One of the greatest opportunities ever served up on a plate to business owners and managers is the ability for them to become their own media channel and communicate directly with their audience – i.e. customers and stakeholders, external influencers etc.
From where I sit, a growing number of savvy businesses are taking advantage of this opportunity in a big way, but still not that many. And only a small percentage I think are really doing it well – with passion, purpose and strategic intent.
Of course, this spells opportunity for those who get in and make their mark with spirit, enthusiasm and a hefty dose of smarts!
ARE YOU ‘DIALLING IN’ YOUR CONTENT?
But let’s turn up the heat on those businesses (figuratively speaking) that are either sitting on the content marketing sidelines, or maybe they have jumped in and are publishing content but with little obvious enthusiasm or purpose and, as a result, their content feels like it’s been created ‘by-the-numbers’ and is of fair-to-middling quality, at best.
This is the content marketing equivalent of throwing mud at a wall and hoping some of it will stick.
Interestingly the same thing happened with social media – once the trend to be on social media became too big to ignore, companies rushed on to the likes of Twitter and Facebook without having any real direction or strategy in place. Rather than ask the question why they should be on social media, they went tactical straight away and as a result what they posted left a lot to be desired.
Same deal today with the content side of things, only it’s blog posts, articles, guides and reports, ebooks, YouTube videos etc. Too many businesses are just chucking it out there.
Worse, often their content is just about them. Different mediums, same result. Yawn!
Why is this so? Why do businesses have this dismissive attitude to, or lack of respect for, the content they create?
Why does so much content (the stuff produced by brands) lack flair and heart?
For starters I think business owners and marketers feel they must create content because it’s trendy to do so and everybody else is hopping on to the bandwagon; in other words they’re acquiescing reluctantly rather than embracing wholeheartedly the notion of owning and running your own media channel.
As a result, the content they produce becomes ‘cannon fodder’, a box to be ticked.
It’s the wrong attitude, of course, and if you’re the type of business owner or marketer who looks at content as an ‘expense’ or simply something you feel you’ve got to do because everyone else is doing it, I can tell you now you’re never going to give your blog posts, whitepapers, articles, ebooks, videos or audio-on-demand the priority – the time, effort and space – required to stand above the dross and make an impact. All you’re doing is adding to the noise.
IT’S TIME FOR A RETHINK!
May I suggest you reframe how you look at the content you’re producing.
You’re not just creating a blog post (or infographic or podcast or whitepaper or video) – you’re being useful; you’re educating your clients on a subject or issue relevant to them; you’re provoking thought, changing perspectives and inspiring people to take action.
At the very least you’re helping people by delivering value over and above the products and services you provide.
That blog post you wrote? It’s a DIGITAL ASSET that will serve your brand well over an extended period … but only if you put the requisite time and effort into making it the very best you can.
