Photo “Shopping – Despair” courtesy of David Blackwell on Flickr

Newspapers have content, and the business of marketing content is, of course, content marketing.

Content marketing asks What gets and holds a reader’s attention? Then it says Do this, and you’ll get higher conversions.

We know that the news is mostly war, terrorism, political fighting, catastrophe, scandal, and tragedy. Newspapers sell discontent, or they try to. These days it’s not working so well.

The truth is that all marketing presumes discontent.

The worst thing that could happen to the global economy is a world of content people, 100% satisfied with their lives and uninterested in adding or subtracting anything from them.

Universal human satisfaction would be great, but it wouldn’t sell most products. For the economic system to function, we need millions of consumers who have a good life but not a “perfect” one.

What is the perfect life? Your life, plus an iPhone with a slightly larger screen than the iPhone screen you have. Once you have the new iPhone, the definition of perfect changes. The ideal consumer is restless and always wants bigger, brighter, more, newer, and different.

What if we were to practice content marketing in the second sense of the word—using our talents to encourage satisfied, centred, peaceful, and grateful human beings?