If Content Is King Then Distribution Is Queen

Content is king. Distribution is queen. If that wasn’t apparent for the last half dozen years, the news this week that behemoth financial media companies signed live-streaming partnerships with social media outlets should make it impossible to ignore.

CNBC this week formed a partnership to stream content via Facebook Live and Bloomberg TV also recently announced a similar deal with Twitter. Even the mightiest companies and the most well-known brands in their industries have to go where their audience is by matching their distribution with the channels where their audience resides.

The fact that the media game has changed again isn’t really the most significant takeaway here. Remember, the one constant in the world of communication is that news and public relations are constantly changing. The more relevant item here for financial marketers is that financial content providers are finally going where most of their news and information-hungry audience has been camped out the last few years – the social streams that light up every smart phone and tablet in the world.

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Social media is the dominant disseminator of information. Video is the dominant media type. Mobile accessibility is the dominant format. The CNBC and Bloomberg partnerships with Facebook and Twitter, respectively, underscore this reality. Taken together, this move by the financial networks and their social media partners signals that those in the financial services business need to commit resources and staff to their own digital acceleration effort.

So, here’s what you can do now to make sure that your firm is up to speed:

Shorten your content creation cycle. In a world where receiving content “here, now, in my hands” is the increasingly common expectation for consumers of information, communicators have to know how to mobilize their messages quickly.

Show your face. The race for more video options for media outlets, brands and consumers demonstrates what has been known for centuries – people prefer to see and hear from other people. Getting viewers to connect with your content requires more time hearing directly from the people behind the brand ─ the real thought leaders of the company. The days where it’s acceptable to post content under a generic “from the company” byline are gone.

Make it OK to experiment. There is no real track record or precedent for financial brands to follow when using social media and live streaming to sell financial products or recruit new customers. It’s that new. So unshackle your firm’s marketing and try something different. Sitting on the sidelines and waiting for a good case study allows the first movers to spring ahead of you and rest of the field.

While known mostly for their size and ability to report breaking news, Bloomberg and CNBC are constantly at the forefront of new media distribution strategies. In today’s competitive media landscape, they must stay out in front if they want to maintain their top positions. We’ll be following closely to see what they do next. In the meantime, take a page from their book and be a marketing pioneer when it comes to your content dissemination.