Beyond Words: Decoding the World of Content

First, here’s a bit about me.

Hi! I am Sonali. I officially graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor of Technology degree, but I actually graduated before that when I learned that getting a degree doesn't define you as an expert. So, I made the internet my absolute mentor and became a lifelong learner. A learner with a curious and elegant personality (as you can see, even the word consists of my name, lol!) who loves to get hands-on with new things and explore different skills.

There comes a time in everyone's life when we somehow feel a bit lost. I too was there. And I have always believed that people who have been lost once are the ones who question the nuances of life rather than following the herd. After giving a lot of thought, I decided to pursue my profession as a writer, and that is how I have spent the last five years in the content industry. 

Well, I have always believed that you never choose a thing, you were chosen for it. To some people, it may seem that I chose something that doesn't align with my skills and knowledge but deep down I knew that maybe I was made for it. Basically, I am an engineer who often gets questioned about her profession and why she chose the content industry. My notion from the beginning has been to choose something you love, especially when it comes to work. The reason is so that you can think beyond predefined norms and create something of your own using your passion and values, or else you end up working just for money. I believe in giving your time to something that you feel is worthy enough because it is so precious. I had a vision back then, which has been refined over the years, and today I am so glad about it. Honestly, I never really had a job mindset and always wanted to do something of my own. I tried, made money, failed, but overall, learned a lot. The things I lacked were patience and insights. Maybe I was naive back then, but I eventually understood that failures and risks are essential parts of the journey if you want to reach the crest of success.

I started my content journey as a content strategist for a Canadian startup marketing agency. It was a remote role, and I made connections with people of a similar age from different regions while working with a great leader. Later, I got a chance to work for a publishing startup company, where I learned about the basics of the publishing industry. Coming from a technical domain, I had never really heard much about publishing or how to get into it. But as I started working on editorial projects, I fell in love with my work and decided to continue my profession as an editor and writer. There, I spent time learning how content is created, edited, and published. The company created competitive books, so my work involved creating and editing content, proofreading, solving questions, and creating answer keys. I learned a lot there and then switched to a mid-sized firm to upgrade my skills and knowledge in publishing as an editor. Alongside my full-time jobs, I also worked as a freelancer for other organizations and got great projects to work on. The best part about my work was working on books that were going to be used by kids in schools. This comes from my love for books, which I have had since childhood. That is what really made me love my work the most. And this is how I have completed my four years in the publishing industry as an editor, proofreader, and content creator.

Though I loved my work, but it came with certain cons that I knew about still kept avoiding. The publishing industry basically follows a manual style of working, because of which I lost most of my technical skills. The industry also rarely gives employees the option to work from anywhere. Now, when I look around myself, I see that the tech world has advanced a lot and I find myself a bit behind. And here is why I am now getting back to my technical world just to enhance my creative domain and upgrade myself to a whole new level. Doing a job I love while also focusing on my vision ahead, with patience and courage in my heart and mind.

So, that is my story in brief so far. And with all the knowledge I have gained over the years about the content world, here I am going to share some insights from my domain through this article.

Introduction

If I ask you what content is, what would you say?

I know some might say social media posts, while others might say blog posts.

Now, if I ask you.. where you see content most of the time, what would you say?

Let me answer that. You can see content everywhere: in books, newspapers, documentation, research papers, blog articles, social media, advertisements, billboards, presentations, movie dialogues, lyrics, emails, and much more.

Content is more than just words. It is a way to communicate with the world, share ideas, and represent yourself.

Now, before we dig deeper into this, let's understand some of the common modes of writing.

Types of Writing

We know that there are different types of writing, and based on our interests and the kind of work we want to pursue, we can choose the style that suits us best.

1. Narrative Writing: This is for those who love telling stories and consider themselves storytellers. Narrative writing is all about telling a story, to narrate something through characters, dialogues, and a plot. The main idea of this type of writing is to present a situation or experience through a story. It is often suited to creative thinkers with a strong imagination who enjoy developing ideas through long-form writing. Some examples of narrative writing include novels, short stories, autobiographies, biographies, novellas, and scriptwriting.

