Is more content better?

 

François-Marie Arouet aka Voltaire

I am fairly active on LinkedIn, especially in the CMO Network group. I recently participated in a discussion about content marketing. If you are not aware of content marketing, you’re not alone. Content marketing is a highly effective and, I dare say, essential way of marketing in this day and age. The Modern Marketer will gain market share by executing a solid content marketing plan.

The question posed to the group by Brian Monger @SmartaMarketing was “Is ‘the more the better’ good content strategy?” I was the only person of the 5 responders to say yes. All others stated that quality is most important. Interestingly, one of the so called content marketing gurus, Joe Pulizzi, posted about the same concept a couple of days later. It seems the underlying and accepted assumption is that if you produce quantity, you must forgo quality. Group think is heavily at play in this discussion. The idea of quality over quantity or quantity prohibits quality is ingrained in our culture. I daresay it is almost cliche. Good or even mediocre content in high volume is effective.

I enjoy taking a contrary viewpoint. Some would say this is a personality disorder and perhaps they are correct. But, it’s much more interesting to take a look at the other side of a debate, especially if everyone else lines up on one side and you see group think at play.

Quantity in content marketing is a good thing and it trumps quality. But let me clarify. Your content must be professional, relevant and helpful to the needs of your target audience or target market if you prefer. It does not have to be perfect. One of my favorite quotes comes from the French Enlightenment writer, Voltaire “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good”. This applies to content.

It is essential to remember the purpose of content marketing; to engage thereby building top of mind awareness and establishing credibility. If you really love red roses and someone gives you yellow roses, is there still gain in furthering your relationship with the yellow roses? I suggest that the answer is yes. If I touch my target audience monthly with decent content, even if they don’t read it, they will have a perception that I am offering value via relevant content. I will have a leg up on the competition who is producing one or two pieces of spectacular content in a year.

The key question to ask yourself when you are creating content is not “is my content considered high quality”, but to ask “is my content helpful and relevant to my target audience and delivered on a frequent and regular basis”.