If you’re a content marketer, you know that creating content requires a lot of coordination between different teams. But which departments should be involved in creating content?
In general, though, the correct answer also depends on your business model and company size.
If you’re a small business, you might have a dedicated marketing team that handles all things content-related. But if you’re a larger company, it might make more sense to involve multiple departments in the content creation process.
In this article, we’ll go through the details of which departments should be involved in creating content and what benefits come out of such a content creation strategy.
What is the General Perspective on Content Creation in an Organization?
Even small businesses have a decent marketing team dedicated to creating an effective content strategy. Nevertheless, the answer isn’t just marketing or the customer-facing departments that take the lead in the process. All the departments of an organization are responsible for undertaking a section each in the entire process.
The first department that should be involved in content creation is, of course, the marketing team. After all, content marketing is a key part of any inbound marketing strategy. But content creation doesn’t stop with the marketing team.
Other departments that should be involved in content creation include product, sales, customer support, and even R&D. Each of these departments has its own unique perspective that can help to inform and shape the content creation process.
For example, the product team can provide insights into what features and benefits customers are looking for. The sales team can offer input on what kind of content is most likely to generate leads. And customer support can share feedback on what kind of content is most helpful for customers.
How Does Including Various Departments in an Organization Benefit the Marketing Goals?
Including different departments during content creation helps to ensure that content is relevant, accurate, and helpful for both customers and employees. By working with subject matter experts (SMEs), you can be confident that your content will be well-informed and useful for your audience.
Additionally, including a variety of voices in your content can make it more engaging and interesting to read. Diversity of perspectives can also help you avoid any potential PR disasters that could come from inaccurate or offensive content.
Content Creation and the Process
A content creation procedure typically involves a few key steps:
1. Defining the goals and objectives of the content
What are you trying to achieve with your content? Who is your target audience? What kind of tone and style do you want to use?
2. Planning and brainstorming ideas
Once you know what you want to achieve, it’s time to start generating some ideas. Brainstorm with your team, do some keyword research and come up with a list of potential topics.
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3. Writing and editing
This is the meat of the content curation process. Write your drafts – you may do it completely manually or use AI-powered writer tools as part of AI content marketing – edit them, get feedback from others, polish them until they’re ready to be published and produce content at scale.
4. Publishing and promoting
Once your content is ready, it’s time to hit publish and start promoting it. Share it on social media, send it out in newsletters, and get it in front of as many people as possible.
5. Analyzing and iterating
After your content has been published, take some time to analyze the results. See what’s working well and what could be improved, and use that feedback to inform your future content strategy.
So, which departments should be involved in creating content within an organization?
Website content must be authentic, captivating, informative, and valuable to ensure optimal sales and lead conversion. Accordingly, this requires segregating your customer base and analyzing their needs based on interest and behavior, followed by the creation of categories to address those needs.
There could be no better way to deliver value than to seek the expertise of people working in the related content category. For a clear illustration of this working principle, let’s break it down, department by department.
1. Marketing Department
The marketing department’s role can be defined in a few ways.
- Firstly, the marketing department is responsible for just marketing the company and its products/services.
- Secondly, the marketing department is also responsible for driving traffic to the website via various channels (e.g. SEO, PPC, social media, email marketing, etc.).
- Thirdly, the marketing department is also responsible for creating sales-oriented relevant content that compels website visitors to take action (e.g. sign up for a free trial, download a white paper, etc.).
Ultimately, the marketing department’s goal is to generate leads and sales for the company. There are a few different models that businesses use to define the process of creating content. One such model is the Google Digital Garage model which consists of four stages: Awareness, Interest, Consideration, and Intent. The marketing department’s role in each stage is as follows:
Awareness
The goal of this stage is to make people aware of your company and its products/services. The marketing department can achieve this by creating informative blog posts, social media posts, infographics, etc.
Interest
The goal of this stage is to get people interested in your company and its products/services. The marketing department can achieve this by creating interesting blog posts, social media posts, infographics, etc.
Consideration
The goal of this stage is to get people to consider your company and its products/services. The marketing department can achieve this by creating compelling blog posts, social media posts, infographics, etc.
Intent
The goal of this stage is to get people to take action (e.g. sign up for a free trial, download a white paper, etc.). The marketing department can achieve this by creating sales-oriented blog posts, social media posts, infographics, etc.
2. Sales Department
The sales team is key to the content creation process. Marketers may come up with the initial ideas for blog posts, infographics, and other types of content, but it’s the sales team that provides the vital insights that can turn a good piece of content into a great one.
After all, who knows better than the people on the front lines what questions prospects are asking and what objections they need to overcome?
By involving the sales department during content creation, marketers can ensure that their content is laser-focused on the needs of their target audience. And when it comes to creating content that converts and realizes a sales funnel, that’s absolutely essential.
3. Engineering Department
As the world of content creation continues to evolve, the role of the engineering department becomes more important. In addition to ensuring that the technical aspects of the content are up to par, they also need to be aware of industry trends and how to incorporate industry-specific ideas into the content.
In other words, they need to be able to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions that will engage the audience. Thankfully, there are plenty of talented engineers out there who are up for the challenge. By working together, they can ensure that the content curation process is a success.
4. Accounting Department
In any business, creating relevant content is key to connecting with customers and driving conversions and the accounting department plays an essential role in making sure that all relevant expenses are properly accounted for.
This helps to ensure that the final product is cost-effective and aligns with the company’s overall financial goals. Additionally, the accounting department can help to identify any potential areas of cost savings, such as negotiating discounts with vendors or leveraging internal resources.
By working closely with the customer-facing departments, the accounting department can help to ensure that the content being created is relevant and aligned with the buyer’s journey.
This collaboration ensures that the content produced is not only financially sound but also delivers real value to customers. Ultimately, this helps to drive more sales and create a stronger brand identity.
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5. HR Department
One of the most important roles that HR plays is creating content that helps to answer any questions that potential customers or clients might have about the business. Additionally, the HR department is responsible for creating content that covers topics such as company policies, onboarding processes, and employee benefits.
By creating clear and concise content, the HR department can help to improve the overall customer experience. In addition to creating content, the human resources department is also responsible for managing any data that is related to the content curation process.
This data can include information about who created the content, when it was created, and how it was distributed. By tracking this data, the human resources department can help to improve the efficiency of the content curation process.
The Most Important Piece of Any Content Strategy: The Audience
In any content curation process, it’s important to consider the role of the audience. Who will be reading or watching the final product? What are their needs and wants? What will resonate with them?
Answering these questions can help to ensure that the content hits the mark. It’s also important to keep in mind that the needs of the audience may change over time.
As a result, it’s important to periodically review the target audience and make sure that the content is still relevant. Failing to do so can result in disengaged readers or viewers who tune out completely.
By taking the time to understand the role of the audience, content creators can ensure that their work is effective and engaging.
Final Thoughts on Which Departments Should be Involved in Creating Content
A seemingly tricky question in the Inbound Certification Exam, it’s actually a no-brainer to say that all departments should be involved in creating content for an organization.
Sure, the various departments have different perspectives on one topic, but it is this diversity that helps propel a business to grow organically and sustainably, satisfying its consumers through effective marketing solutions.
If you’re looking for help with your content marketing strategy, Growth Hackers is the growth company at your service. Our team of certified professionals will work alongside you to reach your company goals and create content that generates leads and sales for your business.
Reach out to Growth Hackers today and get to know how we work or send forth your queries here so we can personalize our services to suit your business requirements.
