6 Steps to a great content business

How to run a successful new media business in Australia.

The business of content: session 1

Thanks for your interest in new media and specifically the business of content marketing.

I’ve assumed you have a creative background and can already produce good content so I’m not going to talk about that. The focus here is how you can position your new business in the changing media landscape and continue to have a great career doing what you love.

Personally, I’ve formed the view content marketing is a new media business and after practising it for nearly twenty years, believe content companies will need one or more of the following characteristics to succeed commercially.

1. Content that earns income earned via subscription.
2. Content viewers have to watch (general entertainment is now a commodity).
3. Content that's delivered in video driven, multi-platform environments.
4. Content that's been funded by brands.

This article focuses exclusively on content marketing which is brand funded new media

While it’s the television networks that have the richest opportunity in this space, I’ve written this for content originators such as Journalists, Producers, Writers, Directors, Presenters and the like.

Some of you are friends who’ve been displaced from traditional media and advertising businesses and are actively seeking a new career path.

I’m also writing for kids who like to write, design and create who are reluctantly turning away from journalism, media and design degrees because they can’t see job security at the end of it.

My main message is this. You can have a great future in content marketing.

That said, you need to understand it’s still a young industry that’s changing very quickly. Career paths are not clearly established yet and you’re going to need tangible skills (particularly in data) along with initiative, imagination and perseverance to forge your place in it.

You’ll also need to take a personal position on where the industry is going and what it’s going to look like over the next three to five years.

I have a strong opinion on this which I’ll share a little later, but first some recent Australian history:

In the early 2000’s a small group of advertising and media executives became convinced the then current business model was broken and content marketing was the industry of the future.

Some of the more bullish of us even left highly paid, relatively secure jobs to start companies specializing in what was then called brand funded content and produce television programs paid for by sponsors.

The business was good. It was fun and Marketers liked it too because it worked.

Freed from the shackles of 30 second TVC’s, they could tell a deeper story, properly participate in the narrative of their industries, differentiate a brand and engage a range of stakeholders in a credible and believable broadcast environment.

Television programmers enjoyed free local content and network sales executives could form a deeper and direct relationship with clients. Australian Writers, Producers, Directors and Editors could see a more predictable income stream and if the content was good enough, additional audiences could be earned via repeat showings and the distribution of brand funded programming to international markets.

It was a new model where everyone won and by 2006, brand funded television programming was a small business growing quickly.

Then the media agencies got involved. To them it was a new revenue opportunity and they wanted a piece of the action.

Businesses and people that had never produced or distributed content wanted to control and mark up projects using advertising paradigms and archaic delivery processes. This made the cost of production too high, decision making too cumbersome and ROI less certain.

What media agencies couldn’t control they actively resisted using measures and media buying benchmarks formed on irrelevant television advertising models.

Within this general environment of media agency resistance, it was only the Marketing Directors, General Managers and CEO’s who had the confidence to initiate and sign off the production of a television program directly with a network or production company. Without the support of the media agencies, the growth of brand funded television programming slowed and today the industry remains a niche.

This didn't stop brands (who need to tell stories) from investing in production but it has facilitated a shift in funding from content for television networks to content for social media platforms.

The good news is some media agencies have since hired specialist people and opportunities are now getting much better for producers in the brand funded space.

I also believe the television networks will enjoy a renaissance as the principal economic drivers in the emerging video driven, multi-platform, owned media environments known as #brandchannels, but more on that later.

So where is the content marketing business is going?

Right now in 2018, content marketing is mostly a social media business.

With the arrival of Facebook and YouTube in 2004 and 2005 (later Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn) brands could finally own their own channels and publish their own content.

Not surprisingly they’re all over it.

According to PQ Media, content marketing is now worth around US $7billion in USA and growing at roughly twice the rate of traditional advertising and marketing spend.

50% of marketers are not only investing in content but posting new stories every day. That’s because distribution is easily delivered, it’s low cost, and it works.

From here we can assume people already working in content marketing will get better at their craft and at proving ROI to management. Their budgets will increase and they’ll hire more people or specialist agencies to produce more work. We’ll also see growth from the 50% of companies who aren’t doing it yet.

So here we are in 2018 and if still reading, you’re probably wondering how to position yourself or your business to take advantage of the growing content marketing opportunity.

First you should understand where it’s all going. Then you can work out what role you can play in the changing media landscape:

1. Understand the rise of #brandchannels and what it means for you

Most brands already have channels and are investing more in them. Right now they’re fragmented and inconsistent. They’re originated by a myriad of authors and distributed via a growing range of platforms such as media sponsorships, custom publishing, email databases, social media, websites, SEO and SEM, in-store environments, mobile apps and more.

We can assume that as investment increases, brands will get better at content strategy along with channel planning and management.

