Why would a company want to become a media company? Well, the most important reason is because media companies have the attention of consumers, and when you have the attention of the consumer you can influence their behaviour.
There is a distinct difference between a company talking about their products and a company talking about topics that add value to the end consumer. The latter has the ‘media company mentality’, and it is the latter that enjoys more customer loyalty, and is more profitable.
For any business owner, ambitions are likely to include creating a loyal client base, creating a following, becoming a go-to brand when somebody has a question about a relevant and specific topic, and, ultimately, becoming more profitable.
One of the biggest reasons to become a media company is that the cost of acquiring a new client will be much lower. Let’s stop here for a moment, let’s think about that.
How is the cost of acquiring a new client lower? We know that the best marketing is word of mouth marketing – people trust people and we buy from people that know what they talk about. What is the cost of acquiring a new client that has never heard of your brand? It’s pretty high, right? 70% of companies say that it’s cheaper to retain a customer. Various studies have shown that the probability of converting an existing customer is 60%-70%, and the likelihood of converting a new customer is 5%-20%.
We get that, we understand that yes, it’s easier to convert a current customer.
Where does content come into play? When we create content and have permission from the client to keep the conversation going, we can engage with them, we can send newsletters with ideas, inspiration, thoughts and updates. We can create social media posts and keep in touch with them. This is very important here – we can have a conversation with them by creating content that adds value to them – not content that sells them your products. In terms of what you post, that comes down to your content strategy.
Think of influencers. Influencers understood the concept of being a ‘media company’. Their goal is to keep their audience engaged and entertained. They are creating content to keep their audience engaged and grow their audience. They have the attention of their audience and some have the trust of their audience. That’s the reason why some influencers get to charge their sponsors £10,000 for a single post. In some cases, celebrities and influencers charge £1million plus. I want to remind us that I’m not speaking about celebrities like Kylie Jenner that charges $1million for one Instagram post, I’m speaking about micro influencers who can charge a hefty amount of money for an Instagram post.
What do you think is a better investment; a) spend £10k on adverts or b) invest £10k on an influencer promotion? Where do you think you will get a higher ROI (return on investment)?
If the product is right, if the influencer is a great fit for the product the ROI can be phenomenal.
If you invest your time and energy into creating engaging, entertaining or educational content, made the intention of adding value, you will win. Once you start behaving more like a media company, you will start promoting your own content rather than just the product.
How do you increase your sales when you become a media company, I hear you ask. When the customer is in the market for a new gym membership, or a hotel room, and they’ve been engaging and consuming your content, who do you think they will buy from? Especially if your content created an emotional connection with them. You will be the first option – if the pricing and the product is right. What happens when a friend or a family member asks them about your industry, who will they recommend? Most probably you. Another benefit with being a media company is that you stay front of mind. The ultimate goal is to create content that will make your audience miss you if you stop creating.
There was a time when I stopped receiving newsletters from Seth Godin, one of the most respected marketers globally, and author of 20 best-selling books. After couple of days, I emailed his team to ask why I was not receiving his newsletters anymore. They explained that there was a glitch in the system and I had to re-subscribe. That’s how good his content is – he was missed! And I went out of my way to go and subscribe again. How does this translate into sales? He has just published a new book, The Practice, and I bought both the printed version and audio version. His previous books – I have them all. I listen to his podcast (Akimbo). I want to buy one of his workshops. This is how it translates into sales. One loyal reader = one loyal customer.
Becoming a media company helps you create a relationship, it helps you create an emotional connection and it helps you stand out from competitors because you are there, every single day, creating valuable content for your customers, for your audience.
There are some great companies that I like and follow, but their content is a bit dull. I’m tired of it because it always speaks about their product – which is okay, but I’m not engaging with it anymore. I know that I like the product, I recommend the product, but their content is just constantly about their product, it’s boring. Don’t get me wrong, they are doing a good job of figuring out how to create content that includes their product, but I believe that when you add more value to the consumer, you win more. You win because people will engage more, and they will share more.
I believe the best example I can think of is Red Bull. Just look at their website. You log on and you see interviews from players, extreme sport stories, articles about the most exciting downhill bikes of 2021, and other interesting things. If you didn’t know they were an energy drink company, you wouldn’t realise it immediately. (I will be sharing some interesting case studies soon about companies that do great content marketing, so you may want to subscribe to our
The reason why I believe companies need to become media companies is because the acquisition cost of acquiring a new client is growing dramatically every single year, and this is because our attention span is becoming shorter and shorter. Right now, our attention span is shorter than a goldfish. This means that the cost is going up and up and we have this great opportunity to use content marketing to our advantage, not just to sell, but to make change happen, to make an impact and to grow the company.
What are your thoughts on becoming a media company? I would love to hear your comments. Let me know below.
