Stale Content: Are You Driving Your Clients Away? Raising the Barr Weekly Memo: Issue 544

When was the last time you posted fresh content on your website? Too often, I come across websites that allow their content to grow outdated and stale. This projects an image of stagnation, a lack of innovation, and, most detrimentally, a perceived indifference towards their clients.

Let’s explore why owners and corporations allow their content to become stale.

1. Nonexistent Strategy: Many businesses struggle without a concrete content strategy, unsure of when, where, why, and how to focus their efforts.
2. Competing Priorities: Content creation often takes a backseat when companies fail to recognize the importance of a robust web presence.
3. Limited Resources: Strained resources in terms of time, skills, and finances can be a significant roadblock.
4. Audience Misunderstanding: Inadequate comprehension of audience needs and wants leads to ineffective content creation.
5. Obliviousness: Some businesses underestimate the adverse impact resulting from a lack of content creation. They fail to grasp how vital a dynamic platform is for audience engagement.
6. Creation Challenges: Crafting and generating new content can be a daunting task.
7. Inertia: An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and so it is with content!

Now, let’s discuss the potential repercussions of stale content:

1. Lost Competitive Edge: While competitors invest in and improve their content, businesses with stale content lose their competitive edge and market share.
2. Eroded Client Trust: Perceived lack of innovation and new insights can weaken client trust.
3. Missed Opportunities: Regularly creating new content showcases expertise and innovation, whereas stale content invites missed opportunities with your target audience.
4. Lower SEO Ranking: Search engines favor sites that regularly update their content; failing to do so reduces visibility.
5. Brand Decline: A failure to create and update content can damage a company’s reputation and hurt their brand.
6. Missed Current Events: Not capitalizing on current events results in lost opportunities to discuss and share recent events, trends, and forecasts.
7. Negative Impression: Visitors may interpret a lack of content as a lack of caring, nonexistent innovation, or a sign of business decline, deterring them from further engagement.

Successful examples include:

1. Brené Brown, who established a global brand centered on vulnerability, courage, and empathy.
2. The Cleveland Clinic’s consistent stream of high-quality health content, like the “Health Essentials” podcast.
3. Marketing and leadership expert Seth Godin’s prolific publishing and innovative insights.
4. American Express’s launch of the “OPEN Forum” online magazine, which delivers advice and inspiration for small businesses.
5. Amy Porterfield’s remarkable success leveraged through valuable marketing insights on social media and online courses.
6. GoPro’s transition from a camera company into a content-creation powerhouse, with content provided by their customers sharing their GoPro experiences.
7. Whole Foods, whose content strategy focuses on recipes, cooking tips, health, and improved living to strengthen their brand and customer connection.

So, how can you revitalize your digital content?

1. Regular Updates: Commit to regular content updates, and create a content calendar to stay on track.
2. Audience Engagement: Solicit client feedback to understand what content they value most.
3. Collaboration: Encourage clients, partners, and bloggers to contribute relevant content.
4. Repurposing: Revive and update older content for reposting.
5. New Tools: Harness the power of new tools or formats to become a prolific publisher of excellent content.
6. “Think Different”: Is the legendary Apple slogan, which implies, don’t attempt to copy others; take risks and discover your unique perspective.
7. Surround Yourself with Genius: Engage with fascinating professionals and experts, attend stimulating events, and immerse yourself in innovative experiences and content.

Am I talking to you? Of course, I am! You, who have the power to reinvent your digital presence and make a lasting impression.

Just as a bee is irresistibly drawn to the vibrant nectar of a blossoming flower, so will your clients be to fresh, relevant, and engaging content. If your digital content has been gathering dust rather than driving engagement, it’s time to ask yourself: Are you driving your clients away?

Your digital content can be the nectar that attracts your audience, making them return again and again. Breathe new life into your digital presence, and watch your clients, like bees to a flower, flock to your engaging, dynamic, and invigorating content.

You have the power to transform your business. The time to start is now!

Get your copy of my latest new books available now on my Amazon’s author page.