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What Is a Knowledge Management System?

A knowledge management system is a tool that can help companies remain organized and efficient. Learn more about what a KMS is with this handy guide.

Managing sales questions, support tickets, and troubleshooting inquiries can quickly become a job of its own without a proper knowledge management system in place. Using a knowledge management system (KMS) is essential for organizing and streamlining the management of documents, company information, frequently asked questions, and more.

If you want to learn more about what knowledge management is and how it can help your business, read on.

What is knowledge management?

Knowledge management is the process of using tools and resources to create a system to better manage questions, documentation, and relevant company information for current and prospective customers as well as in-house employees. Knowing how to correctly identify, evaluate, store, and monitor information is extremely valuable to companies and organizations of all sizes.

What is a knowledge management system?

A knowledge management system uses the tools and resources identified as useful for a company or organization to organize, manage, and monitor questions, documents, and other data that is incoming and outgoing at all times.

Knowledge management systems can also prove to be effective tools for solving customer problems, which are fairly common. In 2020, for instance, 58% of US customers contacted customer service at some point. With the right knowledge management system, you can streamline the customer support process and optimize the customer experience.

Understanding the knowledge management definition can help with developing a working system of your own, regardless of the type of information you intend to share or the questions you plan to answer for both current and prospective customers.

What is the purpose of a knowledge management system?

A knowledge management system is extremely beneficial for both employees and employers alike, along with customers (both current and prospective). This is illustrated by a 2020 survey in which 52% of businesses surveyed said that changes in the workforce are leading them to develop knowledge management strategies.

A knowledge management system can guide employees through various troubleshooting instances while also assisting customers with walkthroughs and guides that can help them resolve a problem on their own. If you are searching for a way to deliver highly accurate and useful information in an effective and seamless manner, a knowledge management system might be the perfect solution.

What is included in a knowledge management system?

Before getting started with any knowledge management software, it is important to familiarize yourself with various features that are essential for any business or organization.

Multimedia and rich text editing

Whether you want to build a website or create a robust knowledge management system, using a rich text and multimedia editor is a must. Knowledge management systems that are all-in-one solutions include rich text and multimedia editors, which help make editing and creating pages for your website a breeze, regardless of the type of content you intend to publish.

Real-time data and analytics

The use of a knowledge management system will also provide you with in-depth analytics and real-time data, which is extremely useful for tracking the overall usage of your system as well as the most popular content or topics you are covering on your website at the time.

Receiving data in real-time provides valuable insights into your user demographics, their browsing patterns, as well as what information or content is most sought after by both in-house employees and customers alike.

International language support

If you have a business that supports multiple languages, the use of a knowledge management system is imperative. A knowledge management system provides support for multiple languages, which is optimal for brands and organizations that are considered internationally based. If you want to ensure that all of the information, documentation, and questions you publish are accessible to users all around the globe, you can do so with a proper knowledge management system that includes international language support.

Customization and personalization options

Implementing a professional knowledge management system allows you to use white label branding throughout the system you create. A white label knowledge management system solution provides the opportunity to implement and manage digital assets of your own, from logos and graphics to choosing specific colors for the system you want to be shown live on your website.

Permission and viewership controls

As an employer, you can manage permissions for each of your employees and/or contributors to your current knowledge management system. Permitting certain individuals to have administrative and editing powers can prevent the addition or removal of any information without your knowledge.

From the customer's end, it is also possible to set viewership permissions and controls using a central dashboard with a knowledge management system solution such as Mailchimp. Choose which questions, documents, and pages of content are accessible to specific users based on user type, account privileges, as well as specific plans or packages they are currently subscribed to with your business or organization.

Feedback and reports

Providing guides that assist employees and users with various issues they experience while browsing your site can help save your own time while streamlining the usage of your site altogether. Using collected data and analytics also provides useful insights into which articles and pieces of content on your website are the most trafficked and populated.

However, simple analytics and high traffic do not always indicate that a guide is useful or even satisfactory. With the right knowledge management system, you can also request feedback on each new page of information you create. Allowing users to submit personal feedback can help you to ensure your content is top-notch and provides the help a user is seeking.

The benefits of using a knowledge management system

Knowledge management systems provide an array of benefits and advantages that are not always attainable in a company without a working system in place. Some of the most notable advantages of implementing a knowledge management system into your own organization can range from improved organization to increased engagement, communication, and overall workplace efficiency.

