Like planning for a trip, a good communication plan should serve as a road map, guiding you to your desired destination. Just as you wouldn’t expect to arrive in Houston if you were planning to visit New York, developing a plan, rather than having a “shot in the dark” approach to getting to where you want to go, will help you achieve the outcome you’re looking for.

Whether you’re developing a communication plan to articulate how communications will support your organization’s business plan or to advance an individual campaign or program, the following are key elements to include in your plan.

Goals
Communication goals should reflect your organization’s mission, link to the business strategy and be measurable in terms of business outcomes. Remember, goals are not tactics. Tactics are used to reach meaningful outcomes that advance the business, while goals identify what it is that you want to communicate.

Objectives
Communication objectives establish the communication need or opportunity. This is best determined through research, which should include:

• primary research, such as questionnaires, interviews or focus groups
• secondary research, such as government statistics or industry reports
• organizational research, such as an environmental scan

Assumptions and anecdotal research are not acceptable means by which to gain insight into your audience’s real needs or support the choices you make when you opt for one strategy or tactic over another.

Key Messages
Key messages should link your communication objectives to the needs of your audience. A few key tips when developing key messages include:

• speak to your audience’s interests (“What’s in it for me?”), not your organization’s interests
• use easy-to-understand language, avoiding jargon and acronyms
• be authentic and transparent
• use examples or facts as “proof points” to substantiate, distinguish or add credibility

Used consistently, key messages allow your organization to speak with one voice and differentiate itself from other companies.

Communication Tools Tactics
Communication tools and tactics should be derived from your audience’s needs and preferences. All too often a to-do list of communication tactics are implemented where goals are disconnected from business objectives, audience’s needs are neglected and key messages are non-existent. Allowing your audience to dictate your choice of tools and tactics (based on the research you’ve conducted) will ensure a meaningful outcome. Thus, any new ideas can be evaluated against strategic goals to ensure alignment with the plan before they are implemented.

Evaluation
Outcomes should be evaluated against the goals related to your mission. If those outcomes weren’t SMART – specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely – it will be difficult to conduct a meaningful evaluation. It’s also important to continually review the communication plan, critically evaluating it to ensure measurable results are being generated, and to adjust the plan, if necessary, to meet the goals.

When planning becomes part of your standard practice and your communication plan is treated as a living document that can be referenced, updated and evaluated, you will see tangible results that advance your organization.

1. 1. I like a theme since it forms the glue of your messaging. If the readers go no further than the cover or home page, they at least come away with a key message – imagine choosing to read a book with no title
2. 2. The theme should reflect the company’s story and proof points contained within the report – together they should be the bright red thread woven throughout the text and visuals. If you can’t support your theme, then perhaps you should be thinking of another theme
3. 3. In an ideal world, the theme is unique to your company – not a catchphrase used by companies of every industry and financial position. While “Making Progress” may reflect your reality, it should be a no brainer that you are either making progress by growing or addressing your challenges – either way, it tells me nothing
4. 4. It is also best to choose a theme that you can leverage for investor presentations, your AGM and other shareholder communication – reinforcement of your message is not just a good thing, it is a necessity! Your chosen theme should not be the flavor of the month, but rather a message that can support your investor relations efforts for the year
5. 5. When choosing your theme, think about whether your sustainability report can build upon this theme – your communication messages should not live in a vacuum but work together towards building a cohesive and memorable story about your company
6. 6. Always be aware of the themes your competitors are using – you know the expression, too close for comfort…
7. 7. Pithy and clear are always better than long-winded and certainly more memorable. Nobody will spend the time to decipher your meaning
8. 8. And finally – the biggest question of all – who really cares about a theme since nobody really uses the annual report for investment decisions? My response is, perhaps if you put in the effort to use your annual report to convey your investment proposition with meaningful messaging, then people would read your report and care

This is your opportunity to tell your story to investors, employees, customers, the community, government, and other stakeholders. Why miss an opportunity to shape your story and deliver your message starting with a clear and interesting theme.

