If content is king then who is queen?

Content is king. We know this because it’s all over the internet. You’ve probably seen it a thousand times. And if you haven’t, try googling it. There are over 300 million results.

But what do we mean by this? Why is content king? And the question we’re more interested in: if content is king then who is queen? (Besides an outstanding 70s rock band, of course!)

Who says?

The phrase ‘Content is king’ is widely believed to have originated from Bill Gates. At least in relation to online content. Further digging reveals the phrase was actually coined a couple of years earlier by Sumner Redstone, the 92-year-old billionaire who founded Viacom.

But it was Bill Gates who transformed the phrase into one of the widest spreading internet memes. In 1996 he wrote an essay entitled ‘Content is King‘ and began by saying:

“Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting.”

He goes on to say:

“One of the exciting things about the Internet is that anyone with a PC and a modem can publish whatever content they can create.”

Which is exactly what we were talking about last week in our post How blogging became essential for content marketing your business, when we described how blogging levelled the playing field of the digital landscape.

Why does content rule?

Content is what drives the internet. You only have to glance at the most popular online applications in the world to see that. They’re the ones in which we supply the internet with more and more content. Think blogging platforms, social networks, video sharing sites…

And then of course there are search engines. Ok, we really mean Google. And, as we saw last week, Google won’t play ball in the game of search rankings unless you’re feeding it regularly with changing content. Which in turn feeds our ever increasing need for exploring and discovering new content. And so the cycle continues…

So who is King Content’s queen?

That’s simple.

If content is the king, then content marketing is the queen.

You need great content in order for your content marketing to be effective. And there’s no point having great content without effective content marketing to back it up.

The king is the almighty ruler; he sits on his throne and stands his ground. The queen is the mover and shaker; she gets out there and gets things done.

As the feminists of the 1960s used to say, and the Eurythmics sang in Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves:

“Behind every great man there is a great woman.”

The content king on his own is all strategy and tactics. The content marketing queen is all about the action. And together they rule the internet!

The rise of content marketing: the power behind the throne

In its simplest form, content marketing means to create content and distribute it to your target audience. This can be done through a variety of channels, including blogs, email newsletters, social media, apps, digital TV, etc.

Optimising your content and your website is crucial for increasing traffic. This means using the right keywords in your website copy and making sure you follow best practices so that your content is search engine friendly.

As we saw in An introduction to Lead Magnets: how to use your WordPress blog to grow your email list, the more people you have visiting your site, the more chance you have of converting them to email subscribers. And the more email subscribers you have, the more chance you have of converting them to customers.

And it all starts with content.

You are your own king

Content is king. Content rules. Content is the leader of the pack. So content has to be the best it can be.

And only you know how to achieve that. Why? Because you know your customers better than anyone. Only you know how to engage your website visitors with content relevant to them. What kind of people are they? What are they interested in? What challenges do they face? What tone of voice would appeal to them most?

We believe the best way to engage your readers is to write your content yourself. You are the subject matter expert in your own business and you know your business best. You also know your industry niche best. Why outsource your content to a copywriter who, at best, likely knows little about either?

You’d be faced with two choices when commissioning a copywriter:

1. Spend a lot of time with them to give them an extensive briefing on your niche, business and industry – time better spent drafting your content, or
2. Find a copywriter that is already an expert in your field – which could be pricey!

Let us be your queen

OK, so we believe your content is best written by you. But we also understand this can seem like a daunting prospect. You’re an expert in your field, not a writer. (Unless writing is your field of course!)

You might be thinking: Do I really know my audience? What if I can’t think of enough topics? What if I can’t write very well? Or I don’t have the time to write regularly?

Fear not, Wildheart Media is here to help you find your place in the digital landscape and rule your online world. Let us be the queen to your king. You bring the content, we’ll bring the content marketing, and together we’ll rule!

Our marketing packages provide you with everything you need to grow your digital business, starting with making sure your website is ready to deliver your awesome content.

We’ll review your website, research your audience, find out what’s trending in your industry niche, run analytics on search terms and suggest areas of interest for you to write about. We’ll then work with you to ensure your content is fully optimised, of the highest quality possible, being published regularly like clockwork, being shared in the right way with the right people and driving more traffic to your website.

Your content can be as rough or polished as you like, as our skills include proofreading and copy editing, as well as the more technical aspects of search engine optimisation and content strategy.

All you need to do is what you do best. Let us take care of the rest.

See how we’ve helped our clients