Curing the ‘Content Stress Disorder’

Content Stress Disorder (CSD). This term has not been added to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, but we describe it as: ‘Ongoing psychological pressure, caused by the organisation and creation of content.’

The good news is, there is a cure for this. Read our blog and use our tips.

Content creation requires management skills

Relevant content is hot. Different target audiences demand different types of content. Sales oriented or purely informative. Short and sweet, or rather heavy on content and extensive in scope. Aimed at buyers, new prospects or employees. Every article must show that you understand your audience, and pull them along on the journey. Whatever the destination. Creating good, relevant and on-brand content is not an easy job. It is a complex process taking into account a lot of variables.

Many balls in the air

Content is not solely created by marketing or communications professionals. Ideally you rely on the knowledge of experts in your organisation for high quality content. External agencies, partners and different internal departments are involved with incorporating style elements, media files and branding. When it finally comes to the production and distribution stage, even more tasks require coordinating.

With this many balls in the air, it is no surprise that even the best professional sometimes loses the plot. ‘Where did we store the hi-res images for the summer campaign? And am I one hundred percent sure that all of our participating agencies are working with the new, updated brand elements? I sure hope they deleted the old versions… ‘.

Creating, publishing and managing on-brand content requires management skills. Although very often, this process is far from control led, resulting in stress and self-doubt. More and more, marketing professionals are faced with what we call Content Stress Disorder. The good news is, there is a cure for this.

Het content creation process

A ‘process’ may not be the most exciting topic. But at the same time, working in the knowledge that any person that participates in the creation of on-brand content can access the right information at the right time, is a great feeling. As a result of this, you are able to deliver relevant and effective content, no matter who you work with. Research has proven that a structured and automated content process produces not only quality deliverables but also happier and more productive people. You experience less stress as you can rely on the knowledge that any information needed is available. Resulting in quick decisions, and a process that is no longer linear. This allows you to constantly adapt to changing requirements, combining informative elements on brand or product with visuals, resulting in a perfect composition and brand experience. By providing a completely self-service experience, users can autonomously locate and utilise all of the relevant information in one central location, resulting in less time spent on answering questions. Less stress for you. You’re in control. 24/7.

Operate within the boundries

An automated process provides several advantages. Not only does it provide an easy way to make all media files and style elements available, it also allows you to offer the right template or appearance to the authors of your written content. This enables you to effectively produce texts, design adds and produce brand expressions using the designated templates. This way, you can fully focus on the content, in the knowledge that you are operating within the boundaries of your brand.

Creating content from the heart of your organisation

The briefing is the official start of the content creation process. However, any good creative process striving for relevant content should start long before that. Inspiring your internal marcom and subject matter experts is paramount if you want to ensure their contribution. External agencies, or ‘content producers’ should be informed if you want to rely on their help. So make life as easy as possible for them by offering them all brand elements, different templates, inspiring examples, a tone of voice to work with and clear instructions on content.

Not only about a consistent way of creating content, but focus on their role in the pro cess. Don’t bother them with tasks that are not in line with their expertise, but enable them for their specific part in the process. All working within the same online platform, with dynamic templates, available and flexible brand elements, based on successful examples. Doing what you do best, on a platform that enables you to create beautiful and strong marketing material. Now that is what we call collaborating on consistent and coherent brands.

On-brand content = impacting content

We know that brand experience is fundamental for conversion and brand preference. Brand experience is influenced on one hand by a consistent narrative and on the other by appealing packaging or visual identity. So always make sure that your content is on-brand. When your brand experience is perfectly applied to all of your touchpoints, your content is observed quicker, valued highly and seen as trustworthy.

Now, back to our original question, how to prevent Content Stress Disorder? Both for me, and my organisation? First of all, allow yourself to take a step back. Visualise your current content creation process, for all the people that contribute, and for all the tools that facilitate this. Once you have done this, the next step is to determine where the most improvement can be generated. Which optimisation provides the most benefits in both the short, and the long term? Content creation requires management skills. And a platform that enables all people involved to collaborate on strong, on-brand and relevant content.