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Digital content is everywhere today. From the articles we read online on social media to the videos we watch on YouTube, digital content is a huge part of our lives. But what exactly is digital content? And how can businesses effectively manage their digital content?
In this article, we’ll navigate the in’s and out’s of digital content management to show you how it can be done effectively, thus saving time, resources, and bandwidth while achieving the results you desire.
First Off, What is Digital Content?
Digital content is any type of content that exists in a digital format. This includes things like eBooks, websites, images, and videos. So, everything a user sees on the internet can be generally classified as some form of digital content.
So, What is Digital Content Management?
Digital content management is the process of storing, organizing, and managing digital content. There are two types of digital content management systems: digital asset management systems and content management systems.
Digital asset management systems (DAM) are used to store and manage large amounts of rich media assets, like images and videos.
Content management systems (CMS), on the other hand, are used to store and manage all types of digital content, including text, images, videos, and more. They are also used by businesses that run digital marketing strategies.
Examples of Content Management Systems (CMS)
Some popular content management systems used by businesses today include:
- WordPress
- Drupal
- Joomla
- Magento
- Shopify
Want to know how prevalent are CMS’s in today’s digital world? Here’s a stat for you: WordPress alone powers 34% of the internet as there are 455 million WordPress websites on a global scale.
This can only signify how digital content has truly grown to become a part of our daily lives.
How to Do Digital Content Management as a Process
Digital content management is a process that can be broken down into eight key steps:
1. Import or Create Digital Content
This is considered as the first step in the process as it is important to have a content inventory before starting the digital content management process. A business can choose to create new content or update old content on its website.
2. Identify Users and Roles
In the second step, you need to determine who will be accessing and using the content. This will help you set up the necessary permissions and access levels.
3. Assign Roles and Responsibilities
Consequently, the third step is to assign roles and responsibilities to the users you have identified in the previous step.
4. Define Workflow Processes
What this basically means is that you need to establish how the content will be created, reviewed, published, and updated. This includes defining turnaround times for deliverables, scheduling tasks, and how third-party tools are used in conjunction with the CMS.
5. Version Tracking
In the fifth step, you need to put a system in place that will allow you to track and manage different versions of the content. This is important for maintaining accuracy and preventing content from getting lost in translation.
6. Publishing
In the process of content management, the sixth step involves actually publishing the content. This can be done in a variety of ways, depending on the type of content and where it will be published.
7. Personalized Content
In accordance with publishing digital content, the seventh step is to make sure that the content is personalized for the audience. This includes using the right keywords, tagging content properly, and using audience segmentation.
8. Archiving
As the last step in the linear process of managing digital content with a CMS, you need to establish a system for archiving. This is important for maintaining an organized content library and making sure that old content can still be accessed when needed. This also saves you storage space in the long run.
By following these steps, you can be sure that your digital content is well-managed and organized.
5 Ways to Effectively Manage Content
Now that we’ve gone over the basics of digital content management, let’s take a look at some specific ways on how you can effectively manage your content. Whether it’s for digital marketing strategies such as SEO, PPC, social media, content or email marketing, these tips will fine-tune your entire content management operations.
1. Categorize and organize content
The first tip in effectively managing your digital content is to categorize and organize them accordingly. This involves creating a content hierarchy and using tags and keywords to ensure that your content can be easily found and retrieved.
2. Use a content calendar
The second tip is to use an editorial or content calendar. This is a tool that helps you plan and schedule your content in advance. This is important for ensuring that your content is published on a regular basis and that it aligns with your business goals.
From the topic of the content to the schedule of its publication, a content calendar will give you a better overview of your content strategy as a whole. This is most impactful in content marketing and social media marketing, such as Facebook or Instagram, where seasonality and trending topics work better with the algorithm.
3. Establish accountability in the team
The third tip is to establish accountability within the team. This means assigning roles and responsibilities to specific team members and making sure that they are aware of their tasks. This will help ensure that the content management process is smooth and efficient.
When people know what they need to accomplish to get things moving, it becomes easier to get the work done. Especially for digital marketing campaigns that involve multiple contributors, accountability goes a long way in ensuring deliverables are met on time.
4. Implement the right tech
Alongside establishing accountability for their work, it’s important that your team has the right tools and technologies to help them manage content effectively. This includes using a content management system (CMS) and other software that can automate tasks and make the content management process easier.
As the fourth tip, it is necessary that you evaluate the needs of your team and invest in the right tools to help them do their job more effectively. Not only does this help save bandwidth, but it also keeps the team satisfied with the work they’re doing.
5. Define workflow and standard of quality
Last but not least, you need to define the workflow and standards of quality for your content. This includes setting up guidelines on how content should be created, edited, and published. Using a style guide in a digital marketing campaign, for instance, helps in crafting branded content.