2. Expository Writing: This is for those who are more into logical things and love reading about facts and information. The main purpose of expository writing is to explain and inform readers about a particular topic without adding personal opinions. It is one of the most common types of writing and is widely used in educational and professional contexts. Some examples of expository writing include textbooks, news articles, research papers, and technical documentations.

3. Descriptive Writing: The goal of descriptive writing is to paint a picture in the reader's mind using words. It can be used to describe a character, event, place, scene, or situation in detail. If you have strong visualization skills and can portray your thoughts and feelings vividly, then this kind of writing might be for you. This type of writing often uses figurative language and sensory details to evoke emotions and help readers visualize what they are reading. Some examples of descriptive writing include poetry, fiction, memoirs, and diary writing.

4. Persuasive Writing: The main goal of persuasive writing is to persuade readers to agree with a particular viewpoint or take a specific action. So, if you are good at convincing people through your words and arguments, this kind of writing might suit you well. Some examples of persuasive writing include advertisements, essays, cover letters, and online reviews.

Those who pursue writing as a career might choose one or more of these writing styles based on their interests and strengths. They can then use their skills to create content for the industry they work in.

Understanding Content Marketing and Branding

Content plays a crucial role in every organization, from publishing firms to technology corporations. Coming from a publishing background, I have seen firsthand how content serves as a fundamental product and holds immense value for an organization. However, content is not limited to publishing. It plays an equally important role across other sectors, helping organizations communicate, educate, and engage with their audiences, build their brands, and drive growth.

Talking about brands, the next question is: What is a brand?

A brand is more than just a company, product, or service. It is the reputation, perception and emotions that people develop around a company or an individual. Over time these perceptions help build recognition and more importantly, trust between a brand and its audience. This long-term relationship is what helps a company or individual establish itself as a strong brand.

Broadly, we can look at two types of brands: Product/Service brands and Personal brands.

Product/Services Brand: Every company has executive leaders such as the CEO, CFO, CTO, and CMO, among others. Each of them plays an important role in an organization, and so does the CMO, or Chief Marketing Officer. When you think of some of the world's top brands, companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft may come to mind. These companies invest heavily in marketing to build awareness, communicate their value, and strengthen their relationship with their audiences. The CMO is responsible for leading the company's overall marketing strategy and promoting its products or services through different channels. Creating a product is one thing, but making people aware of it, connect with it, recognise it, and trust it is equally important. Depending on the organization, professionals such as brand managers, product marketers, content marketers, performance marketers, and PR professionals may work together as part of the broader marketing function to build and strengthen the brand.

Personal Brand: The celebrities you see on social media, such as Selena Gomez, Priyanka Chopra, and Virat Kohli, have built strong personal brands. Through their professional skills, public reputation, values, and consistent presence, they have created unique identities in the public eye. They have built long-term credibility with their audiences through their work. Their visibility and authenticity help them connect with their followers on an emotional level, which eventually builds trust. This is one of the reasons we often see famous actors and athletes appearing in advertisements for major companies. Over time, some celebrities also use their personal brands to launch their own businesses. For example, Selena Gomez launched Rare Beauty, while Virat Kohli has been associated with brands such as Wrogn. Celebrities may also collaborate with existing companies, enter partnerships, or take equity stakes in businesses. So, a personal brand is not simply about being famous. It is about building a recognisable identity, creating value for an audience, and earning their trust over time.

Brands need a way to communicate their values, tell their stories, educate their audiences, and build relationships and content becomes one of the most powerful tools to do that.

The Rise of Personal Branding

With the growing influence of social media and the internet, almost everyone is trying to become an influencer or content creator. But not everyone becomes a personal brand.

A personal brand is built when you go beyond simply creating content and start building a recognisable identity around your knowledge, skills, personality, values, and expertise. You consistently provide value to your audience, build trust, and create a community that connects with what you represent. Some examples of strong personal brands include Ali Abdaal, MrBeast, and Gary Vaynerchuk. They have built large audiences not just because they create content, but because people recognise them for a particular identity, expertise, or style. This has also changed the way companies market their products. Today, many brands collaborate with content creators and internet personalities to reach specific communities and connect with audiences in a more personal and relatable way, alongside traditional celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood. 

So, if you want to build a personal brand, the question is not simply “How can I become an influencer?” but rather “What do I want to be known for?”

