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The second of our video series explaining serial content strategies.

Here is a complete transcript of the video:

The Double-Value Curve

Last AmokTalk, we described the Long Tail and the things you need to think about with respect to your marketing strategies. With that as our foundation, let’s look at the data another way. Let’s change this axes from “downloads” to “value” – meaning the value that a particular piece of content means to an individual looking for that content.

And here’s how it works. When you first release your serial content, it may or not have any value to your customer. It depends on whether or not they need that particular information at that particular time. Let’s look at three scenarios:

First, we have a content-consumer who is looking for “timely” content. Perhaps they like trying new restaurants, and their favorite restaurant-blogger has just published a new review. In this case, the information is timely, and so the value to the content-consumer is high.

But what about another content-consumer, someone who has no persistent need for new restaurant reviews? In this case, when the review is fresh, it has no value to her. But then, at sometime in the future, let’s say that she’s looking for an opinion on that new restaurant that she just drove by. Well, at that Moment of Truth, this review will be very valuable to her.

And lastly, there’s is a hybrid example, formed by combining both scenarios. Let’s say that a content-consumer reads our restaurant review the day it’s released, but he does nothing more with the information than tucks it away into his memory. And then, at some time in the future, when his girlfriend talks about this restaurant that she just drove by on the way home from work, he remembers the review, and finds it for her. In this case, the review is valuable at two different points in it’s lifetime — forming what I like to call as the double-value curve.

Newspapers have built a revenue-stream around the double-value curve. Have you noticed that fresh content is free – yet if you need to go into their archives, you’ll need to pay for it? It brings up an interesting question. How come people will pay for information that used to be free? The answer’s simple, because the value of information is directly proportional to how much you need it at any given moment.

Now, I’m not saying to go out and create a pay-for-use model for your company’s serial content. But it’s important for you to remember that the value of your serial content has less to do with you and more to do with the immediate need of your customers. And by understanding the power of the double-value curve, you can build complete marketing strategies around it.

In the next AmokTalk, I’ll share some real world data with you that illustrate the power of combining the Long Tail with the Double-value curve.

Tags: ronamok double-value curve marketing serial content serial content strategy amoktalk

The first of two videos that I’m creating to explain Serial Content Strategies:

Here is a transcript from the video:

Serial Content — information that is released periodically, like newspapers, magazines, blogs or podcasts, has a consumption curve that looks like this:

• This is time
• This is the number of times your content is released
• And this is the number of times your content is consumed

And here’s how it works. At first, when your content is fresh, it has the most downloads or views. And then, over time, the content drops off in popularity. Chris Anderson has written an entire book on this subject. It’s called The Long Tail and understanding the concepts in this book is very important when crafting your company’s serial content strategy.

One of the most interesting observations of the The Long Tail is the number of content-hits never goes to zero, meaning that there is a small but constant demand for the each and every piece of serial content in your back-catalog of information. And here’s where it gets even more interesting. The amount of content consumed in this Tail, swamps the amount of content consumed in the head.

A solid understanding of the Long Tail is important when developing a Serial Content Strategy for your company. You need to think through the information that you are publishing. Is it more important to come out with one, blockbuster piece of content, tracking it’s downloads for the few months it’s popular, or is it more important to publish smaller, bite-sized pieces of content, spaced out over time, like in that of a blog, a podcast, or perhaps a series of white papers?

Tags: Chris Anderson The Long Tail Serial Content Corporate Strategy ronamok

Okay, I promised you a series called “The Moment of Truth.” In addition, I’m trying something new, incorporating video as part of my presentation.

Let me know what you think!

Here’s a transcript for the video:

Moment of Truth #1: The Subscriber

Okay, here we have a happy little content consumer. He could be looking for business information, entertainment, or a myriad of other things.

He reads blogs and samples audio and video podcasts until he finds something that he likes. And then he has an idea — to subscribe to this content.

And here we have a moment of truth. What is he thinking when he decides to subscribe to your content? In that moment of truth, when he hits that subscribe button, what is he telling you?

Well, he’s telling you that he likes what he heard, so much so that he’s willing to open up a special content channel for you — something that’s not to be taken lightly. Why? Because he has given you something that is very hard to earn. Trust.

He trusts that you’ll provide him with the same content quality that he’s sampled. He’s also trusts that you’ll release that content in the same frequency trusting that you’ll release content at the same frequency by which he sampled. And lastly, he expects you to respect that trust, such that you do not throw garbage into the channel.

Oh, and if you do, he’ll take this as an abuse of his trust, and unsubscribe.

John Wall and CC Chapman are pros, they’d never abuse this trust, but what about your company? Can it also be a pro? Can you fight off the marketers who want to throw traditional marketing garbage down the trusted channel? If not, I suggest that your company not start a blog or a podcast. The consequences could be serious.

Tags: YouTube Trust Presentation RonAmok John Wall CC Chapman