From feeds to events: How content creators are reshaping TV strategy

The playbooks for streaming TV services and creators are collapsing into one – but even so, misconceptions remain. Large parts of the traditional entertainment industry consider the engagement techniques in two lanes. Creators capture daily attention by producing quickly with lower production values. Broadcasters produce higher quality content with cultural impact that become watercooler moments. This is not accurate.

This perception is driven by a misunderstanding of what content ‘works’ on social platforms. YouTube is filled with videos telling up-and-coming creators how to optimise growth and retention. From ‘using shocked faces’ in thumbnails to ‘hooking the viewer within 10 seconds’, content creation is depicted as a cookie-cutter process. However, these approaches are ineffective if the storytelling is poor. A high-quality video with powerful storytelling can also perform strongly while ignoring content creation trends.

Event-driven content

Mark Rober has built a YouTube channel with 75 million subscribers by doing the opposite of what ‘works’. Rober shows that low-frequency, high-impact content works on YouTube. He produces 12 videos per year. Each one is an event that builds anticipation pre-publication and a wave of community engagement post publication. It has hallmarks of how broadcasters target ‘watercooler moments’. Simply put, the creator economy playbook is not only varied but absorbing characteristics that made broadcast and streaming TV powerful.

Rober provides a blueprint for how streaming TV can adapt their event-driven strategies for social. However, it also shows that the strategies of streaming TV are no longer exclusive. These services must build a single playbook that use the best strategies of the social and the streaming world. They need a content engine that optimises for the myriad ways content is discovered and audiences engage.

The Sidemen content engine

The Sidemen have honed this approach to content. They have created a discovery and engagement system that attracts new audiences, provides multiple engagement points, and monetises superfans. Its social channels and streaming partnerships turn casual viewers into loyal members of the community:

• The Sidemen Reacts and More Sidemen channels are optimised for social discovery, using high-frequency content in proven formats such as gaming, lifestyle, and reactions across short-form and long-form

• The Sidemen’s main channel operates an event-driven strategy, combining weekly releases with premium production and Hollywood-style marketing

• Finally, the Side+ platform monetises super fans through exclusive content for £6.99 per month. It gives the Sidemen full ownership of the relationship and data of their most committed viewers

Therein lies the challenge for streaming TV services. Embracing the creator economy playbook does not just mean cherry-picking strategies and using them ad-hoc. To reap the benefits, these services need to design a discovery and engagement engine that feeds daily, event-driven and fan engagement.

Image credits: Getty Images / Wesley Tingey / Detail.co / A.C via Unsplash+