If I posted this article a year ago, or better yet, several years ago, more people would have read it than will read it today.
Are we losing our touch? That’s for you to say, but I don’t believe that’s the problem. Instead it’s likely a combination of things, starting with the fact that the novelty has worn off. Ad blogs are no longer new, and they’re not exactly exciting. Some ad blogs have worked to bring the excitement level up — Adrants uses tits and ass to do that, while Agency Spy encourages snarky comments.
There’s another important factor. My approach as editor is a traditional one. That is, I believe in the content here and for me that’s what it’s all about. But I may be wrong, in market place terms, especially now.
I first got a sense of this last fall when talking with Daniel Honigman, one of the founders of AdYapper. He told me that it’s not just about the content any longer, it’s about creating a platform where readers can talk to us and more importantly, to one another.
Jordan Kurzweil of Independent Content, also sees things the Honigman way. Writing in TechCrunch last February, Kurzweil argues: “Consider your most cherished asset – content – as currency, not the end-all, be-all, but a means to an end.”
Ask: If content is your conduit, what can your audience do, and what will give them more value once they have engaged with your product? And I don’t mean: read another article, search our newly digitized library of old content, or print this page. We’re talking about what service or product experience, what self-sustaining platform, what new thing can you get your audience to try, share and love.
Content is no longer king. It’s just a carrot. Because people don’t want a steady diet of carefully-made articles, people want to place themselves in the center of the action. At least, that’s what I’m hearing from others working on the problem. What I am not hearing is what you want. Maybe I haven’t asked you lately, but let me correct that. What do you want from this site? And how can you get more value from our content?
Previously on AdPulp: Give Advertisers Some Backtalk