Content is king.

From buzzword to empty cliché: Everybody talks about content, but everybody means something different. It’s high time for a pragmatic understanding of the basics.

Content is king. But monarchies are for nostalgics. And there are still a few of them around: They continue to equate content with constituent parts. For them, content marketing is nothing more than creating and disseminating (polyvalent and free) pieces of information. If you think like that, you’re missing the bigger picture. Live communication takes a nuanced perspective.

Content is connections.

Content is far more than just the constituent parts: content is connections. “Content is always complex, because it exists in connections: connections with receivers and senders of messages, connections with themes and ideas, connections with partners and competitors”, according to Klaus Eck / Doris Eichmeier (The Content Revolution in Companies) Munich 2014. Precisely! Those who don’t simply see content as material to be channelled but as a means to establish connections and engender dialogues will go further. So far that the real client will ultimately be the focus of attention again.

Content is context.

In the Bermuda Triangle between content creation, content management and content marketing, the client often disappears without a trace, becoming no more than a statistical abstraction: page views, impressions and likes may testify to the client’s existence, but say nothing of how they live and love.

Live communication makes users real people again.

And for that to happen, content requires a context: a situation in which this content comes alive and is both tangible and sustainable. Don’t reduce content to a mere media message, but instead think in stories with protagonists, plots and punchlines. That is the stuff that emotions are made of.

Content is empathy.

Search engine optimisation is a popular pursuit in content marketing. A study conducted by Namics showed it to be the main trigger of content marketing activities in the corporate sector. (Content Marketing Study 2014/2015) Metrics and analytics are useful when it comes to reporting, but can they genuinely also create fans and followers?

We subscribe to the law of emotional resonance.

Live communication brings feelings back into the numbers game. This is why content not only needs to be measurable for us, but above all palpable too: We subscribe to the law of emotional resonance. And we aren’t the only ones, not by a long stretch. We share the view expressed by Andrew Stanton from Pixar Studios: good content “must make the audience care”. If brands get people to empathise with their message, that is a major plus. This is what live communication works towards. And not infrequently in the face of a few obstacles.

Content is concentration.

Good messages are simple. And that’s what repeatedly makes them so complicated to create. Content creation is a process of consolidation and concentration. This ultimately leads to what the refreshingly unconventional US content strategist Joe Lazauskas calls “breakthrough content“. Live communication looks at this process from the end vantage point: From the perspective of which emotions – and conversions – content is meant to trigger. By starting from the result, we aim to ensure that content isn’t just a “goody bag” but an enduring experience. Without a doubt, concentration frequently demands courage. And something else as well: a clear strategy.

Content is strategy.

“Great brands are finally realising that great content has to be integrated into every part of their marketing and communication strategy” (Joe Lazauskas). This is still uncharted territory for a lot of enterprises.

Please pack it into the next briefing.

According to the Namics study (Content Marketing Study 2014/2015), only 32% of companies that engage in content marketing have a “fully fledged” strategy. Does your company have a coherent content strategy? If so, please pack it into the next briefing. That is exactly what makes live communication strong and productive. Does your company not yet have such a strategy? Then now is the time to work with us on developing one.