What you don’t see can hurt your content

mlns='> Does fear of collaboration lurk where you work? [View Message in Browser]( / [Add Us to Safe Sender List]( Weekly News 4.7.23 Connect With CMI  [4 Things To Ignore (and 3 Things To Do) in Your Next Content Audit]( A content audit can seem time-consuming. But don’t let that concern keep you from the valuable insights an audit provides. Follow these tips to reduce your time commitment and get the most from your efforts. [Read more]( By Kelsey Raymond More of the week's best stuff: - [Copyright Guidance Gives Content Marketers an Easy Decision on AI vs. Human Content]( Content Marketing Institute Team - [9 Ideas To Boost Your Internal Content Distribution Strategy]( Lizzy Burnam - [Take This Step To Get Over Your Fear of Content Collaboration [Rose-Colored Glasses]]( Robert Rose - [ICYMI: 6 Things You're Doing Wrong With Website Content Optimization]( Luca Ramassa  What you don’t see can hurt your content Visibility. I often hear that word when I ask what’s wrong with an organization’s marketing and content operations. Think about how ideas get transformed into marketing messages, integrated into content assets, and disseminated onto channels. That process usually starts with a small team – or even one person. Next, a leader somewhere in the company establishes a set of overall themes or campaigns to communicate value. Then, those priorities make their way to the edges of the organization, where they are transformed into content (with varying degrees of efficiency). At least, that’s the way it’s supposed to work. Spoiler alert: It usually doesn’t. Businesses often fall into the “content strategy trap,” where content is everybody’s job but nobody’s strategy. And that leads to a challenging workflow and problematic outcomes. A slow or strict content workflow may prompt the public-facing edges of the organization (i.e., sales teams, regional offices, customer service reps, or PR/comms) to seek a different solution. They end up creating their own content based on what they think the main messages are. A push-pull battle ensues where these public-facing teams create content to “get stuff done,” but content leaders see them as going rogue. In contrast, a lax or frequently changing approach (where priorities and themes shift often) causes teams in the middle (i.e., brand, marketing, digital) to resort to patching things together. But the ideas from all the various groups doing the patching rarely pull together to create a meaningful whole. In both situations, all practitioners face the same challenge – visibility. They can’t see what’s coming, who’s doing what, or even what’s working. That missing visibility comes from the lack of a proper content strategy. But the real problem is the fear of collaboration. In [Rose-Colored Glasses]( this week, I outline three ways I typically see this fear manifest itself – and discuss how adding visibility into your content processes can help your organization rise above it. Are you seeing signs that collaboration fears are hindering your content goals? Want to vent about it? Send me [an email](mailto:Robert@contentadvisory.net?subject=Fear%20of%20collaboration) or leave a comment on [the article page](. Until then, remember: It's your story. Tell it well. Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute Do you have colleagues or friends who would benefit from Robert's weekly updates? If so, please invite them to [subscribe]( here.   More From CMI Content Marketing World: Last Day for Lowest Rates Don’t miss your last chance for Super Early Bird savings for Content Marketing World 2023 – register today to save $300 on registration to the planet’s biggest content marketing event. Join us this year on September 26-29 in Washington, D.C. for a program jam-packed with informative sessions from some of the most inspiring voices in content marketing. [Register today to save »](  Content Marketing Awards: Early Bird Deadline is April 16 How does it feel to be recognized for your long hours and creativity with a Content Marketing Award from CMI? Watch this video to hear more from past winners on what the honor has meant to them and their teams. Then, put yourself in the running for a 2023 award by showcasing your cutting-edge content marketing work, standout results, and exceptional content experiences from the past year. Submit your entry by next Sunday, April 16 to take advantage of the lowest entry rates. 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