What constitutes ‘great content’ in the contemporary scenario?

It’s been a couple of decades since Bill Gates penned down his thoughts in an essay in 1996 and declared that ‘Content is King’. Why we say declared is because firstly, we rarely disagree with what Bill Gates says and secondly, the recent times have proven that the man was quite on point about his thoughts on content. 

Cut to 2020, when all we hear is this word- content. So much so that content creation, management, and curation are legit full-time jobs now. So the big question that arises is that- what exactly is content? 

Is it that video that went viral on YouTube with millions of likes and views? Or is it that sponsored post you see on your favorite blogger’s Instagram feed? Or the information we see on that one specific website that helps college students ace their exams? The answer is that it is all of that and much more! 

Anything and everything that you see on the internet can be termed as content, provided that it is being presented to an audience with a purpose. But does it mean that all forms of content are great? Not so much.

Since anything can be content and only some of it can be great, what separates the two is the purpose with which it is being provided, how it enriches its’ target audience’s experience or knowledge, and the feedback or reactions received by that very audience. In short, it is that information that you not only like to read but also want to share with others around you and talk about it at a later time. Something that the audience simply cannot ignore and not talk about. And the opportunities when it comes to great content creation are mind-boggling, to say the least.

Great content calls for engagement from the audience in a way that an average piece of content could never. It creates that ‘top of the mind’ awareness for your product or brand and to engage the audience in a way like that, you need to hold their attention through storytelling. 

Storytelling doesn’t necessarily have to be your average run of the mill stories, that add nothing to the audience’s experience. Storytelling in digital media is an art, something that enables the audience to paint a picture in the head and allows them to connect with you. It is one of the most effective content marketing strategies in today’s time and its importance isn’t going to die down anytime soon.

We as human beings are wired to connect with stories that intrigue us and awaken our minds. We are born to be curious, to build connections, to relate to things that are in accordance with our preconceived notions, perceptions, and values. Storytelling enables the audience to turn the story into their ideas and perceptions, relating it to their own experiences, which ultimately leads to the building up of an emotional connection. That connection in turn leads to the recognition of the brand and its products leading to conversions. Storytelling from a brand that continues to resonate with audiences, in the long run, is, more often than not, able to build a loyal customer base for themselves.  

While an emotional connection is required for effective storytelling, another way is to inform and educate the customers through stories that enable them to learn something new and stay with them for a long period which again, helps in increasing the recall value of the brand. 

The rise in storytelling nowadays also comes from rising consumer awareness. Gone are the days when a customer would simply see his/her favorite actor endorsing a product and would go ahead and buy it, without giving it a second thought. Not to say that brand ambassadors don’t work, but the consumer of today is more likely to ignore advertisements and marketing efforts that are not relevant to their needs and values. Simply termed as being annoying, all advertisement and marketing efforts would go in vain if the audience feels no connection with it.

Capturing their attention through storytelling would help you in retaining them as customers as well because at the end of the day, it is your audience and their long-term association with your company or product is that would turn it into a full-fledged brand. 

However, there is also a rather peculiar aspect of the process of creating content for digital media and inculcating stories into it. Who decides what content makes sense and what doesn’t? To be fair, all of us!

The (peculiar) beauty of this art is that no piece of content or story will be understood in the same way by the audiences. Because if monotony creeps in this way, then what’s the fun of creating content? This is where being senseless with content makes more sense. 

By this, we don’t mean to create any gibberish content and post it out there hoping it would mean something to someone at least. It just means that content cannot be confined to one single school of thought and has to appeal to multiple people in their different way. It is important to let the audience perceive content in accordance with their own mindsets and to let them react to it as per that perception. The idea is to have that free flow of communication with content that is engaging, engaging, and preferably witty to have the target audience hooked on to it. 

Talking about hooking your target audience to your great content, it’s important to remember that packaging is key. You can’t expect the audience to know that a great piece of content awaits them if it isn’t even packaged perfectly. 

Content can be only successful and effectively reach its target audience when it inculcates both the elements of attention and connection. It has to be relevant and needs to appeal to the audience as per their preferences and liking and present it in a format preferred by your target audience- whether it’s a long-form blog post or a listicle, a crisp video, or the latest podcasts- if you give the audience what they want, you are already a step ahead in this game. Another element to keep in mind is the need to be packaged according to the device or mediums that your target audience can be reached out on. 

All elements of your content campaign must be in synergy- the visuals, the copy, the fonts you use, color palettes, language, and the mediums on which it is being uploaded. The idea is to package it so well that the consumers actually consume your content and not just skim over it. 

While the process of creation of great content cannot be summarized in a few points, given the ambiguity of the whole process, a few thumb rules that can help in achieving your desired objectives include:

• Originality

There is a thin line between getting inspiration from a great piece of content on the internet and blatantly copying it. A key to creating content that will be successful in the long run and stay with the audience is to work with an original and unique idea that can be associated with the brand and its products easily. 

• Show and tell

 Visuals are always more successful along with the right amount of text. However, when it comes to creating just written content, the right picture must be created in the minds of the audience along with storytelling for them to understand it in a better way. 

• Consistency 

The content needs to be in line with the values and the vision of the brand for the audience to recognize it easily. Consistent content will enable a sense of confidence in your brand and enhance the brand image on the whole. 

• Keep it simple 

As much as big fancy words might look attractive, many times it can result in information loss. Creating content in the digital world requires the words to be simple so that’s it’s easy to digest by the audience. As mentioned earlier, it needs to resonate with them and create the required impact with utmost clarity. 

•  Creation of value

 The purpose of the content needs to be clear before it is released in the digital world. It needs to be built and crafted according to what results are required to be generated from it. Whether it is achieving a set number of views or comments, it has to add some value to those who are consuming it to achieve optimal greatness. 

Ultimately, incredible content is going to work if it’s the right content for the right people. Strategizing and storytelling go hand in hand for effective content creation. And it’s the combination of these two that helps only a handful of brands be successful content creators.