content for social media platforms can be a powerful way to increase brand awareness, build a community, create engagement with your target audience, and drive traffic to your business.

Social media marketing requires using different strategies for different platforms. What works on Facebook, for example, may not work on LinkedIn or TikTok.

Additionally, some of the most popular social media platforms in the world are not primarily targeting English speakers, so creating content for users on these platforms may require an entirely different approach altogether.

Most Popular Social Media Platforms in 2022
Not all of the most popular social media platforms target English speakers. Source: Shopify.

For a useful guide on creating content for social media, see this article: Social Media Marketing: The Ultimate Guide

Best Practices For Creating Social Media Posts
  • Use a clear and attention-grabbing headline: The headline is the first thing that readers will see, so it’s important to make sure that it is engaging and makes them want to read more.
  • Use a consistent brand voice and tone: Use the same brand voice and tone throughout the post to ensure that it aligns with the overall brand image.
  • Use images, videos, and infographics to break up text and make the post more visually appealing: Adding multimedia elements can help to make the post more engaging and make it easier for readers to understand the content.
  • Use relevant hashtags and keywords: Use relevant hashtags and keywords to increase the visibility of the post and make it more discoverable.
  • Engage with your followers by responding to comments and messages: Engaging with your followers will help to build a sense of community and encourage engagement.
Challenges Of Creating Social Media Posts
  • Staying consistent: Creating regular social media posts can be challenging, particularly if you are busy or have a limited budget.
  • Finding the right images and graphics: Finding the right images and graphics to supplement the text can be time-consuming.
  • Keeping up with industry trends: Staying up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in social media can be difficult and time-consuming.
  • Measuring the performance of social media posts: Measuring the performance of social media posts can be difficult, as it’s hard to track how many people have seen the post, how engaged they were with it, and how it influenced their decision to buy.
  • Managing multiple social media accounts and platforms: Managing multiple social media accounts and platforms can be difficult and time-consuming, especially for small businesses or those with limited resources.

For more information, go here:

Images

Images can be used as content in many ways, including:

Infographics

An infographic (or information graphic) uses engaging images, data visualizations (e.g. pie charts and bar graphs), and minimal text to communicate information or data quickly and clearly in an easy-to-understand overview format.

Infographic - The importance of Video Marketing
An infographic about the importance of video marketing. Source: Impact+

Study any successful infographic carefully, and you will see that it typically combines 5 essential elements:

  1. Story
  2. Data
  3. Copy
  4. Design
  5. Charts & Graphs

Source: EnvisionUp

Infographics can be used in any business to explain anything that would be too hard or take too long using words only.

You can create infographics to provide a quick overview of just about any topic, make complex information easier to understand, summarize long articles or reports, display research findings or survey data, compare different options, raise awareness of an issue or cause, etc.

Best Practices For Creating Infographics
  • Use a clear and attention-grabbing headline and description: The headline and description should be engaging and make people want to read more.
  • Use a consistent format and design throughout the infographic: A consistent format and design will make the infographic easier to understand and more visually appealing.
  • Use high-quality visuals and colors: Good visuals and colors are essential for creating an infographic that is visually appealing and easy to understand.
  • Use a clear and logical structure: Organize the information in a logical and clear manner, using headings, subheadings, and bullet points to break up the text.
  • Use a consistent brand voice and tone: Use the same brand voice and tone throughout the infographic to ensure that it aligns with the overall brand image.
Challenges Of Creating Infographics
  • Finding the right data and statistics: Finding the right data and statistics to include in the infographic can be time-consuming and difficult.
  • Making sure that the final product is visually appealing and easy to understand: Creating an infographic that is visually appealing and easy to understand can be challenging.
  • Staying on top of industry trends: Keeping up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in infographic design can be difficult and time-consuming.
  • Limited scalability: Some infographics may not be scalable to different languages or formats.
  • Measuring the performance of infographics: Measuring the performance of infographics can be difficult, as it’s hard to track how many people have viewed the infographic, how long they spent looking at it, and how engaged they were with it.

Memes

Meme: Give your plants all the love you have in your heart...and if that's not enough, try watering them!
My gardening philosophy!

Memes can be great for getting your business noticed, especially if the subject of the meme relates to your brand.

For more information about using memes as content and meme-generation tools, go here: Using Memes And Cartoons In Your Content Marketing

Whitepapers

Here’s a practical and useful definition for businesses looking to promote their products or services using whitepapers…

“A whitepaper is a persuasive, authoritative, in-depth report on a specific topic that presents a problem and provides a solution. Marketers create whitepapers to educate their audience about a particular issue, or explain and promote a particular methodology. They’re advanced problem-solving guides. “

Source: HubSpot

Whitepapers are great for capturing leads. However, they are not meant to be used as “product pitches.” Their aim is to promote an in-depth level of expertise and industry knowledge and inform and persuade readers based on well-researched facts and evidence.

Whitepapers tend to be more serious in tone and better researched than other long-form content like cornerstone (i.e. authoritative) articles, ebooks, and reports. Whitepapers also tend to be around 3,000 to 5,000 words long and are generally made available as downloadable PDFs (preferably delivered after capturing the reader’s email details).

For an excellent resource on this topic, check out this guide: What Is A Whitepaper?

Best Practices For Creating Whitepapers
  • Use a clear and attention-grabbing title and abstract: The title and abstract should be engaging and make people want to read more.
  • Use a consistent format and design throughout the whitepaper: A consistent format and design will make the whitepaper easier to understand and more visually appealing.
  • Use well-researched and engaging content: Make sure that the content is well-researched, accurate, and engaging to keep readers interested.
  • Use images, charts, and tables to supplement the text and make the whitepaper more visually appealing: Adding visual elements can help to make the whitepaper more engaging and make it easier for readers to understand the content.
  • Include a call-to-action at the end of the whitepaper, such as directing readers to a landing page or asking them to subscribe to a newsletter: This will encourage engagement and make it more likely that the whitepaper will be shared.
Challenges Of Creating Whitepapers
  • Creating a clear and attention-grabbing title and abstract: Creating a title and abstract that is engaging and makes people want to read more can be challenging.
  • Writing well-researched and engaging content: Writing content that is interesting, engaging, and well-researched can be challenging, particularly if you are not a natural writer.
  • Finding the right data and statistics: Finding the right data and statistics to include in the whitepaper can be time-consuming and difficult.
  • Staying consistent: Creating regular whitepapers can be challenging, particularly if you are busy or have a limited budget.
  • Keeping up with industry trends: Staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends and changes in technology can be difficult and time-consuming.

