Contently

Contently is a New York-founded content marketing company that pairs software for editorial operations with managed content creation services. Its platform covers content strategy, editorial calendars and brief routing, drafting and review workflows, brand-voice checking via a Tone Analyzer, compliance and legal review as an explicit workflow step with an audit trail, and analytics that assign an estimated "Content Value" to published work. Customers are assigned a dedicated senior managing editor who briefs writers, edits drafts for accuracy and tone, routes compliance and curates a writer roster.

Alongside the software, Contently operates a vetted creator network. The company's own site describes 10,000+ vetted creators, including CFAs, MDs, JDs, CPAs, registered nurses, FINRA-registered reviewers and financial journalists, organized across verticals such as finance, health and science, technology, lifestyle, automotive, energy and utilities, and insurance. The 2024 acquisition announcement described a network of 165,000+ creative professionals and offerings spanning the platform, content creation services, a global creative marketplace and content strategy services. Contently states compliance and security postures including SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and CCPA alignment, and HIPAA business associate agreements.

As of 2024 Contently is part of the Zax Capital family of enterprise software companies, a division of ESW Capital that operates across 45 countries, with integration beginning through Zax's Customer Success program.

Founding story

Contently was created by Joe Coleman, Dave Goldberg and Shane Snow, who said they started the company in response to the disruption of traditional journalism, digital advertising and social media, which pushed many journalists and storytellers into freelance work. Columbia Entrepreneurship dates the creation to 2010 and describes the original product as an online storytelling platform giving freelancers free online portfolios so they could act as their own publishers; the company's own materials and the 2024 acquisition release date the founding to 2011.

Business model

Contently sells an enterprise content marketing platform bundled with managed editorial services: a dedicated managing editor, access to a vetted creator network, content strategy services and a global creative marketplace. Programs are positioned as ongoing managed engagements for enterprise brands rather than one-off projects.

Contently monetizes enterprise content programs combining platform access with content creation and strategy services; the sources do not state specific pricing.

Traction

Reported traction includes 10,000+ vetted creators on the network and hundreds of enterprise brands over fifteen years per the company site, and 165,000+ creative professionals per the 2024 acquisition release. Company-reported program outcomes include an average $13.1M year-to-date content value for enterprise customers, roughly 6x ROI over three years, and about 40% average audience growth in the first six months of a managed program. In November 2013 the company reported 27,000 writers, 24 employees and 40 Fortune 500 clients.

Latest developments

In September 2024 Contently was acquired by Zax Capital, joining its family of enterprise software companies, with Brandon Pizzacalla becoming CEO and integration starting with Zax's Customer Success program; a customer webinar on the acquisition was scheduled for September 26, 2024. The company has since repositioned around content for regulated industries, compliance-reviewed editorial workflows and answer engine optimization for AI search.