Unless you never watch television, you will already be familiar with serialised content. Whether it’s Game of Thrones or American Horror Story, a well-crafted series leaves you anticipating the next episode, but where does this fit in with content marketing?
You can start by looking at the lavish effort by Royal Caribbean to promote its cruises to teenagers. Its Royal Crush series has aired 24 episodes since premiering in 2014. In the show, chic teens experience life on a cruise ship. They visit majestic destinations, have fun on board, and fall in love with each other. While it is branded content, it does not try to push the virtues of the cruises. It simply has to show the audience what’s so great. In the series, the ship is not just a location – it’s a pivotal character that brings the other characters together.
The approach seems to be working, too, because a survey of season three viewers found that three-quarters were more likely to persuade their parents to take them on a cruise.
Sure, not every business can afford such grand productions, but it gives an indication of how effective episodic content can be. If you’re a smaller business, you could start by building ongoing narratives into your website newsfeed. You’ll of course want to make sure your news content provider is fully briefed on this.
If you want to use video episodes, they don’t have to feature outstanding production values. A series of down-to-earth instructional videos, for example, can have a positive effect if it’s presented clearly and consistently teaches its viewers something useful each time.
Of course, it’s no simple matter to find engaging storylines that keep people coming back, especially when they need to align with your brand strategy, but episodic content offers a means to cut through the “white noise” of content offered by other marketers.
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