You already have a content system, whether you realize it or not – even if you only post when the mood strikes you.
Is that system going to grow your sales leads by 35% next quarter? Probably not.
You can engineer a content system for any specific goal.
So let’s look at how we engineer different systems for different ends.
Here’s a video rundown I did on this topic:
Your content system is a vehicle 🚗
When I drive my Prius to the grocery store, I don’t have to think about fuel injector or the cooling system. Thanks to the engineers, all I have to do is steer.
Content systems work in a similar way. There’s a lot going on under the hood: data, analytics, strategic frameworks, AI systems, design platforms, writers, editors, CMS tools…
And when they’re properly engineered, marketers can steer toward whatever ends they please.
So the question is…
Where are you trying to go with content?
I wouldn’t drive a scooter up a muddy mountainside. I don’t hire limos to go grocery shopping.
The goal with any content system is to engineer the right vehicle for specific end goals.
For example:
- Sales enablement. For early-stage startups, especially, the sales team needs material. Straightforward, product-focused content can win the day.
- Brand visibility. Making a name for yourself in a crowded landscape requires putting the right messages in the communities where your audience hangs out.
- Customer retention. Staying at the top of users’ minds (and in their good graces) requires a personalized touch that broadcast messaging can’t provide.
My point is: the right content system will take you where you want to go. Sometimes the hardest part is deciding where exactly that is.
Example: a content system for brand visibility
If brand visibility is the end goal, we need to assemble the right bundle of data, frameworks, tools, and workflows to get there.
Here’s what you might find under the hood:
- SEO. This motion will produce content that ranks well in traditional organic search (i.e. Google). It requires search data, competitor research, content generation. These days, automation tools have streamlined the process quite a bit.
- LLM search. This motion will produce content that LLM agents will surface and cite for readers. It requires data on targeted queries. Often, SEO content can be optimized for LLM visibility.
- Distribution. This motion makes sure that your strongest content is easily found and hard to ignore. It requires library inventory, community research, and production workflows.
- Conversion. This motion will revise page layouts to increase engagement. (Engagement metrics influence visibility.) It requires behavioral data, customer journey analysis, and link inventory.
Again: the motions you include within a content system are determined by the goals you’ve set for content. Some teams might include a paid ad component, for example. The motion might include landing page generation.
What it takes to build a great content system
Once you’ve got the end goal in sight, it’s time to start engineering. Here are the main components of a content system:
- Analytics. You can’t build reliable systems without reliable data. The data you track will vary according to the channels you prioritize, but all paths lead to the brand website. Basic traffic and conversion data from GA4 needs to be in place before you start publishing.
- Strategy & ideation. Each piece of content needs to be uniquely tailored to a specific channel and community. One size does not fit all! But one system can account for these formal variations. Templates and strategic frameworks store all of that data. With those systems in place, a new product rollout is easily adapted for SEO, community marketing, LLM visibility, and stakeholder meetings.
- Production. The options here are increasingly dynamic, thanks to LLM and automation tools. Different assets will call for different processes:
- Writing product-focused content from scratch.
- Assigning SEO blog campaigns to a team of writers.
- Using LLM assistants to draft intro-level blog posts.
- Creating LLM workflows to generate programmatic content.
Content quality and velocity are still the primary concerns for content teams, of course. But now we have a lot more ways to achieve them. A content system formalizes all of those tiny decisions.
Where LLM visibility fits in
Let’s zoom a little farther into the content system mentioned above. LLM search is rapidly growing as a channel for brand visibility.
What tools and processes are bundled within the LLM search component of a content system
- Topic strategy. Integrating search data and brand strategy to identify subject-areas where visibility could be improved.
- Search + sentiment analysis. Setting a baseline for current performance. How is your content being cited by various LLMs? How are these LLMs talking about the topics that matter to you?
- Content generation. Depending on the scale of the project, LLM tools can assist writers to speed up the research, design, drafting, or revision processes.
- Content optimization. Assessing and revising each page for table stakes LLM visibility (like FAQ sections) and customer journey essentials (like internal links).
- Performance analytics. Monitoring visibility metrics for individual pages and topics as well as the site on the whole. (We use the ércule app for this.)
With this system in place we can continuously deliver content to increase LLM visibility – while also continuously monitoring performance and improving it.
Combined with the other visibility motions in a content system – SEO, distribution, conversion – it becomes a turnkey operation.
Marketing requires more than a content system
Along the way you’ll still need strategists and creatives to produce and refine the content, publish it on the website, share it in communities.
A content system can’t replace your creative decision-making! But it can provide a ton of support.
We build content systems with that fact in mind. As system engineers, we’re trying to align resources with design in service of outcomes.
So, do you need a content system? Yes. Do you have a content system? Almost certainly. Is it due for a tune-up? Now is a good time to ask. 🙂
