How your content workflow can help improve efficiency

To create content that is user-centred and aligned with business objectives, content teams often have to navigate an overly complex and fragmented process. They get the content done but it is usually through a process that hasn’t been previously designed. Instead, the process takes form naturally over time through doing until it becomes the workflow for content. Even when it is flawed, this workflow can still be the path of least resistance for teams and so it rarely changes or gets improved.

• Understanding content workflow fundamentals
• Identifying bottlenecks and common workflow issues
• Steps to improve your content workflow for improved efficiency
• Tracking and analysing your workflow for continuous improvement

Efficient content workflows are needed because content production typically involves lots of people, different tools for creation, publishing, and management, and multiple cycles of writing, editing, feedback, and approval. Without a clear workflow to connect these elements, inefficiencies can slow progress and impact the quality of the content. It also impacts on team morale, the success of the content and overall efficiency.

A content workflow acts as the golden thread of content production, connecting teams, clarifying responsibilities, and achieving consistency and quality of content. Whether you’re part of a small marketing team or a large organisation like a local Government department or a university publishing digital content at scale, having a robust workflow is essential. After all, every organisation that publishes digital content already has a process — the key is making that process as efficient and effective as possible.

In this article, we will explore the importance of content workflows and how they can enhance both content management and the user experience. By clearly defining roles and responsibilities, eliminating overlaps, gaps and bottlenecks, and improving collaboration, organisations can produce higher-quality content that resonates with their audience. We’ll also discuss how content workflows can make it easier to respond to unexpected or high priority circumstances, scale up production, and foster confidence among teams.

We’ll demonstrate how defining a new workflow or optimising an existing one can streamline tasks, save time and transform your approach to content production.

A content workflow is the structured series of steps that guide the creation, management, and publication of content. At its core, it makes sure each piece of content progresses through a predictable process, from initial planning to publication and measurement. While the specifics of a workflow can vary across organisations, most workflows include key stages such as planning, creating, reviewing, approving, publishing, and measuring.

1. Planning
   The foundation of any successful content workflow begins here. This stage involves identifying goals, understanding the audience, and mapping out the topics and formats that align with both. Tools like content calendars and editorial briefs often play a key role in this phase.

2. Creating
   This could be writing but also involve design of other content types too. Where writing is concerned, there may need to be considerations around subject expertise, inclusive language, style guides and translation of content. Efficiency in this stage often depends on clear briefs and access to the necessary resources.

3. Reviewing
   Feedback is critical to refining and improving content. This stage may involve peer reviews, stakeholder feedback, or edits from a centralised quality control team. A defined workflow ensures that feedback is constructive and deadlines are met without excessive rounds of revisions. There may need to be review from different teams or departments like marketing, brand and legal.

4. Approval
   Before publishing, content must pass through an approval stage, typically overseen by decision-makers or department leads. A streamlined process at this stage avoids bottlenecks and ensures final content meets organisational standards. The planning stage also impacts the efficiency here as having a clear brief and purpose for content can help if someone has their own or differing priorities.

5. Publishing
   After approval the content moves to publication. There may need to be additional content or assets created before publishing such as images for articles. Distribution of content may be included within this stage or be handled outside of the workflow. Either way, once the content is published it needs to reach the target audience by the appropriate channels and distribution tactics.

6. Measuring
   Measuring the success of content is essential for understanding performance and informing future content decisions and priorities. This is why setting a goal and purpose for content at the beginning of the workflow is important. It’s also necessary to have the right data available to measure content performance.

Imagine a small marketing team without a defined workflow. A blog post idea is floated in a team meeting, written hastily by one person, sent for informal feedback via email, and finally published after inconsistent input. The result? Misaligned goals, missed deadlines, and content that doesn’t resonate with the target audience.

Now, consider the same team with a defined workflow:

1. Planning: Topics are brainstormed monthly, with each idea linked to audience needs and business goals.

2. Creating: Writers use a detailed brief, ensuring the tone, style, and structure align with the brand. The article has a purpose, measurable goal and a clear call to action for readers.

