Why amateur corporate newsletters generally fail

 

March 14, 2014

 

Newspapers and magazines (print or online) don’t announce that they’ll be late because they’ve run out of stories.  Yet it’s common for corporate publications.

Newsgathering is a formally-taught skill involving directed questioning, a contacts system, discipline and a strong ‘news sense’.  The latter is difficult to teach even to journalists – most pick it up through experience.

Some companies think they’re ‘newsgathering’ if they have a list of managers to call regularly and ask “have you any stories?”  They’re baffled when this generates increasingly smaller yields. 

The reason is simple: it isn’t newsgathering.  It’s an inefficient, unproductive, bureaucratic hassle.  

Those charged with executing it will get used to generating poor results and often acquire an air of defeated resignation which will contaminate the entire project.

What most companies mean by ‘we’ve run out of stories’ is that managers haven’t much to announce – a fundamental misunderstanding of the value of corporate newsletters.

Without professional newsgathering, ‘running out of stories’ is a genuine risk.   Professionally-trained journalists simply won’t have that problem in the overwhelming majority of companies.

Professional publications become part of the background tapestry of readers’ lives and arrive reliably on computer screens precisely when they’re supposed to. 

Amateur publications don’t.

All our blogs are now carried at http://www.bluerockfox.com

What type of video?

 

January 22, 2014

If you value your brand, video isn’t a DIY opportunity.

Know your demographic and understand what constitutes quality video for them. It may be something you regard as garbage, but that’s irrelevant.

If you’re marketing low-cost fast-moving consumer goods with wide appeal to a young demographic you need lots of people to see your video and low drop-off.

Make it fast-moving, short (a minute is OK, thirty seconds is better) and ‘cool’; don’t use talking heads.

Don’t be afraid to mix other collateral (graphics, animation, music, stills, text etc) with footage; if you’re not part of the demographic you’re targeting take advice from people who are.

Drop-off isn’t always bad, contrary to the simplistic views of some alleged ‘experts’.

If you’re producing quality video advancing the knowledge of a defined group in a technical, scientific, business, academic or practical subject, or it’s a training film, drop-off doesn’t matter as much anyway – those dropping off probably won’t be in the target demographic.

For more substantive content, talking heads may be best – if you produce regular videos, use the same ‘talent’ repeatedly throughout the year because (like newsreaders) if the content is good, viewers will get to know and trust the face.

All our blogs, along with 400-word articles and other collateral, are now published at http://www.bluerockfox.com