matt higgins

We’ve all heard the phrase “content is king.” Bill Gates made the phrase buzzworthy when he authored an essay titled “Content is King” back in 1996. Before Gates penned his piece, the phrase was the mantra of Viacom’s Sumner Redstone. Same phrase. Two different meanings. Redstone was talking about the power of ownership and distribution of content across all channels. He knew owning the content was important in terms of revenue. Gates was ultimately also talking about revenue, but in his essay, he was speaking specifically about digital media where Redstone was covering movies, TV, music, books, everything. He was letting people know what was coming. Ironically, while Gates and Redstone get the credit, the phrase had already been used in a trade magazine covering, well, magazines and editing back in the early 70s. It’s been around.

Even though we’ve heard content is king for at least five decades, it’s just as true today as it was the first time the phrase was used. And even though he said it 30 years ago, Gates’s point is undeniably correct. Content is still very much king.

People want content. The content people consume has changed and how they consume it has changed, but people still crave content. People make decisions based on content. Content influences behavior.

Good content does three valuable things:

• It helps people make better decisions
• It shapes behavior and preferences
• It builds trust and authority

Search engines are on a content mission. You need to pay attention to all of the SEO best practices, but it’s not secret tricks and cheat codes that will help you dominate search results. It’s content. Every search algorithm is designed to find good content and weed out bad content. People consume more content than ever before. It’s all content on phones, laptops, tablets, and now AI interfaces that they’re looking at. The formats have changed (short videos, podcasts, newsletters, AI summaries), but the fundamental desire for content hasn’t.

AI doesn’t work without content. Whether it’s answering a question about gardening or learning how to do a task, AI searches the internet for content. It processes information incredibly quickly and presents it far differently than typical search engines, but AI wouldn’t be what it is without content. Contrary to popular belief, AI doesn’t know everything, but it does know how to find it and use it and that “it” is content.

Make Content a Daily Habit, Not an Occasional Tactic

Too many companies treat content marketing like a lever they pull once a quarter. That’s a mistake.

Content should be a daily focus. The best results come when content becomes a consistent, ongoing focus. There’s no such thing as too much content. Every piece you create is another opportunity to attract, educate, convert, or retain your audience.

Content is still king.