How To Structure Content For Multi-Platform Publishing

Content covers everything from articles, blog posts, website copy, letters, infographics, photos, podcasts, social media posts, interviews, and videos. It can be in the form of written, auditory or visual. Its creation and distribution also revolves around a specific target audience in mind.

If you do a cross-section of any successful digital publication, you’ll figure that the key to their thriving life is centered in their production of high-quality, well-crafted content that engages and educates their target audience consistently. They write for their audience. They choose topics their audience is interested in. Their content helps their audience by focusing on solving a pain point.

But knowing what it means to publish good content is just scratching the surface of content production. If you really want to develop an effective content, it’s important to know how to architect it in a multi-screen world. This means that you should set a framework that will wrap all your pieces of content together to achieve your goals.

So before you start writing, take the time to reflect, plan and set a framework. Today, we’re sharing Claus Enevoldsen‘s Content T.E.P.P. framework below, which can help shape your digital content strategy in a multi-platform publishing. I’m certain it will guide you in producing effective content or in assessing existing content in your own niche. So, you’re welcome!

Having a content framework will make you avoid stopgaps in your journey to digital growth and instead, help your digital publication in the long run. It’s going to make it easier to achieve your overall objectives. You may even surprise yourself and surpass your desired views and clicks!

The digital revolution is inevitable. There is no turning back. The rise of smartphones, tablets, connected devices and the pervasiveness of social media means print will continue to decline. That doesn’t mean print will die (in fact, print is somewhat experiencing a come-back), but its importance and purpose will certainly change. Print will not be the end-all but one of many “screens.”

Depending on whom you address the digital revolution is either already here, or it’s fast approaching. And that’s the main challenge; we have two audiences to serve:

1. The Digital Immigrants: The current audience of baby boomers currently enjoying a printed product but slowly getting used to the digital world
2. The Digital Natives. (Hopefully) the future audience of young Gen X and Millenials who have never picked up a newspaper and instead grew up connected to the world via the Internet.

These two audiences consume media differently and they have different motivations and interests. Porting over your print content and “experience” to digital might work as an interim “migration strategy”, but it won’t cut it as a long term strategy attracting a new audience.

Content TEPP: A digital content framework for a multi-screen world

With the Natives and Immigrants in mind and the realization that media consumption behaviors have changed, here’s a digital content framework for a multi-screen world:

Type

Deciding on what type of content to produce is the most important part of your strategy. Of course. Forget mobile, forget digital and print. Your job is to deliver valuable content to your target audience, regardless of channel. Are the interests of Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives the same? Can your current content attract a new audience with vastly different interests? And how do you attract a new audience with new content without alienating your current audience?

Environment

Considering all the different screens, we need to understand the situation and context of our users. Then deliver and optimize content accordingly. It’s very different to sit down with a printed product and leaning back with a cup of coffee in the morning as compared to sitting on a bus with your smartphone and five minutes to spare.

Pace

Digital Natives want the right content at the right time. At their pace and on their schedule. Think about how many times you check your digital devices every day. Digital metabolism is much higher than print. The expectation is you’ll be updated, informed and entertained every time, whether you have five minutes or an hour to spare.

Packaging

Considering the Type, Enviroment and Pace, how do we package it all up for different screens while taking advantage of new digital tools not available in the analog world? Does the way we deliver content live up to the very high expectations of Digital Natives?

Original article by Claus Enevoldsen

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