Nope, you didn’t misread that, I said ants!
So why talk about ants when mentioning content? Because, have you ever noticed how many things they have in common? No?
Okay, here are just a few to get you warmed up:
"There are thousands of different species of ants all over the world working away, building great things, unnoticed. And great content does the same thing."
Most of the time, if content is good, you don’t even realise you are looking at content. A profile pic: that's content. A great text: that's content. Copy for a website: that's content. Video company teaser: that's content. Testimonial video: that's content. Animated user guidelines: that's content. Business explainer: that's content. Just like ants, good content goes almost unnoticed but does fundamental work.
(This is almost true, as some scientists say ants take one-minute power naps...)
"Once a piece of content is created, it will literally work for you 24hours, 7 days per week, without rest or vacation. "
We recently had a case of a structural engineer who was tired of explaining time and time again to his clients what his speciality was. He now uses a simple face-to-camera business explainer to communicate with his future clients before they even reach out to him. His video works for him like a charm, 24/7, every day of the year. Useful content has no reason to sleep or take days off! It will be there for you always. Just like an ant…
I bet all you work-out fans are jealous :) Your content can be amazing in that way too, as it can carry much more than you expect.
A great article can keep attracting viewers for a long time after being published, and reach a wider and wider audience. A valued article can also help your website appear on Google’s first page as organic traffic increases. Just like an ant really, working away, as you sleep.
Both with ants and content, quantity builds force. Don’t expect one new profile pic to immediately go viral but producing constant quality content will lift you and your business up to incredible heights. Every new piece of content contributes to your story, your core message, your brand image and together they make up your force.
"They build authority just like ants build super structures"
Remember being a child and watching a trail of ants?
As should your content! Content benefits from having a relevant and consistent message. If you have a core message, you can use it as the direction in all your content. Remember that as ants, your content should always point your audience in the same direction, with the same message. Check out these guys, Two Schmucks that have a dynamic and rock-solid communication and style behind all their content. They show stunning personality, consistency and a solid direction.
This means each ant is a link. They leave the trail to lead others and to link back to the colony. Creating content is like leaving a trail for your audience. Your content includes links and internal references and most often links back to your website.Ants know that to be efficient, you shouldn’t get lost! And links are what keeps all individual content working in the same direction.
Be like an ant! Build up your content in a consistent and relevant way, and consequently profit from a stable network and high authority.
"And a little ant joke for the road: Why do ants never catch viruses?
Because they have antibodies!"
Want to share more common points between ants and content, we would love to hear from you!
Write to me at wk@takeawaycontent.com