The executive leading the meeting asked each of us at the table where our content and community efforts best fit into the equation. Should they come under the umbrella of marketing and audience development, reporting up through the CMO, or should they remain in Operations, which encompassed everything from site design to sales fulfillment to product development and IT support, all under the direction of the COO?

The right answer—the answer I was dying to give—was “neither.” Content and community—two sides of the same coin—deserved its own seat at the management table, with decisions made based on what was best for our readers and users. My belief, then and now, was that if we provided truly useful, informative, can’t-get-it-anywhere-else content, as well as the tools with which to rate it, discuss it, and build a community around it, the rest (namely traffic and “stickiness,” as we used to call it) would take care of itself.

Instead, the answer I gave was a waffling, political attempt to please both sides. Content and community remained in the Operations side of the org chart, and the company continued its downward slide. Would a different answer on my part have changed the course of our business, leading us to the Fortune 500 instead of adding to the heap of failed dot-coms? A girl can dream. But the failure of our company to recognize the need for a user advocate at the top levels of our organization meant that the interests of our readers—the all-important buyers in our vision of a buyer-meets-seller B2B marketplace—would always be subordinate to the needs of other departments. Original articles written by knowledgeable industry experts? Too expensive. Community-generated product reviews? Might upset the advertisers. Useful product specs and data sheets, presented in an easily searchable (and findable) fashion? That’s an awfully big project – just throw them up on the site somewhere, and we’ll get to it…maybe.

Fast forward 10 years, and many companies continue to struggle with the question in one form or another: Who “owns” content, and where should its creation and direction lie within the organization?

In today’s world, where content might include blog posts, client testimonials, customer reviews, articles, email newsletters, white papers, and everything in between, it’s neither advisable nor realistic to insist that all of it originate from one ivory-towered department within the company. And I’m not suggesting that our content efforts should be an altruistic attempt to create content for content’s sake or for the good of all humankind: If you weren’t trying to sell something, you wouldn’t be here.

But what I still believe is that every organization would benefit from a true customer advocate right there at the top, ensuring that the needs, interests, and motivations of the customer drive every decision the company makes and making certain that any content created within the company is truly useful and informative—not a thinly veiled infomercial disguised as a white paper, press release, or social media campaign. It seems obvious, but think back to the last meeting you attended. Sales needs more (or better) leads, marketing needs to generate them, IT needs more resources to keep everything humming along. What do your customers need? Is anyone asking?

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