Are you aware that content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and gets you thrice as many leads? This makes content an integral part of every organization’s marketing strategy. However, things can go haywire if your process is not in place, resulting in poor outcomes. 

Don’t give up just yet! We have you covered with the importance of workflows and how you can create them for your organization. You can learn the art of creating content workflows by reading this blog post. 

So, without further ado, let’s get started. 

What Are Content Workflows?

Content workflows are the processes and procedures that content creators follow to produce high-quality content consistently. 

A well-designed content workflow will consider all the steps involved in content creation, from ideation and research to writing, editing, and publishing. It will also ensure that you complete each step promptly and efficiently.

A content workflow can be as simple or complex as you need it to be, but at its core, it should help you to produce better content more efficiently. 

If you’re struggling to keep up with your content workload or find that your content is often of poor quality, then it might be time to consider implementing a content workflow. Let’s learn more about that in the next section.

(Read our blog post on content marketing statistics). 

Why Is Using a Content Workflow Important?

Creating content can be a complex and time-consuming process, especially if you’re working on a large project with multiple team members. That’s where a content workflow comes in. A content workflow is a system that helps you manage the creation and publication of content from start to finish. 

Having a content workflow in place is essential for several reasons. 

  1. It helps ensure that your content is of high quality and meets your audience’s needs. 
  2. It enables you to be more efficient and organized in your content creation, saving you time and money. 
  3. It helps you track your content’s performance and improve your overall content strategy. 
  4. A content workflow can help ensure that your content complies with any legal or company guidelines.

 Implementing a content workflow can be challenging, but the benefits are worth the effort.

Drawbacks Of Not Having A Content Workflow

Without a content workflow, it can be all too easy for things to fall through the cracks. It can lead to sub-standard content, missed deadlines, and ultimately a loss of customers. 

You will also be wasting time and money, negatively affecting your bottom line. Here are some more drawbacks that you must know about:

  • You may struggle to come up with ideas for new content.
  • It may be difficult to find time to create content regularly.
  • Your content may not be as high quality as it could be if you’re not following a structured process.
  • It may be difficult to measure the success of your content if you’re not tracking it properly.

Therefore, a workflow has to be a part of your content marketing strategy

Important Components Of A Content Management Workflow

The main components of a content management workflow include processes, people, and tools. Let’s take a closer look at them.

Processes

You must identify the steps required for content creation, including strategizing, planning, creating, reviewing, publishing & analyzing.

There are more steps to every step in the workflow, and you can add as per your requirement.

People

The most important part of your content workflow is the people involved in it. You must find out who the leading players are and how you can put them to the best useful stuff. For every stage, you need a specialist to get the work done properly without any hiccups. With these people’s help, every step of the process nears completion. 

Tools

To get work done faster and in a more organized way, you need tools that can be tools to edit and create content on management. You may require tools like Canva and Photoshop for designing and CMS tools to organize the constant flow. Based on the size of your organization and the content strategy, your workflow will change, and as it grows, it becomes more challenging to manage. That is why using a tool can make the task less cumbersome.

(Also read – all about content marketing).

How To Create A Content Workflow?

Here’s how to go about well-organized content workflow management,

1. Set the content goals and know the target audience

Set the content goals and know the target audience-Content Workflow

Building a content management workflow requires knowing your goals and target audience. This helps you determine what content to create, how to format it, and where to publish it. Without this information, creating a cohesive and effective content strategy is difficult. Additionally, your target audience will dictate the kind of content they want to see. If you don’t know who your target audience is, it will be challenging to create content that resonates with them. Finally, having a clear understanding of your goals will help you measure the success of your content strategy and make necessary adjustments along the way.

2. Define the roles and responsibilities of team members

Define the roles and responsibilities of team members-Content Workflow

To build an effective content management workflow, it is essential to first define the roles and responsibilities of each content team member. Once you do that, you can assign tasks to team members and make them responsible for different aspects of the workflow. 

For example, one team member may be responsible for creating content, while another may edit and publish it. In larger teams, someone may be accountable for managing the workflow itself and ensuring that all tasks reach completion on time.  

By clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of each team member, you can ensure that everyone is aware of their tasks and that the workflow runs smoothly.

3. Choose content types and finalize frequency

Choose content types and finalize frequency

When creating content, choosing the right mix of content types and creation frequency is essential to build a content management workflow that works for you. (Read about types of content marketing). 

Depending on your goals, you should focus on creating evergreen content or on creating timely content that capitalizes on current trends. You may also want to vary the frequency with which you create content, depending on the time available and how often you wish to put new content out.

The most important thing is to experiment and find what works for you. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for content creation, so don’t be afraid to mix things up and try new ways until you find a system that works for you.

Do consider creating a content marketing calendar

4. Build the content creation process

Build the content creation process

You have reached a particular stage, and here, you have to define your content creation process. As different content formats require different steps, you have to plan accordingly. You have to connect with your team and understand what steps the process should have so that you get the desired outcome.

For example, social media posts require minimal reviewing and editing, whereas blog posts or other long-form content have several stages of editing and review before you finalize them. Try to be as realistic as you can at this stage so that the workflow can move logically and smoothly.

5. Automate your workflow

Automate your workflow

There are many reasons to automate and organize your content workflow. Perhaps the most important reason is that it can save you a tremendous amount of time. Automating tasks like scheduling social media posts or generating reports can free up your time to focus on more critical tasks. Do make it a part of your social media content strategy.

If you’re like most content creators, you probably have a lot of ideas floating around in your head at any given time. But they’ll only see the light of day if you have a system for organizing those ideas. Automating your content workflow can help you get your ideas out of your head and into a format ready to be shared with the world. It can also help you save time by automating repetitive tasks like scheduling and publishing. And perhaps most importantly, a content workflow software can help you be more consistent with your content, which is essential for growing your audience.

Automation can also help you avoid errors and ensure that your content is always up-to-date. There are several content marketing tools to help you.

6. Conduct content audits from time to time

Conduct content audits from time to time

Content audits are essential to any content workflow because they help you take stock of what you have, identify gaps, and plan for the future. A content audit can also be a helpful way to assess the health of your content and identify any areas that need attention. Conducting a content audit is a relatively simple process:

  1. You inventory all of the content you have.
  2. You analyze it to see how well it aligns with your goals.
  3. You create a plan for how to improve it. 

By putting in extra effort, you will create great content. 

Do read – Benefits of content marketing

Start Building Your Content Workflow!

Building an effective content creation workflow can seem daunting, but not anymore with our inputs! By following the simple steps you read above, you’ll be well on your way to creating content that flows smoothly and efficiently. (Read our blog post on content marketing tips). 

The content planning steps may vary from one organization to another, so you have to make the necessary tweaks to them as the content manager so that the whole project management process glides as per your needs. 

You will start seeing results right at the beginning, and once you do, don’t forget to thank us!

Till then, happy workflow building!

Before you leave, do read our content marketing guide.

FAQs

What are the 3 basic components of a content workflow?

Process, people, and tools are the three basic components of a content workflow. The process involves the required steps; the people are the leading players you need to complete each stage, and the tools help speed up the process.  

Can workflow be associated with content type?

Yes, the type of content can affect the workflow. While social media posts require minimal reviewing & editing, blog posts have several stages of editing and review before you finalize them.

What are the basics of content creation?

When it comes to creating content, you need to have a clear understanding of your audience. Next up, you have to see what topics you will cover, what tone you will use and how you can make your content stand out from the rest.