Turnarounds are Content Marketing Treasure

Rather than rethinking, one of the most annoying things people do is saying ‘That’s not what our experience has shown”, Adam Grant points out in his book Think Again. There’s joy in being wrong, Grant asserts. so he encourages business owners to “tout their doubt”. And, precisely because you’re pointing the finger at yourself, not at your clients and customers, Grant says, they are more likely to accept your business changes of direction as signs of strength and progress, not as indications of weakness. In fact, in hiring and promoting employees, he posits, agility will be more valuable than ability – we should bet on people with the flexibility to change.

It isn’t easy. “Communicating a successful turnaround requires a blend of honesty, strategic clarity and ongoing engagement with stakeholders,” Dave Platter writes in Forbes. “Any company in need of a turnaround will be under extreme scrutiny”. It will be important to “articulate a clear and compelling vision for the future.” However, “a well-communicated turnaround story can transform market perceptions and lead to a new lease on life…”.

Sharon Tanton asks, What if you want to shift the focus of what you do?. Maybe your priorities have changed, you’ve spotted a gap in the market, or just realized that you need a change of direction. Your move could make sense in a client’s mind, she says, especially if you find a way of continuing the service they’ve grown to rely on from you. Are there big linking themes that will help you make your new story feel like a natural extension of what people already know and love about you? Start telling people, Tanton advises:

• Explain why the change is happening.
• If there’s a back story (maybe a personal one), share it.
• Tell how your clients stand to benefit.

Andy Mowat advises business owners to think about their work in two “buckets”: Run-the-business (TTB) and Change-the-business (CTB). Most business and practice owners spend most of their time on RTB tasks, Mowat admits, but ideally should be spending time and effort on both.

In a way, this discussion relates to a dilemma that faces us creators of marketing content. Sometimes we learn that information we’d posted months -or even years ago isn’t true, or at least isn’t true any longer:

• Someone posted a comment that contradicted what you said, and, upon looking into the matter, you discover you’d been mistaken.
• You’ve learned there’s some better way to solve a problem, a solution you didn’t know about then, or perhaps one that didn’t even exist at the time you wrote that content.
• The “regs” have changed in the industry, and the old information is simply outdated.

What’s the best way to handle that situation? Some content writers make corrections by using strikethrough text on the original entry, followed with the correct version, while others use italics, bolding, or notes at the top or bottom of the original post. The method I prefer is to use new content to share what the business/owner now understands is the better solution to a problem or new knowledge that’s been acquired.

Readers will appreciate the honesty of the update. In fact, “turnarounds” can turn out to be content marketing treasure!