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Marketing & Growth Systems

Content operations: write it once, use it everywhere, keep it current

The same facts end up on a service page, in an email, in three social posts and on a leave-behind sheet. When one changes, nobody knows where it was used. Content operations treats one approved piece as the source and everything else as a version linked to it, so a change is found everywhere it matters.
Discuss your systemSee source, version and refresh ↓
Furnace maintenance guideapproved · owner: marketing leadOct 1 · rebate $300 → $250Service page FAQuses rebaterefreshrefreshedFall emailuses rebaterefreshrefreshedSocial post 1Social post 2Leave-behind sheetuses rebaterefreshrefreshed

Every piece moves through states

A piece is always in exactly one state, and someone is responsible for moving it on.
BriefThe reader, purpose and sources are agreedThe content owner
DraftBeing written from approved sourcesThe writer
In reviewChecked for facts, voice and usefulnessThe editor
ApprovedThe source others may useThe editor, once
VersionA channel's adaptation, linked to its sourceThe channel owner
Refresh dueA source fact changed since this was madeWhoever owns the version

What a content system owns

  1. Sources

    The approved originals

    Each fact lives in one approved piece, not in whichever version was written last.

  2. Owners

    A person per piece

    Somebody answers for each source and each version.

  3. States

    Where every piece is

    Brief, draft, review, approved, version, refresh due. Nothing is “somewhere in a doc”.

  4. Versions

    Linked, not copied

    Every email, page and post knows which source it came from.

  5. Freshness

    Found when facts change

    Change a source and every version that uses that fact is flagged.

Source, version, refresh

Furnace maintenance guide · source

state
approved, Sep 12
owner
marketing lead
facts used by versions
rebate amount; tune-up price; what's checked on a visit
versions
5
last changed
Oct 1 (rebate $300 → $250)

What content operations hands off

In

Briefs
from content owners
Approved sources
with their facts
Channel needs
formats and audiences
Content system
states → versions → freshness

Out

Approved pieces
each with an owner
Linked versions
every one traceable
Refresh tasks
when a fact changes

Worth building when the same facts appear in many places

Good fit

  • Prices, rebates, policies or service areas appear across pages, emails and posts.
  • Facts change several times a year.
  • More than one person writes or publishes.

Not the right fit

  • A handful of pages one person keeps up to date.
  • Content that's written once and never reused.

Where content is run this way

Next to content operations

Questions about content operations

Do we need a new CMS?

Usually not. The states, links and refresh tasks can sit beside the tools you publish with. A CMS change is a separate decision.

How are versions linked to sources?

Each version records its source and the facts it uses, so a change to one fact finds exactly the versions that quote it.

Who approves changes to a source?

Its owner and an editor. Versions are updated after the source, never instead of it.

Does this involve AI?

It doesn't have to. AI can draft versions inside the same states and checks; the system works the same either way.