Why the details matter in your content and beyond

 

I’m pleased to see the back of September.

Don’t get me wrong, in many ways it was a great month. I worked with some great clients on some fascinating work. I got to marvel at continual reinvention and building of a legacy with a trip to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. There were cinnamon scrolls from Crosstown Doughnuts at a meeting.

No, the reason I was pleased to see the back of it was because of my calendar.

 

 

Do you see it? I’m sure you do. And I know, some of you will have yawned and told me I should get over myself, that there are enough spelling nazis out there. According to the Urban Dictionary I am…well, maybe go look it up.

The problem here is that it’s not about my obsession with spelling. My problem is that imagine that you’re the business who produced that calendar. This falls into the “you had one job” category for me because words are what their business is built on.

I mean, I guess it could be worse.

They could have spelt September wrong as well.

I’d loved this calendar up until that point. The pithy comments each month have made me smile. But September lost me as a customer. They’d done all the hard work; they could have been my calendar supplier for years to come. But why would I now, when there are so many others to choose from?

 

What about the waffles?

Maybe you are looking for somewhere to stay or a hotel franchise to buy. And then you come across this:

 

 

Now, maybe it’s just me again. Maybe it’s an American dialect.

Or maybe they just had one job.

So yes, when it comes to your content, to the things that represent your business, then it’s only right to have a complete obsession with all the details. The spelling. The proper use of apostrophes (don’t get me started on this one).

Because if you’re not obsessed with these things, then think about the subliminal message it sends to your customers, potential or otherwise. It’s the equivalent of getting a dirty glass or cutlery in a restaurant. It unsettles you. It leaves you with doubts.

Seriously, you’ve got enough things to overcome. Don’t make spelling one of them. I highly recommend Grammarly if you’re going to produce a lot of content in-house. Alternatively get someone else to give it the once over, you do get word blind if you write it yourself.

Or be prepared to have your content picked over by spelling nerds like me. Even worse if you find it becoming a meme or a Facebook post. Don’t convince yourself it won’t happen; we’ve all seen it. Even worse, you’ll find your work featured in a marketing course on what not to do. I’ve seen that too.

So, it’s not just retail that’s detail; it’s everything you post and create too. Get into the detail now.