Content Marketing: new introduction to an old marketing idea

Content MarketingA new introduction to an old marketing idea

http://gapingvoid.com/2006/05/09/if-you-talked-to-people/

New! Content marketing

Source: http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=content+marketing&year_start=1970&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=

New! Content marketing

“71% said they would be increasing spend on content marketing. Last October, 90% said the discipline would become more important over the next 12 months.”Source: http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/61964-71-of-businesses-plan-to-increase-digital-marketing-budgets-this-year-report

…it’s the only marketing left.Seth Godin

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CONTENT MARKETING

But how new is it?

John Deere in 1895John Deere launched The Furrow in 1895, with the aim of gaining American farmers’ trust and helping them navigate the complex world of agricultural technology.

•Print, web editions•1.5 million circulation•Distributed in over 40 countries

The FurrowSource: http://contentmarketingworld.com/videos/john-deere-media-company/

McKinsey & Co in 1964The McKinsey Quarterly, run for almost half a century. Known as “Vainies”, the McKinsey proposition depends on persuading clients to focus on both their culture and advice.

•Print, web editions•55,000 print circulation•Limited to CEOs, Top Managers & Academics

McKinsey QuarterlySource: http://gulib.georgetown.edu/newjour/m/msg02897.html

Red Bull in 2007Red Bull Media House launched the Red Bulletin in 2007 to bring a fresh focus to the quality of the content it produces to sell energy drinks. It aims for under 40% branded content.

•Print, iPad, Android app•3.1 million circulation•English, German, French, Spanish

Global Red BulletinSource: http://www.redbullmediahouse.com/products-brands/print/the-red-bulletin.html

ABC magazine stats (UK 2012)•Top 10: half are customer mags•Top 3: Tesco, Asda, National Trust•9.5% circulation growth ‘12

Source: http://www.the-cma.com/news/customer-magazines-circulation-increases-by-95-whilst-consumer-magazines-circulation-sees-a-decline

Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co 1941Companies and brands have understood the power of content marketing for decades. Prior to government rules on tobacco advertising, customer magazines were commonplace.

Media companiesIt turns out one class of businesses has been particularly good at turning out content that is designed to foster loyalty, advocacy and improved revenue per user (RPU).

BBC Magazines published 40 titles aimed at six market segments. This was spun off as Immediate Media Co, boasting 800 staff, 34 websites, 50 magazines reaching 11 million consumers in the UK alone.

Boundary-crossing contentMedia companies have also been at the vanguard of those turning on digital content streams in the past decade. CNN joined YouTube in November 2006.

Interactive contentSome brands have invested heavily in breaking down the barriers between different types of content, to great effect:• Static vs dynamic• Branded vs UGC• Education vs fun

Skittles has consistently rewritten the rules and a visit to the website is always eye-opening.

Our lives as contentNike+ has grown over seven years to 6m users, who are engaging with themselves and their friends through the medium of products and the brand.

The Fuelband, launched in 2012, joins up a set of connected services, monitoring, measuring and sharing your active life. This is content built into the real world via devices and appsSource: http://vimeo.com/50167919

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”

Rudyard Kipling

Source: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/words

Content evolutionContent is a fluid concept. No matter how much you pay attention, it has the capacity to wrong-foot you.

The nature of content has to be driven by the audience. Between 2006 and 2010, social media gained traction and written content came to mean short bursts of characters. Then came long reads, which are now classified as a specific type of content.

Interest in: Long reads2004 - 2013

We’re all media companies now

“Brands are continually advised to start acting as publishers online. That every company is a media company online is now a truism.”

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/mar/05/brands-hype-content-marketing

Getting content marketing right

Benefits: good• Primary factