Online streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu and HBO Go have dramatically changed the way many of us consume content. With a few clicks, you have access to episode after episode, season after season of your favorite television shows. There’s even a term for this: binge watching. This bingeworthy content means no more waiting a whole week for a new episode, or an entire summer for a new season of your favorite shows—there all right there waiting for you.
Believe it or not, we can apply the same thought process to the content your brand creates and offers its audience. Potential, current and even former customers are constantly looking for engaging content that provides answers and solves their problems. Providing a one-stop shop across all of your brand’s platforms (website, blog, social media, etc.) gives them the perfect place to binge. So, is your brand’s content bingeworthy? Let’s find out!
What Makes Content Bingeworthy?
Think about the show you or someone you know likes to binge watch. Are there any common factors? According to Quartz, sites like Netflix use a few guideposts to make their content fit for mass consumption.
Focus on a Content Strategy, Not Just Individual Pieces
Most bingeworthy shows are serials. In other words, the episodes are interconnected to some degree. They tell a story through multiple installments and just need to know what happens next. The same holds true for the content your brand creates. When planning out your content, try to think of bigger themes you can tell over time. For example, you may have noticed that ProFromGo has been teasing this topic with social media posts over the past week.
Netflix uses the “Three-Act Play” formula. Think back to your high school English class. The plot diagram we all learned about relies on three basic sections: rising action, climax and falling action. For us, the rising action was our social media posts. They help build the story. This blog post serves as our climax—the place where we finally explain everything. After this, we’ll create a falling action, like an ebook or checklist. By the time we get to that final piece of content, that reaffirms everything we went over in this post.
The cool thing is, each of these plot points align with the three stages of the Buyer’s Journey: Attract, Convert and Delight. We used our social media posts to attract our audience’s attention, proved we knew what we were talking about and hopefully encouraged you to reach out to us (or convert), and finally provided a delightful resource you can take with you.
What Does Bingeworthy Content Look Like?
Social media posts, blog articles and premium content are just a few examples of what bingeworthy content can look like. In reality, bingeworthy content can take any shape or form, as long as it contributes to the overall strategy. At the same time, you want to diversify the content you offer. A series of blog posts is great, but reading article after article can get old. Throw in some video content, slide decks, or interactive elements, too.
TV writers do this by shaking up the formats and focus of individual episodes. A good example is the show Community. While the overall theme—a bunch of misfit community college students—is prevalent in every episode, the writers often toyed with episode format. From the typical sitcom to mockumentary to lampooning war dramas (I highly recommend the paintball episodes), Community kept its audience hooked by changing things up.
The same goes for your brand’s content. You can tell an overarching story across all of your platforms, but still give your audience unique experiences.
Bingeworthy Content Follows a Journey
Since the time of the ancient Greeks, storytellers have relied on a tried and true plot device: The Hero’s Journey. This cycle outlines every stage of the traditional protagonist’s story, from the “call to adventure” to the “return home.” Think about your favorite movie franchises. Whether it’s Star Wars, Lord of the Rings or any film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the Hero’s Journey in action.
Here’s the twist. We’re not talking about the content you make. The hero of this adventure is your audience. They’re the hero you’re inviting to take this journey, the protagonist through your bingeworthy content. We’ll dive into the Hero’s Journey in a later blog (that you’ll hopefully want to binge) and show you how each step applies to brand storytelling, but here’s a quick taste.
Start with the “call to adventure.” In marketing, we might say call to action or CTA. We need to invite the audience into your brand’s world. From there, we can position ourselves as a valuable resource, “Meeting the Mentor.” We then help guide our hero (audience) through a series of content and return them with an elixir (knowledge) to their normal world forever changed.
Sounds pretty lofty, huh? It doesn’t have to be. The Hero’s Journey is at play more often than not—even if we don’t realize it. However, by structuring content around this cycle, we provide our audience with a familiar path that encourages them to continue on the journey and bigne out on your content.
Build Your Bingeworthy Brand with ProFromGo
Content strategy can feel like a lot of moving parts. Throw a website redesign on top of that and things feel a bit unwieldy. But don’t worry, hero. ProFromGo is here to call you to adventure and guide you along the way. We have the tools and know-how to help you make your brand’s content truly bingeworthy. Contact us to learn how we can help share your brand’s story.
