As I’ve written about before, the context of our media is just as important as the actual content contained with it.

But what exactly makes up the context of our content?

Here are a few aspects of context to think about before deciding how to form your content:

Proximal

• What other content will be surrounding this piece of content?
• Where will the audience be physically when they are experiencing this content?

Temporal

• When will the audience be most likely to find this content in relation to the time it was created?
• Is this content intended to only be experienced once, or multiple times?
• Is it easy to find again at a later date?
• How long do you expect the audience to spend with the content?

Epistemological

• What does the audience already know about the subject prior to finding this content?
• What does the audience already know about you or your organization prior to finding this content?

Tonal

• What is the tone or mood evoked by the environment surrounding the content?
• What is the possible or likely emotional state of the audience prior to experiencing this content?

Actional / Reactional

• What actions are possible or readily available to the audience during or after experiencing this content?

Once you have an idea of the context of your content, you can start to shape the form of the content in a way that will have the best chance of producing your desired effect.