Last week we hosted Helen Havlak, Editorial Director of The Verge, to talk about the ever-changing world of digital media, social media, and reaching the audiences you want.

The Verge is all about making technology news mainstream. Most recently, they addressed some of the negativity and fear around the future of technology with Better Worlds, a series of 10 science fiction short stories with video and audio adaptations focused on a more hopeful future for technology.

One of Helen’s responsibilities is to oversee The Verge engagement team. With the philosophy that readers are using many different channels and might not visit your site, The Verge goes to its readers on the platforms where they live. For B to C companies, Helen offered both practical tips and strategic advice. Here are some quick highlights.

 

• Figure out what your audience wants – education, information, entertainment – and then create the content around that. Doing a job for your audience is more important than your own marketing agenda.
• Know what you have in terms of assets. If your product or story doesn’t lend itself to photos – think hard about a channel like Instagram.
• Follow the fads, but invest cautiously – Facebook Groups for example were a big push in 2017, but many have been abandoned due to moderation challenges. Remember Vine? And think about the future of newer platforms – how will they make money? (what’s in it for them to continue to support other people creating content on their site . . ).
• Be skeptical of how different platforms count followers and engagement. The Verge sees more likes and comments on Instagram than on Twitter, although Twitter might report higher “impressions.” A YouTube video frequently has 5X as many minutes watched as the same “view” on Facebook.
• Moderation is very important, especially on YouTube. Turning off comments kills your placement in the algorithm, and not monitoring offensive comments can create a toxic environment and burn out your talent. YouTube is an important audience, but make sure you have the resources to support it.
• If you are producing a video or a podcast a week – create a schedule and stick to it. Subscribers notice.
• Know that your audience is mostly going to be on their phone and mostly going to be in an app owned by another company – figure out which of those channels work for you.
• And while she didn’t talk about it – she showed it – measure measure measure – that is how you see the trends of platforms that are on the rise or waning.

Photo credit to James Bareham // The Verge