Case Studies

Case studies and client profiles use “success stories” to showcase your business and your services and provide readers with concrete data as proof of your company’s value, authority, and expertise in helping clients get results.

Although case studies usually require a great deal of time and energy to create (and reaching out to past customers/clients to get their consent for using them in your case study), they can be influential in helping B2B buyers make more informed purchasing decisions.

As shown in the graph at the top of this lesson, almost half of all B2B consumers prefer case studies over other types of content when researching information about products or services they are looking to purchase.

As content, case studies work well when used as lead magnets, landing pages, repurposed blog posts, and video testimonials.

For useful examples of case studies, go here: 12 Inspiring Content Marketing Case Study Examples

Best Practices For Creating Case Studies
  • Use a clear and attention-grabbing title and description: The title and description should be engaging and make people want to read more.
  • Use a consistent format and design throughout the case study: A consistent format and design will make the case study easier to understand and more visually appealing.
  • Use real-world examples: Use real-world examples to illustrate the benefits of a product or service, this will make the case study more relatable and convincing.
  • Use a problem-solution-result structure: Organize the case study into a clear and concise format, such as a problem-solution-result structure, to make it easy for readers to understand the main points.
  • Use testimonials from customers or clients: Use quotes from customers or clients to provide credibility and social proof for the case study.
Challenges Of Creating Case Studies
  • Finding the right real-world examples: Finding the right real-world examples to illustrate the benefits of a product or service can be challenging.
  • Gaining permission from clients or customers to use their information in the case study: Obtaining the necessary legal permissions to use client or customer information can be a challenge.
  • Writing a clear and concise format: Creating a clear and concise format, such as a problem-solution-result structure, can be challenging.
  • Staying on top of industry trends: Keeping up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in case study creation can be difficult and time-consuming.
  • Measuring the performance of case studies: Measuring the performance of case studies can be difficult, as it’s hard to track how many people have read the case study, how engaged they were with it, and how it influenced their decision to buy.

Content Templates

Content templates are pre-designed layouts or structures that can be used as a starting point for creating new content helping to save valuable time creating content from scratch.

Templates can include text, images, and other elements, and can be customized to suit the specific needs of the content being created.

Examples of content templates include:

  • Blog post templates: Blog post templates provide a structure for creating new blog posts, including sections for the introduction, body text, and conclusion.
  • Email templates: Email templates provide a structure for creating emails, including sections for the subject line, header, body text, and call to action.
  • Social media post templates: Social media post templates provide a structure for creating social media posts, including sections for the text, images, and hashtags.
  • Landing page templates: Landing page templates provide a structure for creating landing pages, including sections for the headline, body text, and call to action.

You can use different kinds of templates to create content for website pages, blog posts, infographics, ebooks, videos, slide presentations, etc.

Depending on the type of business you are in, you can also create and distribute your own templates (or checklists) as content and use these to help your clients, generate new leads, or even sell them as information products.

For example, Nusii provides a selection of free, professional, online proposal templates that let you add your company branding and bid on various projects.

Nusii - Free Online Proposal Templates
Nusii’s Free Online Proposal Templates. Source: Nusii

For an excellent collection of 200+ free content and content marketing templates, go here: The Ultimate Collection Of Free Content Templates

Best Practices For Creating Content Templates
  • Keep it simple: Create templates that are easy to use and understand. Avoid using complex layouts or design elements that can make the template difficult to use.
  • Be consistent: Use a consistent format, design, and style throughout your templates to ensure a cohesive look and feel for all of your content.
  • Make it customizable: Allow for enough flexibility in the template to allow for customization, such as adding brand colors, imagery and fonts.
  • Optimize for usability: Ensure that the template is user-friendly, with easy-to-find elements and intuitive navigation.
  • Test and iterate: Test the templates with a small group of users and make necessary adjustments based on their feedback.
Challenges Of Creating Content Templates
  • Balancing consistency and creativity: Finding the right balance between consistency and creativity can be difficult when creating templates.
  • Limited flexibility: Creating templates that are too rigid can limit the ability to customize and adapt to different types of content.
  • Limited scalability: Some templates may not be scalable to different types of content, such as different languages or formats.
  • Time-consuming: Creating templates can be time-consuming, particularly if you need to create multiple templates for different types of content.
  • Requires technical skills: Creating templates often requires knowledge of graphic design and layout, which can be a challenge for those without the necessary technical skills.
  • Keeping them up-to-date: Templates, especially those that are code-based, need to be updated frequently to avoid errors or incompatibility issues with the software being used.

Interactive Content

Interactive content refers to digital media that allows users to actively engage and participate in the content, rather than simply consuming it passively.

Examples of interactive content include quizzes, polls, surveys, assessments, interactive infographics, and games.

Interactive content can be used in many different ways to increase engagement, boost brand awareness, and generate leads.

For example:

Quizzes And Assessments

Examples:

  • A company in the health and wellness industry might create a quiz that helps users determine their “health age” based on their lifestyle habits, this not only provides valuable information to users but also collects information about their health and wellness interests that can be used for targeted marketing efforts.
  • A skincare company could create a quiz that helps users determine their skin type, and then provide personalized recommendations for products.
  • A company in the finance industry may create interactive financial calculators. This would allow visitors to make calculations on their own and see the results while providing valuable information on the company’s products and services.
Interactive Polls And Surveys

Polls and surveys are a great way to gather feedback from customers and gain insights into their preferences and opinions, provide valuable feedback for companies, and allow customers to share their thoughts with other potential customers.

Examples:

  • A company could create a survey asking customers about their experience using their products or services.
  • A company in the service industry might create an interactive survey that allows customers to rate their satisfaction with the service they received.
Interactive Infographics

Interactive infographics can be used to present data or information in an engaging and interactive way.

