Better done than prfect — How to create quality content in a fast-paced environment
We’re living in an always-on kind of world, where we want everything faster, better, right this instant. Let’s face it, society has made us impatient. If we’re not ordering something with one-click purchase for next-day delivery, while live streaming our favourite TV show and waiting for our fast food delivery, are we even living in the 21st century?
When it comes to producing content, the race is on. Content is everywhere and brands are constantly jostling for our attention, like a litter of puppies at a pet shop — ‘Pick me! Pick me!’. Your brand is your bread and butter, so it should be watertight. That means any content you produce with your branding on it should be the same — infallible. After all, if you can’t get the basics right, why would anyone give you their money?
Whether it’s a dodgy typo, an out-of-date logo, or the wrong RGB colour reference being used, sloppiness reduces you to an amateur and, in a word, is unacceptable.
So, in such a fast-paced environment, how do you make sure that what you’re producing isn’t lacking in quality and damaging your brand?
1. Write a set of guidelines and stick to them
If you’ve ever experienced a brand’s website, then seen something completely different on their social media, and then more variations in their out-of-home presence, you may be left wondering whether these channels are even run by the same company. No matter how big your brand is, you should always be consistent. Inconsistency is the mark of a misaligned business.
True, your content might not be coming from the same location — your social media may be handled in London, your CRM managed in Dubai, and your call centre based in New Jersey — but you should all be singing from the same hymn sheet. How do you do that? It’s simple. Create a set of clear guidelines, with lots of examples, detailing how you want your branding to be.
Get your Designers, Copywriters, Photographers, and any other person who’ll be getting their mitts on your brand, into a room to gather their thoughts on what will and won’t work. After all, these people will be the ones working with your brand on a daily basis, so it has to be something they can use. Put it all down in black and white and store it somewhere that’s easily accessible and editable, so you can keep it as up to date as possible. Remember to communicate with your teams if you make changes.
2. Set a clear RASCI at the very beginning
‘Who’s signing this off?’
‘Has John seen it yet?’
‘I thought Sally wanted us to add in the comments she made in the last meeting.’
Any of this sound familiar? Sometimes, creating content can feel like you’re chasing your tail. That could be because you don’t have a clear RASCI.
A RASCI will help you sign off content quickly and effectively, because everyone will know who to go to for sign off and advice, and who to inform when things have been done.
R — Responsible — Who owns the project?
A — Accountable — Who’s accountable for sign off?
S — Support — Who can support you in producing your content?
C — Consult — Who has the info you need to get things done?
I — Inform — Who needs to know when things are live, or if there are any blockers?
Ideally, the less people you have involved the better. Sometimes you’ll find people telling you they’re not happy to sign off unless so-and-so has seen it, perhaps someone more senior to them. This can slow down the process. Put trust in your teams to have the right tools and information to sign off on things themselves and you’ll get things done much more effectively.
3. Create deadlines with your content team, not for them
One of my oh-so favourite responses from colleagues to the question, ‘When do you need it by?’ is ‘Well, yesterday really’. Hilarious… Believe me, people under pressure will struggle to see the humour in that kind of reply.
Setting unrealistic deadlines will just demotivate your creative team and result in an unfinished finished product. Remember, you’ve hired your content creators because they have the passion to make things beautiful, whether it’s an inspirational video for social media, a new set of icons for your website, or an explainer guide on how your latest product feature works. So, work with these people. Ask them what else they’re working on and how long they anticipate your piece of work taking them to complete well. Check to see if they have any processes or ways of working that may add time onto your deadline and then collaborate to agree on when things can be completed by.
4. Consider a minimum viable product
A minimum viable product (MVP) is, essentially, the most basic version of your idea/concept/campaign that you’re willing to go live with. It may not be the version with all the bells and whistles on it, but it’s something that you’re still very happy to hang your brand’s hat on. There’s always room to expand and improve on an MVP in the future. An MVP can be a great middle ground to reach, especially if your content teams are under-resourced.
An MVP might be static, instead of dynamic, it may be one video instead of 10, or a tweet instead of a series of blog posts. Whatever it is, as long as you nail your branding, you’re home and dry. In this instance, less is more.
5. Print your proofs
OK, I’ll admit it. At first, I had doubts about the benefits of printing your work. I was all about saving the trees and arguing that reading things on the screen would be just fine. But, more experienced colleagues swore by it. So, I gave it a go. And they were right.
You’ll be amazed how much more you spot when something’s printed out in black and white in front of you. Taking your work off the screen not only removes you from the distraction of things like emails popping up, but it encourages you to read more slowly and therefore helps you to pick up on mistakes. Proofing a piece of copy is so much easier when you have a pen in your hand to scribble notes and make adjustments. And, based on my experience working on direct mail campaigns, high-resolution proofs from a printing agency are a great way of spotting things like colour inaccuracies and image distortion.
If you’re keen on being consistent in your proofing, but are trying to reduce your company’s carbon footprint, it’s worth looking into things like recycled office paper.
6. Push back, if you can
This might seem controversial, but ask yourself, is it really that urgent? Can your project wait a day? Obviously, for time-sensitive campaigns, delivering your content too late will make it much less impactful and engaging. But, if this content is something that would be greatly improved with an extra day spent working on it, and it won’t majorly impact your budgets and KPIs, then suggest an extension on the deadline.
As long as you communicate this clearly to stakeholders, and with good enough reason, there’s a likely chance that you’ll get approval.
