Sharing - more than just Caring

This article was originally published on the IAB UK website -http://www.iabuk.net/blog/sharing-it-s-more-than-just-caring
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The IAB’s Member Services Manager, Shayan Sacki, shares some ideas and thoughts on why you should submit your content to the IAB UK site.

The evolving technology at IAB UK Digital TechFronts kept us all on our toes. With established companies continuing their dominance it is difficult to be heard from the crowd. We hear it all the time, “give me your elevator pitch” – or in other words - sum up everything you do in thirty seconds and then maybe I will listen.

The deadlines and the constraints we have to work to, the need to please people and impress them can be very prohibitive and requires some creative thinking. How can I impress someone enough in these thirty seconds so that I can have more of their time and potentially their money?

This is the issue that companies have when advertising and marketing. How can they reach the attention and time of their target audience?

Thought Leadership
We always want to encourage IAB UK members to publish their thought leadership and case studies on our site. Sharing and having an opinion is a key way to getting that personal relationship. Brands can now use different methods to showcase their leadership, be it a picture that represents your ideas, a meme that aims to capture the mood and sentiment around a particular subject and even a video to highlight a key message.

Expressing an opinion is part of a story- you need to grab the reader’s attention when you can and keep a hold of them. Our Real_Living study shows about competing devices let alone attention. Advertisers are not alone when thinking about how to command people’s time. Sharing a story that fits is proving a great way to connect with consumers.

Additionally, people value opinion as it has substance to it and providing examples is helpful as it gives context. The questions that pop up such as, “should I listen” and “what can you offer me” will be covered. In any walk of life, especially within advertising, the value exchange is becoming more and more important. Why should a consumer give you their most valuable assets, time and money?

For example, if a food blogger wants me to visit their site, how are they going to entice me to visit their site? What is it about their content that appeals to me? I am looking for three things; Leadership, concise examples and a key takeaway.

• Leadership – I want the authority in food to tell me what to eat and where to go. I do not have the time to sift through hundreds of sites or reviews. A blog piece on our site will showcase your expertise on your given subject.

• Case Study – Give me an example of what you ate and the journey you went through. This will avoid any uncertainty and gives me a clear indication on what is on offer. A case study is the opportunity to provide examples of success.

• Key Takeaway (not a food pun) – Here is the key insight and information on why I will go to a restaurant. “dish X was amazing and cost £X, a must have”. This here is the clincher and the benefit.
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Great content will grab people’s attention. Make sure that once you have them that you offer them something of value to keep them with you. Sharing is caring, but it is also educational, inspiring and practical. If this is already something you have then why not increase its powers and exposure on our site. Help us, help you?