Content is King…But
Connections are Better (And Here’s Why)
Brace yourself for this one, folks:
Case in point – kids nowadays may have heard of the “ancient” technology known as VHS, but you will probably get a blank look from most of them if you mention Betamax.
Why is that?
Because odds are decent they’ve seen old VHS tapes at home (or a friend or loved one’s house) and asked what they were.
“Well, Billy, before we could stream movies over the internet, there were DVDs. And before that, movies were contained on film encased in plastic boxes, which you would put into a VCR unit hooked up to the TV in order to watch them. Once you were done with the movie, you had to take the time to rewind it all the way back to the beginning.”
Ah, those were simpler times.
Anyhow, VHS was the dominant force in at-home entertainment until DVDs came around.
But Betamax was technically better.
It had better resolution, sound, and a more stable image than VHS.
Yet, the only kids who know what Betamax was probably have parents (or relatives, parents of friends, etc.) who were “early adopters” for this particular technology.
(Or perhaps they are slightly-older kids who learned about the whole “VHS vs. Betamax” history in a business or marketing class.)
So, once again, being the best is not always good enough.
Okay, but how does this come into play in 2018 (as opposed to the realm of 1980s entertainment technology)?
Brace yourself for this one, folks:
Case in point – kids nowadays may have heard of the “ancient” technology known as VHS, but you will probably get a blank look from most of them if you mention Betamax.
Why is that?
Because odds are decent they’ve seen old VHS tapes at home (or a friend or loved one’s house) and asked what they were.
“Well, Billy, before we could stream movies over the internet, there were DVDs. And before that, movies were contained on film encased in plastic boxes, which you would put into a VCR unit hooked up to the TV in order to watch them. Once you were done with the movie, you had to take the time to rewind it all the way back to the beginning.”
Ah, those were simpler times.
Anyhow, VHS was the dominant force in at-home entertainment until DVDs came around.
But Betamax was technically better.
It had better resolution, sound, and a more stable image than VHS.
Yet, the only kids who know what Betamax was probably have parents (or relatives, parents of friends, etc.) who were “early adopters” for this particular technology.
(Or perhaps they are slightly-older kids who learned about the whole “VHS vs. Betamax” history in a business or marketing class.)
So, once again, being the best is not always good enough.
Okay, but how does this come into play in 2018 (as opposed to the realm of 1980s entertainment technology)?
To answer that, let’s start with this:
You’ve probably heard the maxim “content is king,” right?
This is a common saying, especially in the marketing world, used to highlight the importance of offering site visitors content—text, graphics, and video—that is valuable. The actual value will differ depending on what the user expects to find, but put that thought aside for another day.
Oh, and if you question the commonality of that particular saying, start typing it into Google. By the time you get to the “i,” you will have an autocomplete suggestion for it.
Now, the reason this saying is common is because it’s true, and especially with regards to the internet.
See, if you want your business to be found on the internet—and you absolutely do if you want to stay in business—content matters.
Search engines like Google rank pages based on various factors.
Some of the most important current ones include time spent on page, bounce rate, and backlinks to the page.
All of those are impacted by content.
- If a person visits a page but doesn’t easily find what she’s looking for, she’ll quickly click off the page, thereby negatively affecting the “time spent on page” metric.
- If another person visits a different page and finds useful, engaging, and possibly even entertaining content, he will more likely click around and see what else the site has to offer. This contributes positively to the bounce rate.
- If an organization (or representatives of an organization) has deemed content on a page valuable, they will link to it – which constitutes a “backlink” for that page.
Content definitely, absolutely, 100% matters.
As such, content earns its crown.
But it also isn’t the be-all and end-all.
To answer that, let’s start with this:
You’ve probably heard the maxim “content is king,” right?
This is a common saying, especially in the marketing world, used to highlight the importance of offering site visitors content—text, graphics, and video—that is valuable. The actual value will differ depending on what the user expects to find, but put that thought aside for another day.
Oh, and if you question the commonality of that particular saying, start typing it into Google. By the time you get to the “i,” you will have an autocomplete suggestion for it.
Now, the reason this saying is common is because it’s true, and especially with regards to the internet.
See, if you want your business to be found on the internet—and you absolutely do if you want to stay in business—content matters.
Search engines like Google rank pages based on various factors.
Some of the most important current ones include time spent on page, bounce rate, and backlinks to the page.
All of those are impacted by content.
- If a person visits a page but doesn’t easily find what she’s looking for, she’ll quickly click off the page, thereby negatively affecting the “time spent on page” metric.
- If another person visits a different page and finds useful, engaging, and possibly even entertaining content, he will more likely click around and see what else the site has to offer. This contributes positively to the bounce rate.
- If an organization (or representatives of an organization) has deemed content on a page valuable, they will link to it – which constitutes a “backlink” for that page.
Content definitely, absolutely, 100% matters.
As such, content earns its crown.
But it also isn’t the be-all and end-all.
So let’s look at why connections are most important:
If you create a product or offer a service that is good, you may very well generate business from people who want what you provide. If you can connect people to one another, however, you can do truly incredible things.
Case in point: Facebook.