As I keep learning about content and storytelling through various channels like social media, books, websites, and real-world projects. So here are five types of content that you should create to grow yourself on social media.

1. Provide value through your learnings: Instead of making videos on every topic at the beginning, choose one niche and start making videos on that topic. The goal is to provide value to your audience through your learnings. When they learn something valuable from your content, then they will not only trust you but stick with you longer and support you. And also recommend your social media channels to their friends and family.

2. Personal journey stories: Share your personal journey with your audience, like your achievements, failures, successes, habits, and whatever you are currently learning. Your followers actually consider you their leader/coach/teacher or whatever. Why? Because you are teaching things to them and providing value to them through your content. They want to know about your life as well. This will not only inspire them but also let them connect with you emotionally.

3. Share your artwork: This works well for creative people. If you are an artist, you can start sharing your art with your audience along with teaching them tips about your craft. Like if you are a musician, you can teach people how to sing or play an instrument. And also share your songs with them.  The criteria is simple: to gain trust from your audience and then sell your work.

4. Cover up trending content: Stay updated with the social media trends and make videos around them. This helps you boost your presence and gets you the attention of people on social media channels.

5. Stories of people: If you want to share stories about other people in a similar domain you are in, then this is the best option. Start a podcast, invite people, ask a lot of questions, and let your audience hook into your channel. This will not only help you broaden your community circle, but sharing life experiences about other people will help your audience learn more. Remember, collaboration is a great way to make connections and learn from others.

The Role of Storytelling in Marketing

When we hear the word story, we might visualize something made up of characters, a setting, and a plot. Now, let's go back to the old days. When I say Cinderella, we might visualize the story we have seen in Disney's adaptations. And when I say Romeo, we might immediately think of Shakespeare's famous play. 

But stories aren't confined to books and movies. Of course, these are some of the most familiar forms of storytelling, but the world of storytelling goes far beyond them.

Stories are an emotional way of communicating and representing an idea, a person, or even a brand. And the stories that stay with us long after we have experienced them are the ones we remember as great stories. Great marketers understand the power of storytelling. They use stories to represent their products, communicate their brand values, and build emotional connections with consumers. 

Think about the advertisements you see on television or streaming platforms. A marketer could simply say, “Use this product. It is useful and can solve this problem.” But that's rarely enough to capture people's attention. Instead, creative and marketing teams spend days developing advertisements that use visuals, music, characters, emotions, and narratives to make the message more engaging and memorable. The goal is not just to tell people about a product but to make them feel something about it.

Marketing is all about presenting your brand to the world so that people recognize it, understand it, and connect with it. Selling is a different part of the process, but both marketing and sales ultimately work towards the same business goal.

The current market is full of competition, and with advancing technology, that competition will continue to grow. In recent years, we have seen countless startups emerge, with new products solving similar problems in different ways. In such a competitive market, only a few manage to stand out and sustain themselves, while others may struggle, pivot, or get acquired. And this is where unique storytelling becomes important. How you present your product, what story you tell about it, and how people feel when they interact with your brand can make a significant difference. The great storytellers understand this well.

When we talk about great market leaders, how can we forget Apple?

When we hear the name Apple, many people immediately think of the visionary who became one of the most recognizable faces of the company: Steve Jobs. While Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple) played a crucial role in Apple's early engineering and technical development, Jobs played a major role in shaping Apple's product vision, business strategy, marketing, presentation, and user experience. Jobs was particularly known for his ability to communicate ideas and present products in a compelling way. He understood that a product wasn't just about its technical capabilities, it was also about how people experienced it, perceived it, and connected with it. Over the years, Apple has built a strong brand identity around its products, design, innovation, and user experience. People don't simply buy an Apple product for its technical specifications; the brand itself carries certain associations and emotions for its customers.

And that is the power of storytelling and branding: when people connect with the story behind a product, they don't just remember what you sell, they remember what your brand represents. Like Apple says: Think Different.

The Changing Face of Marketing

Over time, the rise of short-form videos has taken over the digital world. What started with TikTok soon moved to Instagram and almost every other social media platform. Today, these platforms use this psychology of quick, engaging content to keep users scrolling for hours.

