I wrote a couple days about recommendation journalism, the kind of story that ties a recent event or some other current milestone into an action you should take right now. In case you’re still familiar with this kind of article some recent examples I’ve seen include stories like 17 Oscar-Nominated Movies You Can Stream Right Now (tying into the recent Oscar nominations announcement) and 5 of the Most Romantic Movies to Stream on Netflix (tying into Valentine’s Day). So the idea is to take something that is in the general cultural awareness – awards shows, holidays, major sporting events – and create something immediate and editorially relevant for the reader to latch on to.
Just about any media trend will eventually find its way into brand publishing programs so it’s reasonable to expect this one will do likewise. So how can those brand publishers use the latest editorial trick to get readers interested in what they have to say? Here are quick thoughts:
Have a Point of View: The “view from nowhere” editorial approach doesn’t really work in brand journalism anyway and it’s particularly pointless here. The entire point of this subgenre of media is that an actual “recommendation” is being made. While brand publishing comes with an implicit point of view, that needs to be very clear and very specific here. It’s not enough to say “this is good.” The message needs to be crystal clear that the reader is being encouraged to take an action *now* and for a very specific reason.
Identify Your Opportunities: This goes back to what I said before about basic cultural awareness. What does the calendar say? Are you coming up on a major entertainment or sporting event? Are there holidays that are of note – either seriously or kind of jokingly – in the near future? What are people talking about? This is where long-term editorial planning comes in handy since you can evaluate these opportunities well in advance and see where there are chances to connect those holidays with something you’re trying to tell the audience about. The thing is, the answers may not be the ones you expect. So there may not be a great play for something as obvious as the Super Bowl but there could be for World Nutella Day.
Know What You’re Selling: Similar to the previous point, what opportunities you decide to take and which ones you pass on depend on your familiarity with your product, brand and services. Is there a Super Bowl play for SaaS companies? I’m sure there and the person who’s the most creative/annoying on your team will likely be able to figure out what they are. Or there may not be, in which case it’s not a great idea and you should move on to the next potential opportunity.
Whether or not every possible shot should be taken, it’s only a matter of time before brand publishers start making overt recommendations to readers that tie current events to the products being sold. The nice part of this particular trend is that, unlike many other such editorial tricks, this one actually seems to balance being both search- and social-friendly. It’s just as likely someone will search for “movies to watch instead of the Super Bowl” as they are likely to click on that from Facebook or share such a story on Twitter. True, too much of this (as with anything) can be overkill. You don’t want every post to be in this particular lane. But once in awhile it can be an effective tool to pull out as a way to get your reader’s’ attention.
