How Contextualizing Subjects can Result in Press-worthy Content material for Your Model

Extra manufacturers than ever are investing and producing high quality journalism to drive their earned media technique. They acknowledge that it’s a precious channel for concurrently constructing authority whereas discovering and connecting with prospects the place they devour information.

However producing and distributing nice content material is not any straightforward feat.

At Stacker and our brand-partnership mannequin Stacker Studio, our staff has mastered the right way to create newsworthy, data-driven tales for our newswire. Since 2017, we’ve positioned 1000’s of tales throughout essentially the most authoritative information retailers within the nation, together with MSN, Newsweek, SFGate, and Chicago Tribune.

Sure approaches have yielded a excessive hit charge (i.e., choose up), and one in all our most profitable ways helps add context to what’s happening on the earth. (I discussed this as a tactic in my Whiteboard Friday, How you can Make Newsworthy Content material: Half 2.)

Contextualizing matters, statistics, and occasions serves as a core a part of our content material ideation course of. Immediately, I’m going to share our technique so you possibly can create content material that has actual information worth, and that may resonate with newsroom editors.

Make a listing of info and insights

You possible have a listing of normal matters related to your model, however these topic areas are sometimes too normal as a launching level for productive brainstorming. Beginning with “private finance,” for instance, leaves virtually an excessive amount of white house to actually discover and refine story concepts.

As a substitute, it’s higher to hone in on an upcoming occasion, knowledge set, or explicit information cycle. What’s newsworthy and particularly taking place that’s aligned together with your normal viewers?

On the time of scripting this, Jack Dorsey lately stepped down as CEO of Twitter. That was breaking information and hardly one thing a model would anticipate to cowl.

However take the occasion and check out contextualizing it. Typically, what’s the typical tenure of founders earlier than stepping down? What’s the distinction in public market success for founder-led firms? In regard to Parag Agrawal moving into the CEO position, what’s the share of non-white CEOs in American firms?

As you possibly can see, if you contextualize, it unlocks promising avenues for inventive storyboarding.

Listed here are some inquiries to information this course of.

Query 1: How does this evaluate to related occasions/statistics?

Comparability is likely one of the simplest methods to contextualize. It’s laborious to know the true influence of a truth when it exists stand alone or in a vacuum.

Let’s contemplate hurricane season for instance. There’s a ton of tales round present hurricane seasons, whether or not it’s highlighting the worst hurricanes of all time or getting a way of a specific hurricane’s scope of destruction or influence on a group.

However we determined to match it one other manner. What if we requested readers to think about what hurricane seasons had been just like the yr they had been born?

This strategy prompts a private expertise for the readers to match what hurricane seasons are like now in comparison with a extra particular “then” — one which feels significantly related and relatable.

I’ll discuss extra about time-based comparisons within the subsequent part, however it’s also possible to evaluate:

• Throughout industries/matters (How a lot harm do hurricanes do in comparison with tidal waves?)

• Throughout geographic areas (Which a part of the ocean is answerable for essentially the most harmful hurricanes? The place has essentially the most harm been performed world wide?)

• Throughout demographics (Which era is most terrified of hurricanes?)

There are dozens of prospects, so enable your self to freely discover all potential angles.

Query 2: What are the implications on an area degree?

In some instances, occasions or matters are mentioned on-line with out the main points of how they’re impacting particular person folks or communities. We’d know what one thing means for a normal viewers, however is there a deeper influence or implication that’s not being explored?

The most effective methods to do that is thru localization, which includes taking a nationwide development and evaluating the way it’s mirrored and/or impacts particular areas. Newspapers do that continuously, however manufacturers can do it, too.

For instance, there are numerous tales about local weather change, however taking a localized strategy may also help make the phenomenon really feel “nearer to house.”

We put collectively a bit that illustrated important methods local weather change has affected every state (elevated flooding in Arkansas, the Colorado River drying up, sea ranges rising off South Carolina, and so forth.). You could possibly take this a step additional and take a look at a specific metropolis or group in case you had supporting knowledge or analysis.

In the event you serve explicit markets, it’s straightforward to implement this technique. Orchard, for instance, does an amazing job publishing actual property market development studies within the areas they serve.

However in case you’re a nationwide or worldwide model that doesn’t cater to particular areas, strive utilizing knowledge units which have data for all international locations, states, cities, ZIP codes, and so forth., and current all of it, permitting readers to determine knowledge factors that matter to them. When readers can filter knowledge or work together together with your content material, it permits them to have a extra personalised studying expertise.

Query 3: What sides of the dialog have we not absolutely heard but?

One of the best ways to faucet into the lacking items of a narrative is to think about how different matters/topic areas work together with that story.

I’ll keep on with our local weather change theme. We did the story above on how local weather change has impacted each state, which feels complete in regards to the matter, however there’s extra to dive into.

Outdoors of simply considering how local weather change is impacting geographic areas, we requested ourselves: How is it affecting totally different industries?

Now we take a look at a extra particular angle that’s fascinating — how local weather change has impacted the wine trade.

When you might have a subject and wish to uncover less-explored angles, ask your self a set of questions that’s much like the evaluate/distinction mannequin:

• How does this matter influence totally different areas? (E.g. What’s wine’s cultural position in varied international locations?)

• How does this matter influence totally different demographics of individuals? (E.g. Who earnings most from wine making?)

• How does this matter influence totally different industries? (E.g. How have wineries/vineyards impacted tourism?)

• How is that this matter impacted by these varied issues? (E.g. How is the flavour of wine impacted by area? Who buys essentially the most wine, and the place do they stay?)

This could create brainstorming basis to determine fascinating hooks that aren’t typically explored a few actually frequent matter.

Conclusion

Not solely will taking the strategy of contextualizing differentiate your story from the whole lot else on the market, it should additionally mean you can re-promote it when an identical occasion happens or the subject traits once more sooner or later. Contextualized content material is commonly this good mix of timeliness and evergreen that’s actually tough to realize in any other case.