The avenues businesses have for presenting information have splintered into hundreds of potential dissemination points. Just ask a social media expert to show you a social interaction web or infographic and you will get an idea of the explosion of venues web goers use to consume information. The truth is that corporations, and their executive teams in particular, are increasingly using the corporate presentation as the master template for public messaging. And that in itself is not all that surprising. CEOs have an intimate relationship with their slide decks due to the frequency with which they use them to inform everyone from bankers to casual investors about their strategies, goals and operating details. The problem comes down to managing a tool that is increasingly expected to be all things to all people and to work equally well when no one is there to explain it.

It’s Alive
The answer to why this monster of a medium has become the de facto king of corporate speak is actually pretty straightforward – it all boils down to time. With a limited number of hours in a busy schedule, very few companies have more than a couple of topic-specific presentations updated and at the ready. In a large number of instances, the presentations become the central repository for what can and cannot be said on a topic for spokespeople within their organizations. There are things to address regarding the need to have a corporate communications bible, so to speak, but first it is worth spending a moment on the question, why PowerPoint?

Out of the gate, PowerPoint is intended as a visual tool. No one reads dissertations unless they have to and giving an audience a snapshot with supporting factoids sprinkled in appears to be a recipe for success. And, let’s face it, bullet points are easier to digest in a 45-minute discussion. Second, PowerPoint is already on everyone’s computer. Leaving the frustration of versioning aside, this allows executives on the road to make changes “on the fly” and invite feedback from a wider working group to ensure no one is talking offside. Last, but not least, conference organizers worldwide take it for granted that a speaker’s first choice for visual support is going to be 20 to 60 slides strung together.

If 20 to 60 slides seem like a wide range for 45 minutes, or even an extended hour-long talk, it is time to address the corporate bible issue. Presentations evolve quickly. Companies and those who communicate their inner workings never stand still, so it is only normal to assume their presentations will morph and change. As a presentation matures with repeated use and updates, it becomes more of a receptacle for “all things deemed important.” The questions we should start asking are: important to whom and when? Should the general audience, if one exists at all, be expected to care? I had a client recently defend a particularly long presentation with the argument that they felt compelled to address the questions that have come up in meetings or other presentations. I would recommend to everyone in this position to ask themselves whether they are trying to end discussions or communicate what really is important for the audience.

Crafting the Silver Bullet?
Much like the myth of monsters under the bed, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to communicating. There is no silver bullet and attempts to craft one using PowerPoint will lose an audience that may have been interested in what you have to say. Common thinking regarding presentations is that a speaker moving at a decent pace needs about a minute or two to use a visual aid. Notice the term “visual aid” is not a slide.

“Getting through a slide” is a term we hear almost every day while working with clients’ presentations, and it hurts the impact of your message. Slides should drive home a point and should support your thesis; if it is not an idea you dwell on then the slide should be removed.

How long should a presentation be? No slide deck is too big if it has a target audience and introduces new information that supports your message, but speakers need to think about what they are trying to achieve. Should I invest? Should I wait for the next phase to sell? Are you truly a leader? If the presentation does not have a goal or was built without the audience in mind, it merely becomes a crutch for the presenter and a monster to the listener. ]]> http://www.bmir.com/powerpoint-monster-or-silver-bullet/feed/ 0 http://www.bmir.com/communication-professionals-find-out-the-facts-and-offer-fresh-solutions/ http://www.bmir.com/communication-professionals-find-out-the-facts-and-offer-fresh-solutions/#comments Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:58:34 +0000 Geoffrey Vanderburg, Managing Director http://www.bmir.com/?p=1434 Continue reading →]]> The best lawyers ignore the court of public opinion and focus on the facts. The best doctors look at the same symptoms as everyone else but manage to find a solution. The best architects take straightforward projects and turn them into masterpieces. The same is true of the best communication professionals.