Examples:

  • A company in the real estate industry could create an interactive infographic that shows the most popular neighborhoods in a city and allows users to filter the data by different criteria.
  • An e-commerce company might create an interactive infographic that shows the different features and benefits of its products. This allows users to explore the products in more depth and learn more about what sets them apart from the competition.
Interactive Videos And Webinars

Companies can create interactive videos and webinars that allow users to engage with the content through polls, quizzes, Q&A, and other interactive elements.

Example:

  • A software company might create an interactive video that provides a step-by-step tutorial on how to use its product. This allows users to learn how to use the product at their own pace and provides a more engaging experience.
Interactive Games

Companies can create games that are related to their products or services.

Examples:

  • A company that sells outdoor equipment could create a game that challenges users to complete different outdoor activities, such as hiking or camping, using their products.
  • A company in the entertainment industry might create a game that allows users to interact with the brand and learn more about the company’s products or services in a fun and engaging way.
Interactive eBooks

An educational company might create an interactive e-book that allows users to interact with the content in various ways, such as by highlighting text, taking notes, and answering questions. This allows users to learn in a more engaging and interactive way.

Virtual Reality And Augmented Reality Experiences

Companies can create virtual or augmented reality experiences to showcase their products or services in an interactive way.

Examples:

  • A company in the automotive industry could create a virtual reality test drive experience for its customers.
Best Practices For Creating Interactive Content
  • Use a clear and attention-grabbing headline and description: The headline and description should be engaging and make people want to engage with the content.
  • Use a consistent format and design throughout the interactive content: A consistent format and design will make the interactive content easier to understand and more visually appealing.
  • Use interactive elements such as quizzes, polls, and games to engage the audience: Interactive elements such as quizzes, polls, and games can make the content more engaging and increase user participation.
  • Use a clear and logical structure: Organize the information in a logical and clear manner, using headings, subheadings, and bullet points to break up the text.
  • Use a consistent brand voice and tone: Use the same brand voice and tone throughout the interactive content to ensure that it aligns with the overall brand image.
Challenges Of Creating Interactive Content
  • Finding the right interactive elements: Finding the right interactive elements, such as quizzes, polls, and games, to include in the content can be time-consuming and difficult.
  • Making sure that the final product is visually appealing and easy to use: Creating interactive content that is visually appealing and easy to use can be challenging.
  • Staying on top of industry trends: Keeping up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in interactive content can be difficult and time-consuming.
  • Measuring the performance of interactive content: Measuring the performance of interactive content can be difficult, as it’s hard to track how many people have engaged with the content and how engaged they were with it.
  • Limited scalability: Some interactive content may not be scalable to different languages or formats.

User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) refers to any content that has been created by users of a product or service, rather than by brands, publishers, or the company itself.

User-generated content can include text, images, videos, and other forms of media. Examples of UGC include social media posts, product reviews, blog comments, testimonials, forum discussions, and ratings.

User-generated content can be an effective way to build brand trust and credibility with potential customers, as well as to provide valuable customer insights.

Examples:

  • A company might encourage customers to share their experiences with a product or service on social media, and then repost those reviews or testimonials on their website. This can help to build trust with potential customers who are considering purchasing the product or service.
  • A company creates a hashtag for their customers to share their photos and experiences with the product. This would allow the company to use the customer’s photos and experiences in their marketing campaigns.
  • A clothing retailer might showcase customer photos of people wearing their clothing on their website or social media pages. This not only provides social proof that their products are popular, but it also allows customers to see how the clothing looks on people with a similar body type.
  • A company that runs a blog allows customers to submit their own articles. This would not only provide a different perspective but also increase customer engagement and loyalty.

For more information, go here: Content Marketing With User-Generated Content

Best Practices For Creating User-Generated Content
  • Encourage users to share their content: Make it easy for users to share their content on your platform by providing clear instructions and guidelines.
  • Use a consistent format and design throughout the user-generated content: A consistent format and design will make the content easier to understand and more visually appealing.
  • Use a clear and logical structure: Organize the information in a logical and clear manner, using headings, subheadings, and bullet points to break up the text.
  • Use a consistent brand voice and tone: Use the same brand voice and tone throughout the user-generated content to ensure that it aligns with the overall brand image.
  • Use a clear and attention-grabbing headline and description: The headline and description should be engaging and make people want to engage with the content.
Challenges Of Creating User-Generated Content
  • Encouraging users to share their content: Encouraging users to share their content can be challenging, particularly if they are not familiar with the platform or are hesitant to share their personal information.
  • Managing and moderating the content: Managing and moderating the content can be time-consuming, particularly if you have a large volume of user-generated content.
  • Ensuring that the content is accurate and reliable: Ensuring that the content is accurate and reliable can be challenging, particularly if it is not reviewed or moderated by an expert.
  • Measuring the performance of user-generated content: Measuring the performance of user-generated content can be difficult, as it’s hard to track how many people have engaged with the content and how engaged they were with it.
  • Limited scalability: Some user-generated content may not be scalable to different languages or formats.

Content Types – FAQs

Here are frequently asked questions about content types:

What are content types in digital marketing?

Content types in digital marketing refer to the various forms of content used to engage audiences, such as blogs, videos, infographics, podcasts, and social media posts. Each type serves different purposes and is used in different contexts to maximize impact and reach.

How do I choose the right content type for my marketing strategy?

Choosing the right content type depends on your audience’s preferences, the goals of your campaign, the message you want to communicate, and the platforms you are using. Analyzing audience data and previous engagement metrics can guide your decisions.

What are the benefits of diversifying content types in a marketing campaign?

Diversifying content types helps to reach a broader audience, cater to different learning styles and preferences, and enhance engagement by keeping the content fresh and interesting. It can also boost SEO performance by providing multiple ways to feature keywords and backlinks.

Can the same content be repurposed into different content types?

Yes, repurposing content into different formats is a cost-effective strategy to maximize reach and reinforce messages. For example, a series of articles can be turned into an eBook, or a blog post can be turned into a video, a podcast episode, or an infographic, each appealing to different segments of your audience.

What tools can help manage multiple content types effectively?

Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla can help manage and schedule different types of content efficiently. These tools often come with features that allow for easy editing, organization, and publication of diverse content types without extensive technical knowledge.

Summary

There are many different types of content you can create to help promote and grow your business. The content type you create depends on factors like the audience group you are targeting, which phase of the buying journey your customers are at, and different content trends and preferences.

Your content strategy should help you decide which content types your production team should focus on creating.

