The expert guide to content feedback
What is content feedback?
Here is how it often works: a content marketer devises a brilliant campaign to drive engagement and get people excited about their business or product. They hammer out a brief and hire a good writer. Then the content comes back – and it’s not quite right.
Most often, there won’t be a call for a complete rewrite (especially if the brief was clear). It will be more about how to make the content sizzle and how to make it shine. So, how do you go about it?
In short, how do you get from ‘meh’ to ‘magnificent?’
There’s a short answer here as well: feedback. Do it wrong, and you’re wasting time and money – and potentially alienating colleagues. Do it right, and you’ve got something informative and useful, and everybody wants to keep working together.
That last bit is actually the key to how to start thinking about content feedback, because what we’re really talking about is collaboration. The writer is collaborating with you and other stakeholders to produce a piece of content as efficiently as possible – that is, by meeting internal and external deadlines, preferably without friction or conflict.
So, while it may sound obvious, it’s helpful if everyone starts collaborating to make the content – whether it’s a blog post, podcast or video – as great as possible.
The second thing to keep in mind is that feedback is a process.
As people get better at it, the process becomes shorter, of course. Nevertheless, it’s not something that happens immediately or in one step, so it’s helpful to remember that it takes a little time to do it right.
One point that also needs to be acknowledged is that some people are uncomfortable with the feedback process, whether they’re the ones giving or receiving feedback on writing. We don’t need to get too deep into the psychology of it; we just need to be aware that some have a difficult time not taking it personally, so courtesy and empathy have to be a big part of the process.
Bearing all that in mind, let’s take a look at how to ensure a streamlined, positive, and ultimately successful feedback process.
The importance of good feedback in content creation
The Cambridge Dictionary has several definitions of the word feedback. (Yes, it’s a cliché to provide a dictionary definition, but bear with us.) The salient one for our purposes is ‘information about something such as a new product or someone’s work that provides an idea of whether people like it or if it is good.’
The key word here is ‘information.’
You’ve got to provide clear information on what needs improvement or modification, or you won’t get anywhere.
It’s not necessarily easy to do, which is why you may have experienced a situation where the feedback became a bottleneck in the process. Perhaps the goals of the stakeholders were misaligned, or there were conflicting opinions about how to improve the content.
Either way, when you provide clear information, you enhance the relevance and quality of the feedback. The work tends to be more innovative and result in higher engagement, which is ultimately everybody’s goal.
It doesn’t matter whom you’re working with, whether it’s a freelancer, a content creation platform or a scaling service – solid information during the feedback process will inspire better collaboration and empower everyone involved to save time, reduce costs, and consistently deliver high-quality content.
The key elements of evaluating content quality
To create the most useful feedback, all your queries and edits should be based on these elements. This will make it easier for you as a reviewer to provide feedback, as well as for the writer to stay on track with the assignment.
- Tone. Does the content align with the voice and style of the client?
- Audience fit. Will it resonate with the target audience?
- Accuracy. Are there any factual errors or misleading statements?
- SEO. If the client or the brief has SEO requirements, does the content follow them?
- Purpose. Does the content achieve its intended objective (e.g., educate, persuade, or inform)?
When giving feedback on writing, there may be additional criteria, depending upon your needs for the content. For instance, we often deal with multinational businesses where there may be linguistic or idiomatic differences – like UK vs. US English – or references that may confuse readers in one place but not another.
Many businesses will also want to consider legal and compliance issues as a separate category from accuracy.
Still, we’ve found that these five elements make for a great starting point – they make sense, and everyone can agree on them, which allows for a more efficient process.
The golden rules of the content feedback process
The feedback process can indeed be tough to manage, especially when multiple people are involved – and it’s a fair bet that, in most cases, the content will indeed have several people evaluating the content.
Nevertheless, following a structured approach will save time, minimise frustration, and ultimately lead to better results.
