In my last blog, I talked about content management and my personal theory – nay, heart’s desire – that the concept can get us back to basics and good writing.
As noted, many of the fundamentals of this “new” phenomenon are very familiar. Among them is the emphasis on “know thyself.” That is, understanding who YOU – as a business or organization – are before working to understand who THEY – your audiences – are. And not only who you are, but what makes you different and better than others trying to reach those audiences.
With our clients, this often starts with an inventory of existing messaging. You know, seeing what a company is saying about itself and what others are saying about it. In the process, we usually find a lot of outdated and incorrect information that has to be addressed.
And, often, we find that the messaging is all over the board, with different people, departments and marketing collateral and other materials saying different things.
Most importantly, it is not uncommon to find that a business has outgrown its messaging – that they’re talking about who they were, not who they are, that is, who they’ve become since someone’s little brother built their first web site.
And that can be a rude awakening.
This corporate or organizational soul-searching is valuable in another way, forcing enterprises to take hard looks at their businesses and practices – and maybe even face up to hard facts.
And THAT can make you sorry you woke up at all.
More later.
