Digital tribes are in its basic sense a group of people that are bound together by an in interest in a certain subject matter and by using the same digital services to exchange, explore and engage in that in that interest. They commune around an interest and around a certain array of media services that focus on that interest.
For a media company it can be of great interest in targeting such a digital tribe (or even better, to initiate „tripping“ itself). When you build your megamedia business (meaning, that you have more media to offer than just TV only) around that tribe you can use broadcasting TV as the key element in keeping your tribal members interested and alluring new followers – hence, consumers.
Television as the key element of a megamedia / digital tribe strategy is, unfortunately, often misunderstood. The founders of such ventures focus solely on Television, and they believe it is necessary to have 24/7 full program channel on air broadcasting globally. We see this over and over again happening though in the media world and can also observe that this ends in disaster.
For you to succeed in building a digital tribe around your broadcasting, it is hence of highest importance to focus. And to start small. You will not need a full tv channel. The technology these days is so developed, that broadcasting via the web is fully sufficient to get you started.
The key focus should be on programming. You want to have that kind of program and, sic, content that is of interest to your digital tribe. It must create a certain stickiness, so that they keep on coming back to you and want to watch. It must meet their need to getting relevant and excellent information on the topic of their interest. You should dedicate your efforts on making your broadcast the premier choice for anyone who is interested in this theme.
Here are a few ideas on how to achieve this:
- Experts & Interviews: make sure you have access to the best experts in your particular thematic niche. Try to interview them or even better have a regular show with them. Such content can be used over and over again; and will also be available in other parts of your megamedia strategy (e.g. as VOD service, as a push video on mobile, on youtube etc; or in printed format on the website or in your magazine). You can also hold live webinars etc with these experts and engage this way directly with your audience.
- Documentaries: get your hand on good documentary material relevant for your topic. Many niche content of that sort is now available widely at affordable rates; especially when you broadcast online only. It might even be worth to work with some producers to create your very own documentaries. Ideally, the content is so well-done and relevant, that you can use such a documentary over a long period of time (and again in other versions on your VOD, web or mobile services etc).
- Festivals, Events, Conferences, etc: Be present at „tribal gatherings“ and report about them extensively. When your particular topic has conferences or events that are of importance to your tribe, you should be present and report about this event. Ideally you should be the only source for your consumers where they can get video content on this event and you can use such happenings perfectly to fill your library with tons of expert interviews etc.
- Live & Slow TV: There is a trend in broadcasting to have again more live TV and also – especially in thematic TV- on focusing in length and great detail on one subject matter (i.e. Slow TV). This is the area where you want to be specifically keen on exploring. Being the only broadcaster that shows a certain topic in its full detail, length and deepness, will make you the go-to-point for anyone interested in that topic. It will also function as a great marketing tool to gather a lot of followers around your broadcast all at the same time, which will dramatically enhance your ability to show and sell them other parts of your media services and also will most likely have an even more dramatic effect of how your users engage with you via social media at that given moment.
These are only a few, key ideas on how you can use broadcasting tv as a the crucial element in your media business. If you need to explore how this is relevant for your business or project, do not hesitate to contact me and enlist our advice.
