The Kingliness Of Content

“Those who succeed will propel the Internet forward as a marketplace of ideas, experiences, and products—a marketplace of content.” This was the closing line in an essay Bill Gates wrote back in 1996 entitled “Content is King.” In his essay, Bill gave his predictions for how the internet would be monetized over the coming years as the medium grew. He compared the internet to television and talked about how the true winners were those who developed the content as opposed to those who manufactured TV sets.

Despite his essay being more than two decades old now, many of Bill’s thoughts hold true to this day. Specifically, he prophesied the content that would drive the most traffic and value to its creators would be a mixture of entertaining and informational. He also touched on the idea that, given time, the internet would become absolutely jam-packed with content. We know today just how true that statement proved to be.

The massive size of the internet today cannot be overstated. According to IBM, more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every single day. That number is so astronomical, it’s difficult to comprehend. Data analysts say the human race has created over 90% of all data that exists today over the past two years alone while expecting the size of the digital universe to grow by a factor of 40 by 2020.

All of this is to say that there is a lot of content out there on the web with more being created every second.

Importance of Writing Original Copy

The volume of content available today is the reason why it’s essential to create content that is engaging and original. Differentiating yourself from the competition is impossible when you fill your sites and social media feeds with copy and paste content. Creating original content improves your standing with your customers while also pleasing the almighty search engines.

Informative and entertaining writing provides superior SEO results. Ranking highly on search engine results pages (SERPs) is mandatory in today’s world of big data where searchers have quintillions of bytes of data right at their fingertips.

Advertising is becoming increasingly expensive and difficult as internet users have grown weary of the practices of the past. The days of banner ads and pop-ups are quickly vanishing as the usage of ad blockers continues to rise across the globe. Studies have shown that over 25% of U.S. internet users are employing some form of ad blocking and other countries have even higher rates. Traditional internet advertising just isn’t working.

Original content bypasses advertising shortcomings and drives value to your customers while also giving you the chance to express your personality, build your brand, and prove you’re an expert in your field.

Tips for Finding Inspiration and Planning Ahead

Writing insightful and entertaining content is all about understanding your brand and your audience. When trying to come up with ideas for new posts think about things you’ve learned or found interesting lately. Consider the kind of information you wish you had known when you first got into the industry and the ideas that have resonated with you since the beginning. Keep in mind who your audience is and what’s important to them. Content may be a marketing solution for you, but make sure it serves a purpose for the audience as well.

Take a look at social media channels you follow and enjoy and then incorporate the aspects of them into your own content creation. Another important aspect of strong content is timeliness. Think of upcoming events and holidays and plan out a content strategy that will help your ideas stay fresh and relevant. You’re an expert in your industry—use that to your advantage and create content that proves it to your customers.

Treat the content you create as a point of first contact with potential customers and invite them to interact with you. Building relationships by providing value to your audience through your site and social media feeds will result in higher conversions and happier customers.

Original content is key to driving traffic and earning the trust of your audience. If creating content isn’t your strong point, get in touch with Skyrocket to discuss strategies and to find help connecting your unique brand with its audience.