What’s the Big Story?
“What’s the big story today?” That’s what a former TV News Director of mine used to say when walking into my newsroom each day. The staff of reporters, producers and anchors would say what we thought was important for people to know. But the answer was usually No, No… and No. The answer was ALWAYS not necessarily what people need to know… but what people want to know. There’s a difference. There’s a correlation here to content marketing for companies. There’s a way to give people what they want… AND what your company needs them to know. Otherwise, they will tune out in…3 …2 …1.
Leave Them Wanting More
TV News and corporate content marketing are so similar it scares me! As a former TV news anchor and reporter for network affiliate stations, I remember the daily conundrum. How to tell the story in a way that makes people want more. From promotions for the story… to teases in the newscast… to the intro the anchors read. It was… and is still today… a sales pitch to stay tuned for something tantalizing, gripping and possibly life changing. The goal was to boost ratings. But the other responsibility for broadcasters is to inform. So, while the sensational stories reel in the audience… the meat and potatoes stories serves to educate the audience in what they should care about.
Shape Up Or People Will Tune Out
I find this similar to what I see in corporations today as content marketing teams ride the rough waters between the three headed beast: sales, the C-suite and marketing (with each being confused by, or not knowing, what the other is doing). Bottom line for sales is increasing sales, the C-suite’s interest is boosting profit and eliminating waste, while marketing’s task is crafting a message and brand image so that sales and profits keep rising. But you can’t always write about your product and your company… or people will tune out faster than I can write this sentence.
That’s where engaging story lines come into play. Promotion of your content and maintenance of the content you produce come into play. The beauty of DivvyHQ is that it helps you seamlessly manage all three. Divvy’s platform helps generate the ROI that C-suites love! How? Divvy helps ideation and planning, as well as organization. With production workflows that make sense to the marketing department, and a transparent content calendar for all to share, a more efficient repurposing and breaking down of silos is possible. This enables freedom and collaboration, that leads to more unique and creative content… which helps drive sales. (See how I did that?) I just wove a story that wafted naturally into what my company does so well.
Worldwide Broadcast
The News Director’s job was tricky. He had to make sure the newscasts had content that was important… but he also had to at least retain the attention of the audience… if not grow it – which was of course the goal! Same goes for content teams that are becoming more organized by the day, not just in the United States… but around the world. That’s one of the best parts of my job… and a great future blog post! I have the privilege of talking with content teams from every continent on the planet here at Divvy. The goal of each one is to grow their audience using the smartest content marketing software available today.
By the way — There’s a new book out this month by Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs. The book is Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content and there’s a quick summary of the book (Plus — 12 Tips from the book) on the MarketingProfs website.
