Ads24’s Content Hub offers more value to brands and readers

By announcing the appointment of Gayle Edmunds as the head of its new Content Hub, Ads24 has fully embraced content as part of its offering to advertisers. The hub will produce quality branded content across Ads24’s stable of news, entertainment and community focused titles. Articles, interviews, competitions, social media, blogs, videos research et cetera will be custom created for brands by an experienced editorial team, who have an intimate understanding of storytelling and can produce content that is inspirational, educational and of enormous value to readers and brands alike.

The content will maintain the high standards associated with Ads24’s titles, the primary difference being that brand content will be approached from an editorial perspective ‘to give readers maximum value, which directly converts into client value’, said Edmunds. ‘In a cluttered media landscape, the only way to break through is to help readers live their best lives and answer the all-important “so what?” question. It brings together the skill sets of the editorial team and the sales team to offer the client impact and engagement.’ In addition, brands now have the opportunity to align themselves with Ads24’s titles, and to create strong brand associations with trending topics, themes and entertainment.

The way in which people like to be marketed to has changed. These days, potential customers want access to quality information so that they can make up their own minds when purchasing a product or service. Research by Demand Gen in 2016 found that close to 50 per cent of B2B buyers read between three and five pieces of content before making contact with a sales person. The research also showed that about 96 per cent of buyers would like to receive more information directly from industry leaders. However, with so much content available, consumers are increasingly demanding intelligent, substantial and/or entertaining material and we are seeing a distinct shift away from mind-numbing memes and blatant over selling. Consumers want trusted, curated content that cuts through the noise.

‘South Africans across all walks of life are hungry for genuinely useful and credible information to help them make informed life decisions,’ said Edmunds. ‘Clients are battling to get through to their potential customers because of an increasingly fragmented and on-demand media landscape, this means they need to demonstrate who they are and what they contribute to the South African project, to recapture the attention of their customers.’

There are no short-cuts when it comes to creating quality content and this means investing in quality writers. Ads24 already has a team of experienced experts who can take your unique selling points and key messaging and distil them into jargon-free, reader friendly copy that appeals to consumers. Quality content is becoming increasingly important as search engines, like Google, tighten up control around poor quality articles generated by content farms that use seedy tactics, like keyword stuffing, to rank.

Superior content also helps a brand to build influence and a dedicated and loyal community, this is achieved by speaking directly to customers in a language they understand and using stories to educate and inspire or to solve an immediate problem. A brand can use a hub to offer myriad solutions to potential customers through diverse content that ranges from social media, blogs and e-books. Ads24 already has the platforms and communities in place for a brand to distribute their messaging to just about every sector of South African society. Ads24’s titles have earned authority and credibility over the years and built high-volume communities hungry for solutions to their various pain points.

‘We are very excited about this important addition to Ads24’s offering. We believe that by producing credible content in a tone of voice that speaks directly to a wide range of readers, we are creating a win-win situation for both brands and readers,’ said Marise van der Lith, Brand Manager of Ads24.