Finding Unique Angles for Creating Newsworthy Stories
It happens all the time to content writers and marketers who are trying to come up with fresh perspectives for much talked-about subject matters. What's even more challenging is that in this rampant social media age of information overload, breaking news today becomes old news by tomorrow. Such a short shelf life makes it difficult for companies to quickly jump on the bandwagon to tell a similar "me too" story since the topic has already lost its luster. For instance, companies that recently release news on their 5G technology is no longer as groundbreaking as the initial handful that had made the announcements.
However, on the flipside, businesses can also capitalize on the speed for which news travels by telling interesting, relevant stories from a totally fresh and interesting point-of-view.
How to Keep Readers Interested, Entertained, and Informed
Breathing new life into a seemingly mundane topic is especially difficult for companies that offer limited or specific products such as insurance provider. However, it's not impossible for an insurance company like GEICO to get creative by weaving their iconic gecko into these funny commercials. GEICO's slogan "A Fifteen minute Call could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance." incentivizes people to take advantage of potential savings. GEICO is able to stand out from the crowd and make lasting impressions. Seeing how successful they are, their competition started to copy them with similar commercials.
Brand Positioning Strategy for Developing New Content
So where do we bein? Positioning is everything and the more information a company has about where they stand against their competition, the better strategy they can employ to make themselves stand out.
So how to put in a fresh spin on an existing subject? For starters, active questioning is helpful. Interesting and creative people are passionate, and finding a fresh angle is no different. Gather the right group of people who have deep passion and invested interest to brainstorm and collaborate on develop a position strategy.
Put together a list of Q&As and conduct interviews with stakeholders, these may be corporate visionaries and subject matter experts. This is a great opportunity to identify the brand’s uniqueness and determine what differentiates "us" from "them". By picking the brains of people that are passionate about the technology allow content marketers to find associations between the article topic and how it relates to the company's wider audience. It's a springboard on discovering unique ways to renew outdated information.
Below is a 5 step process for developing a new, one-of-a-kind story:
Determine how the brand is currently positioned
Identify and compare differences with direct competitors including brand positioning, product or technology offerings, and main differentiators
Identify areas that are distinctively unique and beneficial to customers
Develop a distinct and value-based positioning idea - this may be to address and solve major challenges faced by the customers
Craft a brand positioning statement and build on top with supporting facts, image and data to strengthen the story
A Final Note - Everyone Brings Something Unique to the Table
When looking for an angle, don’t dismiss any of the seeming obvious ideas that pop into your head; explore them instead. Never brush off what other people may be able to contribute.
It's helpful to make comparisons between the obvious and the not-so-obvious and have members with varying background and knowledge in the brainstorming discussion. Oftentimes technology experts are so extensively-involved and jaded from working with the product that they aren't able to view things from a 'layman's perspective".
A great example would be an application engineer or software designer who would quickly dismiss a product feature that he perceives as nothing but ordinary when, in fact, it is truly unique and relevant to what the market needs. That's a magical "Eureka" moment when a new angle starts to emerge.
A brand marketer or content writer is able to see things from a different perspective and ask the right questions in order to highlight the particularities and add a new spin to the story when a technical person no longer perceives it as anything unusual.
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