I spent a few years in online marketing roles earlier in my career. In 2009 at a Hospitality e-Commerce Summit in San Diego, I attended a seminar where the speaker was adamant that “Content is King”.
She made great points on the topic, explaining that success for websites like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, etc certainly depends on the quality of their “content”. If e-commerce websites have great content, end users, consumers like you and me, will not only visit the websites, but they will also return, recommend to others, and most importantly buy.
What makes content great? E-Commerce & online marketing gurus say things like:
· Relevant information
· Visitor/User friendliness
· Quality control
· Something that others would recommend
· Supplies the searcher’s needs
This holiday season I found myself doing most of my shopping online. As I clicked through, jumping from site to site, I heard echoes of some of the seminars, classes, and conversations I had years ago around the whole “content is king” concept…it’s so true.
I picked up some great items from a few websites for friends and family members, but I found myself returning to Amazon.com where I purchased several items this year. Why? Other than the fact that Jeff Bezos is a genius, the experience at Amazon.com is just so easy and convenient…and I trust them.
Amazon.com:
· Has dynamic content that completely customizes the experience for us. Their “related items”, “featured items”, “suggested items”, and “recommended items based on prior activity” features make it about us. Our information – shipping info, purchase info, etc is all saved for us when we log in, saving us time. Who doesn’t like that?
· Tells us why we should buy from them. Their content offers subtle reminders that comfort us, such as the strike through of the Manufacture Suggested Retail Price and the highlighted in red Amazon.com price. Customer Reviews and the “Look Inside” feature for books suggest even more “why’s” for buying their products.
· Uses a pull rather than push approach. Their content reminds us multiple times throughout our shopping experience that “you can review this order before it’s final.”, as if to say…”we’re not forcing you to do anything…” That makes us comfortable, keeps us engaged, and fortunately for Amazon.com results in increased revenues.
Content really is king…so couldn’t we all take some of these same concepts and apply them to our lives? I think we can...and should. Amazon’s “content” has to do with framing, displaying, explaining, and providing products in such a way that makes it easy and convenient for consumers to purchase them online. That’s their goal and mission in life.
What about us? Whether we’re doctors, lawyers, schoolteachers, sales people, leaders, coaches, teammates, friends, and/or loving family members…we all have our own “content”. Our content gets published by way of the conversations we have with others, the emails we send to our teams and leaders in the organization, the lessons we prepare for and ultimately deliver to our classes, the service we provide to our Guests, and the proposals we pitch to our clients.
I like this definition of content from dictionary.com:
Content – something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing, or any of various arts.
We all “express something through some medium” in one way or another every day. Sometimes we reach others with our content, and other times it goes in one ear and out the other. If you’re running into roadblocks or having trouble getting through to them, remember that content is king…
We should ask ourselves if our “content” makes it relevant to them. Do we make it easy or difficult for people to work with us? Do we save them time and make it convenient? Is our work or our leadership something others would recommend? Do we dynamically cater to others’ needs, making it about them? Do we give them the “why’s” behind decisions we make or views we have? Do we meet them where they are…and pull rather than push?
Content is King…go OneMoreStep and make your content something others will want to recommend and you just might make a difference while you’re at it.
Have a great day.
Taylor
Taylor, great post for the Holiday season. This season is always my favorite time of year. I was in the front desk offices yesterday and everyone was having a great time. They were happy, joking around and yet still getting the job done. This time of year has the ability to put people in a great mood. There is also the other side of the holidays with the stress, deadlines, fourth quarter closing, etc. This content is not the most Magical. Your post is a reminder to me to remember that just because someone else’s content may not be relevant or appealing, it is just another opportunity to show them just how magical yours is.
ReplyDeleteAnother good one my friend.
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