Digging for Better Content

The best web content isn’t found in a cubicle or around a conference room table. It requires effort and persistence – and it means connecting with many teams, functions and departments. Sure, you can (and should) read the background plans and materials you were sent. But when you dig deeper, your content will offer more value to your organization and your users.

A recent Content Marketing Institute post highlighted excellent content sources you may overlook. They include:

• Proposal teams: “Proposal departments: RFP responses are a great introduction to the nuts-and-bolts of what you’re selling and how you’re selling it–more detailed and often more accurate than the pretty but often out-of-date brochure or the website.”
• Call center: “Your call center hears the good, the bad and the ugly in direct customer feedback every day. Spend some time listening to calls and to the CSRs who take them, and you’ll get a true sense of the organization’s ability to fix problems and maintain customer loyalty.”
• Sales team and account managers: “Help your relationship-builders shape their messages into professional presentations, and then re-use the content in white papers, webcasts, marketing campaigns, corporate blogs and Twitter feeds.”

Another great source: If you write product content, become a familiar face to your product development and/or engineering teams. They understand customer needs, anticipate trends and know your product strengths and weaknesses better than anyone.