It’s now apparent: Those who incorporate content marketing into their overall marketing strategies find themselves publishers. They need to create a content strategy, manage an editorial calendar, develop and distribute frequent and quality content that appeals to their audience, then measure those results. That’s a lot to digest, and that’s a lot of work to keep track of.
Content marketing isn’t new; in fact, it’s been around for many years. According to this infographic, one of the first signs of custom publishing was found in some cave paintings, dated back to 4200 B.C. Today, content marketing is priority for just about every business.
One of the big differences between then and now is that we have the luxury of technology. While that may seem like a pretty obvious statement, it’s just as true for content marketing as it is for any other industry. Say, for instance, you were in the market for a content provider 5 years ago. The vendor probably would have sent your content via Word documents, or even pasted into the body of an email.
While that might not seem like a big deal to you, it actually isn’t very efficient. You probably sought out a content provider because you didn’t have time to do the work yourself, and you wanted quality content. Sound familiar? That’s where content marketing platforms or software come into play: they make organizing and managing your content marketing efforts that much easier.
There’s no doubt a content marketing platform will help your process; it’s choosing the one that fits your needs that could clutter your mind.
Here are some items to look for when evaluating a content marketing platform:
Editorial Calendar
Imagine seeing a snapshot of your content schedule for an entire month. You should be able to view what items have been completed and what pieces of content are due up next within your campaign. Some items will be “in-progress”, while others will be ready for your review. Making any adjustments to your calendar should be easy to do as well.
Feedback
Requesting a revision should be easy to do. Being able to contact your writer and account manager within the platform, so nothing will get lost in email, is a must. It’s helpful if comments from you and the writer can be saved and time stamped within each individual item.
Content Approval
You should be able to approve content and immediately be able to download the file, email it to yourself, or have the content delivered to your CMS via an RSS feed.
Reporting
You should be able to access monthly reporting to see how your content is working for you based on key performance indicators for your campaign.
A robust content platform (such as Brandpoint’s proprietary system, which our clients love) can make working with your content provider easier and more efficient. If you’re in the market for quality content that is delivered efficiently and works for you, then it’s time to get out of the Stone Ages. Brandpoint can make your journey easy.
