The Global Content team is responsible for showcasing GitLab’s expertise and leadership in DevOps through easy-to-find content that is educational, thought-provoking, and market-defining. As part of Global Content, the Content Marketing team works with stakeholders across GitLab to provide readers with end-to-end content experiences that garner trust, create source credibility, and generate customer engagement.
We’re here to help with your content, writing, and editing needs! Ask us for help with:
The team will review all incoming requests in the Content Marketing project and will schedule accordingly based on current workload and priorities.
Requesting content creation for campaigns
Requesting content creation for other projects
Requesting content editing and review
| Task | DRI |
|---|---|
| Define general campaign theme and target audience/segment for asset in collaboration with Product Marketing, campaign leads, and Global Content | Campaign manager |
| Provide input on search keywords and topic/angle | Search marketer |
| Write first draft | Writer (Content Marketing) |
| Complete peer review (looking at flow, clarity, consistency, story) | Editor (Content Marketing) |
| Complete campaign review (checking for alignment with campaign objectives) | Campaign manager |
| Complete SME review (looking at messaging and positioning) | Product marketing manager |
| Copy edit | Editor (Content Marketing) |
| Proofread/prepare for Design (cleaning up and resolving edits) | Writer (Content Marketing) |
| Put content into layout | Brand designer |
| Stakeholder review (checking for typos, errors, broken/incorrect links, the look of the design, proof infographics, double check that index links lead to the right pages) | Writer (Content Marketing), Editor (Content Marketing), Product marketing manager |
| Implement final edits | Brand designer |
| Final proofread (checking that all edits are implemented, confirming links) | Writer (Content Marketing), Editor (Content Marketing) |
| Publish | Campaigns team |
Note: Each role should be assigned at the project outset; for example “Editor (Content Marketing)” would be a single person who would be identified in the relevant project issues/epics and would review the draft at all of the designated times to keep things consistent.
Content is most effective when it has the right message, to the right audience, at the right time, in the right medium. That's why the content marketing team produces a variety of content types designed to reach different people at different stages of the buyer journey.
At GitLab, everyone can contribute. While the content marketing team produces a large amount of content, they are by no means the only content creators at GitLab. If you would like to contribute content such as blog posts, eBooks, whitepapers, etc, read more about these content types and how to submit them.
A post on the GitLab blog is used during the Awareness or Consideration stage of the buyer's journey. A blog post can educate, entertain, tell a story, take an opinionated stance, etc. A blog post is dated, so it only reflects thoughts, ideas, and processes from a specific period of time. For communicating long-term/evergreen ideas or processes, consider using a topic page or web article instead.
Visit the blog handbook to learn more about the blog publishing process.
A blog can and should be repurposed as a web article/cluster page if the content is evergreen and Awareness stage. The blog should also be older than six months and not GitLab-centric.
Blog repurpose workflow
www-gitlab-com project.A whitepaper is a technical and focused topic study intended to educate a prospective buyer during the Consideration or Purchase stages of a campaign. The whitepaper offers a problem and solution instance in a granular, technical tone. The content team member should collaborate closely with their product marketing counterpart when researching and writing the asset so that the content reaches appropriate technical standards for the intended audience.
Any technical GitLab team member is welcome to write a whitepaper and collaborate with the content team. If you’re interested in writing a whitepaper, open an issue in the Content Marketing project and describe your idea, or post in the #content Slack channel. Whitepapers should be related to specific use cases and support campaigns, when possible.
Examples:
An eBook tends to be broader in scope than a whitepaper and provides a clear definition of the topic, along with various industry standard best practices. eBooks typically provide awareness-level content, but can dive deeper into GitLab if it's intended for late-stage consumption. eBooks should be related to specific use cases and support campaigns, when possible.
Content Marketer workflow: A Content Marketing team member develops eBook content with input and review from their product marketing counterpart. More technical or instructive eBooks may require more collaboration with product marketing. eBooks follow the internal gated content asset workflow.
Follow the instructions for creating an internal gated asset and start the eBook process by creating an epic using the epic template.
For other GitLab team members: To request an eBook from the content team, feel free to open a content request issue. If you would like to write an eBook, we have an eBook google doc template available for GitLab team members to use with general best practices.
Examples:
An infographic is an illustrated overview of a topic or process, and is typically an ungated asset. Infographics should tell a story using data, diagrams, and text. It can be used to discuss industry trends, relate insights, or explain different stages of a project. Open a design request issue when planning an infographic to figure out a structure for the graphic, and ask the design DRI for recommended copy lengths.
Example:
A topic page is a high-level explanatory "pillar" page dedicated to a specific topic, such as version control, DevSecOps, or continuous integration. Topic pages should explain what the subject is, why it is important, and explain the basic concepts of the subject. Topic pages should include links to additional related resources, such as blogs, web articles, videos, and case studies, as well as at least one CTA to a gated asset.
Web articles are educational, informational content, designed to support topic pages using keywords and search terms. They are similar to blogs in length, but differ in that they are not dated and the content is evergreen (see more about blog posts). Web articles should be linked on one or more topic pages, and should serve as a deep-dive into a specific sub-topic. Web articles are created in accordance with SEO research and campaign goals that are listed in the topics clusters spreadsheets. Complete the SEO web article template when creating a new piece of content.
Examples:
Case studies are in-depth customer stories that provide insight as to how GitLab has resolved significant software workflow problems for a company. The case study tells the story using quotes from customer interviews and straightforward metrics that broadly show the impact of adopting GitLab.
Case studies are created in partnership with the customer reference team. The customer reference team has a process in place for how they add new references and provide a list of customer value drivers. The content team is responsible for writing the case study asset using this template, publishing the case study to the website, adding the customer logo to the customer logo grid, and ensuring that the case study goes through proper social media and newsletter steps.
Examples:
Anyone at GitLab can reach out to the content team in the #content channel on Slack.
Here are a few other Slack channels to check out if you’d like to learn more about marketing content:
#content-team-lounge: Where the content team can hang out. This is a public channel.#content: A general discussion channel for all things content, including blog posts, case studies, videos, webcasts, newsletter content, interesting articles, etc#content-updates: A rolling log of new, published content. Once an article, blog post, case study, webinar, video, landing page, etc. is public, add it to this channel with a TL;DR description of the content.#marketing: The main channel for the entire marketing group.