Do you have an entertainment news website or blog that is getting low traffic levels lately? First of all, there is a jungle out there and many are eaten. Or starve. It takes a special animal to survive and thrive online.

But since that’s pretty much true across the board, why did we choose entertainment websites?

Maxim, a leading men’s magazine, decided to change content strategies and instead of focusing on T&A, it focused more on fashion. This new content strategy generated 50% more page views and an additional $ 10 million in annual advertising revenue.

Is Maxim gliding upward with the winds of change or is it just a fad? We think of the first. One of the most important things to consider with entertainment news is getting there first, so if you want to be one of the early adopters, here’s how:

Content strategy vs. Content marketing

Many publishers mistakenly think that a content strategy means content marketing. It is not, but it is very easy to get confused.

Content marketing is a popular method for advertisers to strengthen their brand and improve SEO, among others.

A content strategy is something different and more holistic. Wikipedia defines content strategy as “… planning, development, and management of content, written or otherwise.”

Literally EVERY business looking to benefit from an online presence needs a content strategy.

As a publisher, your product IS content. So this creates a kind of circular effect where you are often promoting your content with … content.

The next strategy

What’s that? A question from the audience? Okay … It says here: “What about my current content strategy? It has worked well so far!”

Good question, and I’m not surprised you asked it. Once you develop some authority on Google, a fan base, and a great promotion strategy for CPC arbitration, you are on the golden path. But if you focus on business development and neglect your content strategy, you will lose. Lose big.

You know very well that we live in a very fluid world. Especially in the entertainment niche. Content can go from rumor to viral in minutes, and from comment on Reddit to full-blown internet tzunami.

You can see it as a kind of skeleton on which your business grows. It is an infrastructure that allows magic to happen.

It is important to understand that a new content strategy does not mean breaking the bones of the core of your business. It’s actually more like a flexible skeleton that you can build on. It sounds strange, but I stick with that metaphor for a reason.

Set goals

Yes, money makes the world go round. Everybody wants it, but cash doesn’t grow on trees or on billboards. There is much more to a content strategy than tunnel vision of the monetary benefit of content creation.

When setting these goals, you should ask yourself the following questions:

1. Who is my audience? How old are they? Where they live? Which languages ​​do they speak? What is it that matters to them? What catches your attention?
2. Where does my content “live”? Where and when do my readers consume this content?
3. What is my unique selling proposition? What makes my site better than someone else’s?
4. Is this business something I want to keep growing or am I looking to start it up and sell it?
5. What is the optimal mix of income sources for this site?

Answering all of these can help you set goals. It’s a good place to start on the road to becoming the next TMZ.

The anatomy of a winning content strategy

Setting your goals and answering the questions above should help you build a sustainable and profitable content strategy. One with a flexible, inflatable skeleton.

So let’s put on our mad scientist hats and design this winning strategy.

Audience engagement

This is the backbone of our strategy. One of the reasons we chose the entertainment niche is the fact that, more than most, it thrives on audience participation, and not the audience that it is.

Who doesn’t want to be entertained?

Social Social Social

These are the lungs of our creature. It breathes social and cannot exist without it. Why social? Numerous reasons. Because it is the most effective way to disseminate content based on its quality and relevance, rather than a monetary investment in promotion. Because that’s where your audience is. Because that’s where everything happens today. Because it’s where people go now to entertain themselves.

Channel diversification

Our creation needs to walk, touch and reach the public. It has legs and arms, channels for content delivery. These largely depend on where your audience consumes content and where you WANT them to consume it.

There are many variables involved in deciding the correct channels to target. For example, most entertainment content is consumed on mobile devices. Therefore, you must decide whether a mobile application or a mobile website is the right solution for you.

Generation of income

Earning money is at the heart of our creature. As long as the heart beats, the creature lives. With no income, you can’t pay writers, you can’t afford content creation, and sooner or later your rent checks start to come back.

Analysis and Optimization

In addition to a flexible spine, a large heart, healthy lungs, and agile limbs, our creature needs to be smart to survive among predators. So you have two brains working in unison: analysis and optimization.

These two not only keep our creation alive and thriving, they help it evolve and improve all the time. Limbs that have no purpose are dropped and new ones are grown in their place. It’s easy, with a flexible skeleton.

Our best advice is to be brave and keep trying. Innovation wins. So get creative. Grow your content strategy to sell as a pet or mount it proudly until sunset. Either way, if the genetics are good, your creation could invade Tokyo. And earn money along the way.