Warning: Are You Ready For The Content Talent Crunch?

When I first started my content creation service I went and looked at how the 'big boys' were doing it. 

So off I trotted to various websites and blogs to take a look at their stuff. Needless to say, I was in shock!

Most of the blogs I read were either trying to be a 'Buzzfeed' copy, but ended up looking like a bad Halloween costume version, or they had thin content, and when I mean thin I am talking about 'living on a slice of bread' thin. 

No wonder I had never read any of them before.

At the time, I didn't know why big companies were churning out rubbish, but I soon realised it came down to two factors and both of these are going to change content marketing over the next few years.

An Industry Filled With A Lack Of Imagination And Creativity

Over the last few years, there has been a huge demand for people to learn 'tech skills.' Coding and app development professionals were in demand to such an extent that it seems that people have forgotten that without ideas nothing is possible.

It might seem cliche, but creativity was pushed to the back burner and in particular there has been a massive divide in the content creation world.

The great writers and content creators decided to set up for themselves, and business is booming. 

A classic example is Sarah Peterson of Unsettle.

Sarah ditched the 9-5 world, created her own business and is now Head of Content Marketing at Sumo Me. 

Average content creators are all over the place; good ones are hard to find, and great ones are like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. 

It is no wonder that in a 2015 report by The Content Marketing Institute they said:

And this is going to get worse as the demand for content increases.

A quick head over to Google Trends will tell you that content marketing is not going anywhere:

This all points to a content recession, or as I like to say,  a 'content crunch.' Too much demand and not enough supply.

How The Content Crunch Will Affect Your Business

If you are reading this and are unsure how this will affect you, let me be clear. All businesses are now a media company. 

You have your own newspaper (blog) and your own TV Channel (Facebook and YouTube), and you are fighting for attention. 

What you want to say is going to get drowned out by those with bigger budgets and cute cat videos. 

The only weapon at your disposal is creativity:

And this means you are going to have to find creative people and treat them like rockstars!

All of a sudden the 'middle managers' that made the lives hell of those underneath them are going to find themselves out of work because asking a 'creative person' to nip out and buy the office lunch will be a thing of the past. 

So where are you going to find these 'creative content' people that will supercharge your marketing?

How To Find Creative People

This is the challenge for 2016, 2017 and beyond. 

Luring creative people to big brands and agencies is going to be tough because a creative person tends to be more concerned with their lifestyle than their bulging bank balance. 

The idea of jumping on a train and heading off to the big smoke every day, getting in late and missing the kids bedtimes is not going to go down well for the creative 'contenteer' (my name for them). 

They have power; they have learned how to create great content. Perhaps they have paid for a course, combined that with a passion or been self-taught. 

But either way, they have shown they can build an audience and get attention, and this is a skill you do not have!

The best creative people have then managed to build a business from their talents and in a lot of cases, this business provides enough money for them to get by and enjoy an excellent quality of life.

This is why people are trying to get 'younger' content creators onboard, and I see it all the time. Just a trawl on a jobs site  will show you the sheer demand for content creators at a low price:

￡24k to create content that gives the company the edge, higher rankings and build links. Suddenly a 'Luxury retailer' doesn't seem that concerned with the luxury of their readers. 

Sure a younger creative person might like that money and the opportunities to network. But an older person with kids, a mortgage, and a partner? 

And creativity is not something that automatically comes with youth. Just because you hire a younger person does not mean that you automatically get a great writer who thinks out of the box and can drive traffic to your business. 

Instead, business owners are going to have to grow some serious respect for the content creation process and what it takes to get great results.

So where are you going to find them?

This is going to be the challenge for 'head hunters' and business owners, but it is going to require them to get out and look in the craziest of places but among the best of those is going to be Blogs and Social Media.

It is in the trenches you will discover the diamonds. Those people with the small to medium sized blogs that get comments and shares. Individuals who know how to create content that gets attention for the right reasons. 

Once you find them, hiring them will be tough. Most of them started blogs to ditch the 9-5 rat race, and here you are trying to drag them back into it!

But for some, the idea of being highly paid for their talent will appeal. Then keeping hold of these people will be tough because if you start treating them badly, they will be off, back being creative and earning the money they need and having the lifestyle they want. 

What Happens If You Don't Invest In Content Talent?

If you think you can avoid this process you need to go and see your Doctor because you are out of your mind.

Sure you can hop onto a freelancer site and keep buying content written by someone that has no idea about your business or your customer. There you will find the cheap content you can feast on. 

It might make you happy to be able to throw another blog post out for your company at low cost. But it WILL cost you in the long run as your customers go elsewhere, to a business that is capturing their imagination and their attention.

Are content creation agencies immune to this 'content crunch'? Hell no. You should check out some of the work that is being churned out by larger companies who don't understand that writing terrible content daily is worse than writing no content.

I call it 'Spam content.' 

Stupid 500-word articles written daily that simply are of no interest to anyone. 

This is content I don't want, need or ever asked for. So why is the company  I love still sending it to me? I have their products in my home; I wear the T-shirt as well, but they keep sending me crap content that is slowly chipping away at my passion for them.

I run my content through a quick test before I press publish so I can assess what my contents purpose is and what effect I want you to feel while reading it, that is my personal minimum. And if you haven't guessed it, I want this content to worry you!

I want you to look at your business and ask yourself 'are we creative?'

Conclusion

Anyone reading this will either be a content creator, content purchaser or a business owner.

You can sit there and ignore this article, or you can do something about it. Content creators need to realise their value and learn to show it. You can do this via a blog. 

Show them you can get the attention of people without the need for support from a business with deep pockets.

It doesn't have to be thousands of readers each month, maybe just a few hundred that cling to your every word.

For content purchasers and business owners, you need to realise that unless you start to find and nurture great creative talent, you will start to see your all important customer base shift. 

Respect creativity for what it is. A magical, human process that is difficult to buy and tough to keep hold of.

Thanks for reading, let me know your thoughts and comment below or share with your creative friends.

Andrew Holland 

Zoogly Media