Create a workflow for your content process in 5 steps

You’ve heard the expression, “Work smarter, not harder.”

Content marketing teams would do well to adopt this philosophy. Hard work alone cannot solve the battle to meet the demand for more (and better) content. However, working smarter can eliminate the friction, confusion and production inefficiencies that can hinder their success.

Working smarter requires clear operational procedures and well-defined processes. If your team is missing these basic elements, important tasks fall through the cracks and no one knows the next steps or who is responsible for implementing them. At some point, chaos reigns, content quality suffers, and the team wastes time fixing production issues while your competitors solve your audience’s challenges.

This streamlined, five-step process lets you map workflows for every content format and variation your team regularly produces. You can then create executable processes that make production easier to manage. The templates and examples can guide you through each step.

Step 1: Review your content formats

First, you need an overview of all the content to be delivered and its distribution for each format.

Create a template with these columns – content format, primary distribution platform, additional distribution platforms, and special circumstances and variations.

• Content format: Do you create articles? E-books? Live presentations? Webinars? Visual content? Create a row for each format your team regularly produces.
• Primary delivery platform: Where is each format published or shared? First? Ideally it is an owned media platform, such as your blog or email. However, if it’s an external platform like social media, write down the goal.
• Additional sales platforms. Do you use this content format on other channels? List them. This step helps uncover overlooked tasks in the process, such as: Such as uploading assets to your brand’s social pages via an admin account or resizing images to fit platform specifications. It also takes into account post-release steps to provide a consistent multiplatform experience.
• Special circumstances and variations. Are you marking some eBooks as lead gen magnets while leaving other eBooks unblocked? Are videos only added to your newsletters when you’re promoting an event or special offer? Note any variations that require additional steps or a specific production process.

TIP: If a content format is used significantly in different ways, list those uses on separate lines. For example, videos can have two lines: “Video – YouTube” and “Video – Instagram Stories”.

At this point, just focus on the higher-level tasks in your operations. Details like design requirements, who creates the content, and who needs to approve it come later (step three).

Here is an example of what an audit might look like:

Content format	Primary distribution platform	Additional distribution platforms	Special circumstances/deviations
Editorial article	Website (blog)	· Newsletters · LinkedIn profile page/group · Social media	· Sponsored posts · Crowdsourced contributions · Sample collections · Newly published posts · Posts from contributors
newsletter	e-mail	None	None
E-book	Website (resource page)	· Email campaigns · Editorial article · Sponsored landing page	· Protected for lead generation · Sponsored eBooks
Video (live stream)	Instagram	· Facebook · TikTok LIVE	· Created together with influencers · Expert interviews
Video (script)	YouTube	· Website blog · Event microsite · Website video page	· Sponsored webinars
Social media post	LinkedIn	· Facebook · LinkedIn · Instagram	· Paid promotions · Created together with influencers
Live presentation	Personal event	· Platform for virtual events · LinkedIn Live	· Video clips on social media · Sales partner page

Step 2: List all tasks required for each format

Next, detail all editorial, collaborative, and technical production tasks to produce each content format for its primary platform.

You may want to start with the most frequently produced or critical ones your Content goals. Alternatively, you can start with the most complex asset that requires multiple teams or many steps to produce and distribute. You’ll see why in a moment.

Don’t worry about organizing the tasks. Just list them as they come to mind. For example, an editorial article for your website’s blog might include this to-do list:

• Determine the topic.
• Schedule publication in the editorial calendar.
• Edit the submitted copy.
• Load text and images into the content management system.
• Format content for layout.
• Send the edited copy to the author and contributors for revision/approval.
• Request sales/marketing feedback on the topic.
• Set metadata details for SEO.
• Send links/assets to the contact person for the daily email newsletter.
• Design and develop visual images.
• Collect author biography information/assets.
• Brainstorm specific story views.
• Identify and interview subject matter experts.
• Collect metrics/create performance reports.
• Hire the author to write the copy.
• Review and approve the final layout.
• Share performance data with stakeholders.
• Publish content on the primary platform.
• Share links/assets with content partners for use.

Some of these tasks may involve multiple sub-steps. For example, formatting the article could include importing and resizing images, adding hyperlinks, setting category tags, etc. However, stick to general task categories for this exercise.

Step 3: Organize tasks by production phase

Next, group the tasks for each format into pre-production, production, and post-production phases in sequential order, as shown in the template below.

Feel free to supplement your task descriptions with clarifying details. They could help team members distinguish commonly confused actions, such as: B. content editing and final proofreading.

