In a word? Extremely. Crucial. Vital. Okay, those are three words – but you get my drift. Few things scream “We really don’t pay attention to the details around here” louder than typos in your business, marketing and advertising communications.
You spend countless hours (and a ton of dough) building your company’s brand. Yet one sloppy typographical goober can undo a lot of what you’ve worked so hard to accomplish. Worst of all, it could have easily been prevented.
A typo speaks a thousand words. And none of them are good.
Just like glancing in the mirror before an important meeting to avoid embarrassing yourself, every single thing your company puts out there needs to be proofread for errors. Then checked again by a second person. And proofed one more time with a fresh set of eyes. Every. Damn. Time.
Keep your eyes on the prize. Literally.
And the more eyes, the better. For starters, never have the writer be the only one to proofread what they wrote. (That’s like asking yourself “Self, do these pants make me look fat?”) Make sure your proofers for the first round (or two) are familiar enough with the product and/or project to know how any unique names or terminology should be spelled, capitalized, etc. Last time? Hand it to someone who hasn’t seen it before. Make sure a fresh set of eyeballs is part of your ‘finish line’ team, which should also include the original writer.
Don’t forget to always double-check your printing company.
I’m baffled by businesses who just let their printer(s) “go with it” without checking for quality control along the way. Printers make mistakes, too – and those can cost valuable time and money to correct.
Bottom line? Pay scrupulous attention to what the heck you’re putting out there. And, at the very least, make sure it’s all spelled correctly.
