5 Challenges That Come with Managing Content
Many businesses across all industries are opening positions for content managers as the need for engaging content continues to grow. Consumers are heavily driven by web presence and online marketing techniques. If a customer is looking for information about a product, service, or brand, one of the first places they will look is online. Without a modern website and fresh, new content, it’s much more challenging to keep customers engaged in what your company offers.
What Does a Content Manager Do?
A content manager is responsible for overseeing and managing the content presented on a variety of online mediums, including websites, blogs, and other avenues, as well as the content presented in other formats, such as brochures, ad campaigns, and email campaigns. The role of a content manager is to make sure the information presented is fresh and exciting, as well as to minimize duplication of work. If an employee within the organization is looking for a blog post or email campaign that has been shared, the content manager should know just where to find it.
The main responsibilities of a content manager include researching, writing, editing, sourcing, and managing content for a company. Other duties might include monitoring traffic on a website, managing discussions, looking at ways to repurpose and share existing content, and identifying new opportunities for sharing and managing content. Many people within this role rely on a content management system to track and file items for easier access in the future.
Keeping the Site Up and Responsive
Image via Flickr by influenZia
Because a content manager may hold the reins to the company website, the task of monitoring the responsiveness might fall on their shoulders. As website content continues to become more engaging through videos, animated images, and music, the size of those sites continues to increase. The result is slower load times, which can be frustrating for a user. In fact, in the last two years the average size of the images alone on a website has increased to more than the size of the entire web page back then.
More than one-third of website visitors will leave a page if it takes more than three seconds to load, and those on mobile devices express even more frustration with slow loading. In order to combat this problem and keep users on your company’s site, a content manager must test the site frequently across a variety of devices and browsers. Look for broken links and other issues that can cause frustration and distrust as well.
Managing Videos
According to these digital marketing statistics, videos are some of the most engaging content to users. Including a video in an email campaign can increase the click rate by as much as 300 percent, while videos on landing pages can increase conversion by 80 percent. Online video giant YouTube reports that video consumption on mobile devices increases 100 percent every year. If you’re looking at ways to market your business or product, adding a video to an ad campaign can increase engagement by nearly a quarter. Additionally, 64 percent of users are more likely to buy a product if they watch a video online.
With the sharp increase in video engagement, it’s more important than ever for content managers to stay on top of the trend and ride the wave. A content manager might not be responsible for designing and producing the video, but they should work with their creative teams to generate interesting content and share the videos frequently. This aspect of content management can be challenging, since videos take time and money to produce.
Engaging with Other Users
Forrester Research performed a study to look at how much consumers trust brands versus users, and the results were informative. Nearly half of those surveyed reported trusting other users, while only 14 percent of those people said that they trust brands. Generating all of your own content as a content manager for a company is not only time-consuming, but it may not produce the results that you want.
A good content manager should reach out to influencers and other users to increase engagement and trust in the brand. This can come with some challenges as well, because the manager must review and police all content from the outside person. But when done right, this type of content can increase click-through rates by as much as 300 percent.
Targeted Messaging
In a world where consumers can buy personalized soft drink cans and bottles from Coca-Cola and a variety of products are available with monogramming and other customization options, targeting the messaging at specific consumers is also very important. It’s hard to get excited about a message that doesn’t seem to speak to you specifically, so users are more likely to ignore generic information and move on to the next item on the newsfeed.
Content managers can work with web development teams to push targeted messages to users from specific areas thanks to geo-targeting. Through analytics and surveys, you can also separate your email lists into groups based on age, location, income, and/or other characteristics, which makes it easier to target those groups with specific messages.
Appropriate Use of Technology
If a content manager uses a management system to track information, it’s important to make sure that they are taking full advantage of the technology. These systems come at a price, so it’s wasteful for your company to pay a monthly fee only to use the bare minimum in terms of features and capabilities. If you’re thinking about hiring a content manager for your company, or you already have one, consider investing in some training and education about the system. Doing so can reduce time waste and streamline the management process.
One of the best ways to overcome these challenges and work together as a marketing or creative team is to come up with a content management strategy. Doing so keeps everyone on the same page and encourages collaboration to come up with the best ideas. With a solid strategy, your company can continue to improve its initiatives and increase engagement with consumers.
Allie graduated with a bachelor's degree in English from Brigham Young University. She has more than 10 years of experience writing copy, including blog posts, product descriptions, social media content, marketing campaigns, and digital media. In her free time, she enjoys running, spending time with her family, and volunteering with the cats at her local animal shelter.
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