Every content marketing team manages their processes and workflows differently — whether that’s scaling the editorial process for a growing team or video and social media campaign planning. Optimizing content marketing project management is all about reducing complexity and managing work more efficiently. 

But why is this so important to get right? Content marketing generates 3x more leads and costs 62% less compared to outbound marketing. This means that the right content executed well can drive more conversions, increase brand awareness, and build a more engaged audience. 

This is why creating an effective process for producing eBooks, blog posts, case studies, and podcasts should be a critical part of any marketing strategy. Companies are investing in technology that helps them accomplish just that. 48% of B2B marketers say they use technology for content creation, collaboration, and workflow management. 

Here at Wrike, we use our own platform to manage everything from blog post creation to customer case studies, content requests, eBooks, and more. We know firsthand how well content project management works when executed in Wrike. Here’s how our Wrike teams handle it all from ideation to launch.

Why we use Wrike for content marketing management

Simply put, our teams use Wrike for content project management because it makes life easier.  We field requests from teams, including product marketing, demand generation, sales enablement, customer success, event marketing, and product. You name it, we write (or edit) it.

Features like our shared Dashboards, custom workflows, in-context proofing and approvals, and shared calendars help us meet deadlines, support other teams, and track ongoing campaigns. 

Let’s dig a little deeper into how we manage content projects in Wrike.

Managing international remote requests

At Wrike, we have offices in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific regions, meaning that our teams are spread across multiple time zones. Like many other organizations, we’ve been working remotely this past year. So, how do we handle remote content project management and content requests, specifically? We make it work with Dynamic Request Forms.

In addition to executing SEO content strategy, advancing brand messaging, and other strategic initiatives, content marketing also acts as a service organization. Other parts of the business need us to succeed. But the volume and variety of requests pouring in can be overwhelming if you don’t have a clear and consistent way to capture and assign them.

We use Dynamic Request Forms to manage incoming work and get all the information we need to execute upfront. Here’s how our content marketing teams manage requests in three steps. 

  1. When someone submits a content request, they must first choose whether they need us to proofread, edit, or write something.

  2. After the requester provides some general information about the target audience and business value, they choose what type of content they need help with. They are then directed to a page with questions specific to the content type they select.

  3. Submitting a request automatically generates a task with all the requesters’ inputs in the description. This can then be auto or manually assigned to team members.

This makes assigning and tracking requests an easier and more straightforward process than back and forth emails or Zoom sessions for request intake. This process also powers asynchronous communication and collaboration, enabling teams across multiple time zones to stay in sync and on the same page about project tasks and requests.

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Introducing the Wrike editorial calendar

What’s the best way to manage content creation from start to finish? The answer to that question will undoubtedly differ depending on your team size, industry, and internal best practices. Whether you manage your editorial process in a spreadsheet or are just getting started with project management software, creating a content management calendar in Wrike can reduce chaos, help scale your growing editorial team, and optimize the way you work. 

Here’s how we use Wrike to create and manage a content calendar that works for us. 

For our content teams, it all begins with a Wrike task. Scheduled tasks contain all related information, files, and conversations. Deadline changes made directly within tasks are automatically populated in Wrike Calendars in real-time. This means Wrike Calendars always reflect our most up-to-date plans and schedules.

Wrike Calendars allow our content team to create individual calendars for each content type. The ability to color-code and layer these calendars creates a single view that clarifies deadlines and dependencies. It also makes it easier than ever to identify scheduling conflicts.

Wrike’s content team shares its calendar with other departments and vice versa. This makes it easy to collaborate and coordinate efforts across teams. For example, if we have a product announcement blog scheduled to go live before the product launches, Wrike Calendars lets us know.

Keeping projects on track via Custom Workflows & Dashboards

Struggle to keep track of task progress or assignees? Instead of guessing whether a script has been edited or a blog post has been set live, we use Wrike’s Custom Workflows to track task status at a glance.

The bigger the team, the more projects change hands, and the more likely dates slip and details go missing. Wrike’s content management process features a custom workflow with distinct, color-coded statuses that make it easy to keep our tasks and requests on track. These custom statuses include:

  • Requested
  • Planned
  • In Progress
  • In Review
  • In Revisions
  • Ready to Publish
  • Waiting for Others
  • Completed
  • On Hold
  • Canceled
  • Rejected
  • Scheduled

Custom Workflows enable us to quickly and easily manage content at all stages — from ideation to launch. The team also uses a Dashboard to track task progression through the workflow. Each status has its own column, allowing everyone to see who is working on what and where tasks stand. The Dashboard also makes it easy to spot when work gets stuck and needs extra attention.

How to integrate Wrike into your content team

Content marketing project management can be complex. The processes, spreadsheets, and shared docs your team started out with may not be realistic as you scale and grow. 

We may be a touch biased, but using Wrike at all stages of our content marketing project management process allows us to be flexible, agile, and efficient. We can also be more cross-functional as we support other teams’ content needs. 

Integrate Wrike into your content team by using: 

  • Custom Workflows to track task status at a glance
  • Team Dashboards to manage workloads and project progress
  • Wrike Calendars to identify clashes and key deadlines

Optimize project management, plan content, and eliminate the process roadblocks that slow down even the best content teams.

Interested in how Wrike can help your content management process and make it easier to track deadlines, coordinate workflows, manage resources, collaborate with key stakeholders, and more? Sign up for our free 14-day trial.