Action Steps

When choosing a specific content type to create, it’s helpful to study examples of how other organizations in your industry or niche have used that type of content to promote their business successfully.

Build a ‘swipe file’ of ideas for different content types and make sure to check out the ‘Resources’ and ‘References’ sections below.

See the tutorials below to learn how to use the above content types in your content marketing strategy:

Resources

  • Free Content Ideas Course – Learn how to never run out of great content ideas for your blog, website, or email newsletters.
  • Video Courses – Links to video courses on content creation for different content types (e.g. blogging, videos, emails, podcasting, etc.)
  • Tools & Resources – Useful tools and resources for planning, producing, and promoting different content types.

References

Next Step

***

Image: Laptop

Content Production Tools

Useful tools and resources to help you speed up your content planning and content production.

Content Production Tools And Resources

Useful tools and resources to help you speed up your content planning and content production.

Content Production ToolsAn efficient content production process requires efficient tools.

The tools and resources listed below will help you save time with content planning and speed up your content production.

Use them together with these content research tools and resources to help organize your files, notes, and other production scheduling processes.

***

Content Planning & Scheduling

The tools and resources listed below will help to speed up your content planning and content production scheduling.

Bookmarks

Your web browser’s Bookmarking tool is a great way to organize and access links to useful documentation, regularly-used tools and services, and other valuable content production resources quickly and easily.

Before adding bookmarks to your web browser, we recommend spending a little bit of time planning the structure of your bookmarking folders. This will save you a lot of time locating these later as your bookmarking list grows.

Content Production Tools - Bookmark Organization
Use your web browser’s Bookmarks tool to organize bookmarking folders, and save links to useful documentation, tools, and online resources.

tip

You can use your web browser’s bookmarks to create a ‘master’ set of bookmarks linking to all the documentation and other useful tools and resources your content team will need to work efficiently.

To do this, first, organize all the different folders you will need in your own web browser’s bookmarking tool…

Chrome Browser - Bookmarks
Organize your bookmark folders.

Next, add all the important links to the documentation, tools, and resources your team will need.

Google Chrome Browser - Bookmarks
Bookmark all the tools and resources you need to speed up content production.

Next, export your Bookmark files and share this export file with your team members. Ask them to import these into their own web browsers, so everyone in your team has access to the same resources.

Chrome Browser - Import and Export Bookmarks
Share bookmarks containing links to documentation and useful resources with your content team.

See these guides to using bookmarks in different web browsers and devices:

Spreadsheets

Who doesn’t love using spreadsheets?

Spreadsheets are excellent tools for creating and tracking content production processes and designing and testing workflow prototypes.

Here is a simple way to create a content production workflow using spreadsheets:

  1. Create columns for each workflow process you want to track
  2. Arrange columns in sequential order
  3. Add new projects to rows (one per row).
  4. Use color coding to highlight the status of your projects. For example:
    • Yellow = Work-in-progress
    • Green =  Completed (published)
    • Red = Needs attention
Content Production Workflow
Use spreadsheets to create simple content production workflows and colors to highlight your project status.

Let’s take a look at some popular spreadsheet applications.

Google Sheets

Content Production Tools - Google Sheets
Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a full-featured spreadsheet tool from Google.

Google Sheets can be accessed online via a desktop or mobile device. Additionally, Google Sheets can be stored on a Google Drive account and shared with different users, allowing for collaboration.

Excel

Content Production Tools - Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is part of the Microsoft Office suite and is available only as a subscription service.

WPS Spreadsheet

Content Production Tools - WPS Spreadsheet
WPS Spreadsheet

WPS Spreadsheet is another free spreadsheet application.

WPS Spreadsheet:

  • Is compatible with office suites like Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc, and OpenOffice Calc.
  • Works with common file formats like .xls, .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlt, and .csv.
  • Lets you edit spreadsheet files on mobile devices, computers, or web pages.
  • Offers many spreadsheet templates for a wide range of applications.

Smartsheet

Content Production Tools - Smartsheet
Smartsheet

Smartsheet is a SaaS collaboration and work management tool that lets you effectively manage your team’s work, projects, and processes through team collaboration, workflow automation, and content production management tools.

Smartsheet lets you assign tasks, track project progress, manage calendars, and share documents using a tabular user interface.

More info: Smartsheet

Airtable

Content Production Tools - Airtable
Airtable

If you like using spreadsheets to manage projects, you may want to look into Airtable.

Airtable is a cloud collaboration service best described as a “hybrid” between a spreadsheet and a database (i.e. it has database features applied to a spreadsheet).

As this article on Airtable explains…

“A basic rule of thumb is that a database is more suited to organize a large amount of information. Spreadsheets are the best fit for running calculations. Airtable gives you the best of both worlds: a relational database that’s as easy to work with as Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.”

Airtable is an ideal tool for creating spreadsheet-like editorial calendars and content inventories but with the power of relational databases.

For example, you can create spreadsheet-like sortable tables for:

  • An editorial calendar
  • Storing the names and email addresses of outsourced service providers, freelancers, etc.
  • Posts that need reviewing or updating
  • Posts that need a “search and replace” (e.g. replace old pricing or a rebranded product name), etc.

Airtable is also a low-code tool, so you don’t need to learn database scripting languages like SQL to use it.

More info: Airtable

Calendar

The next content production tool to consider is a calendar.

Calendar applications are essential tools for creating an editorial calendar that will help you meet publishing deadlines.

You can create an editorial/content calendar using a spreadsheet, a calendar application, or using an integrated workflow tool.

Google Calendar

Content Production Tools - Google Calendar
Image source: Google Calendar

Google Calendar is a smart calendar tool from Google.

Google Calendar lets you:

  • Schedule events and share calendars across your team.
  • View and edit your schedule from your laptop, tablet, or phone (you can sync with your phone’s built-in calendar or use optimized mobile apps).
  • Set event reminders.
  • Create group calendars.
  • Publish calendars on the web.
  • Migrate calendars from other applications (e.g.  Outlook) and file types.

More info: Google Calendar

Work & Collaboration Tools

If your organization requires managing a range of projects, tasks, and activities across different people, teams, or departments, you may need to consider upgrading your content production tools and switching to integrated workflow and communication/collaboration software.

Here are some popular work and collaboration tools you can use across your team or organization to improve workflow and productivity.