You may have heard about recent reports of AI companies using physical books and other copyrighted content to train AI models. Well, this isn't only because AI is the future. It also reflects how the way we consume information is changing. Over the last few years, people's reading habits and attention patterns have changed significantly. I know some of you may still prefer physical books over digital content, but a large number of people now prefer watching videos rather than reading lengthy text.

You can see the statistics in this article of how the use of video in marketing has grown over the last decade. And I remember reading an article that mentioned an interesting info: "90% of consumers say they watch videos online every week, and nearly two-thirds say video helps them make purchasing decisions." 

I watched one of the videos by a YouTuber a few years ago and learned that when we use most of our senses while learning something, the concept tends to stay in our brain for a longer period. And here comes our first reason why video marketing is important. Video is no longer just about entertainment. It has become one of the most powerful ways for brands and creators to build awareness, and connect with their audience emotionally. 

So let us understand 3 reasons why video marketing has become so important today.

1. Visuals Grab Attention Faster Than Text: Videos combine visuals, sound, text, and storytelling, which makes them a powerful way to communicate an idea quickly. And that’s why almost everyone is creating videos today. Businesses are using them to explain their products. Artists are using them to showcase their work. Professionals are using them for personal branding. And creators are using them to build communities. In a world where everyone is competing for attention, video gives you a much better opportunity to stop the scroll and communicate your message.

2. Video Helps You Build Trust: When you consistently show up online and share useful content, people gradually become familiar with you. And familiarity can create trust. This is especially important for personal brands and businesses. Through videos, you can show your personality, explain your ideas, demonstrate your expertise, answer questions, and communicate directly with your audience. You’re not just selling a product or service anymore. You’re allowing people to know the person or story behind it. And that connection can turn viewers into followers, followers into a community, and eventually, into customers.

3. Video Improves Retention: We consume a large amount of information everyday. So the challenge isn't just getting someone's attention; it's making them remember what you said. This is where video can be extremely powerful. A good video combines visuals, voice, text, music, examples, and storytelling to communicate an idea. For example, if I simply tell you how a product works, you might understand it. But if I show you the product being used, explain it while demonstrating it, and tell you a story around it, the information becomes much easier to follow and remember. That’s why storytelling and video work so well together. You're not just simply giving information. You're creating an experience around that information. And when people remember your message, they are more likely to remember you. 

Overall, if a strategy is used properly and in the right way, it can make things easier and more effective.

Conclusion

I may not know everything about content, marketing, or business, but I have shared an overview of what I have learned so far through my experiences and continuous learning. I don't hold a degree in business or marketing but as I mentioned at the beginning, I made the internet my absolute mentor. It has introduced me to countless ideas, people, industries, and perspectives. And even today, I keep learning from it because I believe there is always something new to discover and something new to improve.

Maybe not everything I learn will be directly useful today, but I believe knowledge always finds its place somewhere along the journey. What I learn about content, marketing, technology, storytelling, or business might help me connect the dots tomorrow in ways I cannot see today.

More than anything, my goal is to meet people who are like me or who are smarter than me. I believe making things, building ideas, and creating something meaningful is ultimately about people. When you surround yourself with curious minds, good energy, and people who gaenuinely want to learn and create, you are more likely to grow not just professionally, but also as a person.

And while I am constantly learning, creating, and figuring out what comes next, there is one thing I want to keep above everything else: my humanity.

Because skills can be learned, careers can change, businesses can grow, and technology will keep evolving. But staying curious, kind, authentic, and human is something I never want to lose along the way.

PS: 

I attended Apple's virtual event on September 9. If you missed it and want to watch it, you can find the event here.

Learning from books is one thing, but understanding how an enterprise presents and showcases its products to the world is another. I absolutely loved the event. The introduction was wholesome and beautifully done. Obviously, everyone loved it.

This year, Apple launched its very first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo. Gave us a detailed look at the new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, along with updates to the Apple Watch and AirPods. The event also gave a detailed overview of Apple's new A20 Pro chip, built on a 2-nm process.

What I found particularly interesting was not just the products themselves, but the way Apple team presented their products through the storytelling, visuals, presentation, and attention to detail. As someone interested in content, marketing, and filmmaking, I found a lot to learn from the way the entire event was put together.

So yeah, that's it for this article. I hope you learned something from it, just as I continue to learn from everything around me.

See you soon with more data, stories, and life. ;)