I worked my way through college (true story) through serving, and one night, we were SO backed up. I’m talking about 30 minute wait times just for people’s appetizers. There was a big game on and the place was packed. I decided right when guests sat down that I would tell them we were super backed up, and I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. If they wanted to leave they could do so, but if they wanted to stay, I made sure to give them fair warning. You wouldn’t believe the response from my tables, who knew ahead of time, compared to the other tables in the restaurant. They were nicer, more understanding, and at the end of the night, my tip money wasn’t too shabby either. Why did this work out so well? One word- communication.

In an earlier blog, I talked about content suicide. To refresh your memory, content suicide is where a company doesn’t update their content on any of their networks. This deters potential clients from their site because they don’t have updated content, and the company doesn’t seem current. See Avoid Content Suicide With These Easy Steps for the whole article.

So let’s get to the real question: Can you redeem yourself after you’ve committed content suicide? Yes. Now to the tough part… how? Communication. Having great communication with your clients is key. Think if someone writes in to schedule an appointment through a button on your website. You take a couple of days to get back with them because you don’t see it, or you’re busy. Do you think that person waited to see you, or do you think they made another appointment? They most likely made another appointment and forgot all about you.

Another big thing that goes right along with communication is posting content immediately. Posting on all of your sites regularly is the key to redeeming yourself from content suicide. It’s imperative that your site, social media or blog be updated with current promotions and content to keep readers and clients engaged and coming back.

Along with posting regularly, you also can explain the hiatus if needed. Let’s say people contact you from your site and you haven’t gotten back to them in a month (ouch!). This can be redeemed by apologizing and telling them unfortunately, XYZ happened, and I wasn’t able to respond. We’re sorry this happened and are doing everything in our effort to have this not happen again.< If a client or patient complains about the lack of response to something they've submitted, the best thing you can do is to respond back to them explaining you received their message and you'll be with them as soon as possible. Content suicide can be prevented by something we all know how to do, which is communication. The client just wants to know you're listening and you care. If you or someone you know is having a hard time and is committing content suicide, contact us here.

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