Do you end up planning the shape earlier than you develop the thought for content material?
Most of us do – it’s the best way we eat content material. Whenever you really feel impressed by a video or podcast, for instance, your mind will begin attempting to give you an concept to make use of in a film or podcast.
It is smart. You see a superb, inventive concept expressed in some kind issue, and also you suppose, “That’s what I wish to create.” But it surely’s the container (the expertise) you wish to emulate. You continue to should give you a singular concept for that kind issue.
It’s regular to create this fashion.
Give it some thought. Did George Lucas dream up a narrative a few younger boy on a desert planet who reunites along with his separated-at-birth twin sister to avoid wasting the galaxy from an evil empire and then resolve his story would work finest as a film?
No. Impressed by the tv and film variations of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, he determined to make a film. The story for Star Wars got here subsequent.
Beginning with the medium is smart for filmmakers, TV present creators, novelists, and others. But it surely doesn’t work properly for advertising.
Container-first planning doesn’t work in advertising
Beginning with the content material kind issue may cause a heap of bother in advertising for 2 causes.
First, advertising content material isn’t an endpoint – it’s a bridge to an endpoint. In different phrases, you aren’t attempting to optimize for the tip expertise. As an alternative, you’re optimizing to search out the individuals who need the tip expertise: our services or products.
Give it some thought this fashion: Folks need to look at Star Wars. They don’t essentially need to search out your advertising content material. So conveying one story or concept in a number of containers offers you a greater likelihood to search out an viewers. You’re telling the story in all places the viewers is moderately than attempting to lure them to 1 piece on one channel.
Folks aren’t searching for out your advertising #content material, so put it wherever they’re, says @Robert_Rose by way of @CMIContent. Click on To Tweet
There’s one more reason to keep away from beginning with the container moderately than the thought. Organizations want to specific lots of concepts. Some are small, and a few are large. If you happen to plan the container first, you may find yourself placing small concepts into large containers and vice versa.
What number of occasions have you ever seen full white papers devoted to a too-small concept? Alternatively, I’ve seen many concepts that ought to have been built-in model campaigns crammed right into a single weblog submit. Why? As a result of somebody thought, “We want a weblog submit about this,” and by no means thought-about whether or not it may flip into extra.
Learn how to separate content material concepts from expression
Keep in mind: Folks will eat the designed expression of your content material concepts (your web site, weblog, video, e-book, social media submit, and so forth.). However the concept conveyed in that expression will differentiate your work and decide whether or not your content material technique succeeds.
Star Wars wasn’t a success as a result of it was a film. It succeeded as a result of it was a terrific story properly informed.
I’ve written about how planning and governance may also help you prioritize content material tasks. Including a step may also help you be certain your concepts find yourself in as many (or few) containers as you’ll want to search out your viewers.
A lot of the content material and advertising groups I do know of use a content material consumption kind that begins with the query, “What sort of content material would you like?” A drop-down menu gives a collection of codecs (video, infographic, white paper, internet web page, weblog submit, and so forth.)
Questions in regards to the content material for that format, the viewers, the journey stage, and so forth all the time come later. The method goes from request to asset creation.
That’s the place the extra step ought to are available in. The story or concept creation ought to be a step of its personal – separate from the design and manufacturing course of.
Plan your #content material story first – then resolve what codecs to inform it in, says @Robert_Rose by way of @CMIContent. Click on To Tweet
The method I like to recommend appears like this:
Create the story
Begin by discovering or hashing out the compelling story (inside the content material workforce or as a cross-functional effort). Do the analysis, define the story, and resolve how large the thought is.
Then, write the story. Create the world, the challenges, and the options. That is the uncooked content material that would (or ought to) stay in any expression of the thought.
Then – and solely then, transfer on to the subsequent step.
Design the expertise(s)
Determine all of the completely different sorts of packages this story can stay in. Does it work as a video? Does it work as a white paper? Does it work as a weblog submit? Does it work as a print advert? May it work as all of these issues?
You don’t should execute all experiences without delay. However taking the time to create the uncooked content material parts firstly of the method allows you to shortly create these issues whenever you’re prepared.
I comply with this identical two-step course of after I create content material. I plan the story and write these uncooked parts first:
- Content material parts (a draft of this column)
- A bullet level model I can use on a podcast
- Totally different paragraphs and variations to function on The Content material Advisory web site
- Centered messaging factors I can use to show this right into a presentation (or class or keynote)
- All of the hyperlinks and analysis I used to create this text (if any)
I file all this materials away and use it as I would like it. If I must create a presentation – I can look again to this doc and see which of my concepts are large enough. I have already got a superb begin on the content material I must create it.
This strategy isn’t acceptable for every part. Generally an advert is simply an advert, a video is only a video, and an e mail is simply an e mail.
However for large concepts (particularly those who influence the bigger group), begin desirous about creating the uncooked content material on your compelling story earlier than you resolve the way to design and produce all of the experiences that may convey it.
That means, you can also make certain your nice large concepts received’t get trapped in too-small containers.
It’s your story. Inform it properly.
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Cowl picture by Joseph Kalinowski/Content material Advertising and marketing Institute
