CONTENT IS STILL KING IN 2022 – THE STORY OF HIS MAJESTY

The catchy slogan: “Content is King” comes from the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates who gave this title to his essay in 1996 in which he described the future of the internet as a marketplace of content. He said that “Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the internet, just as it was broadcasting.” He also pointed out that there’s no company to be too small to participate in this but emphasised the importance of supplying the content and making it entertaining.

“One of the exciting things about the Internet is that anyone with a PC and a modem can publish whatever content they can create. In a sense, the Internet is the multimedia equivalent of the photocopier. The Internet also allows information to be distributed worldwide at basically zero marginal cost to the publisher. Opportunities are remarkable, and many companies are laying plans to create content for the Internet.” ?(Source: WayBack Machine internet archive (26 Jan 2001 - 6 Oct 2021) – under the copyright of Microsoft Corporation 2001)

NOW, LET’S HAVE A LOOK AT THE KEY FACTORS THAT HUGELY CONTRIBUTE TO THE SUCCESS OF YOUR CONTENT IN 2022, AKA WHAT SUPERPOWERS DOES THE KING NEED?

?? KNOWLEDGE OF THE AUDIENCE

?? “Content Consumption on Demand is Non-negotiable and People Want it on Their Mobile”

Today, we can't imagine being limited to watching TV sitting at home on the sofa and having access to the broadcast programs only at the time or in the order decided by the editors.?When we entered the internet era, service providers offered only static content and did not customize it to our personal interests and needs, distribution did not really go smoothly, and content downloads were slow. But over the years, as technology has evolved, the way brands interact with consumers has fundamentally changed, and now they not only have to offer personalized and high-quality content to attract customers but must apply a more strategic approach.

What do we know about current media consumption habits? – Media and content consumption across the globe is increasingly happening in different digital formats. The increase in the number of devices capable of supporting digital media and in the speed of internet access gives consumers the opportunity to access the media content of their choice anytime and anywhere, whether it is information, entertainment, learning or social activities.

Among digital devices, mobile devices have taken over as the preferred medium of consuming online media. At the same time smartphones also represent a revolutionary change and a new era of content consumption. “The number of smartphone subscriptions worldwide today surpasses 6 billion and is forecast to further grow by several hundred million in the next few years – reaching an estimated 7.69 billion by 2027. (Source: "Smartphone Subscriptions worldwide 2016-2021, with a forecast from 2022 to 2027" , Statista.com)

?? BEING RELEVANT & PROVIDING QUALITY

?? “Choose The Relevant Content Form and Provide it in High Quality”

People not only want good content which is personalised for them but they also want it fast. The “2019 Brand Content Survey” of Adobe found that digital content consumption is not only rising among U.S. consumers but they have established tastes and preferences in terms of digital content they consume. “Most consumers are looking for content that is accurate and informative. They find spam emails (42%) and content that is slow to load (35%) most frustrating.

When it comes to “Important Content Characteristics” the top 3 criteria are ACCURATE (31%), INFORMATIVE (28%) and SIMPLE (17%). Although ENTERTAINING content is not among the most important content types (only 8%), it has greater importance to Millennials (15%) than it does to those 35 or older. IRRELEVANT offers are the third factors that annoy consumers the most (29%).”

(Source: Adobe “2019 Brand Content Survey” – Sample: 1000 U.S. consumers, 18-28 December 2018)

?? DISTRIBUTION – LET’S CALL KING KONG!

Did you know that “There are 106.011 Google searches in 1 second, 1.192 Instagram photos uploaded to the platform in 1 second, 10.195 Tweets sent in 1 second and 97.717 YouTube videos viewed in 1 second.” – just to mention a few shocking and convincing data. (Source: live and real-time statistics by InternetLiveStats.com)

What does it mean to you?

?? You can write the most informative blog article about your niche topic or share the most emotional video about your latest PR campaign on Instagram, if you don’t distribute it the right way, at the right time and through the right channels. So, if it’s published on a website or Social Media channel that your ideal clients and customers don’t use or at a time when most of them are offline, you just talk to someone else’s customers or to the brick wall!?That’s why content distribution is a vital part of your Content Marketing!

