Let’s face it, customer publishing is not the most fashionable communications medium. Prejudices and myths abound — many of them anchored in the past, others misguided, and a few that are just plain wrong. Let’s discuss them.
1. Everyone’s Not Creating, Everyone’s Not an Editor
With all the talk about Web 2.0, you might assume that the only content that matters is the user-generated stuff. Technology has enabled a new wave of content creators, but more content is not necessarily better. Because there is so much content around, only the very best stands out from the clutter.
User-generated content is far more effective at some things than others, great for entertaining us with opinion and telling us which hotel to stay at, but if we had to decide whether to sell our shares in a company, who are we more likely to trust: a blogger or The Wall Street Journal?.
Your media consumption is driven by content, most of which will be professionally created. Take this one step further and you get to our space professionally crafted branded content. We call it editorialized content, by which we mean it’s selective, tonal, expert and entertaining.
That’s not to say that professionally created content is all people want. Some consumers expect a dialogue with brands, and value peer-to-peer conversation. You can see this in action on The Guardian Web site or in Everywhere, an American travel magazine created by a community of like-minded travelers.
You do not have to choose between professionally crafted content and user-generated editorial. In many ways, the most powerful option can be to blend Web 2.0 and branded content.
2. A One-Trick Pony
Customer publishing is an obsolete definition of our business that ties it to one traditional platform: magazines. The enduring strength of editorial is that it is flexible and can work across channels. ‘Create…