The ways of working behind high-performing digital content: Target Operating Model

Strategy? Check. Tools? In place. Now comes the execution challenge.

To scale content ambitions across teams and without chaos, you need more than good ideas and tech. You need a Target Operating Model that works in practice.

The Target Operating Model is your blueprint for execution. It aligns people, processes, governance and capabilities to support seamless content creation, automation and personalization. Most importantly, it ensures content operations directly serve business objectives, turning ambition into measurable outcomes. In short, it defines how you’ll operate tomorrow and how to get there from today.

What is the Target Operating Model?

The Target Operating Model outlines how your business needs to work to support the digital content strategy and realize the benefits of platforms like DAM, PIM, CMS, CDP and workflow automation tools. It connects the dots between:

·       Teams and their roles

·       Processes across the Content Value Chain

·       Governance of content, data and tools

·       Capabilities needed for scale, speed and intelligence

Think of it as the human and process side of your architecture, ensuring everything runs smoothly, predictably and with purpose. It aligns day-to-day operations with strategic objectives, turning content processes into a measurable driver of business outcomes.

The four key elements

1. Roles & responsibilities

Who does what? Where does ownership sit?

Clear roles are essential to prevent duplication, delays, or confusion. Examples include:

·       Content Owner: Oversees content strategy and priorities

·       DAM Manager: Manages asset library, tagging and syndication

·       PIM Lead: Owns product content and feeds

·       Data Analyst: Tracks performance and manages content intelligence

·       Workflow Manager: Ensures efficient content handovers

Without ownership, content falls through the cracks. With it, you scale with control.

2. Workflow design

Map the end-to-end journey from briefing to asset creation, publishing and optimization. A clear process that answers some of the questions below:

·       What triggers content creation?

·       Where does content live?

·       How is feedback managed and are approvals routed?

·       How do assets and data get reused or adapted?

Well-designed workflows create predictable, agile and high-quality delivery, even across global teams and markets.

3. Governance models

Who approves what? What’s automated vs. manual? How is version control handled?

Governance ensures:

·       Compliance with brand and legal standards

·       Consistent quality

·       Efficient collaboration

·       Clear escalation paths

We co-design governance that’s fit-for-scale, not heavy-handed, supporting speed without losing control.

4. Capabilities & training

To run a future-ready content operation, your people need the right skills and confidence to use them. Capabilities include:

·       Working with modular and atomic content

·       Managing DAM and PIM systems

·       Using personalization engines and automation tools

·       Interpreting performance data and acting on insights

·       Leading cross-functional collaboration

·       Understanding how to apply GenAI and optimize content for AI-driven interaction

How Full Force Digital enables the Target Operating Model

At Full Force Digital, we don’t just hand over a template, we co-create a Target Operating Model that fits your reality by:

·       Assessing your current ways of working

·       Identifying bottlenecks, silos and role gaps

·       Facilitating workshops to align teams and define workflows

·       Building governance and capability frameworks

·       Documenting the model in a format that’s practical and adoptable

Your Target Operating Model is a core part of the Digital Engagement Engine, the Content Value Chain, your Target Architecture Model and the execution of your Roadmap & Business Case. Together, they ensure that your tech, people and processes are aligned, delivering better data-driven content, faster and at scale.

Final thought: from chaos to clarity

Without a strong operating model, content operations can feel like organized chaos. With the right one, you gain focus, speed and accountability, the essentials for content that consistently performs. Let’s design a Target Operating Model that works for your teams, your tools and your ambitions.