Content Strategy, AI and the case for brand journalism

Not all my prospective clients are willing to do a 360 as part of their content strategy. For their website or their LinkedIn (Thought Leadership).They feel they know the market that they have been serving for the last 10 plus years. Like the back of their hand. Plus they are the industry experts.

Besides, they tell me that they have all the customer data they need in terms of all their content such as

• Monthly page views
• Session views
• Time spent
• Likes
• Bounce rates (if they left after reading 3 paras because they saw an ad or clicked on one by mistake)
• Comments
• Unique views

They are so happy that their B2C (business to consumer) audience is growing and they can see proof. They ask me how I can promise them all this and more with their B2B (business to business) audience. In 4 months.

First principles

And I shake my head and I tell them, "I can't promise you vanity metrics but what I can promise is to create a content strategy using brand journalism principles. Where the results will be visible in 12-18 months."

What's that they ask? "It is the same strategy that we use before, during and after we launch digital or print publications that we call editorial brainstorming and what is now known as design thinking. Finding your real user/reader personas and their journeys and doing a 360 of experienced internal and loyal external stakeholders. Then plan the editorial calendar, governance, workflow, and finally Publish. We may have to rinse and repeat audits on a quarterly basis after we create the content strategy." First principles.

Because once you start publishing, then you need to stay consistent and show your audience that your business means business (that is my decades-in-media DNA speaking). Your reports, blogs, videos, posts, Reels, etc. Once the audience likes what they read, they will want more of where it came from and they will reshare it too. So the show must go on..

By now, some prospective clients (85-90% - you heard right) scrunch their faces. And tell me. "But we need the website or LinkedIn up in one month and we just want a content writer."

Of course, we shake hands and go our own ways. Because what I have been focusing on the last 7 years is advocating brand journalism through content strategy using my experience in business journalism. Which requires some serious investments - not just in terms of money but also effort and time.. Been blessed with clients who understand that approach.. And that Rome was not built in one day.. Or year...

And those kind of clients and consumers are growing... According to new research by Toolkits and National Research Group, 43% of consumers trust brand content more when it’s created by professional journalists, and 42% trust it more when it clearly discloses who it’s funded and created by.?

Other factors that drive trust include consumers’ existing relationships with brands (54%) and the presence of data & statistics (51%). That kind of in-depth relationship building is what brand journalism is all about.. Like your network on LinkedIn. Because your network is your net worth..

The Zen of raising followers

Here is where I would also like to reluctantly share two of the many enlightening messages (aka malpractices) that slid into my DMs over the last few years. The first one informed me that I could buy 10,000 followers for AED 250...

And I had a satori. Of why the content that I took so much time to write and research and cross-check and publish on LinkedIn had less engagement. Buying followers is the reason why certain people across social media with generic posts and no real claim to fame had so many followers.?

But that was not all. The next DM was even more shocking. Posting screenshots to show you the reality....

Now all the pieces of the puzzle started falling in place. Notice, it says that you will get paid to watch videos. Not that your employer gets paid by clients to raise followers because you getting paid to just watch videos. Same wine, different bottles. Lotus eaters will jump though and sign up for the job..

360: The heart of the matter

Now there is a better way to grow your own community through authentic content. Let us start at the very beginning like Julie Andrews sang in The Sound of Music.

First do a 360. Of current readers, past and present clients. For one, it will reveal the market intelligence needed to generate real B2B leads. Because you can have only so many sales meetings in a day.

But your blog or report or video can travel far like this one I wrote will. That is how I slowly and patiently grew my community on #LinkedIn (my favorite professional platform) and my own personal brand as an entrepreneur.

So why do companies and entrepreneurs initially resist this approach? Maybe, they don't know who to ask. Maybe, they don't want to rip off the emotional band aid and get hard feedback on their low budget lazy AI-generated content.

Now am I against AI? 100% NOT. Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you know by now that AI is actually great to jumpstart your creativity. But then give it your human touch.. I mean you write emails, reports, briefs and memos. Why not take some effort with your posts? Like a few hours every week?

Secondly, why can't you or your employees do the 360 yourself? Truth be told. An independent content strategist with a strong journalism background can get real feedback by conducting your 360 as

1. They have no vested interest in skewing the vote to any particular individual or business vertical.
2. They are used to getting to the heart of the matter in business journalism and validating the information. Before and after..
3. Besides, external stakeholders' really open up to a former business editor who knows what it means to protect a source.

Don't gel well

Also consumers usually don't have the heart to tell you that they get bored of the #Ai generated content - the tick marks or creative bullet fonts are a dead giveaway when they pop up on too many posts and blogs.. Again, you know the success rate of emailed surveys...

Secondly, the posts look like a chapter from a foundation year text book on your subject. From the class you used mental matchsticks to prop up your upper eyelids so that you did not doze off. Likewise, your raw AI post and you in person don't gel well..

If you reached this far, then let me tell you. The final 360 report is an in-depth cornucopia of revelations that can be read by your entire team to understand what content aligns with your business goals and wherein lies the real business lead opportunity and what people really want to read and know from you. And that is where the pure gold lies...

Happy to catch up over a coffee or a biryani chai (green tea with basil, ginger and honey) if you want more information..

#contentstrategy #contentcreation #360