Are you publishing blog articles, videos, press releases, or posting updates on your favorite social network? Whatever the form, Kevin Spacey will tell you, “It’s all content.”
The Oscar®-winning actor challenged TV channels to surrender “control” to their audiences—or risk losing them, in a video published by Telegraph UK.
There are lessons that all content marketers can learn from Spacey’s speech.
The actor’s most recent hit project, House Of Cards, was released as a streaming program on Netflix. Spacey said the success of the Netflix model (all 13 episodes of House Of Cards were released at once) has proved one thing: “The audience wants control. They want freedom. If they want to binge—as they’ve been doing on House Of Cards—then we should let them binge.”
Spacey observed that this new way of releasing such content “demonstrated that we have learned the lesson that the music industry didn’t learn — give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price, and they’ll more likely pay for it rather than steal it.”
Spacey questioned the sense of labeling of content based on the delivery method. “If you watch a TV show on your iPad, is it no longer a TV show? The device and length are irrelevant … It’s all content. It’s all story.”
Three Content Insights From Kevin Spacey
What follows are three key takeaways that all content marketers should heed, as told by Kevin Spacey and compiled by Joe Pulizzi of Content Marketing Institute.
1. Your Customers Are Desperate For Stories
Customers crave unique, helpful insights. Tell your brand story in an interesting way and give your customers the tools to help share it and watch it spread. The audience is out there, just waiting for you to provide them with these opportunities.
2. Long-Form Content Works
Some of the best stories in the world take time to play out. A single blog post, video, or tweet may not be enough to tell your story effectively. House of Cards wouldn’t be nearly as compelling if it were whittled down to a single episode. When it comes to content marketing, long-form storytelling remains an effective way to build enduring relationships with customers.
3. Plan Your Content Strategy Based On Data
Netflix made the decision to finance House of Cards (after every other network turned it down) based on data that showed audiences wanted this kind of content. Your business may not have the data resources of Netflix, but everyone now has access to analytics data, regardless of company size.
