Last week Communiqué PR hosted a brown bag with Laurie Myer, the founder and owner of Myer Communications. Laurie is an expert in strategic communications and discovers new, creative ways to deliver results for her clients. At these brown bags, Communiqué PR has the opportunity to ask questions and learn more about how professionals in our field are evolving public relations strategies. One topic Laurie touched on that especially intrigued me is the challenge for many companies to generate and distribute content that is creative, compelling, consistent, all done in a way that will produce meaningful results.
Laurie mentioned one way for public relations firms to stay competitive is to focus on content creation across a multitude of channels and departments. For example, we are all familiar with blog posts, e-newsletters, website articles, case studies and e-books. But what new and exciting content distribution formats are available to reach and engage target audiences like never done before? In addition, how can we decipher which formats are appropriate for our clients’ industries to produce meaningful results that meet their communication and business objectives? Lastly, how can companies build customer communities through these new platforms?
The article in Content Marketing Institute, 8 Ways to Take a Fresh Approach to Content Formats answered my questions above and opened my eyes to some of the nontraditional platforms companies are beginning to utilize in order to increase audience engagement and reach. Below is a breakdown of the eight formats discussed in this article along with some powerful examples.
- Infographics: Although commonly used, infographics present a way to distribute content that is visually appealing for quick comprehension by breaking down concepts in a straightforward manner. One of our clients, Fierce Inc., released compelling survey results through creating an infographic. Not only does this illustrate study findings, it presents an opportunity for journalists and companies to quickly reference the data in third-party reports and articles.
- SlideShare Decks: SlideShare is a way to visually stimulate one’s audience and share content in smaller quantities that are easy to digest. SlideShare is owned by LinkedIn and has captured the attention of 70 million marketers. Here is a beginner’s guide to creating a SlideShare deck, with great tips and best practices to build a compelling presentation.
- Quizzes: Made extremely popular by BuzzFeed, quizzes have increased customer engagement, website traffic and according to HubSpot, is the number one way to generate leads.
- Live Streaming: Sharing content in the form of real-time video presents an exciting way to broadcast marketing content with instantaneous results. Marketers have visibility into the number of viewers, the number of likes and number of shares a video receives. Facebook, with the help of client Cape Productions, recently introduced Live Steaming capabilities, opening the door to opportunities for marketing, journalism and creative content sharing, to name a few.
- Video Storytelling: This includes sharing recent projects and company results in a video story takes your audience through the entire journey. It familiarizes viewers with your approach, strategy and results, all in a way that is engaging and entertaining. Video storytelling is very often utilized in advertising campaigns, Target and Coca Cola are two examples of companies who have excelled in digital storytelling.
- Instructographics: Very similar to infographics, instructographics break down material, but in a step-by-step, how-to format. Providing instructions helps your audience solve problems in a creative and manageable way. Not only will you have a happy viewer, you will become a trusted source of guidance and a resource for that person moving forward. B2C shared a great post on the difference between infographics, instructographics and data visualizations.
- Gamification: Distributing content in a game is a fun way to increase engagement through bringing a level of competition to traditional advertising, recruiting, marketing and goal tracking practices. ClickBlog created a list of their top 25 favorite examples of gamification in business.
- Podcasts: Although not a new concept, a large buzz is generated from podcasts given their ability to tell stories in an entertaining and easily consumable way. Companies can create vocal recordings that engage and take target audiences on the journey of a project, or even as simple as a spoken, systematic guide for solving business problems.
The above eight are only a few ways companies have started to increase their creative content marketing efforts to share and raise awareness around their brand and key messages. Other new and innovative platforms include hosting virtual conferences, developing mobile apps and many more!
Deciding which format to leverage your content to achieve the most meaningful results varies depending on the industry and needs of both the company and their target audiences. Lastly, the rate and cadence at which content is developed and disseminated needs to be consistent in order to be a powerful and credible resource for your audience.
I hope that this post has sparked inspiration around new ways to create and distribute content, feel free to share your techniques as well!