Digest...

Content marketing may be a bigger industry than social media marketing, but the software portion of the industry may always be smaller. Even if content is the parent of social media, there is a lot less money to collectively be made in content marketing software than there is in social media software.

Today’s content marketing software is good. Better than it should be at this stage, really. But does a medium-sized business or small business need a software license to help them curate, create, manage, and measure content marketing? Multiple vendors at Content Marketing World 2014 take the “our solution is way better than Excel” approach to pitching their calendaring solution, or similar. And while it may be accurate that Excel is an unlikely candidate for the Beloved Software Hall of Fame, it is also true that every business already has it, has already paid for it, and already knows how to use it.

You can buy the best software in the world, but if you don’t have smart, dedicated marketers to operate it, the outcome will be middling, at best. All modern marketing software (of any stripe) requires labor to make the magic happen. That makes the true cost of software ownership not just licensing and training costs, but salaries and benefits, too. It’s another reason why I’m not sure SMB will embrace content marketing with the same fervor as they have social media. Many of those companies have only recently finished swallowing the new software and personnel expenses needed to “get good” at social, and now they are expected to do it again with content marketing?

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Digest...

5 signs you may need automated content marketing workflows

#1 – Your organization has complex workflows

If you map out the steps it takes to create your top five content assets, and the number of tasks typically equals more than four per content type, it’s time to consider automated workflows.

#2 – You have multiple content and campaign types

Marketing organizations use an average of 13 content tactics. That doesn’t even include the number of campaigns, both outbound and inbound, running simultaneously. Automated workflows ensure each of these are developed and deployed in a unified and highly visible way.

#3  - You have a large network of collaborators

Automated workflows make it easier to track and manage all collaborators across their various roles and functions.

#4 – You have multiple distribution points

Without content to supply these channels, the investments are at risk of failing. Automated workflows tackle this problem by including each distribution point as a task. With content marketing software these distribution points are not only catalogued, but the content can be deployed to the channel directly from the platform.

#5 – You have extensive brand guidelines

Automated workflows enable brands to stay within the guidelines by making the corporate governance process part of the checklist. Automated workflows can save time and resources while enabling a better production process for content. And as content marketing becomes a centerpiece of marketing strategy’s worldwide, the forward-thinking organizations are putting workflows front and center.

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