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The Smooth Content Operations Triangle: People, Processes and Technology

Luuk
Engatta | The Smooth Content Operations Triangle: People, Processes and Technology

Part two of our blog series about delivering top-notch content with a structured approach and within your budget.

Smooth content operations are achieved through harmonious interaction between people, processes, and technology. Ensuring these elements are well-aligned to attain a content culture marked by collaboration, transparency, and effective communication is essential. This follow-up blog delves into the world of people and processes. 

Smooth content operations empower organizations to manage their content effectively throughout its lifecycle, spanning strategy development, content creation, publishing, distribution, analysis, and ongoing management. These operations translate your organization's content strategy into practice. Without carefully designed content operations, this strategy remains that clichéd dot on the horizon you will never reach.

People

At the core of seamless content operations lies the pivotal role of individuals. People are the most crucial and simultaneously the most challenging to manage effectively. 

The Role of the Content Editor

As a content editor, you serve as the creative heart of your content team, understanding precisely how to connect with your audience through on-point content. However, to excel in your role, it's imperative to have a manager who adeptly deploys resources. Given the potential involvement across different channels, business lines, and team leaders, this task is inherently complex. The challenges intensify with the growing demand for engaging and personalized content. So, what implications does this hold for your manager, the Content Director?

The Role of the Content Director

Well, content director, for you, it’s crucial that everyone has clear roles and responsibilities concerning content—roles and responsibilities that align with their strengths. Anna may excel at crafting fantastic titles and finding fitting visuals, while Jamie might specialize in writing in-depth whitepapers or have unique ideas for tackling every content challenge.
 
And that is why content directors must emphasize collaboration. In larger organizations, this can be more intricate. However, with effective collaboration between different content or organizational silos, you can prevent duplicating the efforts and achieve the best results.
 
When team members know their roles and the tasks they need to complete, the content creation process is more cohesive and productive. Smooth processes are essential in this regard.

Processes

Smooth content processes facilitate seamless transitions between content-related activities, reduce bottlenecks, and deliver timely content. They are a meticulously planned and executed series of steps that guide content from conceptualization to distribution. 

Our Content Workflow

To give you an idea, let’s look at the overall content workflow at Engatta. 

  1. Generate ideas that fit our content strategy
  2. Prioritize the ideas
  3. Set a timeline for the different content pieces
  4. Write a draft
  5. Get feedback and edit the content piece
  6. Optimize for SEO
  7. Search and add graphics or pictures
  8. Publish
  9. Share in an email and on social
  10. Analyze and repeat
     

This tightly organized and repeatable content workflow is crucial for our content process. By consistently tracking the progress of our content through the supply chain and identifying the current responsible party at each step, we exert precise control over our content production process.

A Robust Content Governance System

To achieve this, you need a robust content governance system. You and your colleagues use living documents such as brand guidelines, style guides, and content guides. These documents not only provide insights into the preferred tone of voice but also valuable lessons on optimizing the visibility and audience of blogs and social media posts. Also, content templates help both you and your colleagues follow your style and brand guidelines.

The process's series of steps is not set in stone. If you, as a content director or editor, identify a process that isn't functioning optimally, your organization should be able to adapt it swiftly. You don't want an 'but that's the process, computers say no' attitude. Instead, foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Engatta process
Incorporating an iterative approach is vital to your content operations process. 

Technology

In the world of smooth content operations, technology is like the trusty sidekick that works alongside people and processes. But let's admit it: tech territory can be a bit of a maze.

Don't worry.

In our next and final blog of the series, we'll be your friendly tech territory guide and help you explore. 

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