Thinking About Site Content, Wishfully

Wishful thinking can invade a project or relationship early on. I blame high school romances, the ones you thought would last forever, where you could only see the good in the other person and not the obvious to everyone else issues that were heading down the track. In my experience with building websites wishful thinking almost always clusters around content.

We enter every client relationship thinking that content wrangling couldn't possibly be as bad as last time. It almost always is.

This content monster has two heads. The first head is the client's. The client thinks they can write, they do it all the time- right?, so they commit early on to writing the site copy. They make this commitment, usually, without any idea of how they are going to fit it into their already busy schedule. They make this commitment because they want to save money. I get it. But what they don't realize is that the project will almost definitely be delayed while they struggle to find time to fit copywriting into their schedule. Deadlines will pass and the project loses momentum. That first blush of excitement we both felt at the kick off meeting has now completely withered. We are now deflated and completely bummed out. Where has the love gone?

The second head is us, the agency. We are letting this happen, it is really entirely our fault. We know it's going to happen. It happens almost every time, dammit, and why haven't we figured out how to solve this problem? The reason is that we want to meet the client's budget and content is the first, and usually only, thing that the client can reasonable take on as their own. Also, we are being lazy, afraid to have that hard conversation- "in our experience clients can't write Web copy". We don't want to lose that good feeling we all have about working together. This is where the wishful thinking comes in. We tell ourselves- hey, they know their business so it just makes sense for them to write their content. But it still ends up being a trainwreck. We are not controlling the process. The client doesn't know how to build websites, we do, but we are being led when needing to lead. In dealing with this issue routinely after having built 100+ websites the last 5 years I've finally had enough.

Here's the solution we are going to implement. Communication, Creation and Control.

Client Communication- no more wishful thinking at the beginning of the relationship. We will set expectations during our initial conversations and maintain that throughout the project- "we welcome your involvement in creating content but we won't wait on it or expect it to be Web friendly, so expect us to have billable hours on content creation and optimization".

Content Creation- we are in charge of site content, not the client. The client will have a window of time to get us whatever content they have but when that window closes our copywriter will work with those assets to create Web friendly site copy. From that our designers will create any needed graphics assets to go next to that page copy. All of this will be governed by a....

Content Control- a shared Google Spreadsheet with nice color coding to show what content is due, when it's due, who is responsible, etc. We will share this with the client during their content window. If they want to create their own site copy, awesome, we look forward to working with it as long as it's delivered on time. But we will still review, rewrite and optimize for the Web.

In the end this is really about creating and controlling the total client experience. The new website experience should be like a trip down the Tunnel Of Love not a trip to the dentist.

Coding vs Copywriting

A recent post in Fast Company addresses the terror traditional ad agencies are feeling right now. They on the verge of extinction. One line really caught my attention "coding is now prized over copywriting".

That's completely true, just look at what coders get paid versus copywriters. But I would argue that there is a coming sea change already underway and the tables could turn again.

Coding is all about creating reusable solutions. Build it once and use it again and again. It's why companies like Google, Groupon and Exact Target are growing like weeds. Their product is almost infinitely scalable. But consider the destination.

Eventually the code will get so good it may put many coders out of work. It may get so good that anyone can build a website or app without any programming knowledge. We are already seeing this happen on a small scale with free to cheap Web solutions like Wordpress. When it happens, and I believe it will, then advertising agencies can stop worrying about the platform and technology challenges and do what they do best- communicate.

Right now many traditional ad agencies are paralyzed, afraid to enter the Social Media waters or even log into a Content Management System to update site content. But that is changing as well. They are going through a rude awakening and learning to survive- the fastest way to learn.

When code is no longer the obstacle then communication is king. Brand experience and messaging return to the top of the value pile. This is where traditional ad agencies excel. They just need to hang on long enough, while getting up to speed, and they may find themselves surprisingly relevant in the years to come.

