TRAFFIC
Do bear in mind that the tool doesn’t
produce formal titles but keyword clusters
of rising interest and angles to work on.
Perfect for sparking creative ideation.
Figure 3: Oz interface
Process & Collaboration Tools
To operate as an efficient content machine,
particularly when using freelance
contributors, it is essential to incorporate
process and collaboration tools to help
keep everyone focused. It’s often stated that
an editorial calendar is an essential part of
strategy, but to take it a step further, chose a
solution that incorporates workflow features
so that you can pass content from ideation,
to writing, to design, to proof and publish.
We love Asana at theMediaFlow, and use
it for all client production calendars as well
as our own content schedule. Developed by
Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein
formerly of Facebook fame, it’s a cloudbased web app for project management.
Pro Tip: If you use Toggl, the timetracking tool, there’s an API integration
with Asana, meaning once a task is
accepted you can start your timer within
Asana. Really helpful for understanding
writer productivity and ROI!
● RedPen
RedPen is a fairly new tool for reviewing
and collating feedback on visual content,
created by a couple of professional web
designers. We love RedPen for getting
feedback on infographics, long-form
features and any other visual pieces that
need client input and, of course, sign-off.
Figure 5 shows an example of how it looks
using one of our own visual guides to rel
attributes for SEO.
The good thing about RedPen is that you
don’t need any collaborators to have an
account. You just upload the creative and
send the link to those that need to review.
● Teamwork
Another great project management tool,
which we find really useful for bigger
projects like site re-designs, campaign
microsites, games, tools and interactive
content pieces, Teamwork allows multiple
contributors to collaborate on projects
through various stages of delivery, keeping
communications and files together
succinctly. It’s a little more project
management-focused than Asana and lacks
the calendar style functionality that makes
Asana great for managing the editorial
schedule, but comes into its’ own for ‘built’
content pieces.
What’s really useful about Teamwork
is that you can add risks to milestones,
which is great for things like sports
Figure 4: Asana project management tool
Figure 5: RedPen review tool
betting content, where time sensitivity or
unexpected outcomes can make or break
the success of a planned piece of content.
Evaluation Tools
Of course, creative ideas, organisation
and planning are key parts to a thorough
content marketing strategy, but there’s also
a lot to be learned through experience and
trial and error. So without an evaluation
stage, it is impossible to improve, nor is
it possible to understand what kind of
content is delivering the best return as a
marketing exercise.
There are so many ways to evaluate
content efficacy, and much will depend on
the commercial objectives but here’s a few
we measure here:
● Content landing page entrances
● New visits arriving via content
● Social shares generated
● Links attracted
I’m not going to tell you how to use
Google Analytics, but suffice to say that
setting up more advanced features like
funnel visualisations can help you gain
more insight into the role of content in
any conversion process. Instead let’s look
at ways to evaluate content as it creates
“signal” through social and link activity.
● Rival IQ
A wonderful tool for evaluating content
performance in the social sphere,
particularly against competitors, Rival IQ
iGB Affiliate Issue 50 APR/MAR 2015
27