When I was a young photojournalist I proudly showed my new boss a photo from that day’s assignment. It really was a good shot, and ended up winning awards later, but what I remember most is his remark after taking a look, acknowledging that I really did capture a good image.
“Nice shot, kid. What will you have for me tomorrow?”
Capturing that perfect moment, writing that great story, publishing that wonderful site, they all accomplish the goal of delivering the content. You’ve reached your audience, you’ve delivered the prize. As so many in the publishing world love to say, “Content is King.” And there are dozens of lines that follow that now, like “…then pictures are Queen,” or “…context is God,” “…data is divine,” etc. In content marketing, the follow-up trumps them all.
Andrew Davis writes today on Content Marketing Institue’s website, How Your Content Marketing Can Ignite a Movement in which he tells the story of one of my all-time favorite short films, Caine’s Arcade. If you haven’t watched it, do, it will make your day. If you have seen it, watch it again, and read Andrew’s story.
Andrew makes the point that just delivering the content isn’t enough sometimes. As brands become publishers they have to be able to recognize that the content can be the beginning of a bigger story. He’s not talking about selling out or commercializing the purity of the content, it’s more about giving the content its best use. He gives a few ideas of how to extend the use of the story not just for publicity or marketing, but also for the cause behind the story.