A strong and efficient editorial process is the key to creating high-quality content that gets results. Readers are more likely to interact with and share engaging, meaningful content, which can result in increased brand awareness, sales, and conversions over time.Â
Getting your editing team up and running quickly without compromising content quality can make a big difference in achieving your marketing goals. In this guide, we’ll take you through the essential elements for a smooth, fast onboarding process that sets your editorial team up for success.Â
Before hiring new editors or onboarding freelance editors, firmly establish an airtight content marketing strategy. Identify your target audience, including their pain points, unique needs, interests, and demographics, and create buyer personas to guide editing choices. For each piece of content, establish one or more clear, measurable objectives. For instance, the goal of a blog post with a strong call to action could be to increase sales and conversions, while the goal of a mission statement could be to boost brand awareness.Â
Create a brand style guide for your business content so your editing team can maintain consistency across all distribution channels. In addition to guidelines on your preferred brand voice and tone (e.g., humorous, authoritative, creative), a style guide should include:
While developing a comprehensive brand style guide does require an upfront time investment, it will save you time in the long run by establishing a documented editorial vision that will align your team from day one.
To save time and avoid confusion, develop a structured onboarding program for every new member of your editing team. A structured onboarding process is essential for every employee or freelancer, including editors, because it ensures consistency, editorial efficiency, and quality from the start.Â
But if you’re new to onboarding editors, where should you begin? Start by introducing editors to your brand and content expectations by providing them with your style guide, editing and proofreading checklists, and login information for online platforms.
If possible, schedule a series of brief onboarding sessions led by a lead editor or project manager that cover general workflow processes, tools, and content goals. In addition, provide editors with practical feedback as they learn the ins and outs of the editorial process.
You don’t need to hire multiple in-house editors or compromise content quality to get your editing team up and running quickly. As an alternative to training full-time employees, consider outsourcing your editing needs to a managed editorial service such as Proofed, and get your team onboarded in a matter of days.Â
A professional agency can streamline and accelerate your editor onboarding process by providing round-the-clock access to experienced freelance editors who are already well versed in your style guidelines and professional standards. Instead of starting from scratch with the onboarding process, you can rely on an agency’s trained team to quickly adapt to your brand’s voice and guidelines. This significantly reduces the time and resources needed for in-house training and allows your new or growing editorial team to begin producing polished content almost immediately.
Many agencies also offer structured onboarding support, such as dedicated account managers, customizable content workflows, style guide integration, and regular check-in meetings. These built-in systems ensure that the outsourced editors align with your expectations right from the start. Another benefit of outsourcing to an agency is that you can combine your industry knowledge with your editing partner’s expertise and infrastructure, which ultimately minimizes onboarding delays and helps you meet tight deadlines without sacrificing content quality or volume.
Once you’ve begun the onboarding process, it’s important to start with smaller editorial tasks and work up to more substantial ones. It’s best to avoid overloading your team from day one, as this can eventually lead to burnout.Â
Assign a few low-risk projects first to build confidence and iron out process integration issues – it’s much more manageable to address small-scale challenges with a new team before diving into more complex projects. As your team ramps up and grows more comfortable with routines, you can scale to handle larger volumes. Having a feedback loop in place from the start ensures you can make continuous improvements as you expand.
If you want to streamline your content operations, you need to do more than hire and train talented editors. You need the right tools and project management platforms to collaborate, manage feedback, and track progress. Here are are some popular options to help you get started:Â
You can also give your team access to a content management system such as WordPress, which integrates with your content calendar and simplifies version control throughout the editing process.Â
Onboarding is easier when editors are joining a team with a culture of collaboration and efficiency. To seamlessly integrate new editors into your existing team, be sure to consistently foster a culture that encourages working together, brainstorming, and collectively improving. But what does this look like in practice? Prioritize communication by giving team members opportunities to provide regular feedback, and hold regular check-ins to discuss challenges, review updates to the style guide, and celebrate completed projects.
If your team is remote or distributed, effective communication is even more important. Use shared documents, chat tools, and regular video calls to stay connected. Collaboration is beneficial for everyone – when employees feel like they’re part of a unified team, they’ll be more engaged, motivated, and productive.
If you want to rapidly onboard your editorial team and scale your content creation, Proofed can help. Our experienced editors can quickly learn your unique style guidelines and brand voice so you can ramp up content publication and meet your marketing goals. We’ve helped businesses across a wide range of industries – including innovative nonprofits and Fortune 500 companies – accelerate their content production and reach new audiences without cutting corners.
Want to learn more about what Proofed can do for your business? Schedule a call to talk to our team today.Â
The onboarding timeline can vary depending on the complexity of your workflow and the editor’s experience, but a structured onboarding program typically takes one to two weeks. This should include tool training, style guide review, and hands-on editing tasks with feedback.
While in-house editors offer more control and brand familiarity, outsourcing to an agency like Proofed gives you access to a flexible, scalable team of professionals who can deliver quality work on tight timelines without the overhead.
Outsourcing to a professional editing agency can significantly speed up the onboarding process. Agencies provide experienced editors and built-in training structures that align with your brand’s style and content workflows. This reduces the burden on your internal team and helps you scale more quickly.
Essential tools include project management platforms such as Trello and Asana, collaborative editing tools such as Google Docs, and communication channels such as Slack. Using integrated systems helps improve visibility and align your team.
Start by creating a comprehensive brand style guide that outlines your voice, tone, formatting rules, and common usage preferences. Reinforce this with checklists, shadow edits, and regular feedback during an editor’s first few assignments. If you’re working with an external agency, ensure they have access to the same materials, and establish a feedback loop to keep the content aligned with your brand over time.
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