If Content is King then Distribution is King Kong! – Computers changed how we consume content forever and traditional television content consumption and this way the on-screen distribution of content entered into new directions. In the late 1990s, Stuart Cunningham and Jon Silver shared insights on how the key players, practices and patterns connected to the global circulation of online video has been fundamentally changed the online content distribution world in their famous book: “Screen Distribution and The New King Kongs of The Online Word” . As they described Google, Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, Hulu, Yahoo and Facebook fundamentally changed the game “because these web companies have been able to “push” content to individuals on a broad scale, creating new markets and new forms of content, and ultimately challenging the dominance of traditional media.

Companies like Amazon, Yahoo and Google were able to combine that knowledge with new sources of screen content. With developments such as Google’s purchase of YouTube, and the creation of Amazon Instant Video and Google Play for movie and television downloads - the customer really is always right when it comes to what he or she wants to watch, and when. …In 2006 Apple iTunes expanded into movie and television downloads, offering titles to rent or buy. In the same year DVD rental giant Netflix added live streaming of movies to its postal subscription system. Ultimately, Netflix became the market leader in online subscription services..." ..." (Source: Insidestory.com.au – “If content is king then distribution is King Kong ” )

?? FREQUENCY

?? “Social Media is Still One of The Most Preferred Channels for Finding Content and People Go there Purposefully

“Global internet users (aged 16 -64) spend an average of 6 hours and 54 minutes time using the internet each day and 2 hours and 27 minutes using Social Media”. Furthermore, the fourth most important reason for using Social Media platforms for the survey respondents of GlobalWebIndex survey January 2022 is FINDING CONTENT (31.6%), while 26.3% of them go there for FINDING PRODUCTS TO PURCHASE – “The Primary Reasons Why Internet Users Use Social Media Platforms, global survey respondents aged 16 to 64.?(Source: Hootsuite – “Digital 2022 Global overview Report”)

This means that the online presence of SMB owners, Entrepreneurs and Solopreneurs is as important as that for big brands but you are very right if you raise your hand and say that it’s extremely hard! You are also right if you feel confused about how often should you post or share different types of content.

Well, finding the balance is key because if you share content once in a while, your audience will forget you while spreading content like a machine will be perceived as too spammy.

So, in a nutshell, it really depends on

1.?????YOUR NICHE / INDUSTRY, meaning whether you have things to say each day?

2.?????THE CONSUMPTION HABITS & TIME SPENT ONLINE BY YOUR AUDIENCE

3.?????YOUR CAPACITY & RESOURCES FOR PRODUCTION & DELIVERY

4.?????YOUR AVAILABILITY TO RESPOND & MANAGE THE AUDIENCE INTERACTIONS.

?? on Twitter: roughly 15 times per day – tweets have a very short life span.

?? on LinkedIn: once per day if you can or 2 times per week as a minimum.

?? on Facebook: once per day is the most ideal but don’t go above 2 per day

?? on Instagram: 1-2 per day, but you rather should combine posts with Instagram Reels max. 3 times per day.

?? on TikTok: TikTok officially recommends 1-4 times per day

?? on YouTube: once per week is the minimum but for the higher performance go for 3+ per week.

Conclusions:

Well, Mr Gates was right with his forecast and despite the fact that his essay was published 26 years ago, it is still relevant. Content stepped out from centuries of existence in print form to the stage of digital where in 2022 it further continues to sit on the throne as the KING.

But watch out! As Web3 technologies keep on emerging it all will impact consumer experiences and logically Content Marketing and Content Strategies must be aligned with it. More precisely say it, business models must be transformed and new services must be offered in the first place where the audiences must be served and entertained with relevant and maybe completely new forms of content in order to generate brand awareness and keep them engaged. Strategyscope will get back to this subject in the upcoming issues to have a closer look not only at the current state of "Content" but also a broader look at what the future holds.??

??2022 All rights reserved.

Editor’s Note: Content Strategy is a huge subject with several various verticals and aspects. Strategyscope will continue to discuss this topic but does not intend to replace Wikipedia or high-quality professional marketing resources. Rather, it aims to provide guidance and share best practices based on real-life experiences and client cases while keeping you up-to-date.        

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STRATEGYSCOPE is the Marketing, Branding & Content Strategy Compass for your business boost. Each week the newsletter covers various topics within these 3 key areas to guide SMBs (Small and Medium-sized Businesses) Entrepreneurs, and Solopreneurs to fine-tune their strategies and utilize the potential of Marketing for their sustainable growth.

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