The best communication professionals find out the facts and offer fresh solutions. Research is key. Communication professionals can serve a valuable role by probing and inquiring before jumping to conclusions.

One illustration about jumping to conclusions relates to the story of Amanda Todd. 15-year-old Todd committed suicide on Oct. 10, 2012, a month after posting a YouTube video about her battles with bullies. Media coverage has left people with the impression that suicide rates for young people are rising because of cyberbullying. In fact, suicide rates for these age groups in Canada are declining. A study in the June 12, 2012 Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) notes that suicide rates for 10 to 19 year olds decreased an average of 1.0% per year from 1980 to 2008. Even more thought-provoking is the possibility that some young people have found solace online instead of resorting to suicide.

The point of this commentary is not to debate whether suicide rates are falling or whether social networking prevents suicides. The point is to emphasize that it’s too easy to make assumptions. The best communicators make no assumptions.

Imagine a scenario in which an investor relations officer assumes that a phone call with a retail investor will only be heard by one person. In fact, the call could be transcribed and receive wide distribution on a bulletin board. Or imagine a scenario in which a communicator assumes that increased traffic to a website is related to a recent news release. In fact, an analysis of the traffic might reveal a significant number of hits originating from the internet service provider of a large corporation that might be evaluating takeover targets. Or imagine a scenario in which a communicator assumes that the best way to help an oil sands company is to refute Greenpeace’s campaign to “stop the tar sands.” The reality is that a better approach would be to focus on communicating with the investors who are most likely to fund the company’s next round of growth.

At bmir, we approach each project by taking the time to get to know the client, its peers and its industry, reviewing what’s been tried before and then doing something slightly different in order to advance the story. We gain insight by reading and reviewing as much information as possible and listening and learning before we offer guidance.

We empower businesses to reach their potential by taking one step back before we delve into the details. Research allows us to become close enough to the story to understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, but not so close that we lose sight of how our communication activities will be perceived by others.

Organizations of all shapes and sizes would benefit from a partnership with communication professionals that make no assumptions, gather facts and find creative solutions for telling each client’s story in way that resonates with key audiences.

The challenge for Canadian companies in this volatile market are many, but from an investor relations perspective, a company must know when to lie low and when to ramp-up efforts to get in front of both prospective and current investors. Companies with clearly defined capital market plans have the advantage of looking beyond today’s cloudy skies and sticking to a course supported by their medium and long-term investment propositions.

Oftentimes I hear companies base their 12-month investor relations plans on participating in bank sponsored conferences, doing marketing trips and making sure the website is up-to-date. While “getting out there” with your story is not only a good start, it should be a given. The key is having a plan that keeps your investor programs in front of investors and does not stop and start depending on the latest news story.

Whether you are planning marketing efforts for an emerging, micro or large cap company, it is important to take note of several key factors to ensure you are meeting your objectives. Here are some steps to ensuring you are planning your activities to align with your goals.

Define your goals:
The process of defining your goals can be a short brainstorming session or a deep dive into the plans and vision of the management team. The most effective plans are supported, not driven, by tactics. Tactics are ways of guiding your audiences to your key messages and should support your key investment proposition. In communications, there are as many approaches to your goal as there are goals. Your objective is to create a framework for your outreach. For the purpose of planning, it helps to have your annual plan coincide with the budget planning phase of your company.

Understand your audience:
Effective investor relations plans start with the identification of the audiences an organization needs to reach throughout the course of a typical business cycle. Key audiences can include everyone from special interest groups, debt holders, to your largest institutional shareholders. Who is your company’s ideal investor? Is it the same person who will be investing in three years?

The more specific you make the target audiences list the easier it is to develop tactics to address their needs. Beware, however, not all audiences are created equal and although one audience may be demanding more attention, a well thought out plan will help to ensure you are balancing the needs of your entire organization. Just because a particular issue is receiving more attention, your communications still need to address your core business.

