The One Thing Companies Get Wrong About Content Governance

I’ve got a confession to make: there was a time when I thought that a creative brief was a waste of my time.

Today, as someone who loves figuring out how to streamline processes by creating templates and other tools, I finally understand why.

It’s because the creative brief wasn’t the right tool for the job (my job).

First of all, it didn’t reflect the B2B side of the business. The creative team created it for consumer brand projects.

It never felt relevant to the operational, mission-critical, yet decidedly unsexy urgent regulatory communications I managed.

It didn’t capture any of the relevant details I needed to express.

It was a hurdle I had to overcome to get to the point where I could ask our internal team for help.

What we needed was a separate workflow for these types of regulatory communications with its own intake form. Yes, it would share some DNA with the existing creative brief, but it would also encompass all the other things I had to hold in my head and communicate (and check for in review).

This situation was top of mind for me this Labor Day weekend in light of my CMI workshop on content governance last week.

Governance is an amazing tool for content teams. But there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.

For governance to transform your content workflow, you have to take the time to understand the unique challenges and repeating elements that make up your most frequent content projects.

I know this can feel like just one more to-do on an already crowded list. But I guarantee that investing in governance has the ability to free you from carrying around all the processes and procedures that guide your work.

Governance is what truly unlocks the ability to scale your content creation across the organization while remaining true to your brand voice.

To get started on your content governance journey, read my recap of my content governance CMI webinar, and get in touch if you could use an experienced hand to help.

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ICYMI

These final days of summer are the perfect opportunity to review and refresh your content strategy—what’s working, what can be improved, and what new opportunities can you pursue? If you want to supercharge your planning, I highly recommend you check out the replays from Content Marketing Institute ’s MasterTHIS: Content Strategy series. Six sessions walk you through the tools and processes you need to craft your content strategy, including my session exploring the content governance toolkit that will bring your strategy to life.

I’ve partnered with countless teams to help get their content strategy on the right track—and their ongoing success often rides on effective content governance. In my new post for Content Marketing Institute, I share my proven content governance framework and break down what it takes to enable scalable, consistent content creation. This is a great companion piece to my MasterTHIS presentation.

I usually roll my eyes at “Is X Dead?” stories because they are often clickbait. However, this MarketingProfs article is a great exploration of the changing regulatory landscape around email content and whether marketers should move on to new channels. BTW I hate cold emails and rarely reply to any of them. Especially the ones that try to ‘neg’ me into a response.

Every organization needs a content style guide to enforce the brand voice and tone, no matter who’s writing (including AI). If you need help making a case for this essential investment or want a jump start on writing yours, read through my recent post about why content style guides are essential and access my free template.

Until next time, stay safe and be well!

Cheers,

Erika