In The Content is King World, Where Does Content Strategy Stand?

In 1996 Bill Gates wrote an article titled ‘Content is King’ where he talked about the impact of the Internet on content development and distribution and how it would affect brands. Twenty-seven years later, content is still King, and it has gone beyond the written word and home videos. 

With AI available everywhere, content is being published at record rates. However, the Gurus out there still caution on developing the right content for the right audience at the right time using the right channels. 

Are you writing to an older audience or a younger one? More importantly, what are you trying to sell or trying to communicate? What channels do you use to publish your content? What kind of content do you want to post?

These questions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to creating a robust content strategy. The answers will help develop material that is relatable to your target audience. For example, here in the UAE, TikTok trumps Instagram. If you are a consumer-focused brand, having a TikTok strategy will help you bring awareness to your brand locally. In the B2B world, LinkedIn is the reigning King. Having a purposeful LinkedIn strategy for your business and your personal brand helps you target the right people with your offering. 

The COVID pandemic slowed things down around the world. People re-discovered podcasts, webinars, and lives to stay engaged and connected to their networks. As the pandemic died down, people now have less and less time to spend on lengthy content. They look for short, concise content that generates interest and gives them perspective.

So, what does the future hold for content development? Does content development focus only on sales or brand awareness, or both? Is AI the holy grail of churning out blog after blog of brand-related content?

Here are a few things you need to keep in mind when developing content,

1. Keep it short and to the point. It is estimated that people spend an average of 54 seconds on a website across all industries. If your headline grabs attention, but the body of your content falls flat, you can’t expect repeat visitors.
2. Make your content visually appealing. Having a specific design language for your brand helps communicate your message better. It also helps with brand recall. As this article says, your design language should speak to your customers rather than to you.
3. Do not re-purpose or plagiarise someone else’s work. Eventually, your customers will find out, which is bad for business.
4. Research your content thoroughly. There is no shortage of fake information on the internet. And let’s face it, peddling false information is completely wrong; there is no excuse. Building trust takes time and the payoff is worth the effort.
5. Give credit where it is due. Found an interesting piece of information on someone else’s website? Or have a superstar content writer on your team? Credit the author. This goes a long way in establishing trust among your audience.
6. Create a content strategy. This could be long-term or short-term. Work towards creating cohesive content that speaks about your business’s various facets.

It is 2023, and content is still King. That doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. Having a clear strategy for content development will add value to your brand’s positioning and marketing efforts, leading to more sales.