Understand your shareholder base.
Research the investment styles of your large shareholders and determine why they may have bought shares – and what might cause them to sell. Identifying whether your shareholders are weighted toward a growth, value or an income investment style, for example, can offer insight as to what they are expecting the company to achieve near or long term. Taking a look at who owns or is buying your competitors also provides you with insight as to who might be the best funds or portfolio managers to talk with.

Keeping it simple:
One or two pages should do it. The more onerous it becomes to keep a plan updated the less likely it is that you will find the time later to do it. Key elements should include a budget, schedules and items or metrics you plan to track. These can be as simple as average weighted volume, concentration of ownership by your target investor groups or hits to the investor section of your corporate website. Whatever you choose, it needs to include items that are measurable.

Putting it to the test:
Once you have determined what you are trying to achieve with your plan, and the audiences you need to reach, you should only then start to think about the tactics best suited to getting the data you need to measure its effectiveness. This may include analyst days, participation in bank sponsored symposiums, a social media strategy, or even a fresh look at your corporate website. Whatever the tactic, it should be defendable from an objective laid out in your plan.

Before the Internet was the focus of so much of our interactions, we used to head down to the General Store and have a chat with the locals while grabbing our assorted feeds and needs… I assume – I wasn’t actually there.

But the point was, a central gathering place was evident for sharing news, interests, passion and conversation.

We had a single conversation with people, and perhaps they told some other folks elements of the subject, and if the content was engaging enough, maybe it’s core points trickled in some form or another into elements of other conversations.

The landscape certainly has changed. Now people get their news from the Internet, they pursue interests, research and acquire knowledge from online sources, and share that content in multiple channels, in many different ways. Stories get broadcast quicker, content has almost limitless reach – and everything from political opinion to cat videos seems to get play depending on the audience.

Where I find this really gets appealing from a business to business perspective, is within the ability to connect… and the ability to step away from “business” and connect on a human level.

Enter social media.

So what exactly is “social media”?

Social mediaNoun—Forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos).The channels involved (both web and mobile-based technologies) support interactive dialogue and introduce substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations, communities, and individuals.

At its core, its really just any kind of media that gives you information but also allows the audience to interact as well. We can use it as a tool that shares information to large communities of people, and allows that community to comment or share that provided information even further. It grows, takes on a life of its own, and allows a personalization process that no magazine, TV show or newspaper article can give. A direct result of this ability to interact with content, is one of connection.

And as a heads up, in 2012 social media became one of the most powerful tools for sharing news and information through channels like Facebook and Twitter.

How can a business work with that kind of information? Well – there’s a few different ways. The first is through research. People look for content online. Instead of businesses going outbound looking for customers or talking to stakeholders and employees – business needs to make it dead simple for people to find them. But there’s more than that – they need to make it worthwhile to find them, the information people come across is key – it must be relevant, succinct, easy to digest and fast to access. Success requires emphasis on granular and personalized conversations, not blanket data. Business can make a lot of headway making information easy to find, worthwhile to research and provide content and ease of access

What we need to remember, is that B2B marketing within the social realm isn’t about marketing to businesses, but to the people who work for those businesses. Making connections, fostering relationships, building bonds. Behind every decision around an order, an RFP, an opportunity to present credentials – is a person. That person wants to understand your company, your brand, your USP and how you can help them meet their needs.

So when we look at using social media, the human aspect becomes a second way to reach customers. As a pure marketing communications tool, it’s safe to say about 14% of people trust ads, but close to 76% of people trust consumer recommendations – easy to see how engaging someone through conversation and sharing of opinion can weigh heavily on customer decision. But when viewed through the lens of a corporate communications platform, social media gives us the ability to humanize our company. And I think that’s huge.

We have the ability to humanize the company.Communicating to stakeholders, customers or clients, employees etc., in a truly engaging or intuitive manner can simplify understanding about what your company offers; be it about your product, service, or your values. It can allow for immediate comprehension, open doors to discussion, extension and ultimately resonance.

