Everyone is an author now. In the time of social media marketing, content marketing, and more –we’re all authors. Maybe some of us shouldn’t be. As someone who lives, eats, and breathes social media and content marketing –I constantly jump on my soapbox with the theory that fresh content is all powerful. I stand by that theory. However, I have some edits to make. Well, we all do.
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve gone to read an article and come across a mistake. Sure, it happens, it’s a mistake. I’ve got it. However, you lose me. Every single time I come across a mistake in a blog post or article –you lose me. Immediately I think of you as an idiot. I know; it’s harsh. That’s not fair of me. It’s not right. I’m sure I’ve made mistakes myself. In the moment though, I don’t care. All I can think about is how much I don’t trust the author at that point. You’ve lost all credibility.
Here I was, reading your article, thinking you were a genius. You are the source of all knowledge! Once you publish an article online, you’re the expert on the thing that you just wrote about. When you don’t edit your work, the curtain is pulled back. I see the real person back behind the scenes and I don’t want a real person. I want knowledge. Your knowledge, specifically.
If you want to be successful using content for marketing, you have to edit your work. If you can’t edit your own work, or think that you can and are failing at it, you have to outsource it. It IS necessary. No one is going to trust that you are a reliable source if you can’t spell pineapple. It reflects badly on your brand as well.
Maybe you’re a lawyer and you’re writing articles online to give people a little advice. This is great because you reach new clients who are searching for these topics. Unfortunately, no is going to pick up the phone and call you if you’re a lawyer who can’t spell litigation or correctly space a blog post. You look careless. You look like a mess. No one wants to hire a mess. Get it together.
I don’t write this to be mean. I write it because content marketing IS powerful. Creating fresh and unique content can drive traffic to your business or brand. You don’t want to miss out on that. You also don’t want to send people running for the hills because you can’t string a sentence together. It’s ridiculous that I still read the word “rediculous” in articles. I mean it –get it together.
What are your thoughts on articles that you find online that have mistakes? Do you lose faith in that author or brand? Does it seem careless? Comment below!
