Let’s be honest. We’ve just been piling it on, haven’t we? Often with zero regard for our intended audiences.

“Content,” like “quality,” has lost its meaning. Our overuse of the term – and our abuse of the discipline – has made it a tired and meaningless conceit. Content, for the sake of content, should never have been a goal. It may help SEO but it, very often, does not serve society well.

We (marketers and communicators) are an industry that loves to change up and fancify our nomenclature and glorify the role we play. We talk about thought leadership, stakeholder engagement, reputation management, strategic positioning, Branding (uppercase intentional) … the list goes on. And on. But it’s always just been about figuring out who our customers (and other audiences) are and how we can get them to know us, like us, trust us and tell their friends about us.

“Content marketing” will soon be replaced with a new buzz phrase. And, I hope, our bizarre obsession with content will go away, too.  

I mean, how did regurgitation become a desirable thing in the first place? (I have a puppy; trust me. This should not be an aim. And yet….) 

Full disclosure: I sometimes call myself a “content creator.” But I much prefer the title of writer. And I like to research and write with a specific – yes, even noble – purpose in mind. While we know nothing is unique but God (thank you, Ursuline nuns), when I write, I want it to be crunchy and to evoke curiosity, thought and conversation. Far too much of what we read these days was written for rankings and clicks – rather than to help people become more informed, inspired, entertained, accomplished, successful or healthy.

If we are genuine and purposeful – and truly interested in serving our constituents – good content will follow. Let’s stop putting the content before the proverbial horse.