All of us, at some point in our lives, had heard someone telling us those three beautiful words- Content is king. 

It is one of those pervasive mantras of the 21^st century which appears everywhere from impromptu marketing strategy meetings to Ted Talks, to the shenanigans of millions of self-proclaimed influencers on social media; all of them trying to convince us that it is their content that is the rightful KING. 

We all know that they are not. The modern human wakes up and the first thing they do is dive into their phone. And, they are bombarded with gazillions of news articles, opinion pieces, ads, puns, memes, trends of the day, and so on. And, most of them are too common to be kings. They are repetitive, boring, unimaginative, and unoriginal. Just existing to fill the wide hungry hole of information that digital media has created in our lives.

Now, as this article has begun to sound too much like a critique of the modern-day internet, let us take a detour and imagine a realistic situation. A vexing situation where you are hungry, but being a modern-day warrior, you don’t need to go to the forest and hunt and then do a million preparations to feed yourself. You just get on Zomato, find what you like, and order it. Simple. Well, no. Because the internet is down. Your hunger turns into rage and you curse everything in God’s green world.

And, then you see this-

(Source: Zomato)

This is the message that appears on the Zomato app window. Short, succinct, appropriate, imaginative, original and it makes you laugh. You wonder why you never thought of this little joke; it is so relatable. Your anger forgot, even your hunger to some extent, you do exactly what the brand wants you to do. Try again! Call To Action successfully implemented by the power of content. Voila.

And, these are the basic attributes which a brand with a great content marketing strategy must-have, so that their content can stand out from the horde of average ones and do its job: – Engage the viewer.

• Keep it simple stupid! Another one of the content advertising strategies that has endured over the years. Let’s consider this gem from Paytm, one of the best content creator brands in India:

(Source: Paytm)

A simple but beautiful message told in an effective way. It engages the viewer, is universally relatable to all kinds of TGs and the brand placement does not seem forced or awkward. No need for any grand messaging or a convoluted concept; just simple intelligent graphic design with an ordinary CTA. And, the end result is extraordinary.

If we are talking about relatable, then we must talk about Durex. Before Durex came along with its gems of moment marketing and topical content creation Condom brands in India were known for awkwardly cringe ads which more often than not invited backlash from the audience. Let us have a look at some of Durex’s social media ads: –

(source: Durex)

The first thing that stands out is the clean-cut and minimalist representation. And, then there is relatability. The brand and its content creators have deviated from the usual over-the-top representation of sex we usually see in media and succeed in talking about it in a light-hearted everyday manner. The message is clear, that the communication around safe sex does not have to be very serious or embarrassing it can be easily demonstrated in a witty, relatable, and easy manner. 

These are only some of the ways that a brand’s content can achieve that coveted kingly status. There are many other brands apart from those mentioned in this article whose content creators and marketing strategists keep devising unique ways to reach out, converse, and engage the audience.

So yes. All those marketing agency heads who emphatically insist to their new recruits that the content is king are absolutely correct. But, it takes a deep understanding of the product, the brand values, the target audience, and most importantly the ambition to create something new and original which makes the content special. The content that converts!

Design Pundit is one of the leading digital ad agencies in Delhi-NCR with more than 11 years of experience in content creation and designing strategies to make them effectively reach the TGs. We help you build your brand, not just to be successful or profitable, or futuristic. We also help you make it charismatic, inspiring, and legendary with our ever-evolving content marketing strategies and innovations.