Brand Management will then join their internal dots and create a brandchannel with a clearly understood purpose, audience proposition, multi-platform distribution strategy and content calendar.

Content and Distribution Directors will be tasked with increasing audience and engagement. They’ll leverage strengths and supplement weaknesses using partnerships with other brandchannels and via existing media relationships.

Brands with the best #brandchannels will enjoy a larger reach, deeper levels of viewer engagement and better customer experience than their competition. Their e-commerce strategies will be more effective. Their profits and shareholder returns will improve.

Make no mistake, brandchannels are already happening in Australia and they’re rapidly emerging as a priority for company CMO’s and CEO’s

As brands invest more money in brandchannels they’ll require more people with specific skills to improve them.

Many of the skills brandchannels need comes from people with editorial experience in media companies. There is ample opportunity here so start thinking beyond traditional media for contract employment or cash-flow for your small business.

Compile a list of the brands you would like to work with, find out who’s running their brandchannel and talk to them about their plans and needs. Currently that’s likely to be someone with the title Head of Digital or Social Media Manager but it’s also worth a shareholder return type conversation with the Marketing Director, COO or CEO if you can get to them.

Remember brandchannels need good people to produce good content and your media experience is getting more important and more valuable.

Get comfortable on LinkedIn and use it to target people in companies with newsworthy things to say and strong B to B environments such as Universities, Professional Services, Government, Health Services, Telecommunications Companies, Financial Institutions and the like. Most of them are already very active in this space and their brandchannels are evolving quickly.

Another opportunity is to look for companies with powerful owned media assets such as a consumer database and offer a vision on how this can be transformed into a powerful multi-platform brandchannel that will sustainably differentiate their business, promote thought leadership, demonstrate products and deliver shareholder value. One of the most successful Australian e-commerce start-ups is Luxury Escapes who built their business around an engaged email database and great content, systematically delivered in multi-platform environments.

2. Develop skills for multi-platform media environments

Brandchannels will be multi-platform environments and the best ones will have a clear understanding of the role each media plays.

The majority of brand content is currently text and stills but video is emerging as the most important medium, particularly for companies that need to demonstrate products or promote thought leadership.

If you’re a Journalist, Writer or Presenter get comfortable selling and learn how to talk brand, media and content strategy to a Marketing Director. This may require working with a Business Coach, taking a course or reading some books but it will be a great investment in your future.

Consider teaming up with a DOP who can work with you so as a team you can deliver content strategy along with high quality text, stills and video files to your client brandchannel.

If you’re a DOP you can add value by developing stills photography skills so that premium quality video and stills can be captured at the same time. You should also understand how video works on the major social media platforms and be able to use the file sharing services to efficiently get your content into the CMS program of your client brandchannel. I would strongly suggest developing basic editing and sound recording skills too.

Small teams are critically important for the sustainability of brandchannels, particularly in the early phase of development. There is no fat anywhere and the businesses that can generate the best content for the best value will be rewarded with more work and sustainable, predictable cash-flow.

3. Market your skills directly and in a small specialist team

As discussed earlier I believe you should market your skills in a small team that can deliver premium quality, multi-platform content in the most cost-effective way.

That’s because you’re likely to have at least two decision makers within your client company.

The Marketing Department wants a small team that delivers premium quality content across all platforms by people who understand them and the brand. They are busy already and don’t want to manage individual contractors. 

The Procurement Department who don’t want to pay the overheads and profit required by agency structures.

Remember content marketing is not an advertising campaign or a project. It’s a sustained investment in a valuable marketing asset. Delivering value and demonstrating ROI is critically important to the success of the brandchannel and to your personal cash-flow.

Most serious channels end up being produced in house for both cost and security reasons. This trend is likely to continue so your best commercial option is work directly with client companies and unless it’s a specialist service provider or locally owned digital resource avoid the agencies altogether.

4. Build your business proposition around brand channel ROI

This is the DNA of your business

Get it right and your content marketing business will most likely succeed. Get it wrong and you’ll probably fail so take the time to think it through, get third party opinions and even consider paying for help on both your business plan and your content proposal before its pitched to a potential client.

It doesn’t matter if you’re running a brandchannel or delivering content for its platforms, your commercial objective should be predictable and sustainable cash-flow.

That means you’re going to have to deliver a measurable return on investment (ROI) to the company whose paying you. What’s more, you need to demonstrate how the ROI will improve the longer they work with you.

Two things are required here. Vision for where an investment in content will take the brand and agreed metrics by which you can measure the performance of the brandchannel.

I was fortunate enough to work on the Breville Food Thinkers channel for many years. The channel differentiated the brand, leveraged a commercial benefit from the digital assets of the company, increased market share across all product categories and won two content marketing awards.

