"the emperor has no news" - sioux falls content strategy group, october 2011

The Emperor Has No News

The Future of the Corporate News Feed

“We’re gonna update it, Daddy.”

We’re at an odd point in the history of marketing where

brands can talk to us.

The concept of a post-purchase relationship with a customer is

quite novel.

Relationship Starters

!  Purchased digital content that required an account

!  “Liked” them on Facebook !  Tweeted about them !  Registered at their website

What should/can brands “say” to make us buy more of their

products?

How is news different from other content?

Question #1

How effective is news content?

Question #2

How can news content be made more effective?

Question #3

News as opposed to…

!  Reference content !  Branding/lifestyle content

News vs. Reference Content

!  Reference content generally has no time sensitivity

!  Reference content is pulled, news content is pushed.

!  Reference content is generally known-item searching – it’s not usually browsed

News vs. Branding Content

!  Branding content is meant to drive home an impression of a brand

!  Imparting actual information about an organization is secondary

!  More advertising, less news

Key Differences of News Content

!  Time horizon !  Information architecture !  Delivery !  Intent

Time Horizon

Time Horizon

!  Temporal vs. Eternal !  Post vs. Page !  Blog vs. Wiki !  Dynamic vs. Static !  Chronological vs. Permanent

CNN

Wikipedia

“With Wikipedia, you’re not seeing a series of posted items. You’re seeing a

single body of information, continually updated and groomed.

Thus, the basic information stays right where it’s easy to see. Wikis are more

‘speak to me like I know nothing’ information, rather than ‘tell me the

very latest nuance’ information.”

Time Horizon

!  News is generally tied to some moment in time.

!  It either follows or precedes an event. !  After the moment has passed, does news

have any value? !  Is the event of any historical importance?

Information Architecture

Information Architecture

!  News content is not “placed” !  It’s generally subject to two large groupings:

!  Date !  Topic

!  Pages have an intentional relationship to the pages “around” them.

!  News items have no “spatial” relationship with other content.

!  Only relationships: !  Time !  Topic

Delivery

Push or Pull?

Pull?

!  Very few people browse news feeds

!  Any searching of news feeds is generally known-item searching

!  Posting news items to a news feed is helpful as a link target

Push

!  To the general public, news content is pushed, rather than pulled

!  Users know that reference content is there, so they go looking for it – known-item searching.

!  They don’t know news content exists, and it’s temporal, not permanent.

Problem: Pushing news dilutes your

analytics.

Solution: Push notifications which drive

users to pull from a single location.

Drive traffic to a central point

Intent

The Big Eight !  To Inform !  To Impress !  To Associate !  To Introduce or Elaborate !  To Recount, Then Position !  To Educate, Then Position !  To Comply !  To Magnify

To Inform

!  Promote an event the consumer might want to be involved with

!  Recount an event the consumer might not have been involved with

To Impress

!  To demonstrate some level of momentum !  “Top of mind awareness” !  “Forget me not”

The audience is often the press or financial analysts.

To Associate

!  Associate the organization with another that might be held in esteem

To Introduce or Elaborate

!  Explain services and offerings from the organization that the consumer might not be aware of

!  New product announcements

To Influence

!  Official position on a government decision or external event

To Recount, Then Position

!  Tell a story of a particular event and then position the organization’s utility to this event

!  “Case Study”

To Educate, Then Position

!  Announce a statistic, then position the organization’s response

!  Traditionally the domain of white papers !  Oftentimes they maintain a veneer of

neutrality

To Comply

!  Required announcements

To Magnify

!  Our organization “in the news”

How do we make news better? Painful Facts and Key Questions

Almost* no one is going to browse the news on your website

through sheer interest.

Painful Fact #1

A majority of news is posted out of a sense of obligation or

routine, with no larger goal or plan of action.

Painful Fact #2

News that is not proactively targeted to an audience and then

pushed onto that audience is probably wasted.

Painful Fact #3

Who is the audience for this news item?

Key Question #1

Something is only

“newsworthy” in the context

of an audience.

How is my audience going to find out about this news?

Key Question #2

News that isn’t pushed, is news that is wasted.

What do I want this audience to do because of this news item?

Key Question #3

The Big Eight !  To Inform !  To Impress !  To Associate !  To Introduce or Elaborate !  To Recount, Then Position !  To Educate, Then Position !  To Comply !  To Magnify

Goals

!  Attend an event !  Know about a product or service offering !  Develop a sense of urgency about their

circumstances !  Think more highly of my brand

What steps have I taken to enable my audience to achieve my goal?

Key Question #4

What is the call to action?

1. Who is the audience?

!  Current clients !  Prospective clients !  Prospective employees !  Local press

2. What is the goal?

!  To Impress: !  Blend is growing and therefore needs more staff

to keep up with demand !  To Inform:

!  Be aware that Blend now has increased capacity and can engage more work

3. How is it pushed?

!  RSS ! Facebook !  Twitter !  Pushed to Silicon Prairie News !  Companion press release to Argus Leader

4. What is my call to action?

!  There was none. !  It could have been:

!  Visit their new profile pages !  Contact Blend to see how we can use this new

capacity for your benefit !  Apply at Blend

News has to become less obligatory, more purposeful.

The End

(FYI: You made it through 85 slides.)