Content is Still King

Whatever the platform, content is still king and good content can find an audience.

My good friend Fred Jacobs writes about radio, my first love and for some, a dying medium. Fred wrote recently about Alice Cooper returning to Detroit to dedicate “Alice Cooper Court,” a street that he notes is, “at the sight of a former insane asylum turned haunted house this All Hallows’ Eve.”

Radio station WCSX, a classic rocker in the Motor City, was behind the effort. And the event earned some viral interest across the social network behemoths that have overwhelmed over-the-air broadcasting.

If we’ve learned anything from YouTube and Podcasting, it’s that creative content finds an audience. Whether it’s “Sis vs Bro,” appealing to mid-grade youngsters on YouTube or the growing cadre of TikTok stars, who seduce us with sixty-second slices of entertainment, we all still want connections. We all want to be entertained. And we all want to take part. Reddit’s “Ask Me Anything” series is a classic example. Famous and would-be famous names are showing up there and letting down their shields to answer anyone’s questions. It’s risky, and it drives some PR types crazy. You can’t control the audience. But like a stand-up comedian at open-mic night, you learn to manage the room.

In my social branding consulting practice, I tell people two things: What you say in the…