We suggest all stakeholders follow these golden rules to make the process more efficient and pleasant for all involved. In fact, to make the process even more efficient, content creators might check their work against these rules before turning in a project:
1. Be specific.
It’s unhelpful to be vague when commenting on content. Instead, provide clear, detailed comments about what works, what doesn’t, and why.
For instance, here’s how you might respond if you think the tone of a piece is off:
Bad feedback: ‘I don’t like how this bit sounds.’
Good feedback: ‘This section is too formal. The voice of the client is more conversational.’
Or here is how you might respond if you find an inaccuracy:
Bad feedback: ‘This is wrong.’
Good feedback: ‘The numbers are incorrect. The report shows a 20% increase, not 30%. Let’s update.’
2. Focus on the goal.
Remember, it’s not about your personal preferences as a reader; it’s about the goal of the content. So, when reviewing, always keep your eyes on the prize. Be clear about what you (or the client) wants from the piece in terms of purpose and audience, and respond specifically and accordingly:
Bad feedback: ‘This section doesn’t speak to the audience.’
Good feedback: ‘This section might work for a product team, but it’s too technical for sales.’
3. Be constructive.
This is the golden rule the closest to, well, the Golden Rule – treat others as you’d prefer to be treated. Everybody likes praise! So, highlight what’s working well and offer actionable suggestions for improvement.
Bad feedback: ‘This CTA isn’t doing the job.’
Good feedback: ‘I like how the CTA is direct, but it will be clearer if we specify the next step, like signing up for the newsletter.’
What stakeholders need to know about the content review process
There are a few important things to keep in mind when it comes to the content feedback process. We suggest your content review team get clear on these suggestions before you get started.
1. You’ve got to understand your role.
You’ve likely heard of the RACI matrix, the project management tool that organisations use to ensure the successful completion of a project – it stands for ‘Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, or Informed.’ It applies to content management as well. And understanding your own role within the process will go a long way towards keeping things moving and getting them done on time.
Here’s a breakdown of how the RACI matrix might work in the context of the feedback process.
- Responsible: Who provides the feedback? Who shouldn’t bother?
- Accountable: This is the one who ultimately has to answer for the project – to know where it is, how it’s going, and to ensure it’s done on time. If you’re accountable, you may or may not be responsible for providing feedback, but ultimately, the quality of the project is on you.
- Consulted: These are the subject matter experts. They may be a part of the entire feedback process, but more often they have a specific task, such as evaluating the piece only for technical accuracy or compliance.
- Informed: Usually, this person isn’t involved in the day-to-day process; they just need to know how it’s coming along and when it’s done.
Again, we do recommend you’re clear on your own role. If your job is just to be informed, for instance, you really shouldn’t be providing feedback, as it slows the process down!
Sticking to RACI roles provides clarity, ensures workflows are efficient, and keeps everyone accountable.
2. Use the right channels.
This is actually quite a crucial aspect of the process. We strongly suggest you discuss the correct channels for communication beforehand – in fact, get them in the brief – and then stick to them for the entirety of the process.
It may be easy to dash off a DM or an email with comments – resist the temptation because it only becomes yet another way to slow things down.
We’ve got more to say about the process below; for the moment, just remember how much easier it is when everyone knows where and how to communicate. (For instance, Contentoo’s web-based CMS makes it easy to keep all drafts and messages in one place).
3. Respect the timeline.
It’s also quite important to keep an eye on the deadlines, and not only for when the whole process is supposed to be done.
Often, you’ve got people waiting on feedback, and you don’t want to be the person causing the bottleneck. So, it’s important to communicate if you can’t realistically do your bit in the allotted time.
And if this happens frequently, it’s time for a conversation about more appropriate timelines.
4. Follow the golden rules.
We said it before, and we’ll say it again: be specific, stay focused on the goal, and above all, be constructive.
Structuring the content feedback process
It can be frustrating for all involved when a process isn’t clearly structured, especially when you’re dealing with multiple opinions. We’ve got a few ways to ensure a smooth process.
Step 1: Set clear expectations in the brief.
Your brief should be absolutely clear about the goals of the content: the purpose, tone, audience, and SEO requirements. For the sake of accuracy and efficiency, you may want to supply reference documents when possible.
