Every Now and Again I Need a Reminder: Content is Still King
“Content is king” is the one cliche in media that is pretty much guaranteed to garner a gazillion eyerolls. Because that phrase has been so overused over the years, its meaning seems to be lost.
In the olden days, I was known as a producer — not a creator — and my job was simply to make great content. It was someone else’s responsibility to bring people to it. All of those lines are blurred now, of course, and I’ve often felt that that the quality of the content has suffered as a result. I love the machine and am fascinated by the metrics but (for me) when that thinking bleeds into the creative process, the end product just isn’t as good.
But if you create it, will they come?
It is disheartening to realize that you can create the most amazing content, and no one will see it unless you somehow trick them into clicking on it. And that no one else will see it unless those who have clicked on it take the time to share it.
Which is why it’s astonishing to me that a simple promotional video about my nephew and his love of golf has earned over 12k views in just over a three months, with no clickbait-y title and minimal social sharing.
(EDIT: four years later and it’s over 650k views and he has almost 2,000 subscribers!)
I learned two key lessons here:
- A simple, clean edit that tells a story can still engage an audience.
- People still actively seek out content that supports their interests without being force-fed.
I’m so proud of my nephew and am inspired by how hard he’s worked to progress in a sport that he loves. I’m happy that, in some small way, I can assist him in achieving his goals.
And now I’m grateful that this process has inspired me to refocus my energies on creating, safe in the knowledge that it’s still easier to find an audience if the content is great.
