Your guide to best practice version control in marketing documents
October 2024
Your guide to best practice version control in marketing documents
Version control is a must-have when you’re creating marketing content. Reviewing and approving all documents – whether online or hard copy; sales materials or engagement content – is essential, but all-too-often can go badly wrong.
- How many times have you had to revisit a piece of collateral because a typo slipped through the net?
- Has your Compliance team ever identified wording that needs changing once a document has been published?
- Have any branding errors ever appeared in marketing materials?
- Have inefficient processes caused missed deadlines, unnecessary agency costs and delayed production?
Any of these are symptoms that your version control processes aren’t as robust as they should be. But what can you do about it?
What is version control?
Before we explore how you can improve your version control of marketing documents, it’s worth clarifying what version control is.
The term ‘version control’ is used to describe the tracking and recording of changes to documents during the writing, review and design process. When we talk about version control in marketing documents, we’re referring to that process applied to marketing materials specifically.
You might see discussion of different types of version control in marketing: essentially, it has one meaning. It’s the system you use to track and manage changes to your marketing collateral.
This might be when you’re creating a new piece of content or updating an existing one.
Why can version control in marketing documents be difficult?
Version control can be a challenge, as anyone who’s tried to wrangle a team of reviewers can attest.
There’s a long list of reasons why:
- Edits can contradict each other; how do you decide which take precedence?
- How do you keep ‘control of the pen’ when versions are being edited concurrently?
- Security can be a challenge; marketing materials often contain details of new products and nascent solutions. How can you share documents securely and ensure they reach their intended recipients?
- Can you be sure everyone who needs to review it has seen it?
- Are edits clear and unambiguous – is there scope for misinterpretation?
- How do you keep to deadlines, making sure everyone feeds back when needed?
Keeping your editing process under control can be a headache. And yet, it’s a challenge you have to conquer, simply because version control in marketing is so important.
Why does version control in marketing documents matter?
The importance of version control in marketing documents cannot be under-estimated.
Above, we’ve touched on some of the things that can go wrong when version control slips. Problems ranging from regulatory compliance breaches to branding issues, and wasted spend and time, can result.
The reasons version control matters include:
- Accuracy
Whether you’re describing a product or service, emailing your clients or presenting your credentials in a sales proposal, accuracy matters. When edits are being made by a team of reviewers, it can be easy for human error to take its toll if you don’t keep a tight rein on version control.
- Regulatory compliance
If you’re a regulated business, it goes without saying that marketing materials need to be compliant. In Q1 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority’s interventions resulted in 2,211 promotions being amended or withdrawn by authorised firms.The review and approval process you use to create your marketing content also needs to meet certain standards. Do you capture a compliant audit trail, showing where edits were made, by whom and when? If not, you risk breaching compliance requirements.It’s also worth noting that this need for compliance doesn’t only apply to printed materials. Digital documents like social media posts are just as important and treated equally when it comes to FCA regulation.
- Professionalism
Your marketing and sales content and materials are the shop window to your business. Their professionalism is shorthand for the approach you take to your clients and your work.
- Brand management
Similarly, your brand is a reflection of your organisation – what it stands for and who you are. A lax approach to version control risks your brand and reputation, allowing off-brand materials to slip through the net and diluting the brand you have worked hard to build.Whether it’s look and feel: your logo, colour palette and approved imagery – or more deep-seated elements of branding; your messaging, and how you convey it – your brand is intrinsically tied up with your marketing materials
- Efficiency
Today, more than ever, efficiency is the marketing watchword. Budgets are under scrutiny and resources are scarce. Your content creation processes need to be as efficient as possible, and your review and approvals process is a vital cog in this chain.Robust version control can help you to eliminate duplication, reduce rework and minimise marketing admin, saving you money directly via creative agency, print and digital agency costs, and indirectly via the best use of your in-house team.
Benefits of version control
Version control clearly matters, then, and the benefits of getting it right are clear.
In today’s world, where team members work remotely, across offices and even in different countries, effective version control can be trickier than ever, but managing it well can help to overcome some of the collaboration challenges marketing teams face.
Robust version control in marketing documents:
- Improves collaboration
- Streamlines the review and approvals process
- Increases accuracy of editing
- Minimises errors and rework
- Reduces marketing administration and paperwork
- Makes it easy to see where changes have been made
- Supports accurate audit trails
- Helps you to meet compliance obligations
- Drives efficiency and cost-effective marketing content production
To help you achieve these benefits, we’ve published a Version Control Checklist [link to checklist once online] – download a copy for an easy tick-box approach that ensures your version control is on point.
What different approaches can you take to version control?
Once you realise the importance of version control, how do you tackle it? What do document versioning best practices in marketing documents look like?
There are a number of approaches you can take to your document reviewing, editing and sign-off processes.
Often, documents are circulated and edited in the programme where they were originally created – Word, PowerPoint, PDF and so on. Track change features enable you to highlight edits and make comments.
These do have their limitations, though; the features in Word give you more tracking options than those in PowerPoint, for instance.
As we mentioned earlier, the way you share your documents also needs to be considered. Best practice is a highly-secure approach to document sharing, but this isn’t usually possible via email (which is commonly used), especially if you’re circulating outside of your organisation.
Since the GDPR came into effect, 16% of data security cases have been caused by emails being sent to the wrong person, according to research. Version control of marketing documents often relates to corporate-confidential documents like new product launch materials or sales pitches – how do you keep them safe?
Can technology help me to deliver successful version control?
There are clearly different types of version control in marketing. As with so many things, automation is a common thread in the most effective examples.
At the most basic level, as we’ve seen above, there are types of version control systems embedded in some of our day-to-day programs.
If you want a more robust approach to version control, you may want to go a step further and explore online workflow approval platforms.
These can allow you to seamlessly track the process, automatically capturing an audit trail. If you want to explore this route, our guide to navigating the workflow approval platform selection process may be helpful.
A workflow approval platform can deliver benefits including:
- Enhanced security: encrypted data and robust authentication processes
- Non-negotiable reviews and approvals
- Step-by-step audit trail, compliant with regulatory requirements
- Access and templates pre-determined to reduce errors
- Seamless processes for faster sign-off
To find out more about version control: why it matters and how you can achieve it, you can download our whitepaper, Mastering Version Control in Marketing Documents: A Comprehensive Guide.