Additionally, you’ll want to be clear about how the process works – where the documents live, how messages will be exchanged, and where the feedback will be provided. Which leads us to…
Step 2: Use a feedback template or checklist.
Again, our Content Feedback Guide has a template you can adapt with your own criteria. Of course, you may have your own checklist or form; it’s simply a good idea to be explicit about the criteria for evaluation, which makes for a more thorough and efficient process.
Step 3: Timing is everything.
Of course, you’ll have a deadline for the entire process; we also schedule feedback windows to avoid scope creep. And it may be a good idea to have a system in place so the ‘accountable’ person can send gentle reminders.
Step 4: Consolidate feedback.
Another good idea: assign someone to collect and streamline all comments into a single document. And if everybody is working off one document – like a Google doc or a Word file in the cloud – use comments for feedback, as opposed to putting them right in the document.
Common challenges in the content review process (and what to do about them)
If it were easy, everyone would do it: even the most well-structured content feedback process shared among an experienced group of marketers will have challenges. We already alluded to how vague feedback can frustrate the process; here are some other common challenges and what to do about them.
Conflicting stakeholder opinions
A little conflict can actually be a good thing – the occasional disagreement can lead to a better product, and it shows people care about the content. What we don’t want are disagreements that move away from the purpose of the piece or slow down the process.
What we often see are disagreements that should have been worked out before the feedback process – for instance, when one stakeholder prefers a more formal tone while another is pushing for a more conversational style. This is another example of how having clarity in the brief will avoid conflicting opinions from popping up during the feedback process.
Ultimately, it’s up to the ‘accountable’ person to make the final decision that will resolve (or at least end) the conflict. And it’s a decision they should make with the purpose of the piece in mind.
Feedback given at the wrong time
Once again, timing is everything in the content review process. Yet one of the common pitfalls is when someone provides feedback at an inappropriate stage of the process.
When you provide feedback too early – before, say, legal has had a look – you risk increasing the number of rewrites and ultimately blowing the deadline. When feedback is provided too late – for instance, after the content has been finalised – it’s likely to impact the cost and the deadline.
That’s why we suggest clear feedback windows. You can consider these as mini-deadlines or checkpoints to avoid frustration as well as wasted time and money. If stakeholders consistently have trouble working within these windows, it’s time for an honest conversation about what’s possible.
Feedback given via disorganised channels
It happens all the time: busy stakeholders sending emails and DMs whilst also commenting in the documents. We’ve heard from content writers who regularly have to dig through these various forms of communication to ensure they’ve addressed all the relevant feedback. It causes a lot of unnecessary stress, and it can be a deadline-killer.
The solution, as we mentioned above, is to have one person responsible for consolidating all the feedback. Better yet, make sure everybody sticks to clearly delineated channels.
Putting it all together for excellent content feedback
It’s more than just a step in the creative process – providing clear, useful feedback is vital to the success of any content project. If you follow the principles we’ve outlined, you can expect to turn a source of frustration into a helpful, constructive, collaborative feedback process.
The keys to the whole thing are clarity, structure, and time. If you’re specific about the goals from the very beginning and the feedback itself is crystal-clear, if the process has discrete steps and everyone knows their role, and if the schedule is reasonable – then you’ll get engaging, informative, and successful content.
There will be challenges. Indeed, you should expect them.
The trick is to navigate the challenges in efficient ways so that the feedback helps rather than hinders the process. Encourage the content team to communicate and stick to the golden rules, and you’ll be better than fine.
One final note: it’s one thing to provide clear, helpful, and constructive feedback; it’s another thing to manage the process, especially with multiple stakeholders involved. That’s why we’ve developed content review tools to help streamline your own content feedback process.
Download our Content Feedback Guide for further examples of good and bad feedback, a template you can adapt for your own team, and form for consolidating feedback in one document. Or, if you’ve got further questions about how to efficiently provide helpful content feedback – or anything else related to quality content at scale – feel free to get in touch.
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