“Just the other day I was chatting away with this business…”
Never happens does it?
Conversations take place between people. I won’t harp on about H2H marketing. You already know the score on that one.
My question, why is there so much unowned content proliferating the interweb?
By unowned I mean nameless. Corporate flavouring. When it’s nameless, it’s faceless.
It feels like I’m listening in to a conversation, or in the case of most articles, a statement.
Think about the last time you went to a museum. There’s usually some form of audio narrative playing in the background as your eyes are drawn to an interesting artefact. You’re picking up words, but you’re not tuned in.
That’s how I feel when I start reading an article. A few sentences in I scroll down to see who’s talking to me. No name? No face? No conversation.
Smart marketers are telling us that worthwhile content creates conversations. Wrong. Worthwhile content that flows from the keyboard of a person creates conversation.
This is where I get concerned about the amount of businesses (large and small) that outsource their content creation. Sure, it’s on message. Sure, it can be deemed worthwhile. But, it’s pushed out without any association to the creator (the writer… not God).
Back to the museum. Rather than a looped audio narrative, what happens when you pass the exhibit where there’s a real (live) person sharing their knowledge and answering questions? Completely different experience isn’t it? You become involved. You pay more attention. The narrative becomes more important to you. It’s the same narrative – but now it just feels more real.
I’ve heard all the excuses for keeping content anonymous. My favourite being the idea that the smarter writers can now be easily headhunted (yes, because keeping them anonymous will help morale…).
If your content is outsourced you can still personalise the content.
If your content is created internally, what is it you’re afraid of people finding out? That you’re a real business with real people behind keyboards with ideas and purpose?
Anonymous content is for anonymous readers. Be proud of the content you create. It’s why movies have credits. Why books have authors. Consumers are naturally skeptical. A name, a smiley face and links to social networks can go a long way to connecting readers and writers. Trust me.
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