If Content Is the King, Where Is King's Honor?

If Content Is the King, Where Is King's Honor?

By Sam Arackal

Importance of content is accepted by everyone be they are businesses or politicians. In the olden days, civilizations were cultivated, promoted, and sustained with content. One religion says through word everything is created. Thanks to product innovation, new product development, market creation, and change management, content is raising its head above all other streams. Now the question is whether content gets its due recognition as the happenings in the corporate tell otherwise.

One person working in IT company as content specialist told me how the digital marketing team despises the content writers. He finds a conspiracy in putting down the content writers. But interestingly the team heads claim that content is everything. The plot runs like this. The digital marketing manager and the team lead are unable to get results and their pay is higher over the content writer. So, in order to survive they simply give poor reports of content writers as a result, content writers keep on leaving due to the work pressure the digital marketing heads constantly exert. And they simply communicate to the business head that marketing doesn't work as the content is 'not good'. They also ensure that good content writer are not allowed to survive as they see as a threat to their continuation of the company. As the digital marketing heads were in the company for many years, the management takes their feedback as gospel truth. So, in short, the blame is on content.

Let us go deeper. The digital marketing heads are traditional ones with no new ideas for innovative marketing. This requires creativity and content writers are the ones who come with creativity thanks to their reading habits and the environment that shaped them to be writers. In the case of digital marketing heads, they follow a few traditional strategies which have neither rhyme nor reason. In this case, identifying new audience is important; identifying flaws in existing marketing strategy is another key area, researching on how the competitors work etc., all require keen sense of understanding as well as thinking to rework on strategies. Other than content writers, who else can do this better? If the content specialist is empowered with the task of digital marketing and developing apt content, things would have worked otherwise, results would have been achieved or breakthroughs could have been accomplished.

Hearing the sad plight of the content specialist I said, these digital marketing can be learned by any layman in one month time. But writing specialized content cannot be done by anyone so easily. If the digital marketing needs to be successful, better the management put content specialist as its head and not the digital marketing manager as its head. Or, make content specialist as digital marketing manager as that job can be learned in one month time.

Management guru Philip Kotler has said that the difficulty in procuring the product makes the price of a product. Getting a software developer is easy as there as thousands being churned out by institutes, so is the case of digital marketing executives as the trade can be taught in 20 classes. These are the people who command the content specialists by saying 'we want content'. How will the content writer not be demotivated?

As the knowledge society is constantly evolving and making yesterday's technology outdated, content plays a crucial role in marketing management right from product conceiving to selling. The bottom line here is businesses need to realize content is an important arm and should recognize content specialists are the ones with a lot of knowledge both in product development as well as in marketing. Today knowledge is everything. The best way for businesses to remain competitive is to identify intellectual content writers and pay them well and make them involved in the decision-making process. As the content writer do a lot of search about various aspects pertaining to the product, it is vital that talented content writers should be paid on par with other senior executives as they have ideas for growth.

The question of talented content writer vs. writing clerks also arises here. Today, HR managers are no longer equipped to identify the intellectual depth of a talented content writer. They see content as an ordinary task that requires fewer skills. In a knowledge society, knowledge is passed through content and through communications new methodologies come in for capturing the largest market share. In such a scenario, a talented content writer should be involved in top-level meetings to elicit his ideas for reaching different communities. They are the ones who are involved in speech writing or making annual reports for CEOs. Because of these stronger reasons, content specialists need to be treated on par with the top managers or more than production staff.

Businesses need to realize that it was the writers who were behind big leaders and made their success. It was also the writers who made many mighty ones to fall as a result of their writing. Governments reel under the impact of negative writing. The opposition gets elevated at this point. This means making and falling are in the hands of talented writers. So elevate the writers to make and fall into due recognition.

On the other hand, a talented content writer needs to think in terms of an Idea Head as through his ideas marketing happens. But the credit goes to some other C Level executive. Therefore, it is high time for the content specialists to assert for your right due.

Having said this, businesses and other top executives should shed its contempt on content. Content is the king and king deserve its honor. Imagine a scenario if the king is not respected by his subjects, there will be total collapse or chaos. Organizations live in such a state of affairs where disrespected content team don't want to give their full potential as they are not getting their due in terms of remuneration or position. A talented content writer should be treated as Ideator with due respect. This is the best way for businesses to emerge successful in stiff competition or downturns. Over to businesses to take action on this issue.

Businesses can have the advantage with empowering and promoting content writers

Article Source: If Content Is the King, Where Is King's Honor?