Decluttering is all the rage. We can’t get enough of minimalist lifestyles, tiny houses and digital detoxing.
Now publishers are in on the act, too. With promises of effortless content creation, compliant trouble-free distribution and straightforward discovery, it’s obvious why Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions appeal to the industry. In fact, they appeal to businesses far and wide. Research by the Radicati Group predicts the ECM market will grow to more than $9.4 billion by 2018.
Want to make 2017 the year that you declutter your content and start using it more efficiently? Here’s our guide to implementing a successful ECM strategy.
#1: Take stock
Start the process with a content audit. It may take time to track down every piece of content, but it will help you understand your present situation. After that, work out what to do with that content and where it should live thereafter.
#2: Focus on efficiency
Publishers need to be more efficient in how they organize and use content. You may believe the quickest solution is to repurchase, but in the long run that’s neither efficient nor cost-effective.
A study by the International Data Corporation calculated that if 1,000 employees on an average salary of $80,000 each spent 2.5 hours a day searching for lost content, a business would lose $2.5 million every year in wasted time. By allowing smarter allocation of resources, an ECM tool saves time and money.
#3: Consider consumption
You don’t need us to tell you the different ways readers consume content. The question is whether you approach your content with these various formats in mind. The more flexible and format-agnostic your mindset, the freer you will be to use, reuse and get real value from every word and image.
#4: Protect your content
Content is at the heart of your business, so you need to protect the intellectual property behind it. An ECM solution helps create more transparency and lets you keep control of your content, even when working with external third parties.
#5: Enrich through metadata
Metadata turns information into an asset. Enriched content leads to strategic organizational advantages, so the better you manage your content, the more consistent will be your results.
Smart content management tools help you take a digital-first approach to your business. They allow you to be smart and agile with your content, and they support the publishing process from end to end.