Touch Points

To re-engage an audience with branded publications we need to provide multiple touch points. This will us help us build a relationship with and recognise the importance of our audience, which will in turn reinforce the value our brands lend to the content they provide.

As publishers instead of thinking ‘what do we need?’ we should be thinking ‘what do our audience need?’ David Cushman recently wrote in his insightful post 2020 vision that “By 2020 a person’s worth will be valued by what they share, not what they keep.” If this is how we are to be valued as individuals it should also be how we are valued as publishers.

We need to serve our audience and share our content with them if and when they need it. In order to do that we need to share in a place they are comfortable accessing our content and where they find value in it.

There is nothing wrong in expecting people to pay for a service, but it needs to be on their terms, they need to book the appointment knowing the price. We shouldn’t react by giving them the same thing they are already getting but now make them pay for the privilege, that would be relationship-breaking, not relationship-building.

I’ve had The Guardian’s iPhone app now for a few weeks. I don’t use it everyday but I do use it more than any other news application I have for several reasons.

1. The content is of a reliably high standard.
2. I paid for it and I want to get value from it.
3. It is almost perfect for the medium.

I know when I use it that I am going to get a variety of content on one page which I can spend 5 minutes looking at and feel I’ve been effectively updated about the world in which I live.

I don’t want it to replicate the amount of content I would get on their website homepage or in their paper. That isn’t what this is for. It’s a referential touch point which gives me access to their brand when I’m on the go, it’s mobile.

People will pay for content, the argument is over and we now need to work out how we grow an audience that will pay for our content on multiple devices in multiple formats.

This particular mobile app is effectively getting an early adopter audience ready for the next thing on the horizon. It shows me that the Guardian are acutely aware that this is a transitional platform which will breed an audience who are ready to pay for digital editions on a yet to be released piece of hardware, which will allow their audience to subscribe, perhaps for 30p a day, to download the paper on a device which they can then read at their leisure through the day, if and when they like.

The more touch points we can provide our audience with the more likely they are to grab hold of our hand and keep hold, forever.

YouTube: Actively Engaged User/Audience

YouTubeYouTube is one of the most popular websites in the world (currently 3rd on Alexa. I would say it is the most popular content source on the web) but I don’t think people take enough notice of what they are really now starting to achieve. It’s incredible! The level of AET is way beyond anything else in the world.

This is the video that really struck me this morning.

Philip DeFranco has created his own YouTube channel and is getting a regular audience of over 250,000 people every time he puts up a video. That’s more than most of the smaller channels on Freeview, who are selling advertising and making money.

The Philip DeFranco Show is the twisted product of the host/producer/writer Philip DeFranco. The show covers politics, pop culture, tech, and obscure news, with an uncensored and sarcastic twist.

With 5 shows a week, The Philip DeFranco Show has received over 39 million views. Whether he is talking about a woman punching a police horse in the neck, hacking your iPhone, or the United States Election, Philip is sure to entertain and inform you about your crazy world.”

sxephil YouTube Channel

Of course everybody knows youtube gets massive numbers if you video is positioned in the right place. What is more exciting it that this video (on 09/06/08 at 09:12 GMT) has had 1,601 comments which form a genuine debate about the issues talked about in the video and 28 video responses which directly address the video they are responding to.

The issue most of the comments and video responses surround is a question posed in the video about the American confederate flag. The debate has some great responses that express genuine opinions they would like to add to the debate.

Lets also think about the fact that most people don’t have a webcam. If they did the volume of video responses would surly rocket.

The engagement achieved in this video alone is staggering and the results it has for users are so valuable. People are able to spend time actively engaged in debating and exchanging ideas with a group of people they would never otherwise be able to communicate with.

As content producers if we can contextualize and set our media in an environment which allows the possibility for people to actively engage to a deep level with it then they will.

The difficulty is in building an audience enabled to do this. YouTube has millions of registered users who are actively seeking the opportunity to engage with debates spread across the plethora of different subject matter that can be discovered on their website.

A passive audience doesn’t necessarily want to register with a site in order to engage with it’s content to the level seen here. This is where exploring partnership opportunities with sites like YouTube become very interesting. As you can tap into that registered actively engaged audience to the benefit of your own brand and bank account.