Growing Content Crisis Can Be Solved

Modern customers expect unique brand experiences, outdated impersonal marketing strategies are no longer effective. Brands need to appeal to their customers on an individual level across all marketing channels and this means content at scale. As expectations and content demands increase exponentially, marketing agencies start realising that their traditional content marketing systems are ineffective. They need a strategy and innovative tech to help them succeed and most importantly, a content management system (CMS) that will cover every step of the content lifecycle.  Businesses now need to do more than just store their content, they must manage it from start to finish – something that needs to be addressed and included in all new content management developments. A plethora of new solutions have subsequently emerged including Content Marketing Platforms (CMP), Product Content Management (PCM) and Marketing Resource Management (MRM).

Content hubs

A content hub acts as a meta layer for your company’s entire digital content arsenal – past, present and future. It is a business’ definitive content repository, enabling one to standardise content across a customers’ entire omnichannel experience. Content hub software solutions are easy to set up. They start as a little more than a scalable application programming interface (API). It runs entirely on the backend, accessible via command line interface (CLI) for developers and web-based, graphical user interfaces (GUI) for content creators and editors.

User and group access restrictions control access and keep your digital content secure throughout any collaborative process. Content hub software ensures your teams can access the same, standardised content using whatever CMS, DAP, CRM or content-creation tool they need. It also integrates multi-CMS solutions and is more than a content management system (CMS) disguised in new nomenclature. Hub software is designed to be flexible and depending on the vendor one chooses, hub software should work with all of the existing CMS solutions including legacy, headless and agile.

It will help integrate, streamline and sync content across channels and platforms. The best hub software works with a full-stack of backend systems, including homebrews created in-house. Hub software should be designed to scaffold to a company’s needs. It largely consists of a powerful API framework built to work seamlessly with every conceivable type of digital content management system and marketing software.

Modular and scalable

The best content hub software works like Lego, a set with infinite pieces and only your imagination holding you back. It allows you to build what you need and you can decide how you want it built. The software APIs are designed to integrate and grow with a business’s existing software solutions and marketing needs. It should on a clean slate and be capable of centralising content from all types of software solutions in a flash, as needed. Content hub software is built for speed and fluidity, it can adapt to the speed at which your business grows, easily integrating into new platforms, software solutions or team workflows.

Centralised digital content saves time when CMSs or certain digital channels are deprecated in favour of new ones. No need to export – the data is secure and ready to be distributed to the new platform.

Five benefits of using content hub software

One cannot predict what the future holds when it comes to marketing trends, channels and software. However, one can prepare digital content for whatever comes your way. Content hub software ensures your content is reliable and ready to be used, no matter how fast your company grows or what software is used. There are five key benefits to initialising content hub software.

1. Integrate all content from existing sources – forever

Digital marketing is complex and multifaceted with marketing and sales teams using different software and workflows to complete similar tasks. Vendors and software solutions are constantly evolving and the tools that are required today, will be deprecated at some point in the future, instilling another round of workflow and content migration upheaval. Content hub software integrates all digital content from various sources, regardless of file type.

Once centralised, this content can be exported via API into whatever channels, using whatever customer experience software a company decides to use.

2. Aggregate and centralize content across the company

Effective marketing requires backing up and syncing updated digital content across all channels. However, it is nearly impossible to keep content perfectly synced given the myriad tools being used by various teams. Content hub software enables one to aggregate existing content into a central repository, removing content redundancies (e.g., two or more copies of the same content served from different locations) and out-of-sync versions.

Migration can be phased; one can move data from one CMS at a time or from different or multiple platforms used by multiple teams all at once. When finished, all the digital content is readily available from a central hub, rather than stuck in a deprecated CMS or across different cloud storage services.

3. Sync omnichannel content – painlessly

Different marketing channels often require different software solutions and content needs to be accessible to all collaborators no matter the channel. By using content hub software, the same content can be exported to nearly any software solution. Everything is synced from the hub, no need to worry about manually, or even automatically, updating content across channels when changes are made. The repository’s content is universal.

4. Turbo boost time to market

Have a new product or service idea to capitalise on, but time to market is key? Content hubs allow businesses to focus on developing product, service or software independently of content. Once a new augmented-reality app ad or drip campaign is developed, existing content can be primed for delivery. Content hub software facilitates experimentation, centralised content allows DevOps teams to streamline and improve time to market.

5. Optimise internal efficiency

Content hub software plays well with other software – CMSs, DAMs and production tools and isn’t confined to rigid or byzantine data models. It’s a backend overlay, comprising a software-friendly API database that one can build based on a company’s evolving needs. It will allow businesses to cut out tools that no longer scale or work. This can be done without impairing workflow or content, it can scale and grow with content over time, custom-tailored to a teams’ needs. One can build a hub software in parallel to existing architecture without having to modify and replace existing systems.

Content hub software solutions bolster digital growth and flexibility

Content hub software is minimalist, versatile and scalable. It allows your company to maintain and synchronise content across channels and teams with minimal overhead or administration. It runs in parallel with existing software solutions and ensures digital content quality and synchronisation. Digital experience and marketing vendors like Optimizely often package content hub software infrastructure within their DXP and marketing tools. Consider making the switch to content hub software today to position your company ahead of the competition tomorrow.