Organize information

One of the best reasons to consider implementing a knowledge management system of your own is the ability to easily manage and organize information. Rather than creating individual FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) pages or blogs, a knowledge management system will help to keep all of your uploaded documents, shared question/answer pieces, as well as employee information in one central location.

Accessing your information through a properly formatted knowledge management system is simple and only requires a quick search and a few seconds. Manage and organize your knowledge management system from just about anywhere using the right solution for your business. The right knowledge management system will ultimately help to save time whether you are answering questions from a customer, troubleshooting an issue for a client, or helping an employee to work through an issue they are experiencing.

Increase customer satisfaction

Any organization or brand knows that understanding the customer journey is key to achieving success, regardless of the market or industry you represent. One of the fastest ways to increase customer satisfaction in any industry is to deliver answers to questions and concerns as quickly as possible with the use of a knowledge management system.

A knowledge management system not only provides actionable steps to take that can help a user or employee to resolve an issue, but it can also help to lend credibility to a business or brand. If your reputation and customer trust matter to you, using a knowledge management system can help you to achieve the image you envision for your brand.

Optimize communication

One of the most important aspects of running a business successfully involves open dialogue and ongoing communication. Whether you are searching for ways to improve communication between you and your employees or if you want to increase engagement and improve communication between your business and customers, a knowledge management system can help.

With a knowledge management system, your business will experience new ways of communicating tips, tricks, and complete walkthroughs that act as useful guides for both in-house employees as well as current and prospective customers. Use your knowledge management system to communicate your brand's messaging while providing assistance and offering additional external resources if necessary, such as a live chat or a support phone number.

Boost efficiency

Efficiency matters, whether you are managing your employees or looking for ways to improve the sales funnel process on your website. When you understand what knowledge management is, you can implement the right tools and solutions to help increase your workplace efficiency while boosting your customer acquisition process.

A knowledge management system provides answers to common questions as well as step-by-step solutions to troubleshooting issues as well as common challenges your employees or customers may face while using your site. With the right knowledge management system, you can spend more time focusing on what matters most while tending to other areas of operating your business and working to cultivate long-term relationships with customers and clients.

What is the best knowledge management tool?

Choosing a knowledge management tool that is right for your business or organization will greatly depend on your needs, the demographics you are targeting, as well as the type of tools you are interested in. One of the best options that serves as a top-notch knowledge management system is Mailchimp, one of the most popular CRM software solutions available today.

With Mailchimp, you can easily organize information, documentation, and collaboration between employees and customers. Stay engaged with your target audience, increase audience engagement, and manage marketing assets all from one central location. Just a few of the features that stand out with Mailchimp include:

  • API access
  • Activity dashboard to oversee and manage all aspects of your Mailchimp users in one central location for seamless updates
  • AB testing
  • Automated scheduling and publishing
  • Behavior tracking and analytics (long-term and in real-time)
  • Campaign segmentation and tracking
  • Channel management
  • Content management assistance
  • Conversion tracking
  • Customizable CTAs
  • Custom forms, fields, and templates
  • Customer surveys (also includes a robust survey builder to help you get started)
  • Data analysis and analytics
  • Delivery tracking
  • Drip campaign support
  • Email campaign management, distribution, templates, and marketing are all included
  • Email tracking
  • Engagement tracking
  • Event-triggered actions
  • Form builder
  • Geotargeting and geolocation abilities
  • Extensive image library for digital assets
  • Landing page creator
  • Mailing list support
  • Marketing automation
  • Mass texting
  • Mobile access support
  • Mobile surveys
  • Monitoring and tracking
  • Multi-account support, multi-channel support, multi-campaign support
  • Question library, branching, and piping
  • ROI tracking
  • Real-time analytics
  • Real-time monitoring and reports
  • Referral tracking
  • Response tracking and validation
  • Search marketing
  • Segmentation
  • Search filtering
  • Social marketing and advertising
  • Subscription management
  • Support for video, audio, images, and other multimedia formats
  • Team management
  • Template management
  • Third-party integrations available
  • URL customization possible
  • Workflow management

The features listed above include just a sneak peek of everything that Mailchimp has to offer.

Using Mailchimp provides you with everything you need to get started with your own knowledge management system. From automating marketing campaigns to launching drip campaigns and specific landing pages for information, Mailchimp has everything you need to create any knowledge management systems you need for your business, brand, and organization.

Final notes

Understanding the definition of knowledge management and how it can be used can help you to create a working system for your own business and brand. With the use of a top-notch all-in-one knowledge management system and content marketing manager such as Mailchimp, you can get started with a customizable, robust, unique knowledge management system of your own in no time.

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