“Content” is one of those blanket terms that is misunderstood almost as often as it is used - and it is used a lot. Technically, the word “content” refers to anything that fills a container, which is not a particularly helpful definition. But it is actually rather telling; the term we use suggests that many marketers think of this integral aspect of the contemporary media landscape as filler, something simply taking up space in a predetermined receptacle – in most cases, a Facebook post.
But content needn’t be a Facebook post (though it can be). It needn’t be on Facebook at all. It needn’t give me the opportunity to use the expression “needn’t” but it just did - twice! But back to the matter at hand: Content can be rich, high-impact, multimedia storytelling that changes how our industry views itself and how real people view our industry.
So let’s take a look at some of the most common misconceptions about content, and then let’s open our minds to the myriad formats and potential impact of content when it is understood not as “filler”, but as “essential viewing”.
Many brands (and agencies) think that content is defined by fact or “documentary” or “editorial”, as opposed to fiction – fiction and storytelling typically being the purview of good old fashioned ads. But content can, in fact, be fictional; just look at the greatest piece of branded content in recent years The Lego Movie (and to a lesser extent The Lego Movie 2). So while I will admit that content often takes the form of a documentary or editorial, it isn’t necessarily so, which means that this definition doesn’t hold water and actually limits the thinking of people engaged in creating content.
Others think that the definition of content has to do with high volume and low impact. In these gentle people’s minds, if there’s lots of it, then it’s content. It’s “always on”. It’s a “slow burn”. But content doesn’t have to be high volume. And it sure as hell doesn’t need to be low impact. Here’s a good general rule of thumb that applies particularly well to content: If you’ve intentionally set out to do something that is easy for people to ignore, then you could have spent your money better elsewhere. Nothing you do should be low impact (maybe high frequency banners that subliminally drive familiarity, but that’s another story) because low impact means low value for the audience and for the brand. To put it bluntly: if it’s there simply to be there, then it’s not content, it’s landfill – and Lord knows there’s enough of that out there already.
So here’s an updated definition of content for us: Content is anything that people would pay to see, rather than something you have to pay for them to see. This doesn’t mean you can’t put media behind it – Hollywood spends billions a year promoting its essential viewing – but if it’s the thing they want to watch, and not the thing between them and the thing they want to watch, then let’s call it Content.
As such, content can take as many forms as there are entertainment media. It can be a podcast, an audiobook, a guidebook, a comic book, a children’s book or a recipe book. Hell, it could take the form of a novel! (If somebody beats me to that, I’m gonna be pissed!) It could be a physical magazine, a webzine, a blog, a vlog, a web series, a TV series or a full length feature film. I could go on, but you get the idea.
All of these stories, points of view and guides can (and should) be impactful as hell. They should add the kind of value to a person’s life that they’d be willing to pay for. They should get people talking and ideally, they should become part of popular culture.
And here’s the crazy bit: this kind of thinking – “pull” thinking rather than “push”/ “interruptive”/ ”captive audience” thinking – can be applied to other kinds of marketing too. Including… wait for it: ads! Imagine if all interruptive ads weren’t just messages wrapped in charm to make them go down easier, but they were genuinely enjoyable interludes. What a world that would be.
That’s why a better understanding of content beyond the content calendar is important: because thinking that content is filler for Facebook posts will limit us at best and demoralize us at worst. Conversely, understanding that marketers can and do create things that people genuinely love watching can infect the whole business and invigorate the creative community to everyone’s benefit.