This phrase is constantly used to describe the key to having success in social media and digital marketing. However, as much as we’ve all heard this phrase, what does it actually mean? Putting all technical info aside, content is simply anything captured through photo, video, audio or written copy that is about what your profile, product, or idea represents. For example, if you started a social media profile about nature, then you would have a stream of content about Nature such as photos and videos of trees, flowers, and animals.
At first glance it may seem like creating content is relatively easy if all you’re doing is taking a few pictures and videos about something that you are passionate about. This is not always the case as creating content is easier said than done. The reason for this is that not everyone is able to continuously write creative captions and blogs while also being a photographer with the right eye while being a consistent videographer shooting clips of video and editing them together. Just writing that line was exhausting, now imagine actually performing all of those tasks yourself. The truth is content is the very thing that will grow your audience, keep your audience engaged, and give the right identity within your niche. 

Creating great content is paramount to the growing success of your brand and its profile. On the flipside, creating content just for the sake of creating it can risk everything you’ve tried to build for your brand, regardless of how good the idea or product is. For example, if I want to grow a profile for an italian restaurant and all of my content is random pictures of italy or the same picture of the restaurant from the inside, then anyone visiting the profile isn’t going to get the right impression of the restaurant. This could cause people to lose interest or be confused as to what value the restaurant is offering them as a potential patron. If you focused on creating quality content such as videos of the chefs cooking, pictures of happy patrons eating, a video of the owner speaking about the food and their specialties, then you have tapped into the magic of what content creation can do for you.

Let’s use the Italian Restaurant example to see how creating content can drive more conversions to your store or service. Think of content as a continuous stream of commercials and advertisements that are part of the moment to moment experience of a user. As opposed to a stand alone campaign allocated to specific mediums for block of time, the content you create becomes part of the big picture. Content is the heart beat to a brand’s image which causes anyone who interacts with it to be attracted to it or repulsed by it. Many times people don’t like to purchase products from commercials for the sheer fact that they look too staged. Now imagine seeing the same product that would’ve been in a staged commercial but in a selfie video of an actual customer who purchased the product. Both of these examples are forms of content, however the selfie video of the customer actually using the product will most likely sell more of the product than the professionally shot, big budget commercial. How is this possible? Put yourself in the customer’s shoes, if you are shopping for a particular item and have seen many variations from different brands, then you may not have the best idea of who to choose from. However, if you see multiple customers showing off the product that was made by a particular brand, then you’re most likely to shop from that brand simply because you have VALIDATION that the product either works or is effective. As nice as a professional video may look, the key in this case is creating organic content that isn’t “trying” to win the viewer’s attention, it simply has to exist for the viewer to get the message. Now the brand goes from trying to convince people to buy their product to letting their customers do the talking for them. This is why you must look at your brand as a whole and create the  kind of content that is relevant to your followers/customers. 

Now that you understand the value and use of creating content, now we can take a look at the different kinds of content that exist and how you can use them. 

Simply put, If your content is appealing, relevant, and of good quality, then you will truly understand the meaning of the phrase “Content is King”. 
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If you feel overwhelmed at the idea of managing all these forms of content, or would like to hire professionals at content creation, then message UADV to see what we can do for you.