Slack

Slack
Slack

Slack is a tool that allows individuals across teams, departments, and organizations to communicate and collaborate online via channels, messaging,  team meetings (called Huddles), and more.

Slack also lets you easily upload and share files like documents, videos, artwork, etc., from your computer and shared drives.

Slack - thread with file attachment
Slack lets you share files like documents, videos, artwork, etc. with your team.

Slack provides its own documentation, including webinars and resources for new users.

More info: Slack

Zoom

Zoom
Zoom

Zoom is a cloud-based communications tool that allows people to meet online using their desktop or phone, and communicate via video and audio conferencing, chats, screen sharing, file sharing, whiteboard tools, and more.

Learn how to get the most out of this tool from the Zoom Learning Center.

More info: Zoom

For other work and collaboration tools, see the References section at the end of this lesson.

Market Muse

MarketMuse
MarketMuse

MarketMuse is a cloud-based content planning tool used by content creators, content marketers, publishers, marketing agencies, and eCommerce companies.

The tool includes components that can greatly aid your content production, such as MarketMuse Inventory, which automates your content inventory and content auditing processes by collecting and organizing your pages, analyzing them, and making them more easily accessible.

MarketMuse’s AI-driven content briefs help writers produce quality SEO-optimized content with instructions on how to structure the article, what topics to address, what questions to answer, what content to link internally and externally, and more.

Users can access content briefs without logging into the platform using a special link and writers can work directly from within the brief and get scored against suggestions as they go.

More info: MarketMuse

Swimlane Diagrams

Swimlane Diagram
Source: Smartsheet.com

A swimlane diagram is a type of flowchart that you can use to outline who does what in your content production process.

You can use various tools to create swim lane diagrams (e.g. Lucid Chart)  or create a basic swimlane diagram in Word or PowerPoint.

See this article if you need help on how to create swim lane diagrams.

Here are some sites where you can download swimlane diagram templates:

Text Tools

Here are some useful text-based tools and resources:

Text Editors

For text editors, see the Content Research Tools section.

Text Expander

TextExpander
TextExpander

TextExpander is a time-saving tool that increases your productivity and efficiency by allowing you to quickly store, share, and retrieve information using Snippets.

Snippets are longer repetitive texts paired with an abbreviation that you type in its place. Essentially, you can think of TextExpander as a “copy and paste” tool on steroids.

Instead of searching through and copying text from old emails, notes, or a repository where you keep content that you use repeatedly, you can simply type an abbreviation as a shortcode into your content and it will then insert a full-blown content snippet that you have previously created and saved.

TextExpander - Snippets
Use TextExpander’s Snippets to save time adding content in repetitive tasks.

Snippets also allow you to create content templates with “fill in the blank” fields and different snippet groups.

Some of the more common uses for this tool are writing out customer support responses, creating follow-up emails, recruitment messages, and many daily work tasks.

More info: TextExpander

Beeftext

Beeftext
Boost your writing efficiency with Beeftext.

Similar to the previous tool, if you’re tired of typing the same phrases repeatedly, Beeftext is a tool that lets you set up shortcuts (keywords) for commonly used pieces of text (snippets).

When you type a keyword, Beeftext automatically replaces it with the associated snippet. This works in any application where you can copy and paste text. It’s especially useful for things like email signatures, frequent phrases, or even emojis.

Beeftext is free and open-source, meaning it doesn’t cost anything and doesn’t have ads or malware. While it listens to your keystrokes to function, it doesn’t store or send your typing data anywhere. It only checks for updates once a day.

Setting up Beeftext is simple. You create combos with keywords and their corresponding snippets. It’s like creating your own typing shortcuts. Just be careful with keyword choices to avoid accidental replacements.

So, if you’re a content manager dealing with repetitive writing tasks, Beeftext could save you time and make your work smoother. You won’t need to type out the same things over and over again.

More info: Beeftext

Content Workflow Management

Project management software lets you plan, schedule, organize, and track your content production projects, and communicate with your team.

Notion

Notion - Wiki, Docs, and Projects
Notion: AI-powered workspace.

Notion AI revolutionizes workspaces by integrating tasks, documents, and collaboration, departing from traditional tools like Google Docs and Dropbox. It offers customizable, all-in-one workspaces, allowing users to tailor their environment with modular building blocks.

Notion AI - Demo of AI Assistant
Notion’s AI Assistant lets you seamlessly incorporating AI into everyday tasks.

Notion lets you store important project documents, track team progress, and manage multiple departments in one central workspace.

Teams benefit from streamlined project management, enhanced communication, and aligned workflows.

Notion AI’s unique features include:

  • Versatility: Solving diverse team challenges with tailored solutions, from engineering to design.
  • AI Integration: Seamlessly incorporating AI into everyday tasks, such as writing assistance and generating insights.
  • Security: Ensuring data privacy and compliance with global regulations like GDPR and ISO 27001. Notion AI prioritizes data security, only using customer data with explicit consent and for improving AI features in partnership with trusted entities.
  • Template Library: Offering AI-powered templates for various tasks, including writing, recruiting outreach, and video script generation.
Notion Templates
Use Notion’s vast template library and AI tools to save time performing everyday tasks.

Notion AI integrates with existing workflows and includes a flexible text editor. It’s capabilities are continually expanding, going beyond an AI-powered note-taking software and into the future of all-in-one workspace innovation.

More details: Notion AI

Trello

Trello
Trello

Trello lets you plan, organize, and track your projects visually.

You can manage multiple tasks for any type of project, workflow, or task tracking using Kanban-style boards with lists and cards that simulate the use of “sticky” notes and can include checklists, deadlines, attachments, conversations, etc.

From there, you can incorporate task assignments, calendars, timelines, productivity metrics, and more.

More info: Trello

Jira

Jira
Jira

Jira lets you plan, schedule, organize, and track your projects and communicate with your team.

Team members can track projects at any stage, move projects around boards easily using drag and drop, and access various reports.

Jobs created in Jira allow for workflow customization, team communication, adding notes, attaching files, creating subtasks, and more.

Jira also integrates with applications like Slack.

More info: Jira

Asana

Asana
Asana

Asana acts as a communication hub and lets you assign respective tasks to relevant team members for specific projects.

