Four Steps to Mastering your Content

Perhaps you don't currently have a bid content library and feel that one might be useful? Or you have one and aren't sure how to maintain it? Maybe someone new has joined and they don't know where to start? This article lays out the fundamental elements that any content library ought to contain.

Over five articles, I am going to set down some of the basics of content library management as I see them. This is one person's view, based on my experiences, drawn from several organisations operating in very different markets and bidding in very different ways. I believe that what it set out here applies to bidding in general. However, if you think I have missed something then please leave a comment at the bottom. 

In this article, I will give an overview of the content library management cycle. In subsequent articles, I will dive a little deeper into each of the four elements that comprise it. These four elements are:

• Building the framework of a library in the first place, or rebuilding one that has got out of control
• Finding and developing the content that goes into it
• Governing that content over the months and years so that it remains useful
• Capturing new content that arises through everyday bidding work

Some recent research noted that the time spent on proposals is typically only around 4 days. In a world where deadlines are ever tighter and resources are squeezed more-and-more, the less time you waste trying to find information, the better placed you will be to make it compliant to the process and bespoke to the client. This simultaneously places more emphasis on having the best content to-hand whilst also reducing the available time to conduct this vital housekeeping work.

The Framework for a Great Content Library

A great content library is the first place you look for any information that you (or your colleagues) might have used before. It should be a constant help, saving you time and providing you with insights and examples that you had previously not been aware of, all at the touch of a button. Many solution providers claim that, if done well, the time spent searching for information can be cut in half.

Creating a great content library requires assembling a large volume of information; so, if you don’t have one (or worse, you have one that, over time, has become unhelpful and out-of-control), where do you start?

The first step is to decide where to keep the information. Wherever it is, it has to be easily accessible to all who use it. It must be easy to use, navigable and searchable in an intuitive way, consistently and clearly labelled. That "ease-of-use" needs to be agreed by all that will use it, so some discussion should be had as to how it is going to be structured for the benefit of all. That agreement should be documented, so that it can be referred back to later, so that it can be used as a resource for new starters, and so that it can be used as a reference to inform future decisions as your organisation evolves (rather than constantly going back over old ground, or reinventing the wheel). 

Compelling Copy does not come Overnight

Next, you need some content! An early decision needs to be made. Do you:

• Write the content in private, review and approve it, and then publish it to the library? ; or
• Publish what you have (warts and all) onto the library, and improve it over time under the critical eye of your colleagues?

The former is attractive but can be long-winded. Will your colleagues be able to wait, or do they have needs right now that a content library would address? The latter is quicker but has far greater potential for bad, wrong or out-of-date content to make it through into your (draft) bids. Will your colleagues be understanding if they find information on the content library that they feel shouldn’t be there? Your process should include a mechanism that enables them to feed this back in a structured, catalogued way so that expectations can be managed and actions recorded. 

Bids relate to every part of an organisation, and each part has subject matter experts (SMEs) with their own interests, skills and priorities that, in their eyes at least, far out-weigh yours. Getting the best out of SMEs is an important skill that any bid professional needs to master. Getting them to support and prioritise a content library initiative will only work if they believe that the outcome for them is less intrusion and less pressure in the long run. Here, a clear plan, good communication and documented processes will all help.

Ongoing Governance keeps Content Fresh

Organisations evolve and any content library must evolve too. The more time that passes, the more people that are involved and the more content over which governance is required, then the greater the importance of having controls, checks, balances, documentation and governance processes in place becomes. 

If your team are held accountable for the accuracy of bids that are produced, it is only appropriate that your SMEs are held accountable for helping to update content from time to time. Making use of the metadata that is available will help with this. Questions such as...:

• When was a given record last modified/updated, and by whom? 
• When was it last used in a bid document?
• Have any colleagues provided any comments or feedback that should be taken into consideration?
• Does the information in the record have a specific expiry date?
• How often does it need to be checked or updated?

...all provide context for a record and its likelihood of remaining accurate. One of the most critical areas for me though is...:

• Why has a record not been used in a bid since its last review?

Identifying those records and answering that question yields the greatest opportunity for change in a content library; either by improving record and bringing a hidden gem into use, or by identifying a record that isn’t needed and could prove a distraction away from better alternatives. 

Your Best Content is There for the Taking

A recurrent statistic in surveys is that the biggest single challenge that bid professionals face is identifying good content for use in their documents. Yet it is produced, approved and released by organisations every day in the form of bids, proposals, marketing collaterals and many more types of document. Making time to capture that content is an important step in the development of a great content library. 

Building this aspect of your process well can save you time overall. The content under discussion here is fresh, approved and demonstrably useful (at least once). The task is simply to bring it into a general, generic form that is safe for use in future, an activity that is far easier than creating new content from scratch. 

Follow each of these four steps and you will, over time, create a resource that will make your working life easier every single day. In my next article, I will go into more detail on the first of these topics, how to start building a robust framework for your content library. Look out for that in a week or so's time. 

Copyright ? Alpha Lima Limited 2019