How the content landscape is evolving amid the pandemic

– Vikram Kumar, co-founder & managing director, SRV Media, Pune

The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill. While people across the globe are having to stay indoors to curb the spread of the virus, they are finding different ways to engage themselves and stay on top of their game. Amid this lockdown, the one industry that has witnessed prolific growth is the media industry.

The changing daily schedules of every individual has led to a surge in content consumption. People are moving back to platforms such as television, broadcast media and social media during the extra time they have. They are seeking multiple ways of entertaining themselves — through streaming movies online, indulging in social media platforms, downloading games and also live streaming workout classes. This rise in content consumption has provided content creators with a golden opportunity to design and implement innovative campaigns.

While some brands are still struggling to keep up with the new normal, there are businesses that are taking full advantage of this time to come up with creative ideas to market their products and services. People are missing out on the simple luxury of physical human interaction which is where creative content is thriving in keeping them engaged. Creators are being inventive and responding to the current circumstances by developing new approaches to producing fresh content. While some are curating it for entertainment and fun purposes, there are some who are keen on creating informative content, befitting the current crisis.

Let’s look at some strategies that the content creators are adopting while curating content amidst the pandemic.

Reflect empathy

The nationwide lockdown and the spike in Covid cases has made people vulnerable and more in need of empathy. This has made brands shift their marketing focus from commercialised content towards longevity and belonging. People seek for compassion through the content they watch and read which in return helps in building the brand image. Curators are storytellers who inspire people, especially those who are facing tough times like losing their job, testing positive for Covid-19 or trying to work from home with a toddler.

Curating specialised content for different media platforms

Unlike the pre-pandemic times, when people didn’t have a lot of time in hand, it was viable for brands to simply focus on limited media platforms to showcase their content. However, changing times call for changing means and that is why brands are restructuring their mode of communication and designing platform specific content. Curators are conducting research on every platform and using various multimedia tools to produce content that is platform specific. Some of these tools include image based creatives, articles, stories, videos etc. A lot of innovation has been happening around giving rise to more and more experiments. Marketers are going beyond creativity and using a mix of media to cater to consumer needs.

For example, with digital entertainment spiking, marketers are amplifying their advertorial content which is run on different OTT platforms to boost their visibility.

Track trends and don’t fear ‘outside the box’ strategies

The most crucial aspect of marketing is communicating with your audiences. Developing content by studying the demography of the users, analysing the situation and adapting to the changes quickly is the most effective way to overcome communication barriers. Content curators and designers these days have ditched the traditional approach and are adopting the new framework which is more versatile in nature. This has led to flourishment of a lot of businesses. To cite an example, Facebook and Instagram have seen a 40 percent increase in usage while the views of Facebook Live and Instagram Live have doubled in a week.

Being on top of the content game is no longer a recommendation but a necessity for every brand to grow. Having said that, one strategy that is common throughout is keeping pace with the changing times. Unprecedented digital transformation has been sweeping across all sectors over the past few months and brands are doing everything in their capacity to showcase the best of what they have.

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the article belong solely to the author, and not necessarily reflect the views, thoughts, and opinions of EducationWorld.

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