With Asana, teams can integrate and share tasks, files, plans, and goals, and manage their work from a single app, providing visibility to all members involved.

Additionally, projects can be split up into actionable tasks and assigned to multiple collaborators, and team members can view tasks through a choice of various views (e.g. board, calendar, list view, timeline, workload, and portfolio views).

Asana provides a traditional checklist format for project management with customizable collaboration tools and project-level reporting dashboards. It also supports third-party apps (e.g. Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Dropbox, etc.), the implementation of data from other applications, an Android and iOS app, and a mobile site that can be accessed on any device.

Asana provides useful templates for content-related activities, including:

More info: Asana

Monday

Monday
Monday

Monday is a productivity suite and work management software that lets you centralize work processes, tools, and files and customize dashboards and workflows to fit your organization’s needs using customizable “no code” building blocks.

These building blocks include items, columns, views, automation, integrations, and widgets. You adapt each building block to build applications and tools that fit your needs.

The software allows you to manage production projects and other workflows with cross-team collaboration tools, easy-to-use automation, and real-time notifications.

More info: Monday

Brightpod

Brightpod
Brightpod

Brightpod is a web-based project management tool that:

  • Provides a unified system for campaigns, content, and website projects.
  • Lets you build guidelines and checklists, and organize, manage and track all your SEO, social media, blog strategy, and content marketing projects from one place to save time.
  • Helps you organize, manage, and track your team’s work from a central location.
  • Allows your team to accurately view the progress of their projects and helps to address issues of collaboration such as email spam, multiple file versions, lost files, task accountability issues, lack of clarity & work transparency.
  • Lets you see everyone’s tasks, content publish dates, and events on the shared calendar, see what is coming up next, and manage deliverables when growing your projects and clients.
  • Helps you work smarter, automate, and simplify communication.

Brightpod sits somewhere between being a simple project tool and a more complex project management software and includes features like Kanban and list tasks, recurring tasks, time tracking and estimates,  activity logs, milestones, messages, calendar, reports and analytics, workflows, automatic email reminders, project cloning, and more.

More info: Brightpod

Optimizely

Optimizely
Optimizely’s Content Management Cloud CMS

Optimizely is a digital experience platform SaaS that provides tools to help you improve your site’s optimization and achieve better conversion rates.

Optimizely’s Content Management lets you create, tailor and scale content for an enterprise CMS, run multiple shops, inventory, and an online/offline catalog, use AI to test and optimize new features, and more.

More info: Optimizely

GatherContent

GatherContent
GatherContent

GatherContent allows everyone involved in content creation to work together to plan, organize, and produce content in one cloud platform.

GatherContent lets you organize content into shared projects and folders to create a single source of truth for content. It allows content teams to collaborate on content creation, search, filter, or sort content, perform tasks in bulk, assign work to contributors, identify bottlenecks in the workflow, and more.

GatherContent workflow
GatherContent creates a single source of truth for content production.

More info: GatherContent

Content Creation Tools

Use the tools below to help you create content for your website faster:

AI Content Writing Tools

We have created a free video course on using AI to generate content and an entire article where we discuss and demonstrate the tools below here: Generate Website Content Using AI

ChatGPT

ChatGPT
ChatGPT is an impressive tool that uses advanced AI technology to create human-like text.

ChatGPT is a powerful language model developed by OpenAI that can generate human-like text based on a given prompt.

It can be used for a variety of purposes, including generating content for websites and social media, creating chatbot responses, and more.

More info: ChatGPT

Designrr

Designrr - Create, Design & Launch Stunning eBooks and Reports with Ease!
Designrr – Create, Design & Launch Stunning eBooks and Reports with Ease!

Designrr is an all-in-one solution for effortlessly creating and designing captivating eBooks and reports. With the power of ChatGPT and the revolutionary Wordgenie, Designrr has transformed the eBook creation process.

Some of this tool’s powerful features include:

  • AI-Powered Writing Assistance: Wordgenie is an A.I. writing assistant module tailored for non-fiction content, powered by ChatGPT. It helps you create powerful titles, develop cohesive outlines, discover fresh angles for your content, and generate impressive written content in minutes.
  • Streamlined eBook Creation: Overcome the hurdles of writing and designing your ebook. One-click export generates beautiful eBooks in various formats, including Flipbooks and PDFs, ready for publishing.
  • Comprehensive Editing Tools: With the built-in image editor, there’s no need for tools like Photoshop. The image editor allows you to crop, resize, and color images. The draft editor provides a distraction-free interface for content creation, offering flexibility and efficiency.
  • Engaging Design Options: Create animated Flipbooks easily shareable on mobile devices. The built-in design editor with drag-and-drop functionality allows you to customize and reorganize your eBook effortlessly.
  • Save Time and Money: Designrr includes over 100 free eBook templates, saving you from outsourcing costs and the hassle of searching for designers, and providing a seamless process from content import to eBook generation.
  • Commercial License: A free commercial license is included that lets you create and sell unlimited eBooks without additional fees or royalties and access to a 35,000-member strong community for support and advice.

More info: Designrr

Content At Scale

Content At Scale
Content At Scale: Revolutionizing AI Copywriting

Content At Scale is an innovative AI copywriting software platform utilizing three advanced AI engines, natural language processing (NLP), and semantic search analysis. It crafts entire blog posts, including titles, meta descriptions, headings, URL slugs, and paragraphs with extras, all within an astounding 5 minutes.

Key Features:

  • Speedy Content Generation: Creates long-form content in just 5 minutes.
  • Comprehensive Editor: Utilize the content editor for easy viewing and editing. Content At Scale generates titles, URL slugs, meta descriptions, and provides a checklist of optimized NLP terms for SEO enhancement.
  • Simple Input: Requires only a keyword to generate content.
  • Additional Elements: Offers Tweet boxes, TOCs, Takeaways, CTAs, plagiarism scans, whitelabeling, and low-cost options.
  • Three AI Copywriting Engines: Ensures diversity and creativity.
  • Content Quality Assurance: Run the content through a tool like Grammarly and you should see an impressive score.

AI Writing Tools:

  • Generative AI Suite: Ideal for paraphrasing, short-form content, undetectable rewrites, and simple writing.
  • Content Producer: Tailor and plan fully optimized, brand-specific long-form content.
  • RankWell®: Gain unparalleled SEO insights for ranking and scaling content efficiently.

