A Behind the Scenes Look Into Our Notion Content Management System

When it comes to managing your media (aka your “content”), having a CMS (content management system) is non-negotiable. It just simply makes your life easier as well as helps your media achieve better results!

There are no right or wrong ways to manage your media.  Heck, when I was still running my business solo, there was a time that I would plan and manage all of my content from a piece of paper!

Yet, as your brand grows and your business expands, there comes a time that we will need to up-level our content management system. Things just become far too complex to NOT have a system in place.

In this article, I am going to breakdown our Notion Content Management System in hopes that this may help you get some ideas for how you can take your content management to the next level.  Let's go!

Notion For Content Management

When I say i've tried just about every option available for managing content, i'm not joking 🙃 . I've tinkered with all of the platforms… from Asana, Airtable and Trello to Clickup, Monday and Notion.  

I've found that some management softwares feel boring and entirely too complicated than they need to be….where as others are far more intuitive and creative.  Being someone who has to feel inspired by the tools they use, I typically lean toward the more creative and intuitive approaches. 

When I first was introduced to Notion I had no idea how much a management platform could change my life.  Yet here we are and I now manage pretty much my entire business in Notion!

I fell in love with Notion for many reasons, the biggest one being that it gives you so much customization freedom.  Whereas other management softwares typically force you to work within the structures, templates, and layout already set up for you….Notion gives you the freedom to completely design your layout from scratch.  The sky is the limit with Notion and I feel like I discover something new that I can do with the software to make my life easier every single week. 

Our Customized Notion Content Management Template

We have a customized Media Management HUB in Notion that each of our media and brand management clients receive.  This is where their CMS resides!

Stages of Content Management

In order to adequately explain how we use Notion for our CMS, I am going to break down our content management flow. Our flow consists of 9 steps, each important in order to manage our client’s content effectively!

Stage 1: Research & Strategy

The first thing we do when setting up a content plan or managing an editorial content calendar is go into research and strategizing mode! This is the first thing we do for all new clients and it is also a stage we do every month for our retainer clients - where we freshen and update current findings and strategies.

Content Strategy Documentation

Research and strategy phase is scheduled to be done each month and/or each quarter of the year.  Once completed, we compile documentation to present to the client.  This, in turn, supports us in moving into planning!

Stage 2: Brainstorm, ideate and plan!

The next thing we do within our content management flow is begin planning out content for the next 30-60-90 days.  Content planned is aligned with the goals and marketing intentions of the client.  This is where we develop content briefs and creative direction, cool approaches to content that will help us in achieving the brand's goals, and unique weekly content flows that support the larger monthly and quarterly agenda.

Editorial Calendar Setup

The ideas we come up with get placed onto a monthly editorial calendar, helping to create a visual of the plan that is now being put into place!  This acts as a helpful resource to reference throughout the month so to keep us on track.

Stage 3: Begin writing copy and designing

We are now ready to move into development!  This stage has us building out the content from captions and copy to the design assets themselves.

Once we finish a piece of content, we submit it to our client for first round of reviews and edit requests (stage 4).

Once the client reviews the content and suggests requested edits, we make additional updates to the content as needed and submit for the final approval (stage 5).

Once content is approved, we finalize things on our end by setting up a publishing brief that outlines targeting, keywords, tagging, publishing times, and so on (stage 6).

The content is now ready to be deployed (stage 7)! We use LATER for scheduling content in advance unless the media needs to be published in real time (such as reels or content we build in-app).

Marketing Channel Content Workflows

Above is an example of our marketing channel workflows. We run a unique board for each marketing channel we are managing for our clients, where the content management flow is laid out step by step so we can push content into each phase that it is currently in!

Post-publishing stages

The final stages of our content management flow (stages 8-9) take place after the content has been deployed.  Here, we monitor content - engaging and interacting with the responses received from the content. Then, we review data analytics and track progress!  We complete a full performance review of all media at the end of each month, which then supports us in starting this entire process over again - basing our upcoming strategies and plans off the data!

Systems For Sustainability

Systems can not only create more sustainability for your business, but they can also create more freedom for YOU! 

Have additional questions on content management systems?  Reach out and let's chat more about it!

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