Engaging influencers is the key to avoiding content shock

This post does a great job of explaining content shock, why it exists and why you should ensure you are prioritising quality of engagement rather than quantity.

In PR, the level of engagement with content is tested in real-time.  We speak to our target audience and get their feedback.  ‘Hi journalist – we think this news is really interesting because….We think you should like it too as we know you’ve written about this stuff before….What do you think? Fancy pulling together a story? If so, how can we help?’ If we fail to engage, we can tailor/bolster the content as we go.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could do that with every piece of content that you send to your audience?

While you can try to predict the success of marketing content for example; a bit of testing on headlines that will encourage downloads;  a lot of analysis of what your persona is interested in; or what time of day they consume your type of content.  But in b2b marketing, it’s challenging to predict what your audience will actually do rather than what you hope they will do.  With limited time, the target audience is focused on keeping up with the day job.  Downloading content of unknown quality could be a waste of time.

However, routing your content through credible sources i.e. influencers such as journalists, analysts, Linked-in groups and industry experts or even general enthusiasts (content curators) significantly increases the chances of audience engagement.  They amplify it, and if they have the right network, it spreads quickly.

However, there is a catch; influencers have credibility for a reason.  They are picky; they have a reputation to think of.  Self-serving or vanilla content isn’t going to cut it.  This story about the Technical University of Munich and big data has reached the tech correspondent of The Guardian in San Francisco.  Why? Because it’s about one of the biggest T.V. shows of all time, it’s been distributed during the run—up hype to the new series of Game of Thrones and it has some really good numbers in it.  Geekiness and Game of Thrones go hand in hand so what better way to appeal to prospective students or commercial partners than through a story about the show?  It gets across the breadth, depth and complexity of the offering to its target audience yet it is still an interesting read for people with no interest in statistical analysis.

Next time you create a piece of content, it’s worth remembering to maximise pop culture and minimise the ‘you’ as it will carry your audience to the next stage of the buyer journey where you can talk more about yourself, focus more heavily on your key messages and differentiate from the competition.  Quality wins over quality and adding a Game of Thrones reference almost guarantees success!