Is your shiny new content actually 'good quality'?

Has a colleague ever asked you 'what do you think of this new infographic' or 'what's your take on this tool we've created'? Maybe you've been in a position to sign off or at least have a say in things like videos, brochures or emails which are being created by agencies or internally.

How do you decide whether something is the best thing you've ever put out, an item that could be better, or if it's time to grab your Men in Black memory eraser and start pointing it at anyone who's already had the misfortune to have taken a glimpse?

Well, the first thing to point out is that your initial thoughts can often count for a lot. Yes, data is everything. But sometimes you need to feel good about an idea yourself. Data can help you make a best guess as to whether something will 'fly', but if it were that easy everything anyone ever produced would be awesome. 

Think about when you go to look at a new car in a showroom - first impressions, the gut feel, count, but there are other things to look out for

Working as a news editor and with social media, I would often stop and ask myself 'would I read this?'. It's a question that does serve the content professional well. I can of course accept that I am just one 'persona', or belong to one age group, and am just the one sex - but at a base level everything is person to person or human to human, so it counts for something.

Beyond that (educated) gut feel there are other questions you can ask of a piece of content. If you find it's ticking more and more boxes, that's a good indicator of quality.

In my mind, there are 'layers' of quality starting with the very superficial through to fundamental things. Think about when you go to look at a new car in a showroom; first impressions - and your gut feeling - count, but there are other things to look out for. Key questions. Does it meet your family's needs? Is that noise normal?!

Next time you're asked to look at something, or you want to think a little deeper about whether a content item is good quality, consider the following:

Does your piece of content use the correct tone of voice and follow your style guidelines? Quality content clearly looks and sounds as if it has been created by the same organisation, right down to the little details which are covered by a style guide. Does your brand say 'hello', 'hi' or 'yo!'? Is this consistent - and have the guidelines been applied here?

Does your piece of content sit well with the company/department strategy or plan? If your business is all about making things simple for customers, does your funky new tool do that?

Is it clear where your content sits within the customer journey? Consider at what point a customer will see this new asset. For example, lots of brands provide help and advice content. One example - amateur runners. These people might be looking for tips to improve their 10k time, but they don't want to be sold high-end training shoes (yet). So if this help and advice content is going out through social, that makes sense. But if it appears a thinly-veiled attempt to sell more running shoes, that is not quality. 

Does it link onwards? What you want to avoid is content that sits in isolation or is a dead end. Give people a gentle, subtle push towards the next thing they might want to see.

Can this content be used in many different situations? Consider a video - this is a fairly costly item which you'll want to squeeze value from. Can it be linked through social, used on the website, referenced in emails to customers? Can it be used more than once? Thinking of something like tips on ice cream making from a kitchenware brand, this can be referenced any time the sun shines. And going back to the running shoes, training plans for marathons can be reused every time one is on the horizon.

Do you get any added extras? A tool that requires the user to insert information will start to gather lots of data. This data can be used internally, to help make decisions around what to produce more of in future, and maybe externally. Sticking with the running shoe manufacturer, users could insert info around age, profession and usual times for different distances (5k, 10k, marathon) to see how they compare, and this could result in new, bonus content for the brand, such as blog posts. Maybe electricians have much faster times than dentists? If your content provides an opportunity like this, it will keep on working away for you and is most definitely 'quality'.

... and the ultimate indicator. Is this thing doing what it was designed to do? Is it bringing more people to your website? Is it resulting in increased conversion? Is it improving engagement rates? You won't know this at the start, of course, but keeping an eye on the numbers after launch can help when you make decisions in the future.