The Paralyzing Quest for Perfection
As a content creator, I’ve been grappling with a phenomenon that seems to plague businesses of all sizes – the pursuit of perfection in their content.
Don’t get me wrong, high-quality content is crucial for building a strong brand and fostering trust with your audience. But there’s a fine line between striving for excellence and falling into the trap of perfectionism.
The Frequency Conundrum
When it comes to larger companies, the quest for perfection often leads to a maddening decrease in content frequency. Imagine having to get every single comma, punctuation mark, and concept approved by multiple levels of management before hitting that “publish” button. It’s a surefire recipe for paralysis.
For a decently-sized company, a reasonable frequency for long-form content like blog posts would be once every two weeks. But if you want to aim higher and publish a new blog post every week, the approval process needs to be streamlined. If every piece of content has to go through multiple rounds of proofreading and sign-offs, the frequency will inevitably suffer.
And blog posts are just the tip of the iceberg.
Social media content is where the frequency conundrum really comes into play. For a large, global company with audiences spread across different time zones, pushing out a single organic social media post per day is the bare minimum expectation. Ideally, you’d want to aim for three to five posts per day to ensure optimal coverage.
But how often do you see companies consistently achieving that level of frequency?
Rarely, in my experience. The perfectionism paradigm – where every post needs to be 100% flawless – acts as a major roadblock, crippling their ability to keep up with the demands of modern content marketing.
Striking the Right Balance
Now, let me be clear: I’m not advocating for sloppy, error-ridden content. Proofreading and ensuring a high standard of quality are still essential. But there’s a big difference between striving for excellence and succumbing to the paralysis of perfectionism.
If there’s an occasional spelling error or a misplaced comma in your social media caption, it’s not the end of the world. People are far more forgiving of minor typos than you might think, especially in the fast-paced world of social media. As long as the overall content is engaging and valuable, a few imperfections here and there won’t make or break your brand.
The key is prioritizing where you invest your proofreading efforts. For instance, artwork and visual elements might warrant a more rigorous review process, while the accompanying text could be given a lighter touch. The goal should be to strike a balance between quality and frequency, ensuring your content is consistent, valuable, and reaches your audience at the right cadence.
Embrace the Need for Speed
Large companies often have the resources and expertise to create a wealth of high-quality content, but they frequently squander that opportunity by getting bogged down in endless approval cycles. My advice? Prioritize speed over perfection.
Instead of agonizing over every minute detail, focus on maintaining a steady flow of fresh, engaging content that resonates with your audience. Embrace the occasional imperfection, and trust that your brand’s value will shine through the authenticity and consistency of your messaging.
In today’s fast-paced content landscape, the brands that thrive are the ones that can keep up with the pace – not those that spend months polishing a single piece of content until it’s devoid of any personality or timeliness.
So, let go of the perfectionist tendencies, and embrace the need for speed. Your audience will thank you for it.
