In the second of this four-part series, Augusto – who have led the curve in content strategy and creation for more than 10 years on some of the rising trends in content marketing – discuss how an editorial vision allows brands to create content faster, more often, and with a better understanding of the value they’re bringing to the conversation.
What we’re seeing:
Here’s a good one. When you add up all of the average amounts of time people spend doing things on a daily basis, we’re apparently living a 31.5 hour day. It’s because, with the exception of sleep (although I’m sure someone’s working on a fix for this), we’re multitasking more than ever.
It’s a scary statistic but it does demonstrate the growing ubiquity of content. Cooking, shopping, working, hanging, learning, reading, watching, these are all activities being enriched by a layer of additional media.
Why is this important
As content marketers this is great, there’s never been more opportunity in which to engage an audience, but there’s also never been as much competition for people’s attention. We’re competing with everything. And for audiences, all this content can be exhausting especially when it’s being interrupted with advertising. It’s led to an increasing number of people installing Ad Blockers on their computers and smartphones, and they cite ‘interruptions’ and security concerns as the motivator.
These changes in audience behaviour are also changing the channels on which content is being viewed. Recently in America, a live stream of people playing the video game Fortnight pulled a bigger audience than the season finale of The Walking Dead. And that’s not unusual. Events like Fortnight Friday are now regularly pulling bigger audiences than many cable channels.
Creating great content isn’t just about making it entertaining, it’s about making it useful and relevant to the viewers’ interests. And brands that understand these dynamics are finding a natural home in these new channels.
What you need to know:
Like all good media organisations, a modern brand needs an editorial vision. One that clearly defines it’s areas of knowledge and expertise, but also allows for an opinion on key subjects. This allows brands to create content faster, more often, and with a better understanding of the value they’re bringing to the conversation.
In addition to knowing your brand architecture, an editorial vision requires you also know your audience, the channels they’re active on, and the behaviours that motivate them. Having a customer journey is useless without the knowledge of the human needs and desires that prompt people through it. An editorial vision lets brands act with purpose, transparency and relevance.
- For more insights into content strategy and development, visit us at augusto.co.nz
To see the other stories in the ‘What makes us click’ series, click here.