3. Reviewing: Feedback is consolidated using collaborative tools, minimising revisions. There’s no delay due to a confusing version history.

4. Approval: A clear sign-off process ensures accountability and alignment.

5. Publishing: A dedicated content manager schedules posts using consistent tools.

6. Measuring: The team reviews analytics weekly, identifying successes and areas for improvement.

By formalising these steps, the team not only saves time but also produces higher-quality content that meets audience expectations and supports business objectives.

Let’s look at another fictional example from a university. The content team often juggles a variety of projects, from promoting academic programmes to highlighting student achievements and sharing research breakthroughs. With diverse stakeholders – faculty, administrators, students, and external audiences – an efficient workflow is essential to manage these demands. Here’s how a defined content workflow might look:

1. Planning:

• The marketing manager identifies the need to promote a new postgraduate course in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• In a team meeting, they collaborate with the academic department to define the blog's objectives: to raise awareness of the course and encourage applications.
• They outline key points: unique course features, career opportunities, and faculty expertise.
• A content brief is created, detailing the target audience, tone and key deadlines.

2. Creating:

• A content writer drafts the blog post, including quotes from the course leader and examples of student projects.
• Visual assets, such as photos of the AI lab and a promotional infographic, are created by the design team.
• The first draft and visuals are shared with the team via the university’s project management tool, such as Trello or Asana.

3. Reviewing:

• The academic department reviews the content for accuracy, suggesting edits to course details or phrasing.
• The communications team ensures the tone aligns with the university’s brand guidelines.
• Feedback is centralised in one platform to avoid scattered emails and conflicting changes.

4. Approval:

• The marketing manager reviews the final draft and visuals, providing the final sign-off.
• If necessary, the legal or compliance team verifies that the content adheres to regulations, such as accessibility and copyright standards.

5. Publishing:

• The blog post is uploaded to the university’s website by the digital content manager.
• Social media posts and email newsletters are scheduled to amplify the blog’s reach.
• The team ensures proper tagging and metadata for search engine optimisation (SEO).

6. Measuring:

• Analytics tools track the blog’s performance, including page views, time on page, and click-through rates to the programme application page.
• Metrics are reviewed in a monthly meeting, with lessons applied to future campaigns.

Without a workflow, the process could involve missed deadlines, duplicated efforts, or disjointed messaging. For example, a faculty member might send late edits directly to the website team, bypassing the communications team, leading to inconsistencies. Or there could be details in the article that are factually incorrect.

With a defined workflow:

• Everyone understands their role and responsibilities, reducing delays.
• Feedback is centralised and structured, avoiding confusion and saving time.
• The blog is published faster and with higher quality, increasing its impact on potential applicants.

By establishing and following a structured workflow, the university’s multi-disciplined and decentralised team can produce content confidently, meeting both audience needs and institutional goals.

It’s worth noting that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to content workflows. Different organisations might name or combine stages differently based on their needs. For example, smaller teams might merge review and approval stages, while larger teams might introduce additional steps like legal or compliance reviews. Regardless of the specifics, the goal is always the same: to create a repeatable process that improves efficiency, reduces stress, and delivers better outcomes.

Even with the best intentions, content workflows can face significant challenges that hinder efficiency and lead to frustration among team members. Identifying and addressing these issues is essential to creating a streamlined, effective process. Let’s explore some of the most common workflow issues and how to overcome them.

1. Unclear roles and responsibilities
   Without clarity about who does what, tasks can be delayed, missed, or duplicated. For example, if no one is assigned the task of proofreading, errors may slip through to publication.

2. Gaps in responsibilities
   Certain tasks may fall through the cracks entirely because they’re not assigned to anyone. This can result in incomplete or inconsistent content.

3. Overlap in responsibilities
   When too many people are involved in the same task, it can lead to inefficiency and conflict. For instance, multiple team members editing the same draft may create confusion and wasted effort.

