Content cannot be defined by the content producer.
I first discovered this in around 1998. I was the managing editor for a large group of weekly newspapers (six or seven, I believe) and was working at the break room table – I needed to spread out.
A circulation manager was eating a bite and reading the paper. I noticed she’d flip quickly through a couple of pages before stopping to read something. Then she’d flip a few more and stop.
When I finally asked what stories were catching her attention, I was dismayed. It was not carefully written stories, a powerful lead paragraph, or a witty headline that caught her attention. Nor was it a great photo, a graphic, or some other editorial element.
Ads. Advertisements are what caught her attention. She was stopping at “headlines” like sale, half off, and buy one get one free. For her, valuable content were the ads – specifically, the ads that presented a savings or bargain.
Is this ad content? You learn that the restaurant has four locations and a fifth on the way. You learn they were voted Rutherford County’s favorite Mexican food and that they’ve been around for 22 years. Isn’t this valuable to a hungry person?
Content is in the eye of the beholder. I know people who would say that Craigslist, an advertising-only platform, has great content. Most newspaper editors know that there is a percentage (small, true, but existent) of readers who want only the crossword puzzle. If you don’t believe me, ask your local editor to change his crossword puzzle up. Or cancel a comic. Or a soduku puzzle. Or horoscopes.
Right now, there is a digital ad running on our website for a pub called Opossum’s. Yes it is an ad, but the ad tells a story. They sell small-batch beer brewed in the pub. They were voted best pub in Rutherford County and were a finalist for best beer selection. They serve Irish food. If I’m hungry, or hunkering for a beer, this is valuable content, even if it is in the form of an advertisement. Their ad tells a story and that is what gets my attention as a consumer.
It is a story. It is presented in a non-traditional format, but readers have more than proven they’re OK with that if the content is credible and addresses a need of the reader.
A while back, I claimed that we upload about 2,000 pieces of local content every month to DNJ.com. If we include ads, however, that number swells, probably to 3,500 or 4,000 pieces of local content every month.
This is why I think it is critical for people in the content business to expand their view of content. I believe your ability to remain relevant in an ever-changing world will depend on this expanded view.