First, let’s be clear: neither automation or optimization addresses the quality of the content. You can automate and optimize poor content just as well as excellent content. Of the two methods, we believe optimization is the big sibling to automation because it can leverage automation while controlling quality in your channel distribution.

Why is controlling quality in your channel distribution so important? Today, channel distribution is incredibly simple. You’ve uploaded a photo into Instagram and then with a click of a button you can send it Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and even more. But have you ever posted something to multiple social media sites and then wanted to remove it? Ha! Now you know why starting with quality content is so critical. You should first, optimize your quality, THEN automate its distribution.

A problem in the real estate industry is that even though you may begin with high quality images, what you end with on the websites that have the most traffic (i.e., Zillow, Realtor.com, etc.) are sub-par images. This is because most MLS’s act as the primary distribution method, and their technology is not able to handle the high quality demands of the home-buying audience.

You can control this to some degree by distributing high quality content to sites you control (i.e., business website, social media sites, etc.) But, the more channels you market to, the more painful the process. The good news is you can control and automate the quality and channel distribution by using OBEO’s Photography and Platform.