A few weeks ago while pulling together slides for a client I realised that the popular phrase ‘Content is King’ not only dates back to the ultimate visionary Bill Gates’ article of 1996, but that it actually predates him too (to this guy – Sumner Redstone)! It’s amazing what you can learn from this world wide web of information. Gates’ article is an absolute must read, you can check it out here.

Gates strikes me as the kind of guy that likes a good challenge, finding a solution and then displaying his knowledge on the subject. He’s just too clever! Its been 2 decades since he published his profound vision of the power of content and how it would change the world as we knew it then. I’ve done a quick ‘back to the future’ on it and deduced how accurate or not his predictions were on the impact content would have on the internet. Through the lenses of content marketing, I’ve pulled what I consider to be the top 5 key insights from Gates’ article. As always, the core things to consider as a marketer are what your content strategy is (if you have a documented or non documented one), why you are choosing that direction and how you will benefit the consumers engaging with your content and ultimately your business.

5 Key Insights from @BillGates

1. Content is where the real money will be made on the Internet… For the Internet to thrive, content providers must be paid for their work. The long-term prospects are good, but I expect a lot of disappointment in the short-term as content companies struggle to make money through advertising or subscriptions. It isn’t working yet, and it may not for some time – Gates compared the potential growth of the internet to that of TV, powered by delivering information and entertainment. The thing with content on the internet is that the vast majority of it is free. So while all this content is valuable its been difficult for publishers to make a real killing in revenue from it. For brands, having a strong content strategy in place is vital not only for SEO benefits but for lead generation and customer engagement as well. The internet has grown at a much faster pace than other media due to technology adoption, allowing for users to find, share, generate and share again all kinds of content. This is much faster than TV content has been shared in the past or present. As Gates’ predicted, 2 decades later and the internet has thrived but content providers are still working on revenue models that will generate the kind of revenue they feel they deserve from online. Think of the different revenue generation models that have been used to date like paywalls for news media, advertising and other digital subscription models. Today the possibility that any of us can be authors of content, has fueled the growth of the internet even further!

2. Anyone with a PC and a modem can publish whatever content they can create… The Internet also allows information to be distributed worldwide at basically zero marginal cost to the publisher – the blogging trend which dates back to the late 90’s (3 years after Gates published his article) has contributed massively to the online content explosion. Coupled with social media and smartphone capabilities the internet has given voice (and power) to the consumer. While the benefits for businesses include high reach as their content can be seen by millions of people at no real costs, consumers are just as able to create their own content too. We have seen the rise of ‘user generated content’ forcing brands to shift from linear communication strategies to fully fledged connections (friendships) with consumers. Gates compared this rapid growth and sharability of content to a ‘photocopier’ which allows information to be shared at very low costs regardless of the millions of people seeing it. This freemium model means that the expectation to get free information online is ingrained in users’ psyche. Now publishers find it challenging to monetize online services. On average Google gets over 100 Billion searches a month, with more than 50% of these happening on mobile. This means you can Google, YouTube or ask Siri anything and you will more than likely find an answer for your question free of charge. With voice recognition and ‘data driven’ technologies only set to grow, it will be interesting to see how the content space evolves.

3. Partnerships, for example, the television network NBC and Microsoft recently agreed to enter the interactive news business together – Today news stations predominantly own their digital platforms, think BBC, RTE, SkyNews etc. This will eventually allow for 100% more targeted communications across platforms once traditional news publishers find a workaround. In the meantime the likes of Facebook and Twitter are shaping the future of ‘news’. News is now social and the way 18-24 year olds consume news today will detect how and where tomorrow’s news gets published. Within entertainment, we have seen services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Videos, HBO Now and Hulu disrupt the traditional TV model by not only sharing what we have always considered to be ‘TV content’ but also producing content (Netflix – House of Cards, OITNB, Stranger Things) or eliminating advertising altogether (Netflix) and or allowing for ‘binge’ viewing. The battle for advertisers to remain relevant to users is intense across all industries.

4. If people are to be expected to put up with turning on a computer to read a screen, they must be rewarded with deep and extremely up-to-date information that they can explore at will. They need to have audio, and possibly video. They need an opportunity for personal involvement that goes far beyond that offered through the letters-to-the-editor pages of print magazines – Gates was able to realise that engaging consumers far beyond the walls of a print newspaper was going to be key in successfully moving brands into the online space. We have come a long way since the static jpegs or flash ads. Think rich media formats which brands use often to engage users through advertising. Engagement rates on rich media can be up to 10 or 20 times that of standard media. Also think YouTube videos allowing users to watch, share and upload their own video content. We are living in the age of digital influencers and vloggers who direct and produce their own online reality shows! Facebook pioneered the power shift from businesses to consumers. Today augmented reality is bringing deeper experiences to another level for brands. Think Pokemon Go & the now confirmed partnership with McDonalds! Also the possibilities are endless as brands are just about scratching the surface with virtual reality experiences.

5. Some reluctance on the part of advertisers may be justified, because many Internet users are less-than-thrilled about seeing advertising. One reason is that many advertisers use big images that take a long time to download across a telephone dial-up connection. A magazine ad takes up space too, but a reader can flip a printed page rapidly – Today even with super fast broadband connections some premium publishers have maintained a consumer led strategy on their websites, prioriting editorial cobtent and user experiences over disruptive advertising. Think how long it took Facebook to embrace advertising on their platform. In 2015 its programmatic offering drove 40% growth in display advertising. Finding a less intrusive approach to advertising is key to the Facebook brand. Gates knew even 2 decades ago that online UX was vital. Today ad blocking has become the buzzword, suggesting consumers want to actively make choices on whether or not they see advertising online. Figures of users actively blocking ads still represent a small % of online users but is growing. Its estimated one in every five Irish online consumer is opting to block out ads. Native advertising offers better experiences so a well-balanced media mix is crucial in delivering better online experiences. Some media brands like Netflix or Spotify offer alternative experiences which are ad free – technically speaking they use a paywall model to protect consumers from advertising.

As Gates concludes, ‘those who succeed will propel the Internet forward as a marketplace of ideas, experiences, and products-a marketplace of content’! 

Sources:

DoubleClick

Mashable

CraigBailey

eMarketer

Forbes

TheGuardian

DigitalTrends

statingthedigitallyobvious

Was this post helpful? Comment below.