I have an amazing doctor. He is terrific at his job, knows my history, communicates simply and, to top it off, is a good bloke. Most important is I have confidence in the way he practises medicine. Which is kind of what you want when it comes to your health. Everything else runs second. Similarly, when feeling the pulse of your business you want a no-nonsense, fact-based method that gives you an honest appraisal. Nothing beats a clinical, intricate look-see. After decades of overseeing newsrooms and seeking to optimise their performance, I have found there are about 20 essential aspects for any health check of your communications to prove meaningful. The object is to forensically understand your current state, from which you can then review and step-out a you-beaut communications/content strategy.
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The declining fortunes of local media represents an unprecedented opportunity for local governments to step into the breach, set up a DIY Newsroom approach and go direct to residents with their message. Today I learned of another “restructure” at one of Australia’s largest media chains, which is code for more staff redundancies and the lay-off of more journalists. This spells another grim chapter for an already distressed traditional media. In the regions, newspapers have greatly reduced the number of editorial staff, their circulation has plummeted and that has meant they have had to try to do more with less. The regional TV landscape is not pretty either. When I was editor of a large regional daily newspaper several years ago, I had a staff of 80 full-time editorial employees. Today, there are less than 30 editorial staff. Council insiders tell me that shrinking local media is making it harder for council messages to be heard. Or, is it actually councils’ best-ever opportunity to engage with residents and ratepayers in new and profound ways by setting up a true DIY Newsroom? That is right: if they were SMART, councils would see themselves as the primary destination and distributor of compelling, useful and relevant content for their local government constituents. Any business serious about showing its best face to the world in 2017 needs to develop a monthly content calendar - one that converts to results. As creator of the DIY Newsroom approach to content, my mission is to empower businesses to do it themselves. Indeed, if you are a medium-sized or larger business, or any business with communication nous and resource, you should be controlling your own message rather than leaving it to external agencies. Get it right and you could zoom through cyberspace from zero to hero. But let us be clear. Crystal. As the ultimate reference guide, the content calendar will make or break your level of reach and engagement with your target markets. The content calendar requires considerable thought and should be utterly aligned to your business objectives. Content should embody who you are and what you stand for. It needs to be compelling, relevant and hit the target. Critically, get the outline of a distributed content strategy right - and then start scheduling and sharing. Yes, those likes, followers and connections beckon. Yes, you want to use that new fandangled tool to automate the delivery of your enriching blogs, inspirational quotes and insightful posts. But stop. Pause and think about whether you have factored in these five essential steps that will underpin the success of your distributed content. One of the key lessons for me when it came to designing best-practice communication strategies in 2016 was to listen more and talk less. Amid the cacophony of communications today, that’s not easy to do. To stand-out from the crowd, we can make the mistake of trying to be louder or more loquacious than whoever is near us. However, in seeking to better serve clients, markets or audiences our focus must be pointed laser-like at what concerns them - what really concerns them. That means zipping it and turning on the satellite dishes on either side of our head. If you do that, our experience is that results will follow. Here’s five reasons why: Learn these 7 things from the best newsrooms and you will light up the world with your content5/12/2016 Communication units have learned a lot in recent years about leveraging social media, but if they really want to supercharge their messaging they should adopt the best behaviours of modern newsrooms. Newsrooms have the attributes, processes and energy that power content for ultimate audience engagement. Over 30 years, I’ve run or worked in dozens of newsrooms in Australia and New Zealand - the biggest and smallest. I’ve also seen how exceptional operations like The Sun and The Guardian in London, and the Chicago Tribune and Boston Globe have operated. Each of those newsrooms have a personality and idiosyncrasies that exude their target market. Like any organisation, no one newsroom does everything superbly. But here’s 10 traits of newsrooms, compiled from the best of the best, that comms teams could use as a checklist when considering how to better position themselves. |
AuthorStuart Howie is a Canberra-based media and communications strategist. He has worked with private and public organisations in Australia and New Zealand, helping them to discover, shape and tell their stories. He is the author of The DIY Newsroom, which won the social media/technology category at the Australian Business Book Awards. Categories
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