The content marketing industry is speculating heavily about Apple’s recent job posting on its website for a seasoned Editorial Producer for its iTunes music platform.
The announcement calls for a “seasoned writer with broad pop cultural background.” It also mandates that the journalist has “deep contacts in the freelance world with writers who can cover the spectrum of pop culture (music, movies, books, etc).”
Furthermore, Apple is looking for someone with experience in managing and motivating freelance writers and working across content, business and production teams. Apple wants someone who can write “lively copy” that aligns with the Apple brand.
So what’s all the fuss about Apple hiring a music journalist? After all, you may think it’s just another job posting and right in line with the current demand for content (illustrated by the 77 percent of B2C companies currently using content marketing). This is different, though.
As it stands, iTunes is strictly a platform for purchasing, storing and accessing multimedia—that’s about it. Apple sells multimedia in the iTunes store in a similar format to what you would find on Netflix. That is, there are several sections including movies, music, podcasts, audiobooks, applications and more. Clicking on an icon will grant a customer access to more information like track or season listings, or a brief description.
This could change, however, when Apple rolls out its next version of iTunes along with the highly-anticipated Beats Music service.
Based on this job posting, predictions abound that the next phase of iTunes could be more than a music catalog; it could be a hub for journalism that includes content like written reviews, interviews and exclusive inside information. It could be a way for artists to directly communicate with fans in blog-style format as well. Imagine, for instance, if artists can customize their own pages. With this capability, Apple would essentially transform iTunes into a one-stop-shop for all things related to the music industry; think Rolling Stone, with a comprehensive music catalogue.
For now, we’ll have to wait and see what Apple has in store for its customers. After all, predicting the next move for the tight-lipped technology giant is never cut-and-dried. If Apple does in fact embrace content marketing, however, it would be yet another example of how a popular brand is using content marketing to bridge the gap with customers and provide a more detailed online purchasing experience. Content, after all, keeps customers on a website longer, and also keeps them coming back for more information. If leveraged on a platform like iTunes, it could be extremely effective for generating repeat sales.
It’s a great time to stop and think about how you can use content to bridge the gap between your business and your customers. The good news is that you don’t have to hire a full-time journalist like Apple is seeking. You can access the same quality of content for a fraction of the price by consulting with a custom content publishing company.
You can find out more about this process by clicking here.
