The Content Creation Conundrum

It's all about content.  Content is everything. etc. 

I preach that a lot.  Because I believe it.  Last week, a post I wrote for the Brunner Digital blog chronicled the evolution of corporate websites from what I call "kitchen sinks" to fresh-content-driven cut-flower arrangements.  Huh?  Click through.  You'll get the analogy.

Not every corporate site is going to be a full-blown web 2.0 site.  Not every one is going to be a 3.0 site, whatever that is.  Right or wrong, there are going to be sites that continue to present a defined experience, and attempt to put up a wall or two to try to keep people in for as long as possible.  But increasingly, instead of walls, marketers are beginning to understand that rewards work far better than punishment.  And increasingly, those rewards come in the form of fresh content, delivered by the technology and worldview that defines web 2.0.  Which means, new sites are going up every day -- every minute, really -- that have all kinds of shiny new gizmos embedded in them.  Video embeds, podcasts, blogs, feeds -- seems every single site we build now has one or more of these elements. (A big "duh" to the more tech savvy of you who read this, but keep going...)

The catch is, that stuff has to remain fresh.  Not good enough to deliver a video, and leave the same video as the only choice for a long time.  Gotta have new videos.  From here on out.  Perpetually.  That consideration isn't always a consideration when the concept for the site is presented.  But it's a reality, once the thing is built.

So, who's going to make all that content?  Who's going to write the CEO's blog for him when he realizes it takes up a lot of time he didn't have anyway?  Who's going to deliver that new podcast from the CMO every single week for the next 52 weeks?  Who's going to deliver fresh video content every month?

Seth, I'm sure -- and I know the 2.0 purists -- will say it's part of the marketing job now, and that the CEO should absolutely write his own blog, because it's all about transparency.  And that's the spirit of the thing, to be sure.  But the reality is different. It happens, but it's rare, and although it'll increase, it'll remain relatively rare.

Corporations can turn to less expensive video production companies to shoot what they're told - and they do.  And how many talking-head, marketing and tech jargon-filled videos have you recommended to friends lately?  The spirit of the brand, and, sadly, the creativity, are frequently victims of either (A) budget; or (B) a less-than-intimate knowledge of the brand and its target.  There are blogger-for-hire and podcast services, but they haven't truly tapped into the mainstream yet, as far as I can tell.  Which leaves marketers -- if they even realize that they need fresh content regularly -- turning, mostly, to the agencies (including full-service, with digital capabilities as well as digital-only) who built the site in the first place, to deliver new content regularly.

Except, most agencies aren't really set up to do that.  They're set up, for the most part, to make money on the biggest, most visible, and first element of the project -- the site itself.  The first iteration that's delivered, is, of course, chock full of content.  But the creation of new content down the line, without the financial support that is provided by the much bigger job of creating the site itself, is difficult to staff and budget for. At least, the way agencies are set up now.

Is it a conundrum - or an opportunity?

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Advertising  Marketing   Creative   Interactive   Online Marketing Design  Digital Design Blattner Brunner  Ernie Mosteller  BB Digital 

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Comments

[Melissa Robison]

I think this is an untapped opportunity. First, as an industry, we need to learn to consistently sell the creation of great content that is on brand and on a schedule. Then, any agency that can pitch against this promise and deliver will be stronger for it.