I think we are all tired of talking about the economy, on some level, but one thing I attribute to our downturn has been the subsequent rise in the value placed on content.
A friend of mine called me this week to talk about some clients of theirs that have vast amounts of content they are seeking to package and monetize. Another group we are talking to has a need to create vast amounts of content to springboard a community and generate highly positive organic search results.
Every day, I am having conversations with organizations about their marketing needs. Whether the organization has content and needs to be more effective in deploying the content, or whether the organization has a deficit of content or a deficit of resources, and needs help, the priority of content has increased dramatically.
I think it’s because content is like access to credit or capital, it’s fueling growth. Particularly in an internet marketing environment.
How did we get to this place where content became so important to so many companies?

I think, in part, because of the economy. But I think it’s also a part of an on-going“A-ha” moment where organizations are realizing that traditional advertising a PR approaches may not be as effective in a world where every organization has the ability to create their own direct channels of media with customers or members. While some companies have long recognized the importance of recurring customer media, others are just now beginning to understand that one of the most important roles a company or organization plays is keeping their customers informed, motivated and passionate: Just the types of objectives great content can solve.
Many organizations started challenging what they were doing and why they were doing it. Organizations started to question the value of the content they were creating, started to notice an absence of a strategy in some cases, or they noticed that their business needed more customers, or more engaged customers.
As the business model for advertising agencies and PR firms gets squeezed, all groups are racing to try to provide content. Well, I’m comfortable with the fact that a company that has an expertise in creating or sourcing content, deploying that content to solve a business need, and one that sets benchmarks to measure success, is what organizations need right now.