It’s a question of usefulness, not personality.

Many business persons with experience in the corporate arena are well aware of how important certain elements are in strategically placing the company within reach of customers, coworkers and the public at large. Senior executives can rant and rave all they want, but the corporate cheerleading they undertake on the company’s behalf only goes so far to engage their most important audience: the customer.

The simple truth is that executives tend to appeal to and resonate with other executives. It’s a rare instance indeed when an upper level spokesperson’s message has more power behind it than the day to day messaging that comes from the company websites, brochures, white papers, catalogs and other business collateral that customers and employees alike have access to.

What are the reasons businesses need good content?

1. Direct engagement of the customer.
Let’s face it, any business exists because of its customers. The business fulfills a basic need of the customer to provide a service or product that has perceived value. This allows the business to make a profit and to continue to supply the needs of its customers. Great content does a wonderful job at explaining the benefits to the customer and instilling a sense of value to the business’s products and services. The customer is engaged all along the process by the company’s online and offline content which help the customer make informed choices about the company’s offerings.

2. Strong presentation.
The company’s reputation and status as well as it ability to fulfill customer needs in positive ways rest on how relevant content is presented to the public. Well designed websites that bring the customer to necessary information and turn gawkers into paying customers are win-win for both customer and company. Likewise, well-presented and professionally executed information sheets, product descriptions, newsletters and other materials.

3. Brand identification.
Some brands bespeak volumes of quality and value. Some do not. Excellent content makes the process of strong brand identification on the part of customers a simple choice, and they will always choose excellence over mediocrity. All company content should reflect this basic understanding of how important branding is to business success.

4. Internal cohesiveness.
One of the challenges facing businesses of any size is the seemingly inevitable loss of focus that occurs from the simple act of doing business as usual. Creatively constructed, focused, coherent content is one of the best ways to simply bring attention back to the matters at hand. When information is disparate within a particular area, it becomes immediately apparent that the story the content presents is somehow out of whack. Focusing on the content reasserts focusing on what’s fundamentally important to the business, which promotes internal cohesiveness.

5. External cohesiveness.
External cohesiveness flows from the previous four points. Customers who are directly engaged enjoy the strong presentation and brand identification of the company, none of which are possible without any sort of internal cohesiveness in play to bring it all together. From the outside, the company is perceived as having its act together, even if the details are a little fuzzy as to how. Once the stage of external cohesiveness has been reached, all company goods and services are imbued in the mind of the customer with powerful positive attributes. In short, external cohesiveness leads to more sales and greater customer satisfaction.

6. Evolutionary growth.
At this stage the company has freer reign to offer even more engaging content to the customer. Profitability is up, customer satisfaction is up, and both customers and employees enjoy increased interaction with each other through the use of ever more engaging and useful content. And it is this content, with its ability to instruct and entertain, that drives company growth. One way of looking at this process is to say that customers grow into better customers and the company grows into a more evolved version of itself.

7. Cyclic re-engagement of the customer.
Over the course of any relationship, life, situation or activity, the dynamic cycle is never 100 percent up all the time. There will be ebbs and flows very much like the seasons gently move from Winter through Spring, Summer and Fall and back to Winter again. Customers will never be wholly committed to one company’s offerings no matter how good those offerings are. However, content can be refreshed and made appealing in a variety of ways; new generations of customers can be sprouted and nurtured; and the mature company can get even better at getting its story out to its constituents. Cyclic re-engagement is an important mature process that stems directly from the company’s early commitment to excellence.