The Content Rat Race In The Digital World

The content rat race is a term used to describe the competition between digital content creators to produce the most engaging, relevant, and timely content. It’s an ever-evolving process as new trends, topics, and technologies continue to emerge. As a result, it can be difficult for content creators to keep up with the pace and stay ahead of the competition.

Balancing Quality and Quantity for Small Business

Content creators for businesses find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to doing what they do best. The nature of social media, and now all forms of digital media, dictates that high quantities of content perform well because they flood the algorithm. But of course, over time, the lifespan of each published piece decreases if the quality is low. Creating and publishing content is tough, but staying relevant in the content rat race can be even tougher. Here comes the important question: is it possible to produce high quantities with high quality? The answer is a bit tricky.

Having a team and resources at your disposal will unmistakably make this an easy feat, but for small businesses, startups, and many solo entrepreneurs, this isn’t a possibility. Content marketing hinges on frequent and consistent updates. Consumers need to be reminded constantly about your business and how you can help them because they are in a competitive space. Even niche markets have this problem because the goal is always to branch out and reach new people. More content simply means more “surface area” for new eyes.

Importance of Quality and Quantity in Content Marketing

Content marketing is a wide umbrella term that covers social media, email, blogs, and any form of media used as a marketing tool. The problem many small companies face with content marketing stems from the need to reach as many people as quickly as possible. At first, quantity seems to be a good bet because it gets faster results. Unfortunately, without a good system in place, this leads to burnout and a poor strategy. Nothing hurts a marketing system and a business like having your once consistent outreach become shoddy and inconsistent because of a lack of time. Customers will notice a sudden hiatus.

Then, to the opposite end of the spectrum, there are those who produce high-quality work but so infrequently that there is little to no promotion is done. Over time there will be a build-up of views and engagement, but it hardly translates to any trackable results.

The only cure to these two issues is the elusive middle ground: a balance between quality and quantity.

Moving Beyond the Content Rat Race

It’s not as simple as creating a modest schedule and sticking to it, but also creating a strategy that will dictate the best way to move forward. Content strategists are attuned to the best practices for content marketing growth. Creating content doesn’t need to be a difficult thing. High-quality content means content that performs well, i.e., gets the results you want to see. A critically well-crafted piece of content might do well for you with a handful of individuals, but how well does it translate into your goals (sales, views, shares, likes)?

The rat race of creating content at a fast rate for the sake of the algorithm won’t give you a great advantage if you are publishing with no one looking. It also won’t serve you well to publish once a month with the hope that you convince one person to make a purchase. The rat race idea of jumping around looking for the next best thing needs to end. The perspective around marketing needs a shift from fast and furious production to producing high-performing content. High-performing content will only give you the results you need.