How Content Authoring Tools Help Marketing Teams

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How Content Authoring Tools Help Marketing Teams
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How Content Authoring Tools Help Marketing Teams

• Content authoring tools help marketing teams
  create, track and evaluate their online content.
• The right solutions will provide security,
  governance and brand protection.
• With these capabilities, a companys marketing
  staff is well positioned to succeed.
•  
• What functions do content authoring tools
  perform?
• They involve features critical to online content
  development, such as
•  
• Tracking Changes
• Team Collaboration
• Image Editing
• Accessibility
• Creating Amazing Content

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How Content Authoring Tools Help Marketing Teams

• TRACKING CHANGES
•  
• A track changes feature helps marketing teams
  understand the who, why, what and when of
  editing.
• In other words, theyre able to know who made a
  change, the date they made it, the type of change
  they made, and more.
• This function should track all types of changes,
  including text, layout and formatting changes.
• With a change tracking feature, the marketing
  staff doesnt need to set up meetings to discuss
  changes made, or exchange voicemails and e-mails
  to clarify edits.
• The entire editing process is streamlined with
  this feature in a content authoring tool.

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How Content Authoring Tools Help Marketing Teams

• TEAM COLLABORATION
•  
• Some content authoring tools provide a commenting
  feature that enhances team collaboration.
• For example, reviewers can embed comments right
  in the content rather than at the end in a text
  field.
• This feature helps create conversations between
  reviewers and authors.
• Comments can also be more perceptive and
  accurate.
• This type of collaboration makes the content
  revision process go quicker and smoother.

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How Content Authoring Tools Help Marketing Teams

• IMAGE EDITING
•  
• An advanced content authoring tool will have
  built-in image editing capability.
• This feature completely streamlines image
  editing, including resizing, cropping, rotating
  and adding effects.
• Instead of downloading images and then having to
  work with them in a separate application, you can
  edit the image directly in your content authoring
  tool.

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How Content Authoring Tools Help Marketing Teams

• ACCESSIBILITY
•  
• Creating accessible content ensures that your
  marketing collateral reaches the widest possible
  audience.
• Accessibility issues arent just restricted to
  those born with a sight-related disability but
  are also common in older demographics.
• Marketers using an advanced content authoring
  tool will be able to streamline the process of
  creating accessible tables.
• Youll be able to know as you type if your tables
  have any issues.
• Must-have accessibility features include
  inspectors and wizards to ensure you apply the
  right header and data cell relationships.
• A good accessibility reporting function is also a
  great feature to have.
• It will inspect your content for errors and
  compatibility to WCAG and Section 508 guidelines.

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How Content Authoring Tools Help Marketing Teams

• CREATE AMAZING CONTENT
•  
• Using the right content authoring tools,
  marketing teams can create spectacular content in
  a straightforward way.
• The best tools will not require authors to be
  technical experts.
• In fact, they shouldnt need any significant
  technical expertise at all.
• And, content authoring tools help create
  consistently styled content throughout the site.
  
• You can establish the parameters in terms of
  style sheet usage and formatting.

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How Content Authoring Tools Help Marketing Teams

• Extended Reach
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• Marketers need to make sure they reach all their
  intended audiences with their messaging. For
  example, content authoring must support a wide
  variety of browsers to reach as many users as
  possible.
• Comprehensive browser support should include
  Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari and
  Opera.
• Another way to extend content reach is to make
  sure HTML is standards compliant.
• If your content authoring tool helps ensure
  compliance, your content wont be limited to just
  desktop use. For example, mobile users will be
  able to access your content as well.
• Marketers have a tough job of creating, tracking
  and evaluating content.
• But, their jobs can be made much easier with the
  right content authoring tools.
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About the Author
Tom Smith is VP Worldwide Sales and Marketing for
Ephox Corporation, a fast-growing software
company focused on delivering content performance
solutions for developers, marketers, authors and
web production teams. Learn more about our
Content Authoring Tools by visiting
http//ephox.com.