But how exactly do you measure greatness? Here’s a brief overview of Simon’s talk.

Consider the scales of marketing justice 

Out of the 37% of spend that goes on digital marketing (compared to 63% for traditional marketing), content is said to account for just 4%. 

This is simply because, despite the fact that paid search is expensive, it is almost guaranteed to work (even if the content is mediocre) so that’s where marketers invest their money.

However, what many brands fail to realise is that this only yields short term gain – not long term success. 

Play the long game

Instead of gambling on a short-term fix, it is incredibly important for brands to realise the value of investing both time and money in valuable content.

As an example of why brands should play the long game, Simon cited Making a Murderer – the Netflix documentary that took 10 years to come to fruition.

Despite a lack of funding or any real plan, the filmmakers stood firm in the knowledge that they were creating something truly remarkable to justify their long-standing commitment.

By being truly dedicated to telling the story of Steven Avery, they proved how investment in great content can yield greater results. 

Create a good strategy

In order to produce great content, a good strategy needs to first be put in place. 

But what exactly makes for a good strategy?

Simon outlined a three-step approach to creating one. 

As well as being free of fluff (i.e. a superficial statement of the obvious combined with a generous sprinkling of buzzwords), a good strategy should always be centred around the consumer’s needs.

This ‘See, Think, Do, Care’ framework can help marketers work out where the content gaps are in their existing customer journeys.

That same framework can not only define the content that needs to be created, but determine how much to invest.

The steps are as follows:

Remember what a great campaign can achieve

Finally, when putting a price on content, it is important to remember what a great campaign can achieve (in comparison to a good one). 

What does a successful campaign look like? If this success comes in the form of shares or traffic – how much would you be willing to pay for it?

Essentially, questions like these can help determine how much to invest.

And if the results are truly great, it’s going to be far more worthwhile in the long run.

For more on content marketing, check out these resources: