Content is King During the Pandemic — Just Ask Joe Exotic

Content was the unexpected winner of Quarantine 2020. From the blockbuster popularity of “Tiger King” to Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” — an album written and recorded entirely during quarantine —  having billions of people trapped at home has been a boon for every kind of content. But not every content success story features a mulleted felon with a bevy of big cats at his disposal — or even a pop princess — at its heart. No, the COVID-19 pandemic showed us in ways big and small that content is, in fact, king (no matter what Joe Exotic thinks). 

During the pandemic, mobile game downloads and engagement shot through the roof. So did the amount of time people spent using streaming services. And companies that were able to pivot and find new ways to serve their customers were able to not only survive but thrive.

Tell the truth! Are you doing online yoga classes?

How small businesses turned to digital content to keep the doors open

One of my regular gigs is managing the blog of the Mobile Growth Association, which, until recently, had mostly hosted conferences around the globe for mobile app publishers. That came to a screeching halt when COVID-19 hit, and the team quickly regrouped to embrace virtual events and accelerate the blog content to help keep its community engaged and informed during tough times. Within a few short months, we had put together a three-day global virtual conference, and started adding webinars, webcasts, and regular blog posts to the content line-up. And it’s worked — the community is more engaged than ever. 

Here’s the thing — we all know the web can open your business up to a whole new audience. But if you’re a small business that provides services in a physical location, it often doesn’t matter if you reach audiences on the other side of the globe; and so digital content hasn’t typically beena big priority. As companies big and small started looking for new ways to earn money and serve customers during COVID-19, digital content turned out to be the answer for many. 

I don’t know about you, but in the early days of quarantine, my social media feeds were flooded with images of friends and family participating in yoga classes on Zoom. That trend repeated itself over and over again in many ways, as apps devoted to meditation or fitness saw record downloads. Eventually, I also started to notice people not just taking classes from their local gyms and studios, but tuning in to classes from across the country that they normally wouldn’t have been able to attend.

Keeping content in the mix after COVID-19

No matter the status of the pandemic in your area, the fact is, we’ve all learned how vital content can be to your business model. Yes, content marketing is a great way to provide value to your users and customers when you can’t reach them physically — but content is also proving to be a revenue stream in its own right, even in unexpected industries.

Just think about all the educational YouTube channels that got a boost when millions of parents suddenly had to homeschool their kids. How many people tried yoga for the first time because they could tune in to a live class on their iPad even though there isn’t a studio in their town? I bet most instructors didn’t imagine making money through digital channels, but now that they are, why give it up?

From Netflix to MasterClass, big companies know that people are willing to pay for great content. I truly hope that, if nothing else, COVID-19 has taught small businesses that with just a little bit of creativity, they can offer their own expertise to audiences across the globe — and maybe even get paid for it.

Tell us in the comments how you got creative during quarantine and started providing great content to your customers!