What Is Content Orchestration? A Complete Guide for Modern B2B Marketers

Send stunning images out into the world? Tell your target audience stories both online and offline. There are countless opportunities for marketers today. The rise of social media and other trends like customer experience marketing and personalization have increased demand for high-quality content. To put it briefly, the demand for rich visual content is rising. Many brands have established content teams especially for web, social media, and print in order to satisfy this requirement. These teams frequently collaborate on campaigns without making use of one another’s people, resources, content, or source systems (such as ERP, DAM, PIM, and CRM). The question is, how can they collaborate and execute content orchestration?

Let’s learn in this ultimate guide.

What is Content Orchestration?

The process of taking charge of the disarray of content and transforming it into something organized, effective, and efficient is known as content orchestration.

Orchestration unifies everything under a single, transparent procedure, saving your team from having to manage disparate tools, last-minute modifications, and dispersed files.

It essentially entails streamlining the entire content-generation process; from ideation and creation to publication and optimization; while avoiding chaos.

It’s about developing a more intelligent approach to content planning, production, and delivery so that your team can work more quickly, remain cohesive, and provide your audience with better SEO user experiences. Stronger business outcomes and more seamless operations are the outcomes of properly executed content orchestration.

How Content Management and Orchestration Differ From One Another

Despite their similar names, content management and content orchestration address somewhat different issues. Content orchestration is about advancing your content if content management is about keeping it organized and stored. Let’s dissect it.

Content Management Which Includes Organize, Store, and Maintain

Organizing your content assets is the main goal of content management. Your content management system (CMS), such as WordPress or HubSpot, can help with this.

Here you can:

• Published and store content consistently across all pages
• Control rights, tags, URLs, and metadata
• Update without causing any problems.

It serves as the framework for your content, much like a filing cabinet or library. However, it doesn’t dictate how that content is produced or distributed.

Content Orchestration Includes Coordinate, Automate, and Deliver

Before and after content enters the CMS, content orchestration takes over. In order for content to flow smoothly through each step, it links strategy, people, tasks, and tools.

When using orchestration, you:

• Assign responsibilities and due dates.
• Make processes that can be repeated.
• Coordinate the work of editors, designers, and writers.
• Automate approvals and reviews
• Distribute content via email, social media, and advertisements.

The entire content process is maintained by the system. It encompasses not only the location of content but also its creation and distribution.

Also Read: CDN 101: What Is a Content Delivery Network and Why Does It Matter?

Why Content Orchestration Matters

Because the content supply chain is constantly expanding, content orchestration is becoming even more important.

More content across more channels is what consumers want. And by satisfying that need, companies are realizing financial gains like higher revenue and client lifetime value.

They aren’t always effectively satisfying that demand, though.

Some firms are having difficulty keeping up with the rapid rise of content marketing, the proliferation of platforms, and the shift from print to digital, all of which are caused by less-than-ideal content processes.

Some content teams are using improvised workflows and processes that aren’t exactly appropriate for their intended use. Procedures that are frequently print-centric and have been forced into an omnichannel setting. These may perform the task, but they may not do so effectively. Consequently, content teams are unable to realize their full potential as sources of value and client loyalty.

Because of this, content orchestration is crucial. As it develops scalable, effective, and fit-for-purpose processes it enable your creative teams to work more quickly and intelligently.

How Does Content Orchestration Work?

It usually involves the following five processes.

Integration

When a DXP provides content orchestration, it will use an integration platform, or iPaaS, to enable an organization to connect directly to several sources (such CMSs) from one location.

iPaaS solutions provide ‘RESTful APIs,’ or pre-built connectors, to interface with various CMSs. Data may be extracted, synchronized, or moved between CMS platforms thanks to these connectors, which facilitate smooth connection with several platforms. Over 78 million active websites exist as of August 2024, and content management systems power most of them.

A new system is introduced in this technological advancement, which replaces the conventional point-to-point, developer-led integration methods that frequently have major bottlenecks. This makes your content operations easier by packaging your data and digital content regardless of the channels you use to pull it.

Aggregation

After being integrated with an iPaaS, data, like news items from various CMS sources, is then aggregated to make sense of the information.

Tools for defining data mappings and transformations between various CMSs are available on the iPaaS platform. In order to create, update, or remove content in one CMS in response to changes in another CMS, you can create automated workflows that initiate activities depending on particular events or criteria. In this manner, content from many source platforms can be appropriately tailored to the structure and format of the destination CMS.

Governance and orchestration

Content workflows and processes can be managed automatically with orchestrating services. Content generation, approval, publishing, and distribution are among the tasks that it enables enterprises to establish and automate. You can use automated workflows to log information about who performs the change, when it occurs, and any faults that arise during content publication.

Segmentation

The same audience does not have to consume all of your content. You can designate which material should be viewed by each of your many audience categories by using segmentation.

During the content orchestration process, content can be tagged (categorized) according to particular segmentation criteria or attributes. Editors can establish guidelines and standards for linking content to specific client segments by giving it specific metadata or tags. Content that corresponds with a customer’s segment may be shown or given priority when they visit the website or platform.

In addition to eliminating noise and providing your viewers with more engaging and personalized content, this also helps you fill triggered campaigns with relevant material, which supports your automated marketing approach.

Delivery

You may then plan content-related activities in two distinct situations using content orchestration tools.

• One-way: From a single location, create, modify, plan, and distribute content to many channels. To connect with other websites or APIs to connect with your apps and social media accounts, use ‘components.’
• Two-way: Use iPaaS to automatically gather, alter, and manage content from several sources before sending it back to the same or different sources. This aids in maintaining content consistency and accuracy across all of your platforms.

What Are the Challenges in Implementing Content Orchestration?

The top three content management issues in the insurance and financial services industries are integration (41%), measurement (42%), and automation (52%).

The first and most evident obstacle to overcome when organizing content orchestration is resource allocation. Businesses that use cloud environments may typically acquire resources with little effort, but if your company uses hardware that is located on-site, you may encounter challenges. Your data center may need to be expanded as part of the process, which would increase the number of devices you need to maintain.

Standardization is an additional issue that could come up. In particular, if your infrastructure cannot support standardized configurations that you may use for company-wide procedures, orchestration initiatives may not succeed.

It goes without saying that the initial configuration will be done by hand, but orchestration enables automated configuration across workflows. This poses a risk if a configuration setup error by a person creates a gap for potential data breaches.

The requirement for leadership and stakeholder support may be the last obstacle standing in the way of content orchestration’s deployment, even when a successful plan is in place and answers are available for every known issue. As a crucial component of the original approach, pitching and selling the idea to management must be considered.

Bottom Line

Content orchestration is really just about staying organized. It helps keep everything in one place and makes it easier to manage different types of content. When things are planned and connected well, teams can work more smoothly. It also reduces confusion and avoids repeating the same work. Simple steps like using shared calendars or setting clear roles can make a big difference. In the end, it’s about keeping things clear and consistent.