It probably feels like you’ve been hearing about the importance of content creation for your business forever. Historically speaking, it’s only been in the past 15 years or so that the demands for and discussion around content creation have become so prevalent.
Prior to the mid-2000s, the extent of most company’s content development was a printed brochure (that changed every few years), some PDF slicks, direct mail and possibly a newsletter. With such limited content required, a marketing person could typically perform that function while also handling other tasks.
Today, Whoa, Nelly! The kinds and quantity of content that needs to be created is exponential in comparison. The part time content creator from years past is now a full-time person, and for many organizations, part of a team of similarly charged individuals.
Running in parallel with this is the explosion in content consumption. Whether it’s reading newspapers or blogs, checking Instagram or Facebook, listening to podcasts or watching YouTube videos, our daily consumption of digital content has exploded. With that comes incredible learning opportunities that never existed before. It also presents the opportunity to waste a lot of time.
I’m convinced that future business success involves creating content that others will want to consume. A lot (but not all) of the reason people search and ultimately read a business’s content is that they are in the market to buy a product or service and they are doing their research. No matter if it’s finding a doctor for a particular ailment or a roofing manufacturer selling to contractors all over the world, part of how any company will be found and perceived is by how well they create and deliver content on their website, social channels, etc. through all phases of the sales funnel
Invest the time both personally and professionally to create a stream of content and you will reap the rewards.
