Poor content strategy

The biggest weakness across all BMMI digital channels is the quality of its content. It is obvious that the organisation lacks a digital content strategy. A strategy for the production, maintenance and removal of content online.

Quality content:

Drives traffic to your digital channels.
Keeps visitors engaged.
Persuades visitors to keep coming back.
Convinces visitors to convert.
Improves customer loyalty.

If BMMI can only invest in one area it should be improving the quality of content. That means creating and implementing a content strategy.

The current BMMI digital channels show an adhoc approach to content. What follows is just some of the ways BMMI’s content needs improvement.

A lack of consistency

A common problem that comes from a lack of content strategy is inconsistencies across a site. At best this undermines professionalism. At worst it can make the website feel untrustworthy.

For example BMMI Group switches between first person and third person throughout their website. Also a variety of different people have written blog posts on GSS. Although this has created more content, it has resulted in no common tone of voice.

But the most noticeable problem is on the Alosra website and social media channels. On Facebook Alosra does a good job at making their products sound attractive.

Products on Alosra's Facebook page are supported by compelling text.

Yet on the Alosra website, there is no descriptive copy at all. In fact, due to the continued lack of product descriptions, in most cases all users get is an intimidating disclaimer. The difference could not be more extreme. Even the basic descriptions found on BMMI Shops is a considerable improvement on this.

On the website, Alosra's imagery is poor and the product description is a diclaimer.

There is an obvious need to standardise content. Considerations such as tone of voice, product descriptions and use of grammar.

Finally there is also a need to clarify the role of different content throughout the site. For example, on the BMMI Group site, there is no obvious difference to users between the content published as a press release or as a blog post. This lack of consistency and clear context can cause confusion.

Burying the lead

A content strategy would also need to provide training around writing web copy. From reading content on the BMMI sites it is obvious that the writers are not experienced web writers.

Much of the content we encountered was dense and hard to read. It often had a high reading level that made it difficult to scan.

Rectifying this is essential online as users rarely have the patience to read an entire page. Instead they scan through the copy looking for key messages. But the way content creators have written on both BMMI Group and GSS makes this hard.

As can be seen from this readability software, much of the copy on BMMI websites is not web friendly.

Worst of all we found many occasions where the the main point of the copy is buried deep in the heart of the page. A good example of this is a blog post entitled “Here’s to 10 more!” This post congratulates members of staff who have been with the company over 10 years.

Many of the blog posts are of more interest to staff than prospective clients.

This post is of little interest to anybody other than the people who it mentions. In this instance, it would be better to have focused on how longer term employees show that BMMI is a great place to work. This would be of interest to potential employees and potential clients looking to work with a stable organisation.

Journalists call this failure to recognise the real story, 'burying the lead'. But this once again shows the lack of attention to what users are actually interested in.

The same is true for the GSS client list. It is not just the names of clients that matter but what services GSS provided them. Yet this information is absent from the site.

Content fails to compel

Burying the lead in this way is symptomatic of a deeper problem. Much of the content is not particularly compelling.

Take for example the copy on the homepage of both BMMI Group and GSS.

BMMI is a diversified retail and distribution, hospitality and contract services and supply group, supported by a world-class integrated logistics capability.

Global Sourcing & Supply (GSS) is an integrated facility management and contract supply operation supported by an advanced logistics capability.

In both cases the copy includes phrases such as “world class” or “advanced”. Rather than promoting unique selling points, these are phrases that any one of BMMI competitors could also claim.

Much of the copy on the GSS and BMMI Group sites uses generic phrases.

In essence much of what appears on BMMI's websites is generic marketing copy. Take for example the following copy. Copy found on the International standards page of the BMMI Group site. It begins:

BMMI is a highly diverse company that fully recognises the need to pay close attention to quality in every aspect of its day-to-day business.

You could replace the name BMMI with any company from IBM to BMW. The sentence would still read as applicable. This can lead to a distancing between the organisation and the reader as it lacks any clear and compelling USP.

Also the page presumes a level of knowledge that the user may not have. Like many pages across the BMMI sites it uses terminology and industry specific parlance. Phrasing that people from other countries or new to the sector might not understand.

This combination of terminology and generic copy makes much of the content feel like filler. When creating content, it's important that we put ourselves in the shoes of those we intend to read it. At the end of the day, even when writing for B2B purposes, it will still be people who read our words.

Failure to support claims

The generic nature of the copy is disappointing considering BMMI has some unique offerings. In particular Think Local and The Alosra Charitable Foundation stand out as having great potential. But once again the website fails to capture this.

Instead the site makes general claims. Claims about “philanthropic” work or a “focus on people, community and environment”. Not only is this content un-engaging it is also unconvincing. There are no specifics, no success stories, no major achievements. Some such stories are available in blog posts or press releases, but they are invisible on key pages.

The Alosra charitable foundation page does little to promote the work BMMI are doing.

For example the Alosra Charitable Foundation page on the BMMI site is a single paragraph. This page should link to stories about how the foundation has made a difference in people’s lives. This would be content that people would share and add credibility to the organisation. Without that kind of content it sounds like empty words.

Hidden quality content

The unfortunate thing is that there is a lot of good content on the BMMI websites. It's just that it is hard to find.

For example, the Winning Hearts PDF is beautifully designed and has some great messages that sets the company apart. But they are hard to find, buried in a big document deep within the BMMI Group website.

The BMMI reports are another example. They contain valuable information of interest to investors, prospective employees and the press. But again, this is buried amongst other less relevant content within a PDF.

Some of the results documents contain useful information for investors. But these results are hard to find.

Finally BMMI has hidden video content for the site in the media centre. This, despite the fact that it contains content of interest to those outside of the press. In particular this is of interest to prospective employees.

In fact those seeking to work at BMMI are particularly poorly served. If you visit the careers page on the BMMI Group site you find almost zero information on what it is like to work at BMMI. Yet valuable information does exist online. Unfortunately it has been spread across the sites and social media channels.

The BMMI careers page makes little effort to present information relevant to potential employees.

A content strategy would cross-promote this content and ensure it's availability in a single place for prospective employees. It would rationalise content around user needs and ensure coordination between content creators.

Recommendations for introducing a content strategy

Content creation cannot continue to happen on an adhoc basis. It needs coordination and oversight to ensure a high and consistent quality.
The creation of a content style guide would go some way to addressing this problem. It would set standards for grammar, tone of voice and key messaging. But it will not be enough on its own.
There would also need to be a robust editorial workflow. A set of policies to ensure that inaccurate content is limited and to remove anything out of date.
Content creators would also need regular training. Training to ensure they have the experience and skills to write quality online content. They will need to understand concepts such as front loading, scanability and readability.
All of this requires coordination and expertise. It will be necessary for BMMI to appoint at least one in-house content editor. Somebody with experience in creating compelling online content. In time this may grow into a small editorial team. A team to oversee all content published online, both via websites and social media.
Individual subsidiaries would still publish their own content. It is just that a central content function could provide them with the support and training they need. Training that will help them produce quality content consistently across all BMMI brands.
Content that is not just of a high standard, but that is also engaging so creating a loyal customer base.

Poor content strategy