Passion, Talent and Experience

I think this is the order in terms of desirability:

Passion- it can fill almost any void, even weak ability and lack of experience. It is mountain moving stuff and should be noted and rewarded.

Talent- leverages passion and experience. This is mostly genetic but requires developing.

Experience- belief driven knowledge. Seeing (experiencing) is believing.

The Problem(s) with Groupon

Daily deals are the current darlings of the Web. Groupon, the leading daily dealer, is looking at a valuation of $3-4 Billion in a possible acquisition by Yahoo. I think that would be a bad investment. Groupon is certainly doing well now but I see some problems on the horizon, or already here, that could make the company vulnerable.

1. It's too easy to do. The software isn't hard to do and there are already many competitors popping up locally and nationally. Remember MySpace? All a competitor needs to do is be Facebook to Groupon's MySpace. Also remember that TiVo saw its market share destroyed by DVRs provided by cable/satellite companies. There is no reason Facebook, Foursquare and many others can't play in this space.

2. It's a bad deal for businesses. Although I expect Groupon to start bowing to competitive pressure in this area, they usually take a 50% share of the Groupon offering. So if I'm offering you a $100 gift certificate for $50 and the Groupon takes half I'm left with $25. Is a $75 loss worth acquiring a new customer?

3. Cannibalism. Once Groupon does the rounds on all the local businesses what happens then? Well they start back around. So now companies have an increased risk of cannibalizing their own customers. Essentially giving their existing buyers a huge discount on services or goods they would have paid for anyway.

4. User Fatigue. I'm not saying people are going to get tired of saving money but they will get tired of receiving emails they don't want. Why won't they want the emails? Since Groupon will be forced by businesses to be more competitive with other daily dealers that will mean the coupons will not be as good (smaller discounts) which will lead to users tuning out. I realize that as their list grows they only need a small percentage opting in for each Groupon but I would argue that they will see declining returns as their lists top out (there are only so many people in each city).

5. Customer Service. This is perhaps the biggest complaint with Groupon. Since there are often hundred to thousands of people getting a Groupon it creates a real customer service issue. What's a business to do? Staff up for the tsunami and then have an HR problem downsizing when it passes? Not staff up and then have disgruntled customers who have a bad experience, tell everyone about it and never come back?

In Groupon's defense they have the opportunity to head off many of these current and potential problems. They also have the cash to do it. It will be interesting to see if they can turn into a sustainable, real company or be remembered as an interesting Web trend that couldn't make the turn.

Change Surfing- Technology and Politics

It would be easy to see the recent election as a rebuke of Obama, Democrats, Health Care, Big Government, etc. There is no doubt a good argument to be made for all of those points. But I see it differently. I see a trend that has less to do with policy and more to do with our use of technology.

During the last 15 years we have seen a stunning advance in technology. But our bodies are not as easily upgradable as software or hardware. Moore's Law doesn't apply to human beings.

We now have an impatient, ADD electorate. A nation needing Ritalin in its water.

I believe what happened in 2006, 2008 and now in 2010 has more to do with our need to change the channel than to change the country. We get bored. We want a new shiny object. Right now that shiny object is the Tea Party. In 2008 it was Obama. In 2006 it was Anyone But Bush. But our collective need for political change surfing undermines any real change.

Some would argue that gridlock is a good thing. I believe gridlock will create a second rate country unable to compete with the agile one party governments we see in China and Russia.

America is no longer willing to have hard, meaningful conversations. We don't have the attention span. Our use of technology has ruined our ability to focus. That concerns me more than wars, deficits or any hot topic of the day.

We are losing the ability to think clearly and objectively. We no longer have those quiet spaces in our lives to think.

What's the solution? I don't know. There probably isn't one since we lack the discipline to impose any real change on our behavior. "I've seen the enemy and it's us."

Most likely our ADD fueled by the mis-use of technology will only result in more change surfing in 2012 and beyond. In the end we will surf our way into the history books. Another great empire that couldn't handle its own success.