Gulity: Content Neglect

Okay, I am the first to admit, I've been a bit lazy. It's not my fault, the demands of agency life, deadlines, constant emails, client presentations and pitches just don't seem to stop. Some things have to suffer, my Blog being one of the victims. But I am not alone in this criminal act of content neglect, global big shots to gossip blogs are all sinners.

From large global brands and their blogs, to Facebook fan pages, it's a waste land, a garbage dump of content begging to be salvaged, resurrected from it's original intent of grandeur to entice and inform the users that engage with it.

Today as digital platforms evolve, morph and multiply across social networks, websites, email and blogs, it is essential that brands keep a close grip on content relevancy and accuracy. I've seen what happens when a large organization fails to keep pace with their content - it isn't pretty.

Luckily there are some key ways to address this problem; the smartest brands know that it is crucial to conduct content audits across the spectrum in the digital medium, both with internal and external platforms to keep it fresh and savvy.

I've seen brands that will spend their life savings on making a site functionally appealing but completely ignore the content, content placement or even ask themselves does existing content still make sense, is it relevant to the user, does it sell the brand, the product?

The answer: Brand Content Management. What is Brand Content Management? It's a strategic approach to your brands content, an audit of the words that express your brand essence and tone across all channels. From websites to blogs, to forums and emails. Ever searched your favorite brand and stumble across an old microsite or blog that's been slowly digging it's grave, begging for some fresh words of kindness?

It's easy to fall into the trap of not ensuring content is updated, relevant and up to the minute, but it can make the world of a difference to your users and the value they receive from their experience and brand perception.

It does take effort, and I am guilty as ever, but I vow to keep to this Blog alive, fresh, relevant and engaging and avoid future episodes of content neglect.