Understanding the "Stream Economy" and the Importance of Content

As some of you may know, part of my daily process involves perusing other industry blogs in order to stay up on trends as well as check out some of the content of some of contemporaries.

This morning I came across a video blog from the hilarious and insightful Gary Vaynerchuk (shame on me for not seeing this sooner) detailing what he calls the "stream economy" and how the way we all receive and digest content has changed the industry.

Vaynerchuk describes the Stream Economy as the way in which we consume content here in the digital, mobile, and Internet age. Literally everything in media, advertising, and marketing is about consuming content. From movies, print media, to social media and advertising, content in various forms is the oil that keeps the engine running.

While many traditional, "old school" marketers and business owners are still relying on outdated marketing tactics, it's the companies and industries that are focusing more on creating demand through attractive content that are really standing out.

Interested in learning more about creating the content necessary to strive in today's digital climate? Check out our free ebook, "How to Be the King of Content Marketing" or contact IMPACT and learn how we can help!

Understanding the Stream Economy

Ten years ago, consuming content was a lot more simple, and as a result, a lot easier for marketers to create and forecast.

Consumers had a more leisurely approach; relaxing on the couch channel surfing or reading the newspaper over your morning cup of coffee was basically your most common exposure to content marketing. It was also a lot easier for marketers to allocate their marketing budgets.

But in the past decade, all of that has gone out the window. People even watch TV differently now, as TiVo has enabled consumers to skip through advertisements, therefore decreasing their exposure to your brands content. Newspaper subscriptions (as well as other popular print publications) have also decreased drastically given the fact that many publications offer the content for free on their websites.

As a result, the world of marketing and advertising has gotten really, really fast. Instead of a TV remote and newspaper, we now consume content by scrolling through our mobile devices, whether it be sn iPhone, Android, iPad, or other tablets.

With the scroll of a finger, we're able to fly through content like never before, significantly lowering our collective attention spans in the process.

This is what makes your content creation so vital to generating traffic and leads. But with so much marketing content out there, why are people going to stop and click on yours? After all, with the ability to check email, play Angry Birds, and post to Facebook at our disposal pretty much all the time, your content needs to be attractive and grab peoples attention.

What Should My Content Do?

We're all trying to do the same thing when it comes to our marketing content; to get you to stop what you're doing and let us tell you a little about ourselves. In a nutshell, that's what it all boils down to.

So how do you do it?

Resourceful Blog Posts

Your blog posts need to be original, helpful, and convey enough value that your followers, subscribers, or prospects will have no choice but to click on them to learn even more.

Visual Content

As I said earlier, since modern technology has lowered consumer attention spans, visual content is perhaps the best way to stop the scrolling and get people to click on your content. This is why infographics have become such a huge part of marketing and have done wonders for driving traffic to our website here at IMPACT.

Videos

People don't like reading chucks of text all day. They just don't. (But i really appreciate you reading this one.) So featuring a video blog that convey's your personality and acts as a resource in an entertaining way is one of the more attractive pieces of content you could create.

Viral Content

Any of the above three can fall into this category, mainly by using social media as the vehicle for going viral. Here's where you need to get creative. Extremely helpful blog posts, killer infographics, and hilarious memes all have a tendency to get shared and go viral quickly. Obviously this is out of your hands, but by focusing on creating fantastic content, you'll be one step closer to going viral.

Content is King

Given the ease in which consumers can now access content, you can be sure many businesses and marketers will shift their marketing budgets toward featuring more attractive content as part of their campaigns.

So what does yours look like?

Interested in learning more about transforming your content marketing? Contact IMPACT and learn how we can help!