Why it is important to add your latest insights to knowledge zones

Market Logic Team

A few weeks ago, I talked about how knowledge zones can be used to promote insights in engaging stories, using all types of media. My post focused on how clients use zones to open the gates to knowledge access and jump over common hurdles such as restricted availability, which is caused when no one knows (or can remember how) to access them.

Today I want to address an equally important hurdle – how to keep the content you’re promoting fresh and up to date, so people want to return to your knowledge zone again and again. For an expert, this may seem like one more hurdle to clear, but it’s not – instead, imagine it as a routine practice that keeps your story fit and in great shape. Let’s look at an example:

You’ve been tasked to promote the topic ‘sustainability’. You work with a small group of experts to pull all the data together from presentations, images, videos, and social media. Then, you synthesize the data together and publish a nice story. But, what happens next? Is your story finished, the end? Not even close. Three months down the track, new sustainability trends are detected, so your story is bent out of shape and off track. To keep it ‘fit’ to share, experts have to adapt and re-shape the story.

So, how can you continuously update the story you want to promote? I’ve noticed that a ‘push and pull’ approach can be incredibly useful to keep your experts on their toes and their audiences interested when facts change, trends emerge and it’s time for a new chapter. Here are a few suggestions for effective ‘push and pull’:

Remind experts whenever new content is available on your insights platform, which could be relevant for their zone. This can be achieved with an automated email alert when a new research project, concept test, or consumer video is uploaded to the platform.
Deliver an editing environment that empowers your experts to update and change the story without having to involve the IT department
Remind the stakeholders that are subscribed to your knowledge zone whenever the content is updated. This can be achieved with alerts and simple descriptions of the update to motivate a second look.

Have you also faced the issue of outdated insights in an existing platform? I’m curious to hear.