How To Use Collaborative Documentation Tools To Improve Publishing Workflows

 

Feature	Single-channel	Multichannel
Reach	Limited to a single platform or medium.	Expands reach across multiple platforms and formats.
Engagement	Focuses on interaction within one channel.	Enables diverse engagement methods tailored to each platform.
Format	Uses a single format suitable for the chosen platform.	Optimizes content use in various formats.
Flexibility	Inflexible and dependent on one platform and audience behavior.	Highly flexible and adaptable to audience preferences and trends.
Workflows	Simplified workflows with fewer tools and processes.	More complex workflows requiring advanced tools and coordination.
Resources	Requires fewer resources, making it cost-effective.	Demands significant resources for creation, customization, and tracking.
Monetization	Limited to the chosen platform’s revenue options.	Offers diversified revenue streams across multiple platforms.
Risk	Higher risk due to dependence on a single platform.	Lower risk by spreading presence across multiple platforms.
Competitiveness	Less competitive in a digital-first, multichannel audience world.	Essential for competing effectively in modern publishing.

Discover why more and more publishers around the world are transitioning to multichannel in our blog: Publishing In Africa – Making The Move To Multichannel.

 

The key benefits of multichannel publishing 

There’s nothing wrong with single-channel publishing, per se. Compared with a multichannel approach, it’s much simpler, easier to manage, and requires fewer resources to maintain. In fact, it’s well-suited to niche publishing markets where growth is already capped or the market moves much slower.

But creating and distributing information-heavy content through a single channel, or even serving more than one channel through separate, siloed workflows, is increasingly unlikely to succeed as a viable business model in larger or growing markets. 

Here are some of the key benefits to multichannel publishing:

• Maximize value – Multichannel publishing allows you to repurpose content for different formats and audiences, maximizing the value of each piece and ensuring it resonates across different platforms.

• Add revenue streams – A multichannel approach unlocks multiple monetization opportunities, from ads and subscriptions to partnerships, ensuring your content generates income across different platforms.

• Streamline workflows – Multichannel publishing systems unify workflows and reduce duplication of effort, making it easier to publish cohesive content across platforms with minimal extra work.

• Greater flexibility – Multichannel publishing provides the agility to adapt to changing consumer trends, such as shifting from print to digital, desktop to mobile, or emerging social media platforms, helping you retain and grow your audience.

• Broader appeal – By publishing across multiple platforms and formats, you can reach a wider audience, ensuring your content connects with customers through their preferred channels.

• Increase engagement – Leveraging multiple channels enables you to interact with audiences in a variety of ways, deepening engagement, and building stronger brand loyalty.

• Improve resilience – Diversifying your publishing strategy across multiple channels reduces the risk of overdependence on any one platform, protecting you against algorithm updates, policy changes, or shifts in popularity.
• Competitive edge – In a multichannel world, offering content in diverse formats tailored to specific platforms keeps you competitive and better equipped to meet changing consumer expectations.

 

Overcoming the challenges of multichannel publishing

There’s no doubt that creating, managing, and publishing the same or similar content across different platforms, formats, and workflows adds complexity for publishing organizations. Here’s our advice on overcoming some of the most common challenges:

Feature	Challenge	Solution
Approvals	With multiple channels, content needs approval from different departments or stakeholders, which can cause delays. Each platform may require unique approvals based on audience needs.	Implement a centralized approval workflow in a content management system (CMS) that tracks approvals for each platform, allowing teams to manage and streamline the approval process.
Layout	Different platforms require different content formats and layouts. Designing each format can be time-consuming and prone to inconsistencies.	Use XML schema that can easily adjust content to fit multiple formats. Standardize layout elements across platforms to reduce design variation.
Versioning	Managing multiple versions of the same content can lead to confusion and errors.	Set up version control within CMS to ensure that each version is tracked and easily accessible.
Archiving	Storing and managing large volumes of content across multiple channels creates challenges for accessibility, consistency, and retrieval.	Deploy a centralized cloud-based repository integrated with your CMS for efficient content retrieval, storage, and searchability across all channels.

 

Which digital tools are needed for multichannel publishing?

Transitioning from a single-channel or siloed approach to publishing is a great opportunity to rethink your tech stack. Here’s an overview of the digital tools needed for multichannel output:

• Content Management System (CMS): Centralizes content creation, editing, and publishing across digital platforms.

• Digital Asset Management (DAM): Organizes and stores digital assets for easy retrieval and consistent use.

• Workflow Management: Coordinate tasks, deadlines, and team collaboration, ensuring smooth publishing processes.

• Version Control Systems (VCS): Track and manage multiple versions of content to ensure accuracy and consistency across channels.

• Editorial Calendar: Help plan and schedule content publication across multiple platforms with team collaboration.

• Communication Platforms: Enable communication and collaboration between editorial, design, and publishing teams.

• Analytics And Reporting: Provide insights into content performance across platforms to optimize publishing strategies.

• Content Creation And Editing: Popular writing apps and XML authoring tools – such Microsoft Word and Xeditor – facilitate content creation, editing, and collaborative feedback for text-based content.

 

Multichannel publishing made easy

Don’t be put off by the complexity of transitioning to a multichannel publishing environment. Some of the world’s largest content and professional information providers have made it easier by using a centralized publishing platform – PublishOne. 

Built on the Microsoft Azure Cloud, PublishOne is a robust and highly-scalable publishing solution designed to seamlessly integrate with all your favorite publishing tools – like Microsoft Word – both now and in the future.

On top of that, it has the ability to seamlessly mark up and distribute your content to multiple outputs in just a few clicks. Set up your preferred XML schema, and you can publish content created in Word in multiple formats at once. The best part? You only ever have to make edits once, and the changes update everywhere – from information portals to e-learning modules. 

PublishOne takes care of all the heavy-lifting for you. Multiple publishing workflows, working with external authors, content creation, version controls, approval processes, XML conversion, and more – are all handled inside one friendly environment.

Discover an easier way to handle your multichannel publishing workflows with PublishOne. Find out more