Tyrone Pardue

Over the last quarter of a century, the publishing industry has measured the success of publications by analyzing distribution and sales metrics. But the future of accurate measurement will be the level of engagement between the publication and the audience. This means how successful a publication is at engaging the audience and staying relevant to them. To be engaging, a publication must first grab the audience's attention. And that is getting tougher to do. Every day your audience is being bombarded with thousands of messages coming from numerous sources. Your audience is choosing which to access and which to filter out.

Your audience does not care about the method of delivery, it just cares about the message. Today's information consumer is capable of digesting information from many sources: TV, the Web, email, blogs, magazines, newspapers and a whole plethora of other information vehicles, and sometimes simultaneously.

So in order to get their attention you have to push their buttons, deliver content that's relevant to them. They need content, information that either makes them feel better about themselves and their life, or about the product they purchased (or are about to purchase) from your company. And better yet, if the content can make the consumer feel smarter after reading it, it will make them feel good. And the Feel-Good button is the best one to push.

If your company can do these things for the audience through branded content, then you are building relationships for life. But beware: if you are not using branded content to win over the audiences of tomorrow and hold the audiences of today, you can bet your bottom dollar that your competitor is!

Further Reading

BICSI News: The ITS Industry Magazine

Military Officers Magazine