This ensures that all your content is consistent and of high quality. It’s also important to have a system of quality control and assurance set in place for reviewing and approving content before it is published. This is why PPC ad campaigns, for example, can benefit a lot from A/B testing.
Since digital marketing makes use of content management systems, it might make sense for a business running an SEO, paid ad, or social media management campaign to reshape or restructure its operations on such a granular level.
Through these five general pointers, you can be sure that your digital content is being managed more effectively. Small businesses looking to take the next step should be embracing constant improvement on the digital front. And with the right tools and processes in place, you can create and publish content that meets your business goals and drives results.
Distinguishing Content Management from Digital Content Creation, Strategy, Governance & Operations
Content management is often confused with digital content creation, strategy, governance, and operations. However, it is important to note that these are four different things.
Digital content creation refers to the process of creating digital content, such as text, images, videos, etc. Blogging is an example of digital content creation.
Digital content strategy, on the other hand, is the process of planning and executing a plan to achieve specific business goals using digital content.
Digital content governance is the process of putting policies and procedures in place to ensure that digital content meets certain standards.
And finally, digital content operations refer to the day-to-day tasks involved in managing digital content, such as publishing, tagging, archiving, etc.
While all of these processes are important in their own right, content management is the backbone that ties them all together. Without effective content management, it would be difficult to create, strategize, and operate digital content effectively.
Crafting a Content Management Strategy
Now that we’ve gone over the basics of digital content management, it’s time to start crafting your own content management strategy.
To be successful, day-to-day content management must be strategic. According to a study from the Content Marketing Institute on managing content, 78% of businesses take a long-term approach, which requires careful strategizing. The absence of procedures was also named by respondents as the top reason organizations do not adopt a comprehensive approach.
Creating and maintaining content procedures is critical to successful content management. Digital content has the capability to be an organization’s most valuable asset, and management procedures can make it happen. Strategic content management should increase efficiency while allowing you to concentrate on what matters: producing content that meets the target audience’s demands.
A content management strategy should be tailored to the specific needs of your organization. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but there are some common elements that all effective strategies should include:
1. Define goals and objectives
The first step in any content management strategy is to define your goals and objectives. What are you trying to achieve with your content? Be specific and realistic in your goals so you can measure success.
2. Assess the current state
Once you know what you want to achieve, you need to assess your current state. This includes understanding your strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats. This information will help you develop a plan of action.
Ask yourself questions like: Should you include social media in your digital marketing strategy? Or is focusing on an inbound marketing strategy better? Is Google Ads more beneficial? Are you tracking the right metrics and measuring the proper KPIs?
3. Develop a plan
After you’ve assessed your current state, you can develop a plan for moving forward. This should include specific actions and a timeline for implementation.
4. Implement and monitor
The next step is to put your plan into action. This includes developing processes and procedures, as well as assigning roles and responsibilities. Once you’ve implemented your strategy, you need to monitor progress and make adjustments as needed.
Why is a Content Management Strategy Important?
There are three reasons that your business can greatly improve performance with an effective content management strategy. These reasons are:
Cognitive operations
All businesses have daily tasks that take up time and attention but don’t necessarily contribute to the company’s success. Content management processes can automate or streamline these tasks so you can focus on more important things.
Knowledge management
An effective content management strategy can help you avoid duplication of effort, optimize resources, and collaborate more effectively. It can also help you build a knowledge base that can be used by the entire organization. This ultimately contributes to improved planning, decision-making, and overall operations.
Information management
In the age of big data, it’s more important than ever to be able to effectively manage information. An effective content management strategy can help you organize and make sense of all the data you have so you can use it to your advantage. This impacts accuracy, consistency, and quality of work.
The Key to Success in Digital Content Management
Conclusively, the key to success in digital content management is having a strategy that fits your business. This strategy should be tailored to the specific needs of your organization and include goals, objectives, and a plan of action.
By taking a strategic approach to content management, you can improve efficiency, optimize resources, and collaborate more effectively. Ultimately, this will lead to improved performance for your organization — and indeed, is this not what the business of tomorrow should be chasing after all?
If you want to discover more insightful articles on digital marketing, case studies, webinars, and podcasts, among other topics and content formats, visit our knowledge base today!
Author Bio:
Bernard San Juan III is the Managing Partner of Truelogic who comes from a successful career in online companies, where he played a critical role in building & managing workforce groups. He has redesigned the organization’s IT infrastructure to improve order processing and logistics. His skills include managing performance, managing costs and training. He also manages overall sales, customer satisfaction, graphic design, copywriting, and training with first-line supervisors.
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