With more and more content hitting the Internet daily, users are increasingly turning to curated, one-stop platforms to consume information. Blogging and social media have made it easier for companies to create an online presence, but it can be difficult for one voice to be heard above all the noise. Enter Medium.
Medium is a blogging platform featuring curated content from writers and publishers worldwide. For marketers and content creators, it is a place to share stories and interact with readers. It represents an evolution of platforms like Flipboard and Facebook’s Paper app, which aggregate content based on users’ interests and ultimately link to the original post on another site.
Medium’s developers founded the platform in response to the new ways people are consuming content. Rather than check multiple individual blogs and sites, readers would ideally like to find all of their content on one platform. Social media sites have begun responding by changing their algorithms so that users are more likely to see high-quality content.
How it works
Discovery is based on readability—not catchy click bait. Articles that users actually read are more likely to be visible than those with a high bounce rate. Medium and its users reward quality, giving readers the opportunity to share good articles with their friends, while ignoring the bad. It’s a sort of survival of the fittest—only the best content receives the most amount of attention.
Medium’s users can follow writers and “publications,” which are collections of curated content on one subject, such as photography or tech. They can also annotate specific lines of text and add notes in the margins of articles.
Marketers may use this platform to blog about their brand and to link back to content on their website. They can track their success with metrics like views, reads, read ratio (how many users read the article compared to how many saw it in their feed) and recommendations.
Why you should use it
Medium already has 650,000 users, a strong base for brands to tap. These types of platforms represent a new way of finding content that offers a more customized experience than social media, and as digital trends change rapidly, it’s important for marketers to continually evaluate new methods for reaching customers.
Medium also emphasizes quality, long-form stories. Creative and engaging posts forge an emotional connection with readers, building brand loyalty. Strong content also asserts your brand as an authority in its field.
How to get started
Start writing! Accounts are free, and Medium’s minimalist text editor is easy to use. Writers may post original content or create a post that links to original content on another platform. You may also add photos and embed content from sites like YouTube, Twitter, Vine and Instagram.
If you could use help developing quality blog or article content for platforms like Medium, consider working with a professional copywriting service. When you do, you’ll be able to create the content that sets your brand apart.