3 questions every brand should ask before publishing content
So, you’ve launched your business. Or maybe you’ve been around for a while. Either way, you’ve got your website, your social accounts, your newsletter and/or subscribers list. You’re ready to or are already publishing. It can feel like a grind, right? It’s like being a mama bird with a bunch of hungry little baby birds asking to be fed content. All these platforms need feeding! Churn it out. Publish, like, retweet, engage. Repeat. It can be relentless and tiring. But it doesn’t have to be.
Take a step back. Remember that the quality of your content should always come before the quantity of your content. Maybe it’s the M.T. Deco philosophy to focus on quality of content because of our backgrounds in the traditional journalism realm. But we believe there is something to be learned from that. “Growing up” in newsrooms taught us that the story mattered more than anything else. How do you tell the latest monthly jobs report data in a human way? Who can you talk to, who will put a face to the numbers? What is the heart of the story? Who will want to watch? We became perfectionists about the craft, looking at frames of video, analyzing this word or that.
It can often be difficult to keep the focus on the purpose of the content you’re producing and sharing. We’ve had some clients focus on the number of likes on a photo instead of their overall goals for social to begin with. Yes, you may get a ton of likes for a picture of you with your cute baby, but if you’re trying to build your business perhaps you want to instead post pictures of you actually working on your business? If you feel like you don’t have something to publish in a particular day or week, that’s ok. Less can absolutely be more.
We’ve heard “everyone is a publisher now” more times than we can count, and while there is some truth to that, we’d like you to think of what type of publisher you want to be. Do you want to be Oprah or a dime-store tabloid? Let’s be honest we all want to be Oprah. But again, the quality of your content should take priority above all else. And while it can be easy to get sucked into the grind of churning out blogs or tweets or photos for the sake of just putting something out into the world, it’s ok to take a pause and reset. This is why we always recommend building your digital strategy before embarking on publishing. Or pausing if needed and building a strategy that works for you. Knowing your goals and the purpose for your content before you ever hit “publish” will keep you from feeling like you’re drowning in a sea of so-so content. Instead, you can be focused on crafting thoughtful, intentional posts.
Here are a few questions we like to ask before publishing to make sure we’re really doing our business and our goals justice:
Will this serve my audience? Keeping your audience front of mind is key to building engagement and growth. If you give your audience helpful, inspiring, funny or useful content they’ll come back. If not, they won’t.
Is this the best I could do? This one is hard. Some days you’re pressed for time. But take a step back. Could you make it better? If so, take a day. Or a week. Or more. Publish something you’re proud of. Your audience will be able to tell the difference.
Does this fit with my brand? Regardless of the size of your business, your audience/customers should be able to know what to expect from you within reason. Think about the voice you use and make sure what you’re posting is consistent with that. That may mean that hilarious meme you found shouldn’t go on your business account, even though you really really want to share it.
If the answer to all of these questions is yes, then go forth! Publish to your heart’s content. Grow your audience and give them great content to come back to again and again. If the answer is no, that’s ok, too! Take as much time as you need to get to yes. We promise, those hungry little birds will still be there when you get back.