You’ve probably heard of it – and not just because the social media giant has been hit pretty hard in the news as of late.
Quick note:
For the sake of what we’re actually looking at today, let’s put aside recent news and focus on why it was able to become a dominant force in the first place – Facebook provided a platform that is able to connect people all across the world.
Heck, even as they’re currently trying to save face from a PR perspective, the company is basically advertising the message:
“Hey, we made some mistakes and will work to do better, but don’t forget about why you came to use our social media platform in the first place. You can still keep up with friends and loved ones, watch their videos, check out their pictures, and share your thoughts and opinions.”
Essentially, they are saying “you can still be connected.”
Connect people and you can do amazing things. So can your business.
When you create content for your business, your goal shouldn’t be to have “the best” content out there. (Remember, being the best isn’t always good enough!)
Instead, you should create content with the explicit goal of connecting.
Here the deal, though:
You don’t just have to make social connections.
Yes, there’s obvious business benefits from connecting your business to people or using your business to connect people to people, but you also must think of it in other ways as well.
Like how your business relates to other businesses.
For example, let’s say you’re an entrepreneurial teenager who has a babysitting business.
If you want to generate as much business as possible, it’s in your best interest to promote local events that A) happen at night and B) are geared towards adults.
You wouldn’t necessarily want to promote family-friendly events, since parents will take their kids – the very ones that enable you to earn money from babysitting.
So this teenaged, babysitting version of yourself might want to use your social media platforms to raise awareness about:
- An event like The Great Wine & Food Symposium
- How Grand Rapids was just named #2 Best Food/Beverage Destination Experience by the World Food Travel Association’s FoodTrekking Awards (which gives you plenty of options for date night!)
(Ever question the value of social media marketing? Well, there you go.)
We get that it’s probably not terribly difficult to understand the value of doing that, but there’s something that you might overlook – one that ties in with branding.
See, in addition to helping connect your babysitting business with ideas to get parents out of the house (and thereby in need of babysitting services), you are establishing yourself as “the babysitting business that knows what’s happening around town.”
Author and Harvard Business School professor Bharat Anand wrote a book called The Content Trap: A Strategist’s Guide to Digital Change. In it, he makes the case that businesses face two major obstacles – getting noticed and getting paid.
So let’s look at why connections are most important:
If you create a product or offer a service that is good, you may very well generate business from people who want what you provide. If you can connect people to one another, however, you can do truly incredible things.
Case in point: Facebook.
You’ve probably heard of it – and not just because the social media giant has been hit pretty hard in the news as of late.
Quick note:
For the sake of what we’re actually looking at today, let’s put aside recent news and focus on why it was able to become a dominant force in the first place – Facebook provided a platform that is able to connect people all across the world.
Heck, even as they’re currently trying to save face from a PR perspective, the company is basically advertising the message:
“Hey, we made some mistakes and will work to do better, but don’t forget about why you came to use our social media platform in the first place. You can still keep up with friends and loved ones, watch their videos, check out their pictures, and share your thoughts and opinions.”
Essentially, they are saying “you can still be connected.”
Connect people and you can do amazing things. So can your business.
When you create content for your business, your goal shouldn’t be to have “the best” content out there. (Remember, being the best isn’t always good enough!)
Instead, you should create content with the explicit goal of connecting.
Here the deal, though:
You don’t just have to make social connections.
Yes, there’s obvious business benefits from connecting your business to people or using your business to connect people to people, but you also must think of it in other ways as well.
Like how your business relates to other businesses.
For example, let’s say you’re an entrepreneurial teenager who has a babysitting business.
If you want to generate as much business as possible, it’s in your best interest to promote local events that A) happen at night and B) are geared towards adults.
You wouldn’t necessarily want to promote family-friendly events, since parents will take their kids – the very ones that enable you to earn money from babysitting.
So this teenaged, babysitting version of yourself might want to use your social media platforms to raise awareness about:
- An event like The Great Wine & Food Symposium
- How Grand Rapids was just named #2 Best Food/Beverage Destination Experience by the World Food Travel Association’s FoodTrekking Awards (which gives you plenty of options for date night!)
(Ever question the value of social media marketing? Well, there you go.)
We get that it’s probably not terribly difficult to understand the value of doing that, but there’s something that you might overlook – one that ties in with branding.
See, in addition to helping connect your babysitting business with ideas to get parents out of the house (and thereby in need of babysitting services), you are establishing yourself as “the babysitting business that knows what’s happening around town.”
Author and Harvard Business School professor Bharat Anand wrote a book called The Content Trap: A Strategist’s Guide to Digital Change. In it, he makes the case that businesses face two major obstacles – getting noticed and getting paid.
Effective marketing will get your
business noticed!
This means using your content marketing strategies—including those for your social media posts and email campaigns—to create connections.
When you do, your business will establish and cement its identity.
At the end of the day, remember this:
Content is king, but make sure it connects.
If you want marketing services that form connections for your customers and help your business thrive, CP Solutions is here for you. We’ll acknowledge our bias on this, but we have an awesome team – and they would love to use their experience, skill, and talent to contribute to your company’s success.
Call us today and let’s start discussing your marketing needs and how we can deliver for you!
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