Growing the digital footprint.The more we share from a content perspective, the easier it is for the end audience to find you online. When looking for content, the type of information is sometimes as important as the speed of access when looking at a determinant for success.

Become a trusted advisor.At the same time we share as much as we can in the digital environment, we become a presence. This means an increase in credibility, adding value by influence and potentially establishing your company as thought leaders within your space.

Collaboration with audience.Getting feedback is crucial to understanding perspectives. Social media inherently gives people a platform in which to provide just that. Conversations take place, connections get made, clarity can be achieved easily… some may consider it a form of real focus group testing. It’s a rich area for fielding opinion, perhaps incorporating users voice into product development, or as a knowledge platform for obtaining more information about the types of companies and people that use your product or service… I think employee engagement speaks for itself in this regard!

According to the 2012 IBM Global CEO Study of more than 1,700 Chief Executives, in the next 3-5 years, social media will go from the least used customer engagement tactic to the second, surpassed only by face-to-face interaction.

While only 16 percent of companies are using social media to connect with customers, but that number is expected to surge to 57 percent within the next three to five years.

Social media simply isn’t the B2C tool many in the B2B sector believe. There’s no clear way to split someone into one camp or the other when they’re engaged within the channel we collectively call social media. Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Pinterest, Google +, MySpace… the list goes on…

Source: The Conversation Prism

As scary as that looks – the channels are merely points of interaction. What remains constant is that people do business with people they like, know and trust. If we utilize the social media tools available to us properly, innovateively and engage our audience – business becomes human. According to Edelmen Trust Barometer “Persons Like Themselves” is still the most trusted source for information about a company and their products/services.

When we create content that is both engaging and valuable with customers, business succeeds as conversations are started, stakeholders, partners, customers, employees are talking and listening.

In the next few blog posts, I’ll attempt to break this down a little more… See different ways we can play within the space to make the connections that matter. We’ll likely discuss tactical methods within Linked in to full Transmedia platforms that could engage. But fundamentally what we’ll look at is• Creating better relationships with out partners, stakeholders, customers and employees.• Attracting customers (and retaining them), recruiting influencers and advocates• Creating value propositions that differentiate and resonate.• Monitoring activity and building awareness.

Ultimately we need to bring new life to business – and social media can play a major role. As we go on with this really interesting topic, one thing to keep in mind, contrary to a lot of what we have learned (and back to the days of the General Store), is that content no longer reigns as king. Conversation does.

To make things a bit more interesting, I’m going to try to focus on the newest versions of each CMS, where possible, even if that means reviewing preview versions. Naturally, any information about a preview version could change by the time of the final release. I should also point out that I’ve come up with my list of competitors based on feedback from our clients which are typically small to medium sized businesses.

The four contenders are DotNetNuke, Kentico, SharePoint, and Sitefinity. Some of you will find it odd that I’m including SharePoint in the discussion and will no doubt mention several other systems that should be in the mix but these are typically the four that our clients consider so I’m going to stick with these for now.

First up, SharePoint 2013 Preview!
For the purposes of this review, I’m exclusively interested in SharePoint as a web content management system. While it’s true that this is only one of SharePoint’s many capabilities, it’s been my experience over the past few years that more and more of our clients are using it purely for this reason. In a typical scenario, the client is already running a SharePoint intranet, so when the time comes to choose a content management system for their public-facing website, their IT team is happy to choose something they’re familiar with. There’s always a lot of talk about integration between the intranet, extranet, and website and leveraging the awesome power of SharePoint…….in Phase 2.

Phase 1 is always “Get the website up and running and then get the staff trained so they can edit content.” So, from my perspective, the WCM capabilities and ease of use are the keys to end user buy-in and a successful SharePoint implementation. Unfortunately, SharePoint 2010 never felt like it was built to be used for public-facing internet sites by default. Security, site search, and forms are just a few items that can require a fair bit of configuration in order to get the site working for anonymous users. As well, public-facing sites typically require complete re-branding which can be an extremely daunting task for anyone who isn’t already very familiar with SharePoint.