Content At Scale also offers seamless integration with WordPress. Connect Content At Scale directly to your WordPress website to enable automatic content publication.

Creating content with Content At Scale is easy. Enter a keyword, hit “Write Post Now” to let the AI handle the research, and receive a complete, original, and research-backed piece within minutes.

Here’s a walkthrough video of the tool:

Content At Scale also guarantees plagiarism-free content with tools like:

  • AI Checker: Trained on diverse content types to assess AI probabilities.
  • AI Detector: Identifies content authenticity within seconds.
  • AI Humanizer: Craft human-like content, undetectable by AI detection tools.

Content At Scale offers a subscription-based pricing model and a Done-For-You service, combining AI generation with human editing for superior quality.

More info: Content At Scale

Hire Mia

Hire Mia
Hire Mia – AI-powered collaborative editor and writing assistant

Hire Mia is an AI-powered collaborative editor and writing assistant designed to enhance your content creation process.

You can train Mia to match your brand voice, ensuring the content sounds authentically you.

Key features include:

  • Brainstorming Assistant: Quickly generate ideas for any marketing project.
  • Research Assistant: Access web resources to find relevant stats and links.
  • Writing Assistant: Create first drafts of various content types rapidly.
  • Editing Assistant: Improve readability and correct grammar automatically.
  • Campaign Assistant: Develop and organize multiple marketing assets from a single chat.
  • SEO Assistant: Optimize content for better search engine visibility.
  • Social Media Assistant: Craft posts, schedule publishing, and recommend hashtags.
  • Collaborative AI-Editor: Transform chat inputs into content drafts.
  • In-Line Editing: Easily refine content with AI tools.
  • Revision Tracking: Track document changes and restore previous versions.
  • Brand Voice Training: Maintain consistent messaging that aligns with your brand.
  • Prompt Libraries: Use human-tested AI prompt templates for better results.
  • Team Collaboration: Empower your team with AI to enhance productivity.
  • Support & Training: Access expert guidance and support for maximizing ROI.
  • Data Security: Keep your proprietary data private and secure.

Watch the video below to learn more about Hire Mia’s capabilities:

More info: Hire Mia

Quillbot

Quillbot
Quillbot – AI-powered content writing, paraphrasing, and grammar-checking tool.

Quillbot is a natural language processing tool that will help you rewrite and paraphrase sentences and paragraphs.

The tool uses advanced algorithms to understand the context and meaning of the text and then suggests alternative ways of expressing the same ideas.

Use Quillbot to improve your writing style, generate new content ideas, and avoid plagiarism.

For example, here is an article outline generated by Quillbot:

Quillbot - Article Outline
An article outline generated by Quillbot.

After generating the outline, you can then use the tool’s features to flesh out the content sections.

Quillbot is available online as a website and can also be accessed through a browser extension.

More info: Quillbot

Spin Rewriter

SpinRewriter
SpinRewriter uses content spinning (spintax) to generate unique versions of your content.

Spin Rewriter is a software tool that analyzes and rewrites articles to create unique, high-quality content.

It uses a proprietary technology called ENL Semantic Spinning to thoroughly understand the meaning of the original article and generate new, readable versions using a hand-curated database of synonyms.

With Spin Rewriter, you can rewrite your articles at the paragraph, sentence, phrase, and single-word levels. The software also allows you to fully automate the process with a single click.

Here is a live video demo of the tool in action:

Spin Rewriter has received high praise from its users and is considered the best article-spinning tool on the market. It is compatible with a variety of SEO software and supports multiple spintax formats. All of your articles are encrypted in the software’s database for added security.

Spin Rewriter can also be easily integrated into other SEO software products for even more powerful performance.

More info: Spin Rewriter

Copy.ai

Copy.ai is an AI-powered writing tool that can help you write faster and better by cutting down your writing time by up to 80%.

With Copy.ai, you can write high-quality blog posts, social media posts, and emails with ease.

The process is simple: start by entering your post’s title and keyword, and then the AI writing tool generates an outline and main talking points to help guide your writing.

Then, it generates a full-length draft of your post in seconds, which you can edit and polish using the tool’s editor to rewrite paragraphs and sentences.

With Copy.ai, you can write high-converting social media posts and emails by providing a brief description of your post or brand, and the AI content generator will give you multiple options to choose from, which you can then edit to make your own.

Finally, just copy and paste the work into your CMS for publishing.

More info: Copy.ai

For additional tools that will help you write compelling content, see this lesson: Content Editing Tools

Infographics

Here are useful resources for sourcing infographics for your content:

For infographic creation tools, see Media Creation Tools or visit this great compilation of over 100 infographic tools and resources.

Text-To-Speech

Use text-to-speech software to create a wide range of audio-based content.

PlayHT

PlayHT - AI powered text to voice generator
PlayHT – AI powered text to voice generator

PlayHT is a cutting-edge AI-powered text-to-voice generator that offers high-quality text-to-speech synthesis and audio accessibility solutions using ultra realistic AI voices available in almost every language.

PlayHT’s next-generation AI speech technology captures the nuances and emotions embedded in text, resulting in truly impressive and human-like speech.

You can generate realistic Text-to-Speech (TTS) audio using the online AI Voice Generator and synthetic voices, instantly convert text into natural-sounding speech and download as MP3 and WAV audio files.

PlayHT’s key features include:

  • AI Voice Generator Products – Quality AI voice over generation with PlayHT’s AI text-to-speech technology.
  • Ultra realistic AI voices – Next generation AI speech technology that is truly human-like.
  • Premium AI Voices – 800+ AI Voices in 140+ languages with great customizability and control.
  • Voice Cloning – Create high-fidelity voice clones that are extremely accurate to their real human voices.
  • Text to voice editor – Powerful text to Audio Online Editor with great control of voice style.
  • Pronunciations and Phonetic – Create custom pronunciations of acronyms and niche terms that can be saved to a pronunciation library.
  • Audio Widgets – Plug-and-play, and fully customizable audio widgets for websites to increase accessibility, time on page metrics and user engagement.
  • AI Podcasts – Create and publish audio content to iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts
  • Team Access – Scale content creation by inviting and collaborating with your team
  • Female AI Voice Generator Online – Generate ultra realistic female voices for audio books, videos, and more.
  • Male AI Voice Generator Online – Create realistic male AI voices online using the text to speech technology to generate quality male AI voices.

