Purpose:

To update where Editorial is in 2022 and where it’s going over the next 18-24 months, as we look at building on our base, launching the product, and expanding both products and markets.

tl;dr:

<aside> 💡 The mission and purpose of Editorial at Levels has not changed: To actively spread the message that (1) metabolic health is a thing, (2) it matters, and (3) you can do something about it.

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Editorial’s role in the company is education. Full stop. We are currently the largest repository of deeply reported, evidence-driven content about metabolic health online. We will continue to lean into that position. We are not here to sell things.

The three big picture priorities that we will build on top of that are:

• Leveraging our infrastructure to produce more content about the company (today called Everyone On Content) and content about the product (today mostly done in Member Stories)—with the same rigorous, intellectually honest, and non-marketing-driven focus as the educational stuff.
• Scaling both education content production (type, frequency) and distribution (social, email, SEO). More content reaching more people will only fuel our mission.
• Getting better at what we do. Our content is good, especially compared to most companies or SEO-driven content. But it’s not great, especially compared to proper editorial content. We can improve packaging, storytelling, and reporting all around; this will increase engagement.

<aside> 💡 A note about terminology: Editorial: Refers to both the department led by Haney that produces educational content and the educational content itself Content: Any information produced for consumption by other people. This can include growth-focused social posts, Editorial, partner videos, or Dr. Casey’s Instagram.

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An Aside About the Position of Editorial in Relationship to Growth

‎LEVELS - A Whole New Level: #70 - Creating a digital media strategy (Ben Grynol & Mike Haney) on Apple Podcasts

Given the mission stated above, one of the open long-term questions about content at Levels is what the relationship should be between Levels the product company and Levels Editorial.

In a traditional company, there is no separation (even when the company gives content a name like The Locker). Content all relates back to the main company and products, usually explicitly either in topic (why you need to measure HRV today) or with prominent CTAs. Content is both an upper and lower funnel growth tool.

The other end of the spectrum might look something like Levels content living under a unique name on a separate domain, and the connection acknowledged only in a footer or About section. One could take this vision even further and imagine an editorial organization set up as a unique non-profit entity with its own governance in which Levels is a primary but not exclusive funding source and shares some board members.

We are currently in between, but closer to the former: the connection with Levels is explicit (content is simply the Levels Blog); we tell member stories; we intermingle company-focused content (i.e., Secret Master Plan) with education content. We don’t, however, put CTAs on the content and most stories don’t contain an explicit pitch to CGM or Levels. Growth has confirmed that the visible road map does not call for this to change.