Let’s take a look at SharePoint 2013 to see if things have improved.

I’ll start with one of the most significant improvements – the Design Manager. It’s no longer necessary to use SharePoint Designer to edit master page and page layout templates. You can now work directly on the template HTML using your editor of choice and then easily add SharePoint functionality by using the Snippets gallery.

While this is certainly more intuitive and easier to work with than the template system in SharePoint 2010, I don’t think experienced branding experts are going to be out of a job any time soon. Advanced branding will still require in-depth knowledge of how SharePoint page elements work and get styled.

The next feature that really jumped out at me is the new navigation options. Right off the bat, you’ll see that there’s an option to directly edit the page navigation.

The navigation edit menu allows you to show or hide an existing item and easily add a new link.

Of course, it’s still possible to edit the navigation by going into the Site Settings > Navigation page, but once you do, you’ll see that there’s a new option to use Managed Navigation. This new option gives you a ton of control over what navigation gets displayed by using Term Sets. I’ve never been a fan of how SharePoint site navigation works, so this is easily my favourite new feature.

Next, we move on to one of my biggest pet peeves about previous versions of SharePoint. The HTML source code editor when you’re in the page edit mode. Previous versions wouldn’t retain any code formatting at all so your source code would just be a big mess of indecipherable code that was impossible to work with. You’d have to cut and paste it in to another editor just to make sense of it. To make matters worse, SharePoint would often rewrite your code for you and break it in the process. I haven’t tested it extensively yet, but I’m pleased to report that my HTML is actually nicely formatted (but c’mon Microsoft! Would it kill you to use some colour coding? I think that’s been a standard feature in every HTML editor since HotDog Pro!). Even better, it has yet to rewrite any of my code no matter how complex it is. Hallelujah!

Sticking with page editing, you can now embed videos from sources like YouTube (gasp!!) and Vimeo by simply using the Embed code. No more need to use Silverlight or a third-party video player! So simple! Why hasn’t anyone else thought of this?

The last new feature I’ll discuss is Device Channels. Previously, it was only possible to have one mobile version of the site which was auto-generated by SharePoint and very difficult to customize. Clients always found it very disappointing and would typically ask us to disable it altogether. Now, with the Device Channels feature, it’s possible to render content using different master pages and CSS depending on the mobile device. I think this feature is probably more critical to SharePoint 2013’s success than anything else I’ve mentioned so far. It’s not enough to just have a site that renders on mobile devices anymore. Clients want us to deliver true mobile experiences that are tailored to each device. Without this, SharePoint simply wouldn’t be a viable option for many of our clients.

I’ve just touched on a few key improvements to the web content management features in SharePoint 2013. There are many more including Cross-site Publishing which will allow you to display content from one site collection across one or more other site collections using the new Content Search web part; friendly URLs (at last!!); better analytics; and some great improvements to site search and search results.

Will all this be enough to crush the competition? We’ll find out soon as the battle continues over the next few weeks. Next up – Kentico 7!

The project
A magnificent living roof atop the two-storey Toronto Dominion Bank Group (TD) Banking Pavilion, the centerpiece of the iconic Toronto-Dominion Centre (TDC) in the heart of downtown Toronto’s financial district. The Banking Pavilion’s conventional roof required replacement and the idea for the Living Roof was inspired by the TDC Green Council, an advisory group for occupant engagement and sustainability at TDC.

A living roof is much more than an environmental statement, it’s an active, living contributor to a healthier city. Sedge grass plantings replace conventional asphalt, which increases the “R” insulation value of the roof – reducing energy costs for heating and cooling – and absorbing carbon dioxide and emitting oxygen.

