Should you write less?

This is not a question typically asked by publicists. It's definitely not a question encouraged by current SEO theories, or the advertising mindset that conflates number of impressions with success of the campaign.

And yet, I find myself asking this question recently.

A few months ago I went a bit wild adding new podcasts and RSS feeds to my daily feeds, mostly focused on the wider marketing and advertising industry. I found a number of "experts" who impressed me with both the information and entertainment value of their offerings, and quickly became a loyal listener.

But now, four months later, I've unsubscribed from almost all of them. Why?

It gets back to the "Quantity vs. Quality" debate that rules most social media strategy sessions. Should we flood the network with our message, getting our name out there as many times as possible, or should we focus on saying the right things at the right time in the right places?

These podcasters and bloggers have grown to the point that to support their growth they adhere to a very high-frequency posting schedule, with daily blog posts and weekly new podcast episodes. That's great when I'm looking for a source of entertainment, but I subscribed to get useful information. If I only get that once a week, why bother tuning in the other six days?

I see the same problem with 24-hour news stations. They have to fill 24 hours every day, even on a day with only 10 hours of newsworthy events. This leads to lots of repetition, opinion pieces being passed off as "news", manufactured controversies, and "me too" attempts to keep up with the other networks' "breaking news".

B2B audiences appreciate the more focused messages. I like the advice on writing elevator pitches: "Think water fountain, not fire hose". For publicity I might refine that a step farther: "Think laser beam, not forest fire."