Standard operating procedures, or SOPs, are necessary for most aspects of business. However, they may not seem to apply to the content marketing sector. After all, content marketers must often respond to sudden changes as rapidly as possible.
Surprisingly, developing effective content marketing SOPs can actually help reduce turnaround time and offer other benefits, too. Take a look at some of the content marketing SOPs your internal team or digital marketing agency should have in place.
Having these 3 content marketing SOPs set up is critical for success
Creating high-quality content on time. That’s the ultimate goal of content marketing pros. Yet meeting this goal can be much more challenging if content marketers don’t have SOPs to help guide their efforts.
A lack of SOPs can lead to confusion about what content needs to be written and when it needs to be written by. Such confusion can cause content marketers to miss deadlines and lead to SEO and monetary costs for the companies they serve.
Having the right content marketing SOPs in place can help content marketers avoid such grim scenarios. Here are three SOPs that can be especially helpful for content marketers:
1.Don’t plan to rely on AI writing programs.
Technology is essential to what content marketers and other digital marketing pros do. Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a tool that most content marketers have heard of. That’s not surprising since the global AI market is estimated to be worth well over $500 billion by 2024. However, content marketers should still be wary of relying on AI writing programs.
The biggest challenge when using AI writing programs right now is the quality of content they produce. Yes, AI writing programs can create a lot of content rapidly, but that content often needs to be honed to appeal to the right audience. It also typically needs to be fact-checked to ensure accuracy.
Such issues mean that AI-created content often takes more time to revise or edit than content created by flesh-and-blood writers. For all these reasons, content marketers should make it an SOP to rely primarily or completely on content created by actual people. For now, at least.
2. Have your content creation processes documented.
Creating top-level digital content requires many important steps from the initial writing to revision/editing to sending the final version to the appropriate recipient. Small content marketing teams often have this content creation process down in their heads. But they may not have it down on paper. This can create a variety of problems.
It limits the accountability of each team member, for one. Undocumented processes are also much harder to teach to new team members as they’re hired. For these reasons (and others), it’s vital that all content creation processes be documented either on paper or some form of digital file that every member of your team can access.
3. Make sure your content aligns with your SEO strategy.
Each client will have an SEO and content marketing strategy that’s unique to their needs, and that’s why making sure the content you’re creating for them aligns with their strategy is a vital content marketing SOP. There are multiple ways that such an SOP can be documented.
Some teams may keep an internal style guide for each client. This document allows each team member to view stylistic and SEO strategy nuances that they need to keep in mind when creating content for each client.
Other teams may create a checklist for their content creators. Such a checklist can highlight SEO nuances that each piece of content should include. It also gives content creators a way to ensure they’re not forgetting to add essential SEO-related details into each piece of content they create.
Want to create SOPs and strategies to supercharge your content marketing? BURG+CO. can help
Content plays a major role in increasing traffic to your website, building conversion numbers and procuring new clients. But only if it’s done right. Content that’s not guided by the right SOPs and SEO strategies is less likely to produce the results your business is seeking. Fortunately, BURG+CO. is prepared to help you meet all your content marketing needs.
Our team has years of experience in helping businesses improve their digital presence via content marketing. Typically, our content marketing and SEO experts can help businesses attract significant numbers of new leads and help them retain existing clients. If you’re looking to get these and other benefits, we’re ready to talk to you to see how we can help. Contact our team today for more information about our SEO, content marketing, and other digital marketing services or to schedule a complimentary consultation.
