Congratulations, you've launched a new approach to content. You took the time to conduct analysis, form a strategy, and plan the right implementation. Now what? You need to keep your approach to content going. Make it sustainable and repeatable, in other words. How do you do that? By putting a system of governance in place.

GET A GLIMPSE INTO CONTENT GOVERNANCE

Governance of web content is a system of
  • Oversight from digital or content leadership.
  • Clear roles and responsibilities for everyone involved in content.
  • Defined process or set of processes to support content.
  • Guides or documentation to inform oversight, roles, and process.
I find some of the most frustrating challenges for governance lie in oversight. So, let's take a closer look at oversight.

OVERCOME OVERSIGHT OBSTACLES WITH EVALUATION

Lewis Carroll once said, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there." That's exactly what you don't want oversight to become.
Good oversight sets content goals, or the destination, and the course of action. For instance, oversight for a large retailer could decide that content needs to better sell your products and explore whether adding video is worth the investment. But, oversight shouldn't stop there.
Good oversight demands good evaluation. Otherwise, you have a bunch of digital leaders going with their gut. While the gut might lead to some interesting ideas or points of inspiration, the gut shouldn't lead big content decisions. Here's why.

Going with Your Gut Leads to Goose Chasesimage of squawking goose

My friend, Chris, went to Chicago recently with his boss and one of his employees. As they prepared to leave the building, Chris brought up the map on his smartphone and said, "The hotel is two blocks to the right." He stepped in that direction, and then his boss said, "You know, I've lived in Chicago all my life. I know this city like the back of my hand. We need to go this way." And he pointed to the left.
Surprised, Chris thought to himself, "Well, he IS my boss. And, maybe he knows a shortcut or something I don't know. I'll try this way." So the group stepped out and followed Chris' boss.
After two blocks, no hotel was in sight. Chris watched in frustration as the little dot representing his location on his phone  move further and further away from the hotel. After two more blocks, no hotel appeared. Six blocks away from the hotel, Chris finally said, "The GPS on my phone still tells me the hotel is this way. I'm going to give that a try. If you want to keep going in this direction, that's fine. I'll catch up with you later."
And after walking more than 10 blocks, Chris finally made it back to his hotel.

Good Content Oversight Leads to a Destination—and Evaluates Progress in Getting There

Today, just as Chris had a phone with a GPS and useful data about his location, we have ways to get valuable data about content. (I wrote about them in two chapters of Clout.) The exciting thing is that the data, when used wisely, can tell us not only whether we met our goal but also whether we're making progress. Think about that for a moment. How powerful is it to know whether you're on course or not? That means you have the power to change course, if you need to, and still get to your destination. You can make corrections before it's too late. That's powerful.

CONTENT EVALUATION + EMOTION

Now, you might think, "evaluating content sounds awfully analytical." I disagree. One of the best benefits to evaluating content is emotional. When Chris' boss led him on a wild goose chase around Chicago with no end in sight, Chris was about to crawl out of his skin in frustration. What happens when we can't tell whether we're making progress? We get discouraged and lose motivation. But, when we see we're making progress, we're motivated to change course (and get back on track) or to keep going. With content, reaching our goals usually takes quite a bit of time. Results don't happen overnight. So, evaluating content keeps us motivated until we reach our destination.
So, as you establish a system of content governance, make good evaluation part of your content oversight. This approach will avoid wild goose chases, result in better content decisions, and create positive momentum. Content isn't easy, so we need all the positive momentum we can get.