content planning tips: how content marketers can get more time

How Content Marketers Can Get More TimeSimple ways to get more time to create powerful, relevant content

IntroductionContent marketers face a barrage of challenges today, but lack of time remains one of the biggest barriers to our success. According to the LinkedIn Technology Marketing Community, for example, 51% of content marketers said lack of time/bandwidth to create content was their top challenge.So how do we get more time? The secret lies in maximizing the time we can spend on our “real” work. But first, let’s figure out where our time is going…

Where does the time go?For the 2015 State of Marketing Work Report, Workfront asked marketers how much of their time was consumed by different job activities.

After email, admin tasks, meetings, and interruptions, marketers only had a paltry 36% of their time left for their primary job duties.

How do marketers cope with this lack of time?The 2015 State of Marketing Work Report shed light on the answer to this question…

To create more time, the majority of marketers regularly logged into work after hours and on weekends.

Why is this happening?The culprit is right under our noses…

Email. Administrative tasks. Meetings. Interruptions.

Epiphany Alert!Content marketers don’t have a time problem—we have a communication problem.Think about how much of our time is zapped by email, meetings, conference calls, and other manual tools like spreadsheet (which are designed to communicate our project information) on a daily basis.It stands to reason, then, that by minimizing the time we spend trying to communicate with others, we could regain hours in the day to produce better content. But how?

1. Centralize communicationWe need to put a stop to the many different lines of communication. Rather than splitting project communication among email, phone, and spreadsheets, designate one solution where all project communication will occur.This solution should collect all status updates, feedback on projects, alerts on roadblocks, and more. Instead of digging through emails or ambushing team members at their desks, anyone should be able to log in and see everything that’s been communicated on any given project.

2. Automate communicationWherever possible, automate the manual work that usually goes into sending out emails, updating spreadsheets, or attending meetings. If a task is completed, the stakeholder and team members should automatically be notified in real time. If a completion date is pushed back on a project, a notification should go out to everyone in real time.

3. Make information availableIt’s important to store documents, images, and files in the same project management platform and make it available to all team members, stakeholders, managers, and executives. This will give any of these individuals the ability to check project statuses from their own desks at any time of day.

Ask the Right QuestionsWhile you’re busy planning and executing your next ambitious content marketing campaign, take time to consider how you will overcome the ever-present challenge of time. Ask yourself”How can I better centralize communications among my team members, stakeholders, and managers?Can I eliminate any emails, calls, or meetings by automating my manual tasks of communicating?How can I make project information more accessible to relevant parties?

Devour Chaos, Drive CreativityCreativity has a new protector.Workfront provides just enough structure to bring order to creative teams’ workflows and give them more time for the real work of creativity.To learn how Workfront marketing work management can benefit your team, watch the demo today.

Devour Chaos, Drive CreativityCreativity has a new protector.Workfront provides just enough structure to bring order to creative teams’ workflows and give them more time for the real work of creativity.To learn how Workfront marketing work management can benefit your team, watch the demo today.

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