Most tech start-ups have already faced this dilemma: having to choose between allocating technical resources to product development, or allocating them to marketing. So you have to constantly choose between consolidating the part of the business that generates revenue, or the part that promotes it.
The problem? Beyond the fact that in principle, no one should be left behind... As soon as we realize that someone has some knowledge of code, we requisition them to be sent to the tech team to maintain the key features of the product.
So goodbye to creating landing-pages, SEO optimization, changing the color of the button in the main menu and even correcting the spelling mistake in the title of the home page... 😱
Most people who have worked in a marketing team will tell you that... Frankly, it's very frustrating!
So we have good news:
As you can imagine, we are here to tell you that this era is over thanks to Webflow!
We have prepared this article to help you understand how this CMS could help your team become more autonomous!
It is often a mistake to talk about Webflow - we just say that it is a tool "made for designers to create sites [...]".
Why is this a mistake? Well, because it means that the choice of the CMS only affects the development phase of the site when it only represents a few weeks/months in its life.
You will then have to be able to iterate on it easily: to create new pages, to publish new contents, to adapt it to the changes of your brand... All while remaining efficient and without necessarily going back to a designer. Good news again, this is exactly what Webflow offers, and this is why you should be interested in it.
It's a tool that's particularly suited for marketers who want to run their box's website without being experts in web development. (No sorry, putting a Template on Wordpress doesn't get you out of that box 😉 ).
Creating a landing page, adding a blog post, a service page... A properly configured Webflow site allows marketers to be more efficient and techs to enjoy their time away from marketing teams!
Using custom code, configuring Google Tag Manager, connecting a third party tool... You can connect anything to Webflow if you (or someone in your team) has some knowledge of code! Gone are the days when you had to choose your tools according to your CMS.
Did you see me coming when I started talking about configuration just above? That great power also comes with great respon... no, I'm kidding, with its share of constraints.
For the most skeptical... No, this is not the moment when I will tell you that in fact, nothing is possible on Webflow. As with any tool, it is important to understand how interesting it is to use it.
When we first came across its interface, we all freaked out a bit - no matter what our background was. If you hang in there, you can publish your first pages without too much trouble - but then, when you have to go back and modify what was done before, or collaborate with someone... it gets complicated!
It takes a few good hours to understand the workings of the tool. The Webflow University will be your best friend to get you through the process.
Your team might be tempted to play with Webflow to create pages "like on Figma" - but keep in mind that even if Webflow allows you to code visuallyit is important to think about what will be rendered on the user's browser.
It's visual, it's powerful, etc., but let's keep in mind that you don't spend your time creating new pages for all that (and more importantly, not everyone in your team should be able to do it). So your team will have to stick to the way your Webflow site has been configured to stay consistent.
This is it! Here we go. You've come this far and can't wait to finally understand how Webflow will revolutionize the work of your marketing team!
In the following examples, I assume that you are working with a person (internal or contractor) who has been trained in Webflow.
When we talk about CMS, we usually think about blog posts, but calling data on a page template is not limited to that.
Whether you want to create landing pages, service pages, ... Webflow's collections allow you to templatize to create new pages by filling a simple form.
The good news? A collection page is created in exactly the same way as any other page. The only difference? It is that you can assign data (previously filled in the database) to the elements of the page.
Once the page is mounted and the collection is configured, you will have the possibility to change, for example, :
"Okay, that's all cool - but it still sounds a little technical.... You're talking to me about conditional posting, etc."
So yes, it's important to get a little bit of training before you set this up, and at the same time, looking at your team, it's probably not wise for everyone.
So remember, Webflow is part of a process.
→ A designer designs the page, a Webflow developer (or someone with enough training) integrates the page template, and the content creators publish the content. (good luck if you do all three 😉 )
Thanks to Webflow's "editor" mode, you can give your editors the power to publish their articles directly on your site, without the need for a developer's intervention.
The editor mode allows you to create new pages by completing the collection (created in the previous step) from a kind of form and/or directly on the page once it is created.
As mentioned above, for the use of Webflow to be efficient, it is important to integrate it into a process. This allows you to manage similar pages via a single model which is therefore easily maintainable.
That said, all teams want to be able to create pages that come out of these models... Rather than starting from scratch, we advise you to build (or have built) a library of Components.
What is it?
Components are saved layouts that you can easily reuse and customize. In other words, they are pre-configured blocks that you can "drag and drop" onto your new page. They can be sections, or elements (like buttons, or cards, etc.)
If these components are correctly configured, you will be able to modify the content (images, text, links...) and make certain elements of the block appear or not thanks to the visibility properties.
🚨 Warning: when using components, make sure to edit content on the page and not in the Component - any changes made inside will be propagated throughout your site. To learn more, read the Webflow guide.
Gone are the days when you were stuck with your site until it was redesigned. By having it built (or building it yourself) with a Style Guide, you keep control of your site's appearance.
Is the yellow of the main button too flashy? You can't frame the font that the designer has chosen? No stress, you can change it in two or three clicks.
The Client-First, has quickly become the reference on Webflow. As usual, some things are very good, others a little less so; but it is probably the easiest way to approach the "visual code" of Webflow!
🚨 Please note: It is important (again) to take the time to get some training before making these changes.
Whether it's Webflow, or any other tool NoCode, I think it's essential to differentiate between the needs of someone testing the traction of a project/idea, and a start-up needing to iterate quickly while remaining as consistent as possible.
At the risk of being rapped on the knuckles by the evangelists of NoCode, no marketing team should want to make the creation of pages, of automations, achievable by any member of its team.
To leverage Webflow in your team:
Agree, disagree? Feel free to send me a note on LinkedIn to discuss the subject!
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