Curated Quotes | Content is King, but Context is God | Gary Vaynerchuk

Over the last year, everyday I set out to learn something new that I can implement in my businesses. When it came down the online business, I've been lucky to come across content from guys that are actually on the same journey as I am which in return, allows me to create valuable content for my audience.

Some of the strategies, techniques and tools that they talk about and use in their daily work life online I've been able to learn and also try for myself. While everyone has a distinct way of building their online businesses, one of the similarities among most of them is the emphasis that is put on content. The message has always stayed the same; Content is King.

Now I think that we all can agree that the statement holds some truth because it is the content that really matters to the audience and people are getting content in their faces everyday and everywhere they go. The question that now comes into play is "Does everyone receive content in the same way?"  

That's the major problem.

The problem lies in the fact that most of the time, the content is not presented to the audience in the proper context. As Gary stated in the quote, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, 

“You can put out good content, but if it ignores the context of the platform on which it appears, it can still fall flat.”

Meaning of the Quote

Content may be King, but Context is God

You understand why Content is King, but what exactly does Context is God means?

First and foremost, this has absolutely nothing to do with religion. This is simply a statement to show that Context is priority over content. So what does the quote, Context is God means. 

Well if you take a look at some of the older marketing industry techniques, it involves radio and TV ads, billboards, paid online ads, etc. The one thing that all marketers who market products through those channels know is that they have to advertise differently across the different channels. A product ad advertised on TV will have to be advertised differently on radio simply because the audience receives the information in different ways. 

With a TV commercial, there's visuals and sound involved that the audience has to sit and watch to receive but with a radio commercial, there's only sound. There's differences and similarities to both of these channels but there's one main point:

Even if you are marketing the same product, it has to be shared in the proper context of that platform.
 
Its also similar with the new marketing channels today which includes social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Snapchat, YouTube and many others. These are the new media channels of this generation and each of them has something uniquely different about them which means that you have to advertise differently across the social platforms.

If you are a reader of Gary Vaynerchuk's blog, he gave three tips on creating context for your audience in the article, Content is King, but Context is God, which I will try to interpret the meaning of each tip in my own way.

Respect the audience and the Platform
 
Respecting the platform basically comes down to the way the platforms are intended to be used and understanding how your audience is using that platform. Posting a picture with lots of hashtags is okay on Instagram and Facebook, because of how the platforms is setup to be used by the users. On the other hand, users on twitter rather see fewer hashtags on their feed. 

As Gary puts it, "Its all about respecting the psychology of what people are doing when they're on the platforms."

Respecting your audience is similar, in that you need to focus on the things your audience wants and needs rather than what you want or need. This is also what I was talking about in Choosing the Best Niche Topic For Your Blog, where I was explaining that you need to add value where it needed. Finding solutions to your audience problems.

If I ran a blog about babysitters in the area, my targeting audience will mainly be parents in that community. Every parent wants to know everything they can about the person who is looking after their children so if I can provide the information that they will need to make better choices, you will earn their trust and relationship. 

Auditing all the babysitters in the community and making the results available to the parents is one way that you can start building a connection and provide value to the parents.  

Don't Interrupt The Experience

Lately, Gary has been putting a lot of emphasis on product placement instead of TV commercials and for a good common reason. No one likes to be interrupted by a TV commercial, and when we are interrupted, we tend to take our attention elsewhere until whatever we are watching comes back on. So in reality, many brands and companies are still spending big bucks on their TV advertisements that no one cares to spend their precious time watching.

Instead of interrupting the viewers favorite TV show with TV commercials, take that same marketing budget and spend it on placing products within TV show.

Do you remember seeing FedEx all throughout the movie "Cast Away." While there were a lot of speculations around the whether or not FedEx paid for the placement or not, it was revealed that while they did not pay for the placement, the movie executives received permission and resources (boxes, uniforms, trucks, etc) from FedEx which in turn gave them major recognition.

This is a perfect example of using product placement to avoid interrupting the viewers experience.

Be Consistent and Self Aware 

Being consistent is self explanatory. You need to consistently give value to your audience as much as you possibly can. Being on time, posting on a regular basis, constantly engaging in conversations with your audience are some of the examples of being consistent. 

A major part of being consistent also deals with keeping the relationship between you and your audience as pure as possible. Being transparent with your content and being truthful about it is key to keeping the relationship between you and your audience alive and healthy. Also having the back story to prove who you are and your motive is very important not just for the sake of what you are doing, but to the audience. People generally wants to know more about the person or product before they spend their money and time.

Being self aware also ties in with being consistent much like the "I do good by you, You do good by me" effect. If you have a business with several employees, it is usually said that the employees are a direct reflection of their boss. So if you have a bad boss that never gets anything done, comes in late and treats the employees without respect, more than likely the employees will display those same actions as a result of their bad leadership they are receiving. 

Now if you have a great boss, comes in on time, get things done and treats his employees with respect, it is shown that the employees will build upon that culture and display the same qualities with each other. 

If there is one thing you should take away from this, it's that while you are focusing on putting out great content, you should Always make sure you are putting out that Content in its' correct Context.

Origins of the Quote: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk

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