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 beneficial channel for concurrently constructing authority whereas discovering and connecting with clients 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 every of our most profitable techniques helps add context to what’s occurring on this planet. (I discussed this as a tactic in my Whiteboard Friday, Tips on how to Make Newsworthy Content material: Half 2.)

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

Make an inventory of details and insights

You probably have an inventory 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 area to really discover and refine story concepts.

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

On the time of scripting this, Jack Dorsey not too long ago stepped down as CEO of Twitter. That was breaking information and hardly one thing a model would count on to cowl.

However take the occasion and take a look at contextualizing it. Typically, what’s the common tenure of founders earlier than stepping down? What’s the distinction in public market success for founder-led firms? In regard to Parag Agrawal entering into the CEO function, what’s the proportion of non-white CEOs in American firms?

As you’ll be able to see, while you contextualize, it unlocks promising avenues for artistic storyboarding.

Listed below are some inquiries to information this course of.

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

Comparability is among the only methods to contextualize. It’s onerous to know the true impression of a truth when it exists stand alone or in a vacuum.

Let’s think about 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 selected hurricane’s scope of destruction or impression on a neighborhood.

However we determined to match it one other method. What if we requested readers to think about what hurricane seasons have been just like the 12 months they have 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 notably related and relatable.

I’ll speak extra about time-based comparisons within the subsequent part, however you can too examine:

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

• Throughout geographic areas (Which a part of the ocean is accountable for essentially the most harmful hurricanes? The place has essentially the most injury been finished around the globe?)

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

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

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

In some circumstances, occasions or matters are mentioned on-line with out the main points of how they’re impacting particular person individuals or communities. We’d know what one thing means for a normal viewers, however is there a deeper impression 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 might 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 may take this a step additional and have a look at a selected metropolis or neighborhood in case you had supporting knowledge or analysis.

If you happen to serve specific markets, it’s straightforward to implement this technique. Orchard, for instance, does an important job publishing actual property market development stories within the areas they serve.

However in case you’re a nationwide or worldwide model that doesn’t cater to particular areas, attempt utilizing knowledge units which have data for all nations, 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 along with your content material, it permits them to have a extra customized studying expertise.

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

One of the simplest 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 stick to our local weather change theme. We did the story above on how local weather change has impacted each state, which feels complete concerning the subject, however there’s extra to dive into.

Outdoors of simply pondering 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 business.

When you’ve gotten a subject and wish to uncover less-explored angles, ask your self a set of questions that’s just like the examine/distinction mannequin:

• How does this subject impression totally different areas? (E.g. What’s wine’s cultural function in varied nations?)

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

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

• How is that this subject 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 dwell?)

This could create a superb brainstorming basis to determine attention-grabbing hooks that aren’t typically explored a few actually widespread subject.

Conclusion

Not solely will taking the strategy of contextualizing differentiate your story from all the things else on the market, it should additionally help you re-promote it when the same occasion happens or the subject tendencies once more sooner or later. Contextualized content material is usually this excellent mix of timeliness and evergreen that’s actually troublesome to realize in any other case.