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B2B Monday Myth: Content Needs No Gatekeeper

by MGB2B

The Myth: Content Needs No Gatekeeper

The Truth: If No One Is Monitoring Your Content, That’s a Recipe for Trouble

An interesting thing happened the other day. I was reading a blog post from one of my most trusted resources for insightful content. I recognized instantly that the advice they were giving was bad advice. And to make matters worse, it appeared to be a guest writer trying to sell a product. But it wasn’t labeled as “sponsored content.” All it took was one article, and I began to question the credibility of the organization posting it. This is a company that I have been turning to for insights for several years now.

Now I had assumed they had someone – perhaps even a team of people – monitoring their content. But this made me wonder: do they have a Gatekeeper?

To be fair, all of us have lapses in judgment here and there. So it may just be a Gatekeeper who made a mistake. The lesson out of it is this: all content needs a Gatekeeper – and a good one.

Here Is What You Should Look for in Your Content Gatekeeper:

1. They Can Proofread. While typos seem to happen more and more these days, it’s still important to make sure your content is not riddled with typos and grammatical errors.
2. They Can Fact-Check. Proofreading for grammar is one thing. Proofreading for accuracy is another. This is particularly important for content like blog posts, which are often contributed by multiple people from different departments within your company. Or even outside sources, whether freelance writers or experts in your industry.
3. They Can Filter. A Content Gatekeeper shouldn’t only be good at editing copy. They should also be able to determine whether the content that’s been created is right for the brand. In the example above, the guest writer contributed copy that put the credibility of the brand in jeopardy. The Gatekeeper needs to be able to filter out this type of content. They should also be able to guide contributors to alter their content so that it resonates with the audience (and is truly helpful to readers).
4. They Know a Little about SEO. If your B2B content is going to live online, it needs to be optimized for search so that prospects can find it. This either means your Gatekeeper knows how to do SEO, or you have an internal SEO person on staff who can look at all content before it goes live and is distributed to your customers and prospects.

Appointing a Gatekeeper is no easy task. But it may be one of the most important – and often overlooked – content marketing tips you should heed. When the credibility of your brand is at stake, it should be a no-brainer.