What is Content Management?

Content management is the process of creating, storing, accessing, governing, retrieving, and refining the information that companies want to present to their customers. Because brands are built off a customer’s interaction with a company’s content, content management is an integral part of any business’s long-term strategy.

Most content management revolves around digital content types, which include:

• Social Media – Creating a social media marketingWhat is Social Media Marketing? Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a strategic approach that uses social media platforms to build a brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic. It involves… strategy with pre-defined goals and recorded metrics.
• Web Content – Managing the flow of content that goes on and off a company’s website, from content ideation to executing HTML implementation.
• Mobile Content – How consumers will access company data on their smartphones. This requires special formatting of existing assets for optimum viewing.
• Enterprise Content – An enterprise content management strategy includes not only which assets will be featured but also where they will be stored, how they can be accessed without bottlenecks, when they will be archived, and how version control will be addressed.

Structured vs. Unstructured Content

Organizations typically generate two types of content: structured and unstructured. They are stored, used, and analyzed differently, but are both equally vital to an overall strategy.

Structured content includes data that can be put into a table, database, or spreadsheet. It can consist of names, addresses, numeric values, and more, is often tagged and enriched with metadata for further context and is easily analyzed by computers.

Unstructured data includes blogs, images, videos, and other text documents, often making up the bulk of an organization’s content management repository. While invaluable for building a brand and communicating effectively with customers, this type of content also requires complex algorithms to process and analyze. Structured content is stored in databases, OLAP cubes, and data warehouses, and unstructured content can be found in file systems, Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems, and Content Management Systems (CMS).

The 7 Stages of Content Management

There are seven stages in the content management lifecycle:

1. Planning – What kind of content represents your organization? Define the message, tone of voice, and content types.
2. Creation – This is where creativity flourishes and assets come to life, whether through a blog, webinar, email marketingWhat is Email Marketing? Email marketing may seem like an obvious route of notifying your audience of new releases, products, and services, however, it also serves a subtler function. It… campaign, or digital advertisement.
3. Storage – The content must be stored where it can be easily accessed for safekeeping until it is transferred to a customer-facing platform, such as a website, email, or social media outlet.
4. Workflow – The repeatable set of steps that takes content from inception to completion. It should be redundant and operate smoothly for a steady flow of fresh, relevant information.
5. Editing – Editing, or versioning, canvasses feedback from stakeholders before publication of the final edition.
6. Publishing – The asset gets put in front of the audience and lives on a customer-facing platform.
7. Removal – After time, content becomes stale and either has to be updated or removed and archived to make room for newer pieces.

Benefits of Content Management

When executed correctly, a robust content management strategy can build a customer pipeline that consistently feeds a business. Delivering consistent value to your client base via relevant, quality content can result in benefits for both companies and their clients:

• Customized content – Keep customers coming back.
• A streamlined workflow – Achieve a seamless workflow for continuously generating and distributing new assets constantly without disruptions in the processes of creating, editing, versioning, or publishing.
• Better online visibility – When algorithms detect a regular distribution of content and direct more viewers to your platform.
• Lower operating costs – This occurs as the content management workflow is automated.
• Brand loyalty – Consistently delivering value-driven assets establishes trust and expertise, and ensures that the audience remains engaged and returns for more content.

Content management is a key part of the sales process for any company with a digital presence. Contact us to learn about how you can optimize your content management strategy.