ContentStrategy & Corporate Blogging Melvin Yuan on 30 Nov 2007 12:34 am
Content is NOT King. Content is Servant.
We know that maxims have the power to form paradigms that eventually shape our thinking and consequently (in our case), strategy.
And we would all be familiar with the saying – Content is King.
Spot-on.
The only problem with that statement is… when companies stop there, and start channelling their energies to the diligent production of great content. Without a content strategy.
For the sake of articulating what we truly believe, I’d like to turn that saying on its head with this – that in PR, Content is a mere Servant. Trusted Relationships is King.
Here’s what triggered my thoughts on this:
A few days back, I was reading Mitch’s post on his interview with Google’s Avinash Kaushik. Now, incidentally, two weeks prior to that, I was thinking about getting a copy of Avinash’s book on Web Analytics.
I left a comment below Mitch’s post which I will paraphrase here to explain the twist in my decision making process:
After reading Mitch’s comments on his conversation with Avinash, I moved from “I will think about it” to “I will buy it tomorrow”.
Here’s the thing – at that point, I had not even listened to the podcast. But, I made my purchase decision purely based on Mitch’s validation of the man.
We’ve all been talking about how Content is King. But in this case, I had not even listened to the content of Mitch’s podcast. If Content was truly king, it would have been the podcast, that would convince me of Avinash’s credibility on the subject – not Mitch’s comments about the interview in itself. So much for the importance of Content in my purchase decision.
Perhaps Content is king, only because the continual provision or the exchange of meaningful content creates the trusted relationships that PR and Word-of-Mouth thrives on. In my case with Mitch, I’ve interacted with him enough and read enough of his past opinions to know that I can trust a mere mention by him.
That is why ghost-writing is unacceptable on blogs. And paid blog endorsements get ignored.
Because Content is not an end in itself. And it should not serve primarily to impress, entertain or even persuade. It should meet the needs of your customers; and in doing so, serve the goal of creating sincere, trusted relationships.
So when you next consider a content strategy. Ask – how can I provide the right type of content that places my customers’ interests first? Because this is exactly what it takes to build trust and relationships.
We’re back to listening first… then measuring the significance of what we hear… then thinking… and finally talking.
It’s no big revelation really.
on 30 Nov 2007 at 4:05 am 1.Avinash Kaushik said …
Melvin: Thanks for buying the book! All of my proceeds from the book are donated to charity, else I would give Mitch his cut!!
I am very glad to have Mitch’s kind endorsement. Through his work and contributions he carries a credibility that would be hard to pull off easily in the offline world.
Maybe that is the point of your post after all.
Thanks again.
Avinash.
on 30 Nov 2007 at 10:41 am 2.Melvin Yuan said …
Hi Avinash,
Thanks for dropping by; and Thank You for putting this book together for two very good causes!
Yes, credibility was the point of my last post; and your area of expertise is exactly what we (PR folks) need.
In order to build relationships, one of the things we need to know, is how our audiences and customers feel about what we say and do; and Web Analytics enables us to understand (and measure) today what would have been impossible before.
This (the need to take an analytical approach) was also my point in my previous post on PR’s relationship with data.
There are many PR practitioners in Asia who would love (and desperately need!) to listen to you speak when you’re next in the region. And I would love to catch up with you sometime!
on 02 Dec 2007 at 4:25 am 3.Mitch Joel - Twist Image said …
Great post Melvin.
One condition: content is still king. Here’s why: had you not consumed lots of my content prior (speaking, emails, Blog, Podcasts, etc…) no one Blog posting would have changed your mind.
In PR, we tend to forget that everything is quickly becoming content - from twitter to Second Life to real-life meet-ups. It’s that credibility of content - built up over time that slips to those personal tipping points. Or as you called it - “the relationship.”
That being said, this post still remains 100% valid in my eyes.
We love Melvin
on 02 Dec 2007 at 9:07 am 4.Melvin Yuan said …
Thanks Mitch!
Totally agree, and I’m sure we’re on the same page here.
Just trying to put ‘content’ in ‘context’ of the bigger picture. I know many companies are all hyped up about the possibilities for online communications - which is fabulous because we do want/need good content.
But I hope this post serves to remind them that while great content is vital, it is not the end in mind.
on 14 Dec 2007 at 1:59 pm 5.» Rewriting rewritten rules – Uncovering Social Media truths said …
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