One of the reasons Breville Food Thinkers was so successful was that measurement metrics were established, agreed, monitored and reported monthly. These included weekly views on YouTube, open rates on EDM’s, traffic on the website, influencers the channel attracted, and new audiences earned via content partnerships.

Over time the channel became stronger and ROI continuously improved. That’s because KPI’s were agreed and everyone involved got better at achieving them. Now with global distribution and the rises of e-commerce the Breville business is ideally positioned for profit growth.

In addition to creative ideas, have a discussion with your client about what specifically you can deliver for the brandchannel and how it will be measured. Make sure you can make personally make enough money from it and agree your scope of work and costs with them. Think longer term about this and be prepared to make some sacrifices to add initial value to get your commercial relationship and their brandchannel started.

This is particularly relevant at the beginning of the process, which is where you want to be.

5. Deliver great value in a sustainable way

Providing content services is about delivering value and not reducing price.

Make sure you can charge enough to sustain your business and your service and talk transparently with your client throughout this process

Carefully manage your overheads to deliver a sustainable cost benefit to your client and competitive advantage for your new business.

If you’re from a media background:

If you’re used to working in a newsroom or producing live television, you’ll already be more efficient than the advertising agencies you may initially be competing against.

That’s because you’ve come from the media where content production is a cost centre. Your client has been your employer and their commercial motivation over the past 20 years has been to reduce costs and increase the volume of output within extremely time pressured environments.

You’ll have a great understanding of storytelling, be used to fast turnarounds and multi-platform media. Your experience will be very valuable to channel ROI and sustainability.

Understand the difference between Brandchannels and the media

Brandchannels are require higher quality content with more finishing, it needs to strategically correct, well produced and accurately communicate brand values. It also must be engaging, entertaining and all the things you’re already used to doing.

You’ll find the production process will take longer than what you’re used to, more stakeholders will be involved, revisions likely to be needed and more of your time will be required.

The good news is brands will pay you more than traditional media, but you’ll have to do more work to comply with their needs. If you manage delivery properly they’ll get better quality brand journalism and content at a lower cost than what they can buy from an agency and you’ll get sustainable cashflow for your business.

When preparing cost estimates, make sure you budget enough to cover your time for output such as:

* Preparing and presenting content strategy and creative ideas

* Talent management

* Pre-production

* Production supervision (stills, text, video)

* Content revisions

* Content management and delivery

* Project management and reporting

If you’re from an agency background:

If you’re used to working in agencies, then chances are you’ll be able to communicate vision and strategy, have a great understanding of brands and the role of communications in building them.

 You’ll need to quickly learn about media production costs, develop an ROI based model you think you can deliver* and get your head out of short term projects and advertising campaigns before you’ll be able to compete for work producing brandchannels.

If you’re a writer or planner, I suggest you form a brandchannel team with a DOP from a television network to short cut this process quickly and get competitive earlier.

*There are two industry rate cards for broadcast production. One is for media and one is for advertising and the prices vary enormously. In 2004, I produced a 13 x 30-minute brand funded television series that was shot in 6 countries. The program rated well was distributed in major networks across Australia, Asia, Europe and Latin America earning an audience of more than 60 million viewers. The production cost of the entire television series was 80% less than what a large Japanese telecommunications company paid to produce 1 x 60 second ad the year before. Advertising costs wont work if you’re trying to build a sustainable commitment to a brandchannel.

6. Your content and distribution plan

I’m assuming you’ll already have the skills to develop a content plan but in brandchannel planning there’s a symbiotic relationship between content and distribution.

That’s because not only are you trying to deeply engage your own audiences you’re trying to reach new ones using partnerships. And who those partners are will most likely affect your content plan.

Personally, I like to start with a distribution plan that outlines who we can most likely work with and then look for common ground. From there you can start defining channel purpose, channel synopsis, story arcs and stories, content calendars and production schedules.

Your channel will ultimately be judged by your audience numbers and your distribution strategy is just as important as the content you produce.

7. Brandchannels and television networks

I mentioned earlier that I believe television networks can enjoy a renaissance in relevance by embracing brandchannels. While video has emerged as the number one priority for Marketers they find the business case to invest in it difficult to sell internally. It’s a problem that requires a new product from Australia’s television media to solve.

Television networks have a small window of opportunity where they can market bespoke and integrated video solutions for brandchannels as part of a broader strategy around off-peak programming and program development.

It’s a great shame this was prevented from happening by media agencies over a decade ago and personally I would love to be part of a network or industry solution in 2018.

8. Recommended reading

1. For help with selling: The Way of the Wolf by Jordan Belfort
2. Understanding agencies: Madison Ave Manslaughter by Michael Farmer
3. Case studies in Content Marketing: The Content Marketing Institute