4. Poor communication of the process
   If team members don’t understand or aren’t informed about the workflow, they may unintentionally deviate from it, causing delays or errors. They need to know what role they play or else this leads to the issues stated in stages one, two and three.

5. Lack of collaboration tools
   Without centralised tools for communication, feedback, and approvals, teams may resort to fragmented systems like scattered emails and shared drives, slowing down the process.

6. Overload on one person
   A common issue is over-reliance on a single individual for critical tasks, such as approvals. If that person is unavailable, the entire workflow comes to a halt and that person becomes a bottleneck through no fault of their own.

7. Workflows happen by chance, not consciously
   In some organisations, workflows develop organically without deliberate planning. This can lead to inconsistent processes and unpredictable results. It can also be harder onboarding people with no documented processes or alignment on what the actual process is.

Issue: Approvals that take too long

A university’s content team often experiences delays because approval for course pages relies solely on an academic or Head of Department, who is frequently busy. This creates a bottleneck and delays publication when there is a fixed deadline.

Solution:

• Map out stages, roles, and tasks
  Clearly document each step of the workflow and assign specific roles and responsibilities. For example, designate a secondary approver for less critical content to reduce dependency on one person. This process could be done collaboratively (in-person or remotely) with all those who are a part of the workflow.
• Visualise the workflow
  Use flowcharts or diagrams to illustrate the process and identify areas of inefficiency. Tools like Miro or Lucidchart can help teams visualise the workflow in a collaborative environment.
• Communicate the workflow
  Share the workflow with all team members to ensure everyone understands the process, their role, and how tasks flow from one stage to the next. Any future changes to the workflow also need to be communicated and any visualisations updated.
• Use tools with built-in approval features
  Platforms like Contensis offer features such as automated approval chains, which notify approvers when their input is needed and escalate tasks if deadlines are missed. This ensures the process keeps moving even during busy periods.

• Conduct a workflow audit: Periodically review your current process to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies. Engage team members to gather insights on pain points.
• Centralise collaboration: Use tools like Trello, Asana, or Contensis to provide a shared workspace for task management, feedback, and approvals.
• Set clear timelines: Define deadlines for each stage, and ensure accountability by assigning tasks to specific individuals or teams.
• Empower teams with training: Ensure all team members are trained on the tools and processes to avoid confusion and delays.
• Test and iterate: Treat your workflow as a living document and process. Monitor its performance, collect feedback, and make adjustments as necessary to improve efficiency.

By addressing these common workflow issues and implementing proactive solutions, organisations can eliminate bottlenecks, improve collaboration, and deliver high-quality content more efficiently.

Optimising your content workflow takes time, but with deliberate steps, you can create a process that is both efficient and scalable. Here’s how to refine your workflow to improve efficiency.

Involve your team in mapping out the stages of your current workflow. Use real examples of content, such as a blog post or product features page, to visualise how tasks currently flow and identify areas for improvement.

• In person or remotely:
  • Host a workshop or video call where team members can outline each step in the workflow.
  • Use tools like Miro or Google Jamboard to map stages collaboratively in real time.
• Set clear goals and roles:
  • Define what the workflow should achieve, such as faster delivery times or higher-quality content.
  • Assign responsibilities for each stage to avoid overlaps or gaps.

Example: Assigning clear responsibilities to team members can speed up task completion. For instance, designate one person to draft content, another to review it, and a third to approve it.

Top tip: Use a RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) chart to clarify roles. For example:

• Responsible: Content writer creates the draft.
• Accountable: Marketing manager approves the content.
• Consulted: Subject matter expert reviews for accuracy.
• Informed: Social media team is notified once content is ready to publish.

Simplify the creation phase by standardising tools and processes.

Example: Use templates and style guides to minimise back-and-forth revisions. An article template could include pre-defined sections like introduction, body, and call-to-action, ensuring consistency and reducing time spent formatting.

Top tip: Implement templates directly into your CMS (You can do this in Contensis for example) for repeatable content types, such as articles, newsletters, or product pages. This allows creators to focus on writing rather than structure.

