By Jennifer Smith, CMO, Brightcove
In the last few years, the pandemic has dramatically changed how we interact with others, purchase products, and stay informed online. As a result, marketers have had to quickly adapt how they reach their audiences, completely rethinking existing strategies and budgets.
Digital marketing has well and truly led the charge in this evolution. Where in-person events were impossible, connecting digitally with customers and each other was critical. As the industry continues to adapt, the battle for consumers’ attention has never been fierce: attention spans are shorter, and everyone’s competing for the same short digital time.
In an era of arguably too much content and not enough consumer attention, how can brands break through the noise in a messy, loud, and diverse marketplace?
It’s time to think and act like a media company
From creation to distribution and monetization, media companies have complete control over their content and use it as a competitive advantage. Businesses and brands of all shapes and sizes need to think and act more like media companies – which means thinking about how to own your own content.
Brands must approach every visitor to their websites or a potential lead as a ‘paid subscriber’ and develop content to educate and entertain customers and leads. Every single time a person or ‘subscriber’ is lost, revenue is lost too.
By adopting this mindset, businesses will start thinking like Netflix, Amazon, and Disney. In doing so, they will naturally prioritize attracting, engaging, and entertaining more people.
Example in action: The Body Coach
One business that did just this was The Body Coach, a brand that has built a culture of fitness and healthy eating for millions of people around the world. Its founder, celebrity Joe Wicks, was dubbed “the UK’s PE teacher” after his home workouts skyrocketed to fame during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the brand launched in 2015, YouTube had been its sole video delivery platform for content. But after a surge in growth at the onset of the pandemic, and with more than 2.78 million subscribers, The Body Coach knew its audience and understood the value of its content.
Having outgrown the limitations of free platforms, The Body Coach selected Brightcove to power its live and on-demand video experience. By thinking and acting like a media company, The Body Coach was able to scale its content reliably, securely and seamlessly – and reach its audience directly.
With more than 24,000 reviews of the iOS app averaging 4.8 out of 5, The Body Coach launched to commercial success and critical acclaim.
Success stories like this provide evidence of the trend towards a ‘Netflix-esque’ business model, where content is created, streamed and monetized in-house.
Brands are doing this by creating their own direct-to-audience platforms for their deepest and most loyal users, taking control of their first-party data and gaining more customer insights in the process. This makes it easier to personalize the customer’s experience, figure out what they like (or don’t like) and adapt to their needs. The more personalized the experience, the more value the customer gets from the interaction, and the more likely they are to become an advocate for the brand.
Thinking like a media company means a total rethink about how you make and share content – but it’s a process that unlocks the true value of your content like never before.
Uma Rajagopal has been managing the posting of content for multiple platforms since 2021, including Global Banking & Finance Review, Asset Digest, Biz Dispatch, Blockchain Tribune, Business Express, Brands Journal, Companies Digest, Economy Standard, Entrepreneur Tribune, Finance Digest, Fintech Herald, Global Islamic Finance Magazine, International Releases, Online World News, Luxury Adviser, Palmbay Herald, Startup Observer, Technology Dispatch, Trading Herald, and Wealth Tribune. Her role ensures that content is published accurately and efficiently across these diverse publications.