We are excited about Google Fiber coming to Austin. Life is only going to get more convenient and more powerful for our town. As our world becomes more about bits rather than atoms, the opportunity to be open for the world 24/7 with a customer experience engagement starts with digital assets, namely content assets. People are searching and sharing information continually and business is open when there is access and content to digest.
While media continually changes and can be pushed through gigabit pipes, the fact that we are all readers does not change. We consume information in the form of written content to get answers, learn something new or just to be entertained. Google is not only making it faster, but it is continuing its mission of organizing the world’s information into what is helpful for the customer’s experience. Speed and quality of content are part of that mix.
If all your content is still in your head rather than available 24/7 for the world, then each day that goes by is a day you are left behind.
Take this article for example. It will be read by thousands of people over the years after it has been posted, indexed and available to the world. It will be found and used in many different ways. It is immortal on the internet where people can find what they are seeking in easier and faster ways.
Your own knowledge becomes an asset if it is made available on a platform, distributed to your networks and lives persistently for search engines to provide results to focused information seekers.
Think Of Your Content As A Store
Whether you sell hard goods or services, your content is a store front. It doesn’t have to close because it doesn’t need to obey the laws of natural human interactions. The internet is always on. There are no people to manage the store or lights to turn off.
As people are thinking of things, they search. If you have authority and credibility then you can get found and provide a pathway of engagement if you have remarkable content.
The store only works if you have a thoughtful customer experience that gives people what they want in a pleasant and valuable way. It’s a self-service model with thoughtful design integrated into the fabric of the system.
Information highways are continuing to get upgraded and hooking into places that bring value to those that travel the bitways looking to meet their needs. In the changing game, think of each piece of content like the bricks and mortar we value in the physical world. It’s an asset that we care about and build meticulously one layer at a time.
What would your store look like in this 24/7 model?