PlayHT’s AI Voice Generator excels in a wide range of applications, including:

  • Videos: use the Ultra Realistic editor to easily transcribe and sync audio to your videos and create engaging multimedia experiences for users.
  • Elearning and Training: Use realistic AI voices to bring educational content to life and empower learning and development teams, training course providers, and educators.
  • IVR System: Create humanlike AI voice responses for interactive voice response systems, ensuring a natural and engaging customer experience.
  • Audio Articles and Accessibility: Attract new audiences and improve accessibility by offering audio versions of articles, blog posts, and written content.
  • YouTube and TikTok Videos: Narrate your YouTube and TikTok videos with AI-generated voices to add a professional touch to your content.
  • Character and Celebrity Voice Generation: Create stunning voices for game characters, animations, and cartoons, or capture the essence of any celebrity’s voice to generate identical speech.

This time-saving and cost-effective solution is ideal for businesses, content creators, educators, podcast and audiobook productions, and more.

More info: PlayHT

Speechelo

Speechelo - Text-To-Speech Software
Speechelo – Text-To-Speech Software

Speechelo provides realistic and expressive AI voice sounds and is very easy to use. Simply create the voiceover, download the mp3, and import it into your video editor (it works with all video creation software).

You can create engaging voiceovers for sales videos, training videos, educational videos, explainer videos, product review videos, webinars, video ads, audio presentations, narrated web pages, recorded announcements, review draft articles, and a whole lot more!

Speechelo’s text-to-speech engine provides inflection controls with different voice tones for reading text (normal reading, joyful, and serious),  settings for breath control, pauses, changing speed & pitch, over 30 human-sounding male and female voices, support for 23 languages, and more.

This is a cloud-based tool that lets you convert any text into a 100% human-sounding voiceover in English and other languages.

More info: Speechelo

tip

If you need help creating audio-based content using text-to-speech, see this excellent Text-to-Speech Course (narrated entirely using AI voices).

Royalty-Free Media

If you need royalty-free images, music, or videos for your content, check out the resources below:

Images

Find free and royalty-free images – A comprehensive list of sites where you can find free and royalty-free images (photos, illustrations, vector images, clipart, etc). Some of the sites also provide free access to stock videos and video clips.

Music

  • BenSound – Royalty free music for content creators. You can download copyright safe music for use in videos (YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.) and use it freely in return for attribution, or subscribe to one of the site’s paid plans.

Videos

Pexels – Videos (and images) can be downloaded and used for free. No attribution required.

Content Creation Services

There are different types of content creation services available.

Freelancers

If you don’t have an in-house content creation team, you can hire freelancers to help you with your content creation.

For resources on finding freelancers and outsourced talent, see this section: Outsourcing.

PLR

Private Label Rights (PLR) content is content written by external service providers, which is then resold to customers.

With PLR content, all the content planning, research, and writing are done by a 3rd-party. You just buy the finished product and use it or resell it as your own.

While PLR content can help you save time and money writing web content, the content is not original (as the same content is resold many times to other customers) and most are not very high quality (often requiring extensive rewriting).

The main value of using PLR content is to save time creating information products to use as lead generation magnets, additional bonuses for subscribing to your service or buying your main product, and as individual or bundled digital products to sell online.

For more information on using PLR content and PLR resources, see this tutorial: Using Private Label Rights Content

WordPress

WordPress is, effectively, a content management system designed for optimal content production.

WordPress Content Editor

If you use WordPress as a CMS, most of your content production will take place in the content editor area.

WordPress Block Editor - Content Area
The WordPress Editor is where you add most of the content for your web pages and posts.

If you use the WordPress block editor, for example, you can quickly build content-rich web pages using all kinds of different “blocks”.

WordPress Content Editor - Blocks
Add content to WordPress using blocks.

For step-by-step tutorials on using the WordPress content editor, go here:

Also, see the WordPress User Manual for hundreds of step-by-step tutorials on all aspects of using a WordPress website.

WordPress Plugins

See the WordPress plugins section for plugins that can help you with different aspects of content production.

Video Courses For Beginners – Content Production

The video courses below cover basic areas of content production and are ideal for beginners (note: you can access all of the video courses below with a single all-access pass):

How To Create Engaging Presentations - WPMasterclasses.comHow To Create Engaging Presentations

Learn how to create beautiful and engaging presentations that will help you sell more products and services online.

More info: How To Create Engaging Presentations

Digital Branding - WPMasterclasses.comDigital Branding

Learn simple and inexpensive ways to boost your brand and identity online and make your business stand out from your competition.

More info: Digital Branding

Digital Product Creation - WPMasterclasses.comDigital Product Creation

Learn how to create, launch, and sell high-quality digital products like downloadable reports, e-books, videos, and audio content quickly and cost-effectively.

More info: Digital Product Creation

Graphic Creation Tools - WPMasterclasses.comUsing Graphic Creation Tools

Learn how to access and use free image creation and editing tools, basic and advanced image editing techniques using tools like Photoshop and free alternatives, creating images for web content, presentations, infographics, social media, and so much more.

More info: Using Graphic Creation Tools

Podcasting - WPMasterclasses.comPodcasting

Learn how to get started with podcasting and how to promote your podcasts to grow your business.

More info: Podcasting

Using Webinars - WPMasterclasses.comUsing Webinars

Learn about the benefits of using webinars in your business, how to create high-quality and engaging webinars, and how to sell your products and services using webinars.

More info: Using Webinars

Text-To-Speech - WPMasterclasses.comText-To-Speech

In this practical step-by-step video course, you will learn how to use text-to-speech and the latest AI voice technologies to create professional and realistic-sounding voice narrations from text files for a wide range of commercial uses and business applications.

More info: Text-To-Speech

***

For more video courses, see this section: Digital Business Video Courses

Summary

Efficient content production tools help to make your content production process more efficient.

The tools and resources listed in this section will help you save time with content planning and speed up your content production.

Action Steps

Use the tools listed above with these content research tools and resources as these will help you maximize your content production efficiency.

Resources

References

Return To The Main Tools And Resources Section

Image: Meeting

***