Posted by There’s no doubt that, in this day and age, everything is content. Whatever we produce – from Blog postings to pictures and videos to audio – everything we do, say, photograph and shoot is now published, posted, shared, commented on and forever public.
Everything is content.
With that, and seeing how Marketers continue to struggle with how to use Social Media, Web 2.0 and online social networks to do their marketing bidding, it’s becoming painfully obvious that content is king. Look at what really works in the online channels: Google AdWords, Twitter, Corporate Blogs, simple sms text mobile applications, and even email has its place.
We’re not talking rich media, HD video and CD quality audio. We’re talking about text – plain, pure and simple.
But, it’s not so simple. Once you start these conversations, you have to keep them going. You have to be clever. You have to be engaging. Not too many brands have, what I call, the "intestinal fortitude" to deliver on that very real conversation. Brands tend to be great at busting out of the gates – engaging sites and some content to pique the interests of the consumers, but creating content is a marathon and not a sprint. It’s the ripples that the conversations start, and not the splash-effect of a campaign.
I’ve Blogged about this before.
There’s no doubt that I have a passion for creating and being a part of great content and conversation. The truth is, great content is hard to create and even harder to sustain. Just ask any best-selling author, award-winning Journalist or Blogger.
The bottom line still remains:
Content is everything.
Never another podcast episode or article 
Mitch:
You’re so right. I agree that content is king, but the challenge is regularly producing that content.
I think that companies can face many problems, but there are a couple that I think can be pretty common.
1) The company gets excited about putting their content out that they cram EVERYTHING into the first few communications and run out of things to say. Rather than “dripping” the content out there, they throw the whole bucket and then gradually grind to a halt. The problem is that many will then say, “Well, that content thing didn’t work out…let’s go back to what we were doing.”
2) Another problem, albeit a fairly good one to have is the company whose content is so loved by the public that they just devour it and come looking for more. This can lead to problem one if the company didn’t think it through, but it can also be a problem if they didn’t have enough to talk about to begin with. The readers/listeners/viewers thought there was more behind it and come looking for more.
I think most of the problems come from a lack of focus/dedication to the development and distribution of content. It’s often seen as an afterthought or add-on and not given the time and nurturing it needs to be successful.
Kevin
Hey Mitch,
We have too many toys that get in the way of the meat. There are satellites worth millions beaming HiDef signals to TV rooms all over the world.
We spend hundreds of dollars spent in monthly cable packages boasting hundreds of channels.
And often times, there’s still nothing to watch!
As I’ve said before – Microsoft Word does not make you Hemmingway.
We are in a gadget laden world caught up in faster and sexier while glossing over the content.
But content alone is data. For it to mean something, it needs context and the community. But without content, we have nothing.
Content is king, context is the glue, community is the soul.
km
I couldn’t agree more. I am currently working to make clients in Venezuela understand the enormous power conversation, and content, have today. If I could only make them believe the intro of your great podcast, when you speak about brand democratization and consumer power, I would feel happy and complete.
P.S: Me and one of Publicis Dialog’s director are going to Toronto to assist to the Word of Mouth congress. I Hope we can meet there. We are really looking forward to hear your conversation…
Best wishes…