Fables and legends stick in your mind for a reason. Stories don’t hang around for a thousand years if they’re boring. Stories have been at the center of all human communication ever since we evolved from apes. The great stories are the ones that people really connect with. We still rely on great stories today; they’re the ones that drive content marketing.
It makes sense to find content marketing’s great story. The one that people will remember. If content marketing is a fable, it’s the one where the little guy takes on the giant and wins. It’s essentially David vs. Goliath. That story is compelling because it creates impossible odds and sees them overcome.
A True Underdog Story
We connect with that because that’s how we see our own lives. The world is a big place and people are small. We believe in the underdog because at some point in our lives every one of us has been an underdog. That’s why people still talk about David and Goliath and why people engage with content marketing.
The modern business landscape is littered with Davids. Every business starts as a David but very few ever become a Goliath. Until recently the only businesses that became giants were the ones who had huge backing or were very lucky. There was little middle ground. It was very hard to work at growth. You either found it or you paid for it.
Media advertising was expensive and online advertising was difficult for smaller businesses, because the big guys had the backing to dominate. That was the way it used to be. But as the online world has grown, David has been fashioning a slingshot.
Leveling The Playing Field
It started with SEO. By building links and researching keywords successful Davids were able to ‘game’ the system and put one over on the big guys. SEO allowed a lot of smaller businesses to reclaim some of the online landscape. Then another Giant came to town. Google changed the landscape last year and put the emphasis on quality content.
Now, on a level playing field, content has become the stone and content marketing is the slingshot. You can’t buy quality content; you have to work at it. And people engage with quality content whether it’s branded by SiliconCloud or Coca-Cola. The differentiator is that quality.
With the SEO requirements and quality requirements fallen in line, the focus for content creators is engaging the market. You don’t have to worry about pleasing a non-descript website crawler any more. All it takes is the right social share and your content can create more revenue than any pay per click or TV ad. If you have the creativity, you can create a powerful content marketing campaign for free.
Telling a Compelling Story
Influencers on social media have thousands of potential clients at their fingertips. If you engage them, you have the opportunity to engage their followers. The right content, the right story can open those doors. Every business can tell a compelling story. Every business can find connections with the biggest story of the day or tell the small stories that keep their businesses alive. Every business is an expert in its own field. Demonstrating that expertise in an interesting way can add to your story and draw in your client base.
And every single business is involved in a wider story that is pretty compelling. As the online world develops and the rules change, the little guy is getting stronger. With the right content, the right rocks, David’s all over the world are starting to fell goliaths. That’s a story worth remembering.
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