The Balancing Act
I have a confession to make.
I’m a content creator, and I get tired of looking at content.
It’s not that I’m not interested in content. I love content. I make content. I’m literally hired by a startup to create content. But I hate how it seems like people are just making content for the sake of clicks and clout.
It’s routinely tiring to go onto YouTube and see the same exact type of thumbnails with a person making a face next to large words, with video titles such as “how to make a million dollars with dropshipping.” Exasperated, I go onto Instagram Reels, only to find a podcast with a bunch of guys – who, supposedly, are millionaire entrepreneurs – talking about turning a single 24-hour day into three separate days. I then think I can catch a break on LinkedIn, only to find lengthy posts of self-promotion, and unbelievable stories such as “I got kicked out of a restaurant. Here’s what that taught me about management.”
A lot of content is just bad. Sadly, businesses can fall victim to the same tactics used by bad content for their own content.
They end up creating a lot of noise.
I’ve recently been reading through Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller, a book all about branding and marketing through the power of story. According to Miller, “Business has a fierce, insidious enemy that, if not identified and combated, will contort our company into an unrecognizable mess. The enemy I’m talking about is noise… What we often call marketing is really just clutter and confusion sprayed all over our websites, e-mails, and commercials. And it’s costing us millions.”
So, how do businesses combat the noise, and make content that their audience actually cares for? The answer lies in having a good content strategy, which can determine what content is actually helpful to both the brand and audience – and not just a bunch of photos/videos/words taking space on the world wide web.
Although content strategy might seem like a big two words, the concept is fairly simple. In a YouTube video by the Nielsen Norman Group, Catherine Toole defines content strategy as “the balance between the user’s needs and their desires around content… married with the business needs.” In short, content strategy makes sure content is useful to both the viewer and the company.
In her book, The Content Strategy Toolkit, Meghan Casey writes, “Content strategy helps organizations provide the right content, to the right people, at the right times, for the right reasons.”
Every business – from a Fortune 500 down to freelancers such as myself – use and create content. And every person had read or interacted with content from someone. Everyone can benefit from a good content strategy, because everyone deals with content in one way or another.
I for one could use a good strategy. Personally, I mainly focus solely on digital content. More specifically, I make content for social media. As of late, I’ve been experimenting with different types of content on my channels to see what does and does not work. In a way, I am choosing to be more strategic in creating content that is valuable to my audience as well as myself. My needs are to reach potential clients/employers and network with other creatives. My viewers' needs are different from those two. Balancing my needs with my audience’s needs is what content strategy is all about.
I’ve recently explored using TikTok more. I specifically use the green screen effect to react to news within graphic design and content creation.
According to Julia McCoy in an article for the Search Engine Journal, “Every piece of content you publish should be centered around a goal. And content strategy helps you determine exactly what your goal is.” Once the goal is set, you can clean up, change, and create your content with the intent of reaching a certain objective.
Sometimes, that goal will require removing old content. When it comes to content for my own personal brand, I consider it essential to make content that is truly reflective of who I am. I only choose to remove content if it is no longer something important that I am willing to share, or no longer reflects who I am at that point in time.
For example, I recently redid my portfolio to reflect who I am as a designer. My old site contained old projects from my first-year as a design major; work that is far detached from the quality of work I create now.
A screenshot of my first portfolio. My current website is a huge improvement, and features more updated content alongside my new brand identity.
This is the same reason why businesses refresh their website from time to time, or update their visual brand, or change the copy that they use. Things get outdated. Platforms change. Society shifts. A good content strategy shares the essential content that is valuable to the viewer but also meets the goals of the company.
Content strategy is all about balance and benefit. When content balances the needs of both the customer and the company, everyone does better. The customer receives the information that they need, and the company saves money (while also making it).
Instead of mindlessly creating content, let’s be more intentional and strategic behind our content choices. We should not only think about what we want, but what our audience wants. We need to think like a content strategist.
I’m Sean Formantes, a graphic designer and content creator for social media. I am a lover of music, art, and coffee.