Content Catchup: The Rise of Messaging Apps, Puppies, and More Must-Reads

Here’s what you missed while trying to figure out whether True Detective‘s second season is good or not…

Puppy Love: Inside Purina’s Ambitious New Content Play

When we think of pet content, our minds usually jump to cute, vapid stuff that gets us to click but doesn’t get us to think. Purina wanted to change that, but will its new publication, Puppyhood, take enough risks to stand out? Natalie Burg takes an honest look:

While Puppyhood gets top marks for concept, the execution will leave readers begging for more. The site promises in-depth topics such as grooming, health, behavior, and puppy planning, but the trending stories only offer the same old pet content: “5 Reasons Your Pup Is Irreplaceable,” “10 Moments That Melt Your Heart as a Puppy Owner” and “The Best Puppy Accounts to Follow on Instagram.”

Purina said its content comes directly from researching the needs of puppy owners and workshopping with its “internal corps of experts,” and, to be fair, there are some interesting stories on the site—like, for example, “Puppy Worms and How to Treat Them.” But for every interesting piece, there are two or three articles sharing comically obvious advice.

Read it.

The State of Messaging Apps, in 5 Charts

Dillon Baker’s deep dive on the exponential rise of messaging apps like WhatsApp will give you all the ammo you need for your next marketing meeting and then some.

Read it.

RoboEditor: The Strange New Editorial Machine You Need to Become

Before Joe Lazauskas went on vacation and left me in charge, he penned this impassioned commentary about how editors need to evolve alongside technology if they want to succeed in the long run. Consider this the Lazer trademark—a crucial content marketing insight baked inside a pop culture reference that he probably wrote while drinking a little too much beer:

We need to become a very specific creature: half editor, half data scientist—someone whose data analysis skills fuse seamlessly with editorial judgment. Like RoboCop, but with more creativity and less killing.

Read it.

From Facebook to TD Ameritrade, Corporate Giants Inspire Employees With User Stories

A few years ago, Facebook started receiving hand-written letters from people all over the world who wanted to thank the social giant for helping them connect with friends, families, and strangers. Years later, that snail mail turned into a major publishing initiative that, as Molly Blake points out, is helping the company’s employees do their jobs better.

Read it.

The Most Important Audience for Your Content Marketing: Your Own Employees

Contently CRO Brett Lofgren is racking up those bylines. This week, he explains what companies can do to reach their most important demographic:

When we talk about what fuels content marketing today, the typical buzzwords always crop up: engagement, brand awareness, audience building and retention. We talk about the content we create—social, blogs, white papers, videos, etc. We talk about budget, and how we wish we had more of it. But we typically don’t talk about our most important audience: our employees. Make no mistake, evangelism for any business starts with your employees. If you truly want to succeed, you need to educate your employees about the meaningful work you’re doing across your organization. More importantly, you need to get them excited about it.

Read it.

Now hope for more of Colin Farrell’s mustache Sunday night, and we’ll see you back here on Monday.