How to Go Global with Content Marketing [3 Tips from Kapost Customers]

4 minute read

Upland Admin

Unbundling a new software into a global organization is always a complex process.

  • New teams resist changing processes and technologies
  • Higher-ups don’t want to create new metrics or goals
  • Moving existing systems into a new ecosystem takes an incredible amount of time

Sound familiar?

But we’ve talked with some of our more successful global customers, who’ve taken the challenge of implementing content marketing software in the right direction. Through their stories, we hope to share with you successful approaches to developing a culture of content within your global org, too.

This post is for you if your company has something similar to:

  • More than 50 global regions
  • More than 1 global headquarters
  • Content produced in at least 5 different languages
  • Roughly ~1,000+ marketing personnel

The trick is not biting off more than you can chew…read on. 

3 Tips from Other Global Organizations Implementing Content Cultures

The 3 tips below come from businesses that share your global challenges, but have learned to do some stuff right. Here are their secrets:

1.) Create an advisory board to help steer the direction of new software implementation.

This allows stakeholders from across the globe ensure that their needs are met, and things like definitions and taxonomy make sense at a global level. Some of our customers call this a “steering committee” or simply an “content advisory board.”

2.) Identify all software areas that need cross-regional alignment or operational definitions. Tackle 3-8 at a time.

No more. Have your “advisory board” meet once per month for a working session, and during those meeting identify 3-8 topics that you’ll leave the meeting having completely agreed upon. This gives voice to all stakeholders, and arms multiple regional directors with the right processes from the get-go.

For instance in the first meeting you could focus on:

  1. The content types you want to produce in 2015
  2. The workflow steps for an eBook
  3. The tagging protocol for a blog post
  4. Ideation process and who is responsible for accepting/rejecting ideas
  5. What types of content pillars your business will produce

In the next meeting, you could focus on:

  1. The number of blogs you hope to publish per week
  2. Setting up CRM and marketing automation integrations
  3. Taxonomy agreement between Kapost + marketing automation + Salesforce (or other CRM)
  4. Who is responsible for approving video content

3.) Encourage global adoption of Kapost on a small level first. Then scale it.

The best way to educate a fleet of 1,000 marketers on how to use a new software isn’t by hosting a webinar. It’s by getting them to actually DO IT. The best education comes from using new technologies and going through a process of self-discovery.

For this reason, some of our more successful customers have taken a “one-and-then-many” approach. In other words, these global companies are rolling out Kapost by enforcing that a singular content type is 100% produced in Kapost, to start.

Take, for example, the blog post. Make sure that writers are creating copy in the “content” section of Kapost, and that edits, images, legal reviewers, and final blog editors all work in the Kapost content production page. This way, the system and functionalities of Kapost become regular, understood, and second-nature. As you roll out more content types, users will already know how to leverage Kapost in the most successful way, making the transition easy.

Global Ain’t Easy

No matter what technology change you’re implementing at a Fortune 500 company or bigger, you’re bound to feel some resistance to change. But learning from the successes of others can hopefully help the entire industry sleep a little better at night.

If you are from a large business, and are currently rolling out content marketing strategies, we’d love to hear your tips in the comments below.

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