4 Tips for Getting the Maximum Value out of Your CMS Platform

Many businesses are using a Content Management System but not all are getting the maximum return on their investment. Here are 4 tips on getting the most out of your CMS platform.

1. Develop a Sound Content Strategy

CMS implementation projects are often thought of as an IT responsibility and although there is a huge technical component, CMS project should be heavily focused on your company’s content and not just how it is stored. Your content strategy should define the process for the creation, publication, organization of your content as well as how it will be repurposed or archived. It will also take into account where content will be published and how this content can be personalized based on audience or device. This is where content strategists come into play. A content strategist will be able to help you define requirements and identify user needs. They will also be able to help you clearly define your brand’s messaging and align it with your organizational goals.

Performing a full content inventory of your current assets is a next step in designing your content strategy. Having a baseline of both the amount and types of content gives the technical CMS implementation team insight into any content migrations and the overall complexity of the project.

A key component of the inventory process is a content audit, where the information’s value is assessed, a process that should involve multiple departments to discover how content is currently distributed through various workflows.

2. Frequent Updates

Customers expect dynamic experiences. They want to be entertained while obtaining the information they need without delay. Frequent content updates are essential for grabbing the fleeting attention spans of the modern mobile-based consumer.

Once the available content is inventoried and audited, the strategist can create models that dictate where content flows and how often it should be updated. For example, new product descriptions will appear on the product pages on the website and might also flow into the customer service platforms to aid service inquiries. These updates should be designed to occur in near real-time, with processes in place that keep content fresh.

It’s also important to keep the platform itself up to date. Frequent updating is crucial with many platforms, and especially so for CMS. Updating improves security to prevent hacking, gives users access to all of the latest features, and removes annoying bugs that slow performance.

3. Train Staff for Widespread Adoption

Similar to other tech platforms, the value of the CMS is tied to the usage rates of the intended audience. Even if a solution has all of the latest functionalities, integration capabilities and support it still won’t drive adoption unless it’s easy to use and significantly improves the lives of it’s users. 

Consider these steps for improving CMS adoption rates:

• Create a multi-department group of “super users” who are most likely to successfully use the CMS and willing to discuss its advantages with other staff.
• Offer customized training so staff members not only to see how CMS can improve the business, but also how it relates to their own job performance and advancement.
• Choose a CMS that is easily customizable based on user roles. Remove or add functionality and complexity to match the role and skill set of the individual user to encourage adoption.

Provide tangible examples of how the CMS will affect the customer experience. Relate that improved experience to the individual staff person’s own goals within the company.

4. Push Integration with the Right Systems

CMS solutions manage valuable information, and since the modern company “runs on data”, it’s useful to integrate CMS with other solutions such as CRM. It’s important to choose a CMS platform that works well with other systems so integrations can run smoothly. In the CRM-CMS integration example, there are multiple ways to proceed including; embedding dynamic CRM data within website pages, use of a common database for both platforms, or hosting the website on a CRM platform. Such integrations can result in more personalized experiences for visitors, and provide valuable information for internal staff, for example sales people can better understand their customers by reviewing website interactions.

Implementing a new CMS solution can be tricky. It requires an experienced hand that understands how content should be categorized and used, and the platforms that are best suited to an individual company’s needs.

Talk to a consultant at TechBlocks about building a transformative CMS platform. Visit www.tblocks.com to learn more.

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