The statistics on how people consume content online, especially in the age group of 18 to 34, is revealing. According to the ‘American Press Institute’ the browsing habits of this group indicate that almost 45 percent follow upwards of five news topics at a time and about 86 percent involve themselves in exchanging views and opinions on the social media platforms.
The importance of online content
These statistics indicates what a big market content creation has already become. But, to think that all kinds of content get lapped up is a folly. It has to be, as some put it, ‘buzz-worthy’, meaning it should be scintillating enough to compel the browser to read on and not click to navigate to a different site.
There is a flip side to this too. At times, even the best content in the digital universe remains unread, since merely putting it up on a website is not enough. To make it popular, you need to adopt a strategic, multi-disciplinary approach, ab initio. You will also need to apply all methods, such as the time-tested word-of-mouth approach, contemporary delivery methods and collaborations across other disciplines.
All this underscores the importance of online content, which is evolving and giving rise to new career opportunities. Such opportunities are not only open for content creators, but also for those who ‘communicate’ online, such as PR counsellors, brand experts, social gurus and event producers. Together, they all form the core pillars.
However, content itself is undergoing a change. Today, just being informative won’t do. It has to be made interesting by thinking out of the box. For example, one of the popular news websites broke the news of Kanye West going broke by suggesting jobs for him. This was a humorous take on his situation, but at the same time informed the readers that this American rapper is under $53 million in debt.
To grab eyeballs on the social media too, you have to think in creative ways to become more visible than the rest. For example, if you want to promote your brand, you may join an ongoing conversation on a social media platform and try to pitch it by adding your voice to it. However, it will just be another voice among hundreds of others and may not have the desired effect.
But, if you go the CRM (customer relationship management) way and adopt a multi-tiered, cross-channel promotional strategy, you will manage to build continuous traffic and push your brand. Of course, this can only come about by thinking out a viable strategy.
New content-related jobs on the anvil
This brings us to the job possibilities that online content revolution has opened up. Let us see what such jobs would look like:
#1 Content Producer and Presenter
This job will entail presenting compelling news stories that will get the reader totally engrossed. The Content Producer and Presenter will be required to use technology, such as virtual reality and others to produce creative content that provides a human touch to the brand or product. He or she will reach out to their target audience through multimedia that may range from a tweet to virtual reality to video.
#2 Data Miner
Today, providing in-depth news and brand information to the discerning public grabs eyeballs, since mere reporting is passé. This requires data gathering by researching. It is the job of the Data Miner to mine for it extensively. Data Miner’s role will be use his or her story mining skills to provide in-depth data to be later blended with the brand narrative, before being offered to the readers.
#3 Trending Specialist
It is one thing to mine the story or data and quite another to mold it to current trending online norms. A Trending Specialist is the one who not only shapes the content in consumable form, but also gives it a creative angle to make it an authentic brand voice. A Trending Specialist helps in making his content stand out from the rest of the noise.
#4 Content Strategist
With fast changing consumer engagement channels, it becomes important to follow a set strategy that takes into account the changing scenario. A Content Strategist is the one who develops and executes strategies to keep pace with such changes and provide measurable results.
#5 Editorial Content Director
What stories will resonate with the target audience and how to package them to be effective will be the job of the Editorial Content Director. He or she will also have to identify which stories lend themselves to inculcating the brand information with the content.
#6 Command and Control Specialist
Conclusion
The content revolution is catching up. If you want to jump on the bandwagon, learn how to tailor a resume that will highlight your attributes for these positions.
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