Content Strategy: Quality vs. Quantity?

Today, one of the most meaningful things we can do for our business is build up a network of smart and important individuals. We don’t mean just collecting business cards that get filed away, but creating the type of relationships that add value to both sides and sustain each party for the long term. We must engage on a much more personal level and add those people to our lives as we would like them to do with us.

Certainly, social media is playing a much greater role in how we network, but it also magnifies the idea that the company we keep is actually more critical than any other part of our cam-paigns. In turn, we must take great care in what people know about us. We must accentuate the kind of people and companies that we rub elbows with and how we internalize their objec-tives.

Content has become the poster child for creating these kinds of relationships, and it's how we demonstrate that we roll with right kind of clientele. However, to be found by customers in a noisy digital environment demands that we provide valuable, highly relevant content versus re-purposed vanilla stories that become static. Unfortunately, many marketing teams are settling for a quantity-over-quality type of process when it comes to content.

Mediocre content says as much about us as thoughtful and intelligent content. It says we really are not in the game and may signal a red flag to our clients. They may be concerned that if we didn't take the time to do a little research or put some original thought into our stories, then our solutions may lack interest.

Most opportunities come from developing the right connections and relationships. So, delving into the market and finding real organic stories is the only way to develop content. Show your community that you are in the game by sharing stories from their world. The worst thing that can happen is that you become more knowledgeable, while the best thing will be a newfound level of trust.