“If you’re not creating meaningful content that drives business, you’re only contributing to the noise.” – Shafqat Islam, Co-Founder and CEO of NewsCred
Content. The word is everywhere. That’s because content is everywhere. And that won’t be changing anytime soon.
Recently, we were invited to attend the NewsCred #ThinkContent summit on behalf of our client, AT&T. It was a full day of inspiring brands sharing their success stories through the content they have developed – both internally and with agency partners. Below we present our top 5 highlights from #ThinkContent 2017.
- Relevance is fleeting; culture is the connection that makes us hang on.
Creating continuous moments isn’t easy. When developing content, determine what defines the brand and bring it into sync with your audience to make the brand’s personality shine. Influencers are also impactful, which can further define the content journey and story hook. Occasionally, disregard the numbers. It’s not an easy one to swallow as a brand or an agency, but it takes a lot of work and time before results may be seen.
- Building a brand takes long-term vision. You can’t hack growing trust.
Many brands, National Geographic for example, have been around for 129 years and still have to grow trust within their audience. The trust has now spilled over into social media and has made National Geographic the most followed brand across all channels.Trust is more than awareness and likes. When creating content, we have to think like a customer and ask ourselves the question, “is this going to help build trust with my customers?”
- Everyone can create content. But not everyone can create value.
Content is at our fingertips whether we want it there or not. That’s why it’s crucial to focus on developing valuable content. While trust is a necessity, creating work that puts the audience first is key.
- Recognize the responsibility to the people’s stories we tell.
The truth matters, and authenticity is key. We all know exceptional storytelling performs. It elevates the emotional priorities of the audience and demonstrates the brand understands what their worlds are really like. Ask yourself these three questions when you are planning content: Does our brand fit in this story? Where does it fit? How can we reveal it in the right way?
- Create meaningful content: Be the thing they are interested in vs. interrupting the thing they are interested in.
Authenticity is the new authority. With authentic content, we create value for our audiences. But we’re up against a lot of content out there – some noise, some inspiration and some filler. To stand out from the crowd, you have to truly understand your customer, their mindset and motivations, and deliver something that resonates with them culturally and contextually.
For even more inspiration, check out these content pieces. There it is again. That C-word.
National Geographic
Nike
Optum
Photo used with permission from NewsCred.
