Precisely 20 years ago, Bill Gates, in ‘96, declared ‘Content is King’, and the trappings of the way we communicate, project, present, read, write and consume information went into a trance. Not sure, if he had any clue about what content would mean to us in these times of an-app-for-whatever-you-can-think-of & IoT!
Kingly or otherwise, content is what everybody stays immensely curious about. What exactly do we mean by ‘content’, more specifically ‘good content’.

Before, we settle for a ‘content’ full answer, let’s understand what 97.5% of our brethren think about what’s ‘content’.

So, what’s content really?
– A meme that reached your phone from 4 different whatsapp groups this noon.
– That emo video where a gentleman stands up for a poor kid.
– The promotional ‘matter’ on the flyers young lads hand you down, outside new stores.
– A mere term used alongside ‘marketing’ to put a blanket on whatever gets published.
– An ad in the mag a promotional video, a brochure or a testimonial

Answer: All of the above.

However, it would be wrong to assume that all good content is good content. Think about Big Boss, for instance!

We do live in the time of immense upheavals in generation and delivery of content and a whole lot of it is really good, innovative and incredibly original.

What’s the differentiator?
It takes, time, money and effort to make it so-like it is for anything else where you seek quality!

And, what usually stops great content from happening?

The ‘factory’ that our industry has become. Let’s be honest, are we not guilty of assuming that our audience needs a constant feed? For, if I don’t my competitor will acquire their attention!

There goes all the rush. And, rushed content. Crammed. Crushed. Copied. But voila! Sent just in time.
Reality Check: It is afterall-Unsought. And, Unsolicited.

Do we have a way out?
Not until we rake in a revolution of sorts.

We need to stop pretending that content created is equal to content consumed. This is a business where we need to sell, that makes it crucial for us to understand what our audience needs. To begin with, let’s learn to respect them, and respect their intellect.

How about putting right love into a single great piece than pushing out innuendoes of mere scroll-pasts…. We aren’t here to keep them occupied, are we? We want these folks to read, absorb, cherish and act-let’s give them ample reasons to do all of these.