Stop focusing on the channel – content is (still) King!
May 24, 2022
Thankfully, a lot is happening in the world of communication. And in recent years, perhaps more so than ever. The rapid technological development society has undergone over the last 20 years is of course at the center of it all. Digitization, with the internet as the obvious carrier, has undeniably changed the communications industry fundamentally. During the early, happy days of the net, it was all about creating good, entertaining, and engaging content – content was king! However, nowadays more and more people seem to have forgotten the discussion about good content and instead put all their focus on the available channels.
Stop focusing on the channel – content is (still) King! has been published on Digital Signage Today.
It’s a given that you need to tailor your message to the channel. Every CMO knows that. Those who don’t adapt their message to the channel are just plain wrong but putting the channel as the starting point for what and how you communicate is, in my opinion, equally flawed and will always lead to poorer communication.
Admittedly, it is easy to understand how we have come to this. Technological advances have given us a steady stream of new channels which, although to some extent overlapping each other, often have a more or less clear group of users. A typical example today could be to place ads in print, ads on Facebook and ads on TikTok against each other. Completely, or at least to a very large extent, different target groups and in many cases also completely different types of formats and marketing.
But the content must still be based on one thing – your business. What you want to sell. What you want to convey. With the basic and obvious insight that it is the content that should control the channel and certainly not the other way around. In every situation. This becomes extra important as the number of channels grows. With an increasing need for adaptations and target group adjustments for every available channel, it’s extra important to never lose sight of the core values of the story you want to tell. The core message of your product and your brand.
Consistency has always been a prerequisite for success and will always be.
But what constitutes good content? It is a constantly debated issue, but academically it can be stated that good content arouses emotions and motivates us, as consumers, to a certain behavior. And if you succeed with that, the communication will, almost always, work in all different types of channels, albeit with some smaller adaptation.
If we want to succeed with our communication goals, there is one important thing to always keep in mind; The most creative communication has always, and always will, combine human creativity and imagination with the power of technology. But our technical obsession will always risk overriding the significance of human creativity and imagination.
The conclusion is that every time someone wants to talk about channel strategy – make sure you first have full control of your content strategy.
Talk to our experts if you want to know more about effective content for digital communication channels.
