We’re living in the information age. Everyone has access to information quite easily and it’s had a major effect on marketing.

And if you’ve talked to any digital marketing expert, you may have heard the phrase “Content is King.” And this is becoming more and more popular because of this information age we live in.

But what exactly does this phrase mean?

Truth is… If content is not apart of your online/digital marketing strategy, you’re doing it wrong. The information age has revolutionized marketing and I’ll share with you how.

1. Google is like the Cookie Monster

   Google, the most visited website on the internet, highly favors websites that have more content. Look at websites that rank for some of the most competitive search terms out there (personal injury lawyers, plumbers, financial loans, just to name a few) you’ll realize that all the websites located in the top search results have more content than websites ranking lower.

   This is also why blogs have also become more and more popular these days.

   Even if a website doesn’t necessarily have the highest quality content, it will rank over websites with the lack of content.

   So if you want to be able to get traffic from the world’s largest search engine, and most visited website, you’re going to need content on your website.

2. Content is Shareable

   You generally won’t see people sharing ads. And in many cases, that would be considered spamming. And no one likes spam.

   The greatest thing about content is that people will share it if they find it valuable.

   Valuable content will generally be helpful, entertaining, personal or controversial.

   When you have a valuable piece of content, you’ll find it quite easy to be shareable if you put it in front of the right people.

   And, guess what? Google loves shared content over non-shared content.

3. Increased Demand for Information

   About 10-15 years ago, if you had to find information on a topic, you’d have to go to the library, and search for various books pertaining to your topic. Then skim through the books to find the answer to your question.

   But today, we’re living in the information age. The easy access to information has changed all of that.

   According to Internet Live Statistics, there are about 3.5 billion searches per day in Google. Or 1.2 trillion searches per year.

   See the image below to see how this compares with stats from over a decade ago. So there are people looking for information out there, and if you create high quality information, there will be people out there willing to read and/or share your content with their followers.
   

4. Changed Buyer Behavior

   If you can vaguely remember life as it was a decade ago. If you made a large purchasing decision, how would you do it?

   Odds are that you would probably ask a friend, family member, or sales associate in the store for more information on the product to help you make a purchasing decision. But that process was much more involved.

   With the rise of information now being readily accessible at our finger tips, buyer behavior has changed. Today, people are more likely to do research online to find reviews  and ratings from consumers and editors.

   Consumers will search for services and products your business provides and to narrow down their options, they’ll choose a business based on buyer reviews and ratings. This is also why online reputation management is so important for businesses today.

Overview

So overall, you can see how the rise of the information age has revolutionized the the way we do marketing. People are searching for content more than ever these days but to really give yourself an edge over your competition, you need to be able to provide quality content for your market.