Frank Strong, writing in Sword and the Script Blog, details how traditional advertising and social media have become, except for the very well-funded brands – more difficult to utilise to promote companies.
Without well-researched, trustworthy written content, Strong explains, companies without deep budgets will have a hard time building an audience.
Crowded news and information markets make building an audience difficult. As Strong details, the ad has been replaced by sponsored content. And social media channels are crowded with numerous brands, individuals and companies all vying for attention.
At the same time – earned media coverage – the type most commonly driven by traditional public relations effort to court journalists to write stories which might highlight a brand – is much more difficult to secure. Why? Because traditional media outlets will often select promoted content over traditional stories to generate revenue. It is important for companies to keep in mind – trust in traditional media is waning, which is making earned media on traditional channels less appealing.
Strong calls this set of circumstances a “perfect storm” for companies seeking to generate awareness via both traditional news outlets and increasingly crowded social media channels.
Create your own initiative to build a loyal audience. To build an organic audience Strong recommends companies consistently create and publish content that is substantially different and passionate, utilising case studies, white papers and webinars – as readers now consider them to be the most trustworthy forms of content.
Patience required as this is a long-term strategy. Finally, he advises patience – as content production to support corporate goals, including sales, is a long-term strategy – whose full measure must be taken over time.
