Instead of reading the morning paper over coffee, consumers are now clicking to find the latest news throughout the day – the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, a French-based international economic group, reports that 5 percent of internet visits are related to reading the news. Start-up company Techmeme is playing a crucial role in the contemporary news market and offering a valuable lesson in branding with its streamlined, industry-specific content.
Techmeme offer readers the latest tech news in a process that is part news aggregation, part really simple syndication (RSS) and part user generation. "Story selection is accomplished via computer algorithm extended with direct human editorial input," explains the website. This results in quality content about top-searched headlines. The company’s goal is to become consumers’ go-to tech news site – and it seems to be well on its way.
The New York Times reports that Techmeme, which hired its first editor in 2008, has 260,000 readers who check the site 3 million times a month. The site has become an "essential for overwhelmed readers," says the newspaper. The combined power of expansive algorithms and humans discernment makes Techmeme a trusted – and profitable – resource for busy consumers.
Companies can take Techmeme’s cue on human-filtered news content and up the stakes on their own websites by becoming thought leaders. Instead of republishing other sites’ industry-specific stories, creating original news content based on the latest industry news will generate clicks directly to an eccommerce site.
Spending time developing original content that offers online news readers the information they desire may be a worthwhile investment. A survey from the Bloom Group shows that businesses who generate more than 30 leads per month devote nearly two-thirds of their thought leadership budgets to content development, whether through internal research groups or outside parties.
