Shorten Your Content Process--Here's How

Raise your hand if this scenario sounds familiar: your content team creates blog post/report/eBook. They work under a tight deadline to finish it. Then, it goes to stakeholder review…where the asset languishes for ages before someone gets around to looking at it.

This scenario is incredibly frustrating. That great piece of content could be out in the world, positioning your organization as a trusted expert and authority in its field. Instead, it’s stuck in limbo. By the time it’s finally approved, there’s the risk the topic might not be relevant anymore.

The good news is that you can shorten the content review process. Be aware that shortening the content review process will take time and effort, but it can be done.

The Root of the Problem

The problem of a lengthy content review process stems from a mindset issue: outside the content department, content marketing isn’t seen as valuable or a priority. I’ve seen this problem manifest itself in different ways, and I’ll illustrate with some examples.

Problem 1: This Isn’t Part of My Job

Jake is a product manager at a software company. Ella is a content writer. She just interviewed Jake for a blog post.

Once she finishes the post, she sends it off to him for review. The content department won’t publish the post until all the people quoted in it approve what’s written. Ella gives Jake three business days to review and approve.

Three business days pass. Ella politely messages Jake. No response. She gives it another two days before reaching out again. This time, he answers.

“I haven’t had time to read it,” Jake writes. “I’m really busy.”

“I hear that,” Ella replies. “What would be a reasonable deadline for you to approve this quote? I’d love to get this post published.”

“I’ve got a whole bunch of other stuff on my plate,” Jake writes. “I don’t have time for this and to do my job. Can’t you just approve it on my behalf? I’m sure it’s fine.”

Ella tells her boss Deidre, who has a conversation with Jake’s boss Mike.

“We can approve Jake’s quote this time,” Deidre says, “but going forward, is it possible for your team members to take a more active role in the content review process?”

“Listen, Deidre, my team members are busy,” he replies. “This is something they don’t have time for. We’ve got deadlines to meet. Can you just assume you’ve got blanket permission to approve their quotes?”

“No, we can’t.” Deidre is incredulous. “What if we publish something that’s inaccurate? That would ruin the company’s reputation.”

Mike rolls his eyes. “Well, we don’t have time to help you.”

Going forward, Deidre has to figure out a way to create content without input from the Product team. It’s a problem, because that team has valuable insights into how the software works.

Problem 2: Who’s Supposed to Review the Content?

The content department at a growing cybersecurity company has just produced a report. The next step is stakeholder review.

“So, who needs to review it?” Sara, the content writer, asks.

“Tim in Product Management, I think?” Her boss shrugs.

“Okay, off to Tim it goes,” Sara replies as she drafts an email to him.

It takes Tim two weeks to respond to Sara. “I don’t think I’m the right person to review this,” he writes. “Try Andrea.”

“Okay,” Sara types back before she emails Andrea.

Andrea isn’t the right person to review it, though. Neither is Shawn or Kirk. It takes two months for Sara to figure out who the right people are. In that time, their biggest competitor has published a report on the same topic that’s generated a buzz among their prospects. 

Solving the Problem: Shifting Mindsets

To shorten the content review process, stakeholders must understand that, yes, reviewing content is part of their job. Additionally, the right reviewers must be available at the start of the content review process to make sure the asset gets published quickly. It should also be clear who those stakeholders are—the longer it takes to locate them, the less value the content will have.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, that’s not an easy or quick process. It involves changing mindsets, and convincing people to think differently is never easy.

Here are the arguments that can help:

• Seventy-four percent of companies find content marketing to be valuable for lead generation

• Ninety-two percent of marketers said content is a valuable tool for driving long-term ROI

• The average content marketing ROI is $2.77 for every $1 spent

If stakeholders don’t respond to numbers, ask them this question: do you want our competitors to reach our customers first? Explain to them the concept of the first mover advantage: being first in the market to release a new product or service. When it comes to content marketing, the first mover advantage is being the first to publish a new idea.

When the content review process takes too long, you lose out on the first mover advantage. Your competitors can swoop in and reach your target audience.

Long content review processes also reveal another issue: corporate cultural problems. No matter which department you’re in, you’re still part of a larger team. Reviewing content might not be directly relevant to your job, but it’s a corporate initiative that helps the whole organization. Educating the entire organization about the importance of that principle will take time, but it’s necessary for everyone across the organization to understand that yes, content is a part of their job.

Change Is Possible

You don’t have to watch your content languish in long content review processes. While changing mindsets is certainly not something that happens overnight, think about what the status quo looks like: inefficiency and your competitors gaining the first mover advantage.

There’s no better time to start changing minds than the present.