The TDC Living Roof is a bold expression of TD’s sustainability commitment. “The Living Roof is a great example of the practical application of green building design to enhance building performance and provide environmental benefits,” says Karen Clarke-Whistler, TD’s Chief Environment Officer. The living roof is also a major milestone and environmental accomplishment in the continuing TDC revitalization.

But how to take this environmental success story to the widest audience, when the living roof itself is viewable only by workers in the surrounding office towers?

Having worked with TDC owner Cadillac Fairview and TDC itself for five years, bmir understood the corporate and marketing communication objectives and responded by creating the Living Roof Exposition, an immersive, multi-media gallery-style exhibit that would compete with any at the AGO or ROM.

This amazing exhibit was created by Jason Chesebrough, bmir’s Creative Director. It includes information banners, bold, large-scale window graphics using black & white photography of the workers during the eight-month construction period, two custom made models: one of the actual TD Bank Tower with the adjacent TD Banking Pavillion (showing the entire green roof), and a second cross-sectional model demonstrating the actual grass frame and complex irrigation system created for this project. As well, bmir installed a live video feed, and created three time-lapse videos (with audio cues) from photographs taken from the roof, documenting the construction.

Click image above to view the TDC Living Roof Video (1 of 3)

Click image above to view the TDC Living Roof Video (2 of 3)

Click image above to view the TDC Living Roof Video (3 of 3)

By providing benches that encourage visitors to spend time in the exposition learning about the living roof and the buildings, bmir transformed a previously empty walkway into a uniquely attractive, rewarding and educational destination.

The result
The Living Roof Exhibition was opened to the public on July 14 at a large media event. Both clients, TD and Cadillac Fairview, are thrilled that bmir created a dynamic exhibit that so fully demonstrates their organization-wide commitment to a comprehensive environmental plan that is both alive and measurable.

I interrupted one of these impenetrable discussions to ask about one part of the site they hadn’t yet discussed.

“What’s this little patch of lorem ipsum dolor sit amis stuff?” I asked.

“Oh, that’s for the content,” said one.

The content? That’s the stuff the site visitors (aka “readers,” “targets,” or “your audience”) actually come for and the stuff you want them to act on – whether that action is to buy, to understand, to agree, to like, to comment or even just to enjoy.

Yet on a lot of sites, too many to count, content doesn’t get the respect it deserves. The message isn’t clear. Often, too many words, or the wrong ones, support too few ideas. Enthusiasm swamps clarity, interest fizzles and that brief opportunity to capture your reader is lost. He or she clicks onwards to the Next Great Thing.

Content is more important than ever. Why? Competition for your audience’s attention. Audiences are bombarded with choice, from conventional media to a growing selection of social media – how can you stay current without constantly checking Facebook and LinkedIn? Who ever heard of Pinterest a year ago? How do you keep your audience’s attention when the flavor of the day changes dozens of times a day?

Conventional media outlets – newspapers in particular – are struggling to remain relevant against 24/7 instant-response competition from broadcasters, news aggregators, citizen journalists and frankly anyone with a smart phone and Internet access. One unfortunate result has been a serious decline in the quality of conventional media content. Grammar, syntax, spelling and punctuation are all taking a beating out there, while basic factual accuracy (who, where, what, why, when and how), sometimes known as getting the story “right,” is being thrown overboard in favor of getting it “first.” As Casey Stengel, manager of the appalling 1962 New York Mets said, “Can’t anybody here play this game?”

Navigation, user experience and information architecture aren’t unimportant. They’re all vital, particularly online, where users aren’t constrained by the rigid linear presentation of information on paper or television screen, and can click on links to take them wherever looks most interesting or appealing.

Information architecture, user experience and design, should all serve to heighten the reader’s interest in the content, not compete with it for his or her attention. Content shouldn’t be an afterthought, taken for granted or relegated to filling a hole on your web page.

Content is the reason your audience is spending valuable time on your site. Invest the time, make the effort to get that content right and you will reward your audience and give them all the reasons they need to deepen their relationship with you.