You want your content to engage your target audience, be authentic and make a lasting impression, but how do go about achieving this in today’s fast-paced environment, where literally everybody is bombarded with thousands of marketing messages every day?
It’s a common challenge for many B2B marketers and one that can be tackled by adopting more of a media mindset. Not sure what it involves? Follow these four steps that’ll set you on the path to thinking less like a marketer and more like a journo when it comes to your content creation.
1. Never switch off and react fast
Journalists never switch off from the news, and I don’t mean the news they produce themselves. I mean the headlines that break every minute of every day, ranging from international and national, to local and regional. Journalists literally live and breathe the latest news announcements and key industry developments. Whether that means listening to radio news bulletins or receiving regular online updates, they know about the latest news when it happens, either reacting and reporting on it at the time (depending on the scale of the story) or adapting and developing it for their own news patch, for instance, if they work on local or regional titles.
Why do it?
Having your finger on the pulse and being able to produce topical, industry commentary or content that’s attuned to the latest news and sector developments and announcements will help position you as a thought leader. However, you need to ensure you react immediately, as there’s nothing worse than seeing copy that’s been produced about an issue that’s old news. It’ll instantly make you look as though you’re behind the times, which is the last thing you want.
2. Don’t ignore your deadlines
This goes hand-in-hand with being responsive and reacting swiftly. Other than breaking the next big story before anybody else does, journalists are also driven by something else – deadlines. They can be hourly, daily, weekly or simply reporting on the headlines before their rivals do. All journalists are trained to research, write and submit each and every article they write, such as a front-page lead or piece of downpage, within deadline, no matter how tight the turnaround. There’s no excuse for missed deadlines in newsrooms. Ever.
Why do it?
As obvious as it sounds, knowing the deadline you’re working to and keeping to it will help you achieve more of a structured and organised approach to producing your content, as well as ensuring you don’t miss any other key deadlines. Yes, it might be stressful at times, but it’s a fundamental best practice tactic you can’t afford to ignore. What’s more, if you are producing topical commentary, then it’ll also guarantee you’re talking about the key topics of the moment at the right time.
3. Pay attention to detail
As well as being incredibly skilled at producing good-quality content under pressure, journalists can also be relied upon to produce copy that’s accurate. That means no grammatical or spelling errors, no typos and no silly mistakes. Journalists are also sticklers for getting the finer details, such as people’s names, job titles, etc, spot on. Rather than assume, they’ll always double check these finer details as there’s nothing worse (or more frustrating) than having to publish an apology because you’ve got your key details wrong. In the world of journalism, there are no excuses for not making sure your copy gets proofed.
Why do it?
No matter how busy you are or how tight your deadline, it’s crucial you set enough time aside to ensure your work is proofed by other members of your team. Are people’s names spelled correctly? For instance, is Jane spelled with a ‘y’ or is Ian spelled with an extra ‘i’? Do all of your figures add up? Have you attributed your sources? Is the tone of voice consistent from start to finish? Not giving your work a final check can lead to your content being inaccurate, disjointed and sloppy. If you don’t already do so, make sure you allocate dedicated time to ensuring your content is proofed when you’re planning your work schedule.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask questions
Because journalists are trained to find the news hook in every story they write, they’re not afraid to ask the questions that’ll provide them with the information they need to write front-page news. And that includes asking somewhat sensitive or tricky questions too. The vast majority of a journalist’s time is spent interviewing people, whether it’s face-to-face, over the telephone or via email.
Why do it?
You can never ask too many questions (providing they’re relevant). The more information you gather, the more compelling and unique your content will be at the end of the day. What’s more, taking the time to identify information gaps and asking for details others may have overlooked will give you a greater chance of producing standout content that captures people’s attention, as opposed to generic copy that blends into the background and gets overlooked.