Strategic content operations in AI solutions

Coveo, a leading provider of intelligent search and personalization solutions, was producing significant amounts of content and recognized opportunities to enhance operational efficiencies and maximize asset utilization. The marketing team was navigating evolving processes and competing priorities, with a desire to move towards more proactive content creation. Toast was mandated to map the content strategy and operational framework to better align with Coveo’s business objectives and create sustainable, measurable improvements to their content program.

The challenge

Coveo’s content operations presented several areas with potential for growth and optimization:

• Objective refinement: Opportunities existed to further refine objectives and performance indicators to better measure success and guide tactical decisions. Content creation, while consistent, had the potential to be more closely aligned with audience needs and strategic goals beyond fulfilling quotas (such as a set number of webinars per quarter or blog posts per month).
• Workflow enhancement: The content workflow offered opportunities for enhanced structure from ideation through archiving, which could streamline obtaining necessary inputs at different stages of production. Engaging subject matter experts and coordinating content requests from various parts of the organization were areas identified for potential process improvements.
• Strategic planning and asset utilization: An audit identified opportunities to shift towards more proactive, strategic content planning to complement existing content creation efforts. Adapting to evolving goals mid-process presented occasional hurdles, and there was an opportunity to maximize the value of content assets through increased reuse and repurposing, moving beyond creating most pieces from scratch.
• Resource and role clarification: The dedicated marketing content team could benefit from additional resources and further clarification of roles and responsibilities to meet growing demands effectively. Implementing a more formal governance structure, potentially including a RACI framework, was identified as a way to enhance transparency regarding project prioritization and success metrics.
• Systems and tool optimization: Exploring centralized systems for content management was seen as a way to streamline operations, as teams were utilizing a variety of tools and technologies across the content lifecycle.

The solution

Toast documented a comprehensive approach to transform Coveo’s content operations:

Phase 1: Content strategy development

• Identified Coveo’s objectives and established performance indicators to guide and validate tactical decisions
• Conducted a thorough content audit of over 200 existing pieces, analyzing data points for clarity, discoverability, calls-to-action, and value
• Facilitated content subject prioritization workshops to establish strategic focus areas

Phase 2: Content operations framework

• Assessed the organizational maturity in content-related activities through workshops and stakeholder interviews
• Reviewed existing documentation including technology landscape, content workflows, and policies
• Developed a Content Orchestration framework proposing key themes, observations, and pillars with specific organizational purposes
• Created a collaborative Content Center of Excellence (CoE) model with supporting governance structure
• Established execution workstreams with templates for Content Brief submission, process audit, and RACI matrices

Phase 3: Operational Recommendations

• Proposed an Editorial Council to guide content priorities and decisions
• Recommended implementation of a central enterprise-wide content calendar
• Advised on adopting an enterprise Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution
• Suggested an audit of the existing martech stack to optimize automation and align teams on consistent tools
• Designed a content governance model with clear roles and responsibilities

Throughout the project, Toast maintained tight project management with clear schedules, deadlines, and frequent stakeholder communication. The approach incorporated collaborative workshops and transparent processes to ensure alignment with Coveo’s broader digital transformation goals.

The results

The project delivered a transformative framework for Coveo’s content operations:

• The Content Orchestration Deliverable provided actionable insights and a roadmap for establishing a collaborative Content Center of Excellence with supporting governance models, stages, OKRs, and an implementation action plan.
• Strategic recommendations aligned with Coveo’s digital transformation objectives by establishing sustainable structures for B2B content marketing, particularly in the tech sector. This approach leveraged Toast Studio’s expertise in best practices from similar marketing teams.
• The content strategy phase delivered clear objectives and performance indicators, allowing Coveo to measure success and guide day-to-day tactical decisions. This strategic foundation ensured every content action would “move the needle” on key performance metrics.
• Implementation plans were designed with feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and respect for the current team in mind. The phased approach to change management ensured recommendations were clearly documented, explained, and sequenced appropriately for the organization.
• While implementation was not part of the initial mandate, the project established the framework for measuring operational efficiency and content program success, enabling Coveo to build on these foundations for long-term content marketing excellence.

Through this comprehensive approach to content strategy and operations, Coveo gained a clear path forward to transform their content marketing from a reactive, production-focused function to a strategic driver of business results with measurable impact.