Question: Our company wants to do more content marketing and blogging but every time we write something it lingers as so many people want to read, edit and input thoughts before anything is published. Does every piece of content need to be perfect?
I see this question come up a lot. In a world where the internet is written in permanent marker, most folks want to put their best foot forward. Almost to a point of striving for perfection at times.
With that in mind, I think a lot of companies that hyper focus on every word and idea being perfect before sharing are missing the point of content marketing, blogging and really social media in general.
If you look at the content and social landscape as a digital version of real life conversations, it may be easier to make sense of. For instance, if I suggested to you that every word that you say in a lunch meeting must be perfect you would probably laugh at me. Not only is that unlikely, but it is impossible. As humans we will miss something. Whether we talk over someone by mistake or propose an idea that just doesn’t jive with whom we are speaking to.
So if you consider that online, there is a certain amount of wiggle room in what we publish on our blogs and websites as well.
Now I will be the first to say that I think a good effort to proof read and use correct grammar should be high on the list, it is just too hard to be perfect when it comes to every piece of content. In fact, after too many people put their finger prints on it, the content may lose some of its meaning, which in itself makes it imperfect.
For most businesses I feel they are best served to put their ideas out there so long as they are useful, informative or inspirational. Rather than thinking of every piece of content as “The one” think of them as one idea out there to spawn a conversation that can lead to something else. Much like how we speak to one another on the phone or in person, social and content are just an extension of the way humans connect and interact.
So in short, the answer in my book is no. Perfection doesn’t exist because even what you see as perfect, won’t be seen that way universally. In short, content is fluid just like relationships. Of course be sure to keep content target specific and relevant, but perfection is for the birds, or at least let it be something others worry about. In the meantime, we can be busy sharing, engaging and starting new conversations with current and future friends, clients and stakeholders.
Forget perfect content, start sharing and let the conversation flow.
Do you have a question for “The Mailbag?” Click Here to submit your question and have it featured in an upcoming Mailbag.