“If you visit American brand, you will find it very grand, just two things of which you must beware – don’t click the content, you don’t want to share…”
Anyone who remembers Tom Lehrer’s iconic and hilarious social satire, Pollution, will know those aren’t the words to the song.
And apologies to the author, but I think his premise is a wake-up call for content marketers today.
There’s an overabundance of content production – and that includes this post. A veritable Thanksgiving of blogs, photos, videos, podcasts, infographics, updates, pins…you name it.
Just waiting to be shared.
Look, I love how social media has democratized media and given us a new lease on creativity. Have an idea? You can bring it to life with free tools – anywhere, anytime.
The flip side is that there’s just too much – let’s call it stuff – being generated. And we’re feeling overwhelmed.
I’m not talking about hobbyists – they can create to their hearts desire. And maybe they’ll even find an audience along the way.
I’m speaking about organizations and brands in their never ending quest for that elusive virality. Businesses have become content machines. And because social platforms are the new ad companies, amplification via paid and promoted posts abound.
This leads to content pollution in the extreme.
Maybe it’s time we took a good hard look at what we send out into the online world and start to conserve Internet space.
Borrowing from the environmental movement, here are the new three Rs of content marketing:
Reduce. OK, we’re all media companies, but let’s plan an editorial schedule by putting ourselves in our customers’ shoes. And that means not necessarily bombarding them a few times a day on each of the various channels. Think about it like this. How would you feel knowing that whenever you’re out on the street, or with friends or you just want some quiet time, you’ll be accosted by a certain brand whether you like it or not? Maybe brands have to reexamine their prodigious output and put more of their energy into surprise and delight.
Refuse. This is one for the customer side. Let’s face it, in the content pollution battle, both consumer and brands are enablers. It’s time for people to take a page from Network and say, ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.’ If people start to attach a bigger value to their likes and use them sparingly, then the metrics wouldn’t be there to justify all the junk. Don’t simply be an impression. Make one.
Rewrite. Before you hit publish, let your post sit and simmer for a few hours or so. Read it over again and ask yourself if it’s something you’re proud of or if it’s just there to fill the Thursday calendar hole? Then, if it meets your standards, take some time to polish it till it shines. Legacy media had talented editors – we need that equivalent in social media, too.
And for goodness sake, please review your websites and all the junk and old pages on there and then start deleting. For one thing, this could be hurting your SEO. For another it’s just more sludge for people to wade through. And while you’re at it, look at your mobile site and be even more ruthless.
I’m a big believer in social media and how it’s given us all a creative voice. But rather than overcluttering the landscape, let’s adopt a more minimalist approach. Brevity as the soul of content.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a few draft posts to delete.
Have you been overwhelmed by content pollution? What do you do?
A version of this post was originally published in Marketing Magazine.
