The Content Conundrum

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There are many questions asked about the subject of content every day. Should we be blogging or vlogging? Long form or micro content? Video or audio? Stories or text?

With more and more content being produced every day, and no sign of it slowing down, a question forced its way to the front of my mind. I wonder how much content is actually consumed? By “consumed,” I mean from start to finish, the whole thing, all the words, the whole video, and so on.

Surely, the purpose of every piece of content is for it to be consumed, right? With 1440 WordPress posts written per minute and 500 hours of YouTube video uploaded every minute can this be possible? Surely not, right?

I myself have this very issue. I very rarely make it through a whole video, webinar, article, and even with a traditional book I use it as a reference and read chapters that seem relevant. I am not alone in this – influencers @garyvee and @isocialfanz say very much the same about content consumption.

If Gary, Brian, and I are representative of a lot more of you out there, then why are we producing exponentially more content every year with little hope of it being consumed? Is it even worth it?

The answer to the content conundrum is, of course, YES. But with some provisos.

With so much content at our fingertips, no wonder people are complaining it’s noisy out there in social media. Noise is not the problem “sameness” is! Let me explain. I don’t think you will find a list or “how to” article that doesn’t exist somewhere already. Obviously the quality may vary, but go on – Google something right now. ’10 ways to get paint off a shoe’ or ‘how to wash a sloth’. I bet they exist, so why do so many people create content that is the same? That’s not what content is for. Content is to express an opinion. It’s a channel for one human to connect to another. Yes, even if you are B2B.

Should we be blogging or vlogging? Long form or micro content? Video or audio? Stories or text?

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Next time you produce content, don’t make it for Google because your boss said so, or even because the latest so-called social influencer says you need to be blogging 13.5 times a week to win the marketing game. Create content to be consumed, and actually read, by the person who needs it in context to their current situation, or just to tell your story, because you’re human – and that’s what you should do.

Here’s a simple idea that can help. Are you ready for it?

Before you publish your next piece of content, ask yourself this question.

Who does this content benefit more? If the answer is you or your business, you have it wrong.