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Apr
Apr
In our ever evolving world of technology and trends, it is hard to know how to create newsworthy stories and content. It is always a good idea to integrate trends into your stories and content. But what do you do if you can’t take a trending item and make it fit with your company and what you do? This article is centered around creating newsworthy stories and content regardless of trends. Below you will find four vital aspects that need to be in all of your stories.
Aspect 1: People love data driven posts.
Now I said they love data driven posts, not that they love figuring out what data means. A lot of articles try to use data, but they don’t lay it out in simple digestible ways. If you are going to be using data, you need to make it simple enough that an eighth grader can understand it. One of the best ways to do this is with an infographic. A good example of this is an infographic we created to tell visitors and clients a little more about out team. You can find this exact infographic on our website.
Aspect 2: You need to bring the human element back.
Have you ever call a company number and got an automated system when you wanted to talk to a person? It’s frustrating when that happens. Well, that same issue goes with stories too. Have you ever asked your smartphone to tell you a story? If not stop and do so. Getting your personally intelligent assistant to tell one takes a lot of back a forth, and then it’s told with a metallic tone. At least that has been my experience. You see it’s no fun, and it takes a lot of time to get a story. Is that how your stories are? Are they hard to read? Full of technical jargon or classroom style speech? You NEED to bring in humor or inspirational themes. People love to laugh, it makes them feel good. They also like to see good things happen, it makes them feel warm and safe. A great way to make this happen is through motion graphics and videos. We have spent a lot of time working on motion graphics and videos. Below are some videos we have done and links to some commercials we think a great.
Android Commercial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63v5siMWGrs
Doritos Commercial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH2LsFcWOFY
Aspect 3: Know your audience.
I once had to give a speech to a group of freshman college students. I was told I could speak on anything I want to. I painstakingly wrote my speech, fact checked it three times and went over it at least a dozen times. When they day came, I gave my speech without even looking at notes. I had passion, I had energy, and also had a room full of sleeping students. My speech was about slavery and how it still occurs today. The freshman did not care, at all. To them, it was a boring topic that did not affect their life in any way, so they checked out. I learned something that day. Never make a blanket message. It’s kind of like bringing a knife to a gunfight. You just don’t stand a chance. When you are crafting your message, your stories, and content; make sure it matters to the people who will see it. Research your audience. Research your stakeholders. Those are the people who will be watching and listening to your stories.
Aspect 4: Remember that in the end, it is all about how you make them feel about themselves and you.
Have you ever gone to a movie, seminar, or party that you were pumped for? And then you get there and it renders you speechless, but not in a good way. I have had this happen to me, but mine were mainly from classes. I once had a professor who would come to class and tell us that we were stupid and that we wanted him to do our work for us. He would get up and talk for a whole hour and a half. He may as well have been speaking a different language because he never made sense and got mad if someone asked a question. The Comedy Central show Key and Peele created a segment that sums up how my class felt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7FixvoKBw
I always left that class feeling incompetent and angry. I could not stand that professor. Anytime I saw him in passing, all those feelings and memories came flooding back. Be careful that, that is not what you are making others feel with your stories and content. Always remember that anyone who interacts with your company is learning your story. What they learn and see there, will stay with them for years to come. And it always seems that bad vibes spreads faster and lasts longer than good vibes.
So, are you creating newsworthy content?