Content format level (editorial article)	Required tasks
Pre-production phase	Determine the topic.
	Brainstorming angle.
	Identify sources/subject matter experts.
	Request sales/marketing feedback on topic and approach.
	Assign an author.
	Ease governance requirements.
	Creating/collecting author biographies/assets.
Production phase	Get author contributions.
	Edit/revise the copy for style and content.
	Design/develop visuals.
	Send a final copy to the author and stakeholders for revision/approval.
	Loading/formatting text and images for layout.
	Set metadata details for SEO.
	Review and approve the final layout.
Post-production phase	Schedule publication in the editorial calendar.
	Publish content (including metadata) to the primary platform.
	Send content to (Contact) to receive email alerts/newsletters.
	Share links/assets with content partners for additional promotion, repurposing and distribution efforts according to the content plan.
	Collect metrics data and create reports.
	Share performance data with stakeholders to inform them of possible adjustments or future content plans.

To organize your tasks in a logical order, also answer these questions:

• What tasks need to be completed before others can begin?
• Which tasks can take place at the same time?
• Which tasks mean that one phase is completed and the next can begin?

Your processes must take into account standards and requirements that are established at the company level or contribute to other organizational functions. For example, you may need to set metadata details according to your company’s SEO strategy or adhere to organizational procedures such as: B. Securing signed contributor agreements.

If these steps weren’t included in your initial to-do list, add them. (In the example above, I added “Facilitating Governance Requirements,” which wasn’t on the original task list. If you’re not sure what these tasks entail – or how to complete them – do some research. It just becomes your job difficult if you have to insert or rearrange steps after you have mapped the operational workflow.

Step 4: Assign roles and determine how the work will happen

From here, add a column to define roles and responsibilities for each task. With this information, you can create a map that shows how production effort flows from one role to the next.

The first part is relatively easy, especially if you have a small, centralized content marketing team and clearly defined roles. For collaborative tasks, include everyone (or the departments they represent) who must act before the task is completed. In this example, I’ve included some pre-production roles as a guide:

Content format level (editorial article)	Task to be completed	Roll
Pre-production phase	Determine the topic.	· Team leader
	Brainstorming angle.	· Team leader · Senior Editor
	Identify sources/subject matter experts.	· Senior Editor · Story editor · Staff writers
	Request sales/marketing feedback on topic and approach.	· Senior Editor
	Assign an author.	· Senior Editor
	Ease governance requirements.	· Senior Editor
	Creating/collecting author biographies/assets.	· Copy editor

For larger companies or those with shared content responsibilities across multiple departments, defining roles can be more complicated. However, once you organize your content marketing team members into their standard areas of responsibility, you can see where the gaps exist. This can help identify internal teams to turn to for collaborative support.

Additionally, it helps identify areas where there is a lack of sufficient skills or coverage so you can proactively fill them by outsourcing talent or integrating generative AI tools. You may discover unnecessary redundancies that can be eliminated.

The diagram now provides all the information needed to understand the editorial article format workflow. However, turning it into a shareable graphic or map can help stakeholders visualize how they fit into the production continuum and what still needs to happen.

Step 5: Operationalize and iterate

You have listed the tasks and assigned the order of operations for a content format. Now implement it as a repeatable process. Create a mechanism to track and manage completed tasks and ensure everyone has what they need to contribute.

You can use the detailed dashboards provided in project management tools like Asana or Jira to build a sophisticated system. Another option is to create custom trackers and checklists using cloud-based work tools like Air table, Trelloor Performance. However, the simplest approach may be to copy the information from the template chart into a shareable Google Spreadsheet or Excel document.

Now you can adapt the process to variations in content format. This is how it works:

• Review the original table that lists exceptional circumstances and deviations that require different steps.
• Go through the tasks in the diagram (step two). Delete unnecessary tasks for the variant and identify any tasks to add. For example, for a sponsored blog post (a variation of a blog article), you may need to incorporate the client’s logo and sample text or facilitate their text review and approval process.
• Assign roles for newly added tasks.

This model allows you to repeat this process for each regularly used content format, giving you a comprehensive content operations tracker.

Create, revise, repeat and achieve

Content marketing teams juggle many responsibilities. Why not make their jobs easier by working smarter? Map operational workflows and build reliable processes that increase your performance.

If you decide to try this shortcut, I’d love to hear how it works – or how you’ve adapted it to work better for your team.

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute