A Pessimistic Take on the Future of Content Marketing

I’m very pessimistic about the future of content marketing. Why?

Nowadays, content marketing has come down to “fast food content.” When I say fast food content marketing, I’m obviously not referring to the content created for the purpose of the fast-food industry and clients. This is a clear reference to the low-quality content with the sole purpose to fill in the empty cyberspace. If there is junk food, then there has to be junk content, as well. Right? We all know the answer to that question because it is all around us. This parallel is fully justified. Fast food content marketing is cheap, easy to process, and it comes in unlimited quantities. So, who is to blame? Let’s check out the list of the most usual suspects.

Suspect #1 — Content marketers

Forget about pointing fingers at me. I follow my client’s instructions. What do you expect me to do? To start a revolution? I can only imagine a scenario where I am trying to explain the concept of junk content to a client who just wants to get some words to fill in the empty website pages. As far as they are concerned Lorem Ipsum could stay on their website until the end of the Internet days. I need to find a client who’s going to appreciate the quality content. OK, I will. Approximately, one in ten clients will at least think for a moment about this problem. Yet, there are no guarantees that these thoughtful clients won’t eventually try to catch a shortcut with fast-food content.

Suspect #2 — Google

Sometimes, I have this impression that Google is some kind of entity that lives in its own space and time completely isolated from real-life and virtual networks. Google just couldn’t care less, could it? This money-making machine simply doesn’t have time to pause for a second and examine the current situation. Why should it, in the first place? The business is just doing fine as usual, as always. Why should you change the winning team? Why should you change a thing about it? There are some critics who worry about content degradation. Please, Google doesn’t have the time to worry about those “trivialities.”

Suspect #3 — Clients & Audience

Guess, they’re just following the tide. Maybe, they want to change a thing or two about it, but wait, what’s the purpose? Your competitors are ordering ridiculous amounts of junk content for a ridiculous price. So, why should you be a wise guy? Ah, you are going to invest in the top quality content and you’re going to prove them all wrong. There will be a handful of enthusiasts to give you a medal for your efforts, but your competitors will bury you alive in a matter of seconds. You want to hit the right numbers. Well, here is the news flash. The numbers are with the masses. You have to give them what they want. Otherwise, they will find a new source of junk content. They don’t have the time to think. They just want to process the content as quickly as possible and go on with their lives.

No one is to blame?!

There’s no way I’m going to say that fast-food content marketing was a spontaneous process. Yet, it’s definitely not some kind of a conspiracy either. It just happened. At one point in cyber time, someone had tried to sell a cheap content burger and obviously succeeded. So, what do you do when your first try is a success? You repeat it at least a million times. And, you keep repeating it restlessly and shamelessly.

Organic food = Organic content marketing

What’s the best way to help obese people? I don’t know but I’m quite sure it’s not by telling them stories about the food itself. They are sick and tired of it but they can’t do a thing about it. We have to reverse the process and try to heal people deeply poisoned with junk content. How? Well, we have to offer an organic burger and wait. Once they try the quality content, they will keep coming back for more. Until then we have to be patient, I guess.

I told you already. I’m not a revolutionary but rather a mercenary. You hire me to create the content for you with no unpleasant questions. Tina Turner is a private dancer and I’m a private marketer. We both dance and write for money. As simple as that. Yet, I would gladly be a part of the revolution if there was someone to lead. Even if it means for me to lose a job. Even if it means never writing again. Maybe fast food content marketing has taken its toll on me and I can’t go back. It’s too late. I forgot or maybe I have never written a single piece of quality content. It doesn’t matter. Just save the marketing world. I will be just fine. Someone will have to clean all the mess after the fast-food content marketing is gone.

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