You know you need scalable content that changes and grows as your business does. But, the demands for content marketing needs might tax your resources or even exceed them. Creating content to scale is a challenge for many brands and marketing departments dealing in the B2B and B2C spaces.

Lack of time, talent and a template for scalable content can make owners and marketers think they’ll never be able to keep up. In the ever-shifting landscape of online publishing and social media, when consumers’ attention spans are short and consumption patterns change rapidly, it’s important that content scales to meet demand and keep your company relevant.

You can’t simply attempt to put out more content just for the sake of putting out content though. It’s essential you carefully craft your content to make it effective and efficient. That’s the true scale that brings success.

Scale means optimizing a process so that it functions better across teams and channels. It allows for easy repetition and it provides a way for businesses to meet their needs at any given time.

Scalable content is content that’s expandable and contractible within a moment’s notice. It’s smart and strategic content created by leveraging existing assets and newly produced data applicable to your current business goals and buyer personas.

Whether you have a project sitting in queue that suddenly needs a mass volume of content or your new endeavor requires consistent content across marketing tactics, you need to be able to scale quickly to compete.

So how do you create a scalable content marketing strategy?

Get Organized to Create Scalable Content

Creating scalable content necessitates you put a production process in place that effectively manages the creation, distribution and measurement of content. You’ll need to have a clearly defined and documented guide for content that helps your team implement your content marketing plan.

  • Gather your team. You might find your team of writers, editors and publisher in house or it may be best to contract with a content marketing firm.
  • Set precise expectations for team members. Designate roles for each task so everyone understands their part in the overall strategy.
  • Define a content workflow. Use a team collaboration software program like Basecamp, or create your own internal system for assigning tasks and setting deadlines.
  • Create an editorial calendar. Chart out your content themes and goals before you start content creation. You’ll reduce the barrier to entry and get more, and better, writing done.
  • Leverage content tools. There are free and paid tools that streamline content creation, distribution and analysis tasks.
  • Do initial research. What types of content are buyers searching for? Blog posts? Videos? Product descriptions? Make sure you address each buying cycle stage when defining the content you’ll create.

Get Creative

Take time before content creation to determine your content marketing strategy as reflective of your organizational goals. This should be done well ahead of any immediate content needs that pop up. You don’t want to be in the position of having to create content fast without a plan. This just leads to bad and ineffective content, and content that might actually tarnish your brand.

  • Develop a creative brief for pending big projects. This helps foster big-picture buy-in from your stakeholders. And, it minimizes unnecessary revisions and start/stop project flow when content production efficiency is key.
  • Define your buyer personas. Who is your target audience? Does your audience differ from channel to channel including on your main website and social media platforms? You need to be able to tie your content themes to your buyer personas.
  • Address content gaps. Check your current content and determine what topics need to be discussed in greater depth or are even missing from your assets. Work to meet keyword demand and consumer needs throughout all buying stages.
  • Tap into user-generated content. Bring others into your content marketing process to make your task easier. Partner with influencers. Seek out employee-generated content. Re-purpose user-generated content within your industry to make it relevant to your brand.

Get Smart

With a solid plan, you don’t have to drown in the sheer amount of content you need to create. You won’t be lost and wondering if you’re even reaching your audience if you develop a sound strategy from the start.

  • Develop writer specialization. Assign writers on your team to client industries or audiences they know and are interested in. Which writers’ voices and backgrounds best fit content needs at hand?
  • Define metrics that matter. Keep your team on the same page by picking 3 to 4 KPIs to focus on across all content. Use the same KPIs consistently so team members will be better able to work toward a common goal.
  • Re-purpose and re-share content. Perform analytics to see how your content is performing across all channels, and then strategically and creatively overlay content on social networks and your website.

It can be difficult to know when to keep content creation in house or if you should hire a consultant to truly scale the way you need to. Maximum effectiveness and efficiency may require a hybrid of the two, or even complete outsourcing of scalable content.

For any or all of your content creation needs, Galileo Tech Media.