Centralising communication and feedback is important for improving efficiency.

Example: Tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams reduce reliance on long email threads, while Google Docs enables real-time editing and feedback. Many CMS platforms also have built-in collaboration features, such as version tracking and task assignments, which keep all updates in one place.

Top tip: Choose tools that integrate with your workflow. For example, a CMS with collaborative features can assign tasks, track progress, and notify stakeholders when their input is needed.

Automation frees up time and reduces the risk of errors in routine processes.

Example: Automate tasks like content publishing, SEO checks, or social media sharing. For instance, set up your CMS to automatically publish articles at pre-scheduled times or use tools to schedule social media posts.

Top tip: Explore plugins or built-in CMS features for automation. For example, some CMS platforms can auto-check for broken links, optimise images for SEO, or tag content based on metadata.

Refining how content is reviewed and approved can significantly speed up workflows.

Example: Use a digital asset management (DAM) system to keep all content and media files organised and easily accessible. This prevents delays caused by searching for missing files or outdated versions.

Top tip: Set up structured approval workflows within your CMS. Many platforms allow you to create approval chains where tasks automatically move to the next approver once a step is completed. This ensures everyone stays on track and deadlines are met.

By following these steps, you can create a smoother, more efficient content workflow that empowers your team, reduces stress, and ensures high-quality content is delivered on time. It will require an investment in finding and implementing the right tools but the long term gain is worth it.

Creating an efficient content workflow is a good indicator of progress but time is also needed to make sure it remains effective. It’s essential to monitor performance and make data-driven adjustments.

Regularly assessing your workflow allows you to:

• Identify inefficiencies or recurring challenges, such as delays in approval stages or excessive revisions.
• Ensure the workflow supports organisational goals, such as faster publication timelines or improved content quality.
• Adapt to changes in team structure, priorities, or tools, keeping the process relevant and effective.

Monitoring is also crucial for maintaining team morale. A transparent review process that incorporates feedback empowers team members and encourages collaboration.

Tracking specific key performance indicators (KPIs) can provide insight into your workflow’s effectiveness. Examples include:

• Time-to-publish: How long it takes for content to move through all workflow stages, from planning to publication.
• Number of revisions: Tracks how many iterations are needed before content is approved. A high number may signal unclear guidelines or a high amount of stakeholder involvement.
• Content engagement metrics: While not directly about the workflow, tracking performance metrics like page views, time on page, or shares can highlight whether your workflow is producing content that resonates with the audience.

Other KPIs might include:

• Approval turnaround time: How quickly stakeholders approve content.
• Percentage of missed deadlines: Tracks how often tasks or projects run behind schedule.

1. Review workflows regularly
   Set aside time to evaluate your workflow periodically. For example, schedule quarterly reviews to analyse performance and address any recurring issues.

2. Gather team feedback
   Encourage team members to share their experiences with the workflow. Their insights can reveal pain points that data alone might not show. Use anonymous surveys or team workshops to facilitate open feedback.

3. Leverage analytics tools
   Use tools like Trello, Contensis, or Google Analytics to track workflow metrics. Many CMS platforms also provide built-in reporting features to monitor time spent on tasks, approval durations, and publishing schedules.

4. Adjust workflows based on data
   If data shows that the approval stage consistently causes delays, consider streamlining it by introducing secondary approvers or automated notifications.

5. Test and iterate
   Implement small changes to the workflow and monitor their impact. For example, experiment with new tools for collaboration or introduce stricter deadlines for reviews. Track the results to determine if the changes improve efficiency or quality.

By monitoring and analysing your workflow, you can ensure it remains an efficient process. By ensuring clear roles, standardised processes and effective collaboration, your team can deliver high-quality content consistently. Add automation for repetitive tasks and commit to continuous improvement, and your workflow will not only save time but also drive better results for your organisation.

Whether you’re managing a small team or a complex organisation, investing time and effort into optimising your workflow will pay off in many ways. Start by assessing your current workflow, identify areas for improvement, and take the first steps toward a more efficient process.