Everywhere I look, it seems like the legitimacy of media outlets and content itself is being questioned. And if you’ve been on social media any time in the past year, you know what I'm talking about: fake news.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know what fake news is — and that it’s a problem. It’s making audiences think twice about which media sources they can trust and doubt how effective content is. And that’s not good for thought leaders and content creators who know the ROI of content marketing.
For those leaders and marketers, it turns the conversation from “How can we make this content engaging and get it in front of the right audience?” to “Will our audience even believe us?” which takes up resources that could be dedicated to creating and distributing content strategically — if only so much fake content weren’t polluting the system.
So what does the issue of fake news today mean for us in the long run? What does it mean for publications and media outlets as they try to maintain their own legitimacy? And what does it mean for the ways brands build trust with their audiences?
How We Got Here
Before we can examine what’s next, we need to look at how we got here in the first place. To be honest, a big reason people question content is probably due to the amount they are exposed to and how little of it is actually targeted at them.
Content is everywhere, and it’s no longer limited to media outlets. Social media trends and platform changes make it easier to create and share content on the channels themselves. People now see content right in their news feeds because it was published there — not because it was created to engage them specifically or because it was distributed to them in the right way.
There aren’t a lot of brands that do a good job of taking engaging content and getting it in front of the right audience. That means people see a load of content that isn’t created for them — and isn’t engaging to them. With this garbage being passed off as an attempt at engagement, there’s a good chance people will become more skeptical and stop trusting content as fully.
If audiences do become skeptical, that will put more pressure than ever on publications to keep their loyal readers and maintain their trust. Outlets will need to do more than publish engaging, informative, and entertaining articles because that may no longer be enough to keep readers from becoming skeptics. The ones that come out on top will be those that are able to maintain trust and put a process in place that ensures they are consistently worthy of that trust.
Maybe that looks like something similar to Facebook’s move toward fact-checking by creating a more in-depth vetting process for content from contributors. Maybe it’s a code of ethics around authenticity and accuracy that shows readers each publication’s responsibility to uphold the truth in this world of fake content and clickbait.
Maybe it’s a new set of standards that publications use for brands that advertise or sponsor content to avoid serving up an ad for a shady, dishonest brand to readers and giving them reason to distrust those publications. Research shows that when a trusted publisher features a native ad for a brand that’s viewed as untrustworthy, 43 percent of content consumers lose trust in that outlet.
Whatever the solution is, publishers already fighting to keep their readers need to keep that data in mind. If they don’t do something, consumers will find more value elsewhere. And the last thing that any honest media outlet or publication wants is to accidentally publish something and become a casualty of the “Great Fake Content Battle of 2017.”
What’s Next
For example, I can see an opening for brands to step up and into the fight as publishers that are go-to sources for industry updates. Trust is scarce, so the outlet best able to build it and keep it will be the winner; it makes sense that it could be a brand or a branded publication or blog.
If publications do prepare, I can see them arming themselves with tools and processes that reassure their readers and make building trust a little less difficult. And brands that are doing content marketing will have to find ways to keep practicing authentic thought leadership and sharing the experiences and insights that make them experts in the first place. Consumers can rest and read easier knowing that these publishers and brands have done their part to distribute only the most engaging content.
Whatever happens next, I honestly don’t believe fake news will win. Content is too valuable to be pushed out of the picture by stories about alien babies. As long as those who practice content stay committed to providing value and engaging consumers, we’ll all get better at spotting the bull, and those thought leaders, brands, and publishers can make sure their content shines.
John Hall is the CEO of Influence & Co., a company that specializes in expertise extraction and knowledge management that is used to fuel marketing efforts.
