Okay – time to reflect

Disclaimer: this is my reflection-in-action post.

Working as a content strategist, do you also start unconsciously noticing small things the way I do?

Today I noticed how a small European e-commerce brand forgot to renew their domain name. If you’re into digital marketing, you know what kind of disaster this is: lost traffic, lost clients, no sales, no income, damaged reputation — and an urgent need to create a new website.

You may ask, “Why would they create a new website if they can just renew the domain a bit later?”. Well, digital life doesn’t work that simply. In just four days — while the domain was publicly available on GoDaddy – some enterprising online opportunists didn’t waste a minute and bought it. So the e-commerce brand had to create a new domain and a new website, because the domain resellers were asking for an enormous amount of money – more than $10,000 for a domain that originally cost only $10 a year.

Now you may wonder: what does this story have to do with the reflection-in-action task?

Well, it made me think about two things.

First – I’ve realised that all the content I consume, in any form, goes through my professional lens. Even when I’m a customer – I’m not really a customer. I guess this is normal for many professions: dentists notice strangers’ imperfect teeth on the street, and as a content strategist (and digital marketer) I notice every imperfection related to branded content. If I see an ad for new cakes at a local bakery – I don’t see cakes. I see the idea, the target audience, the persona, the key message, and I start wondering how profitable the banner actually is.

Second – as a content strategist, you must take care of content. And if you work in a small business – you often have to take care of the system too. Check when your domain expires. Double-check how secure your CMS is. Do you have two-factor authentication? Have you paid for your domain at least one year in advance?

No more time. I need to check all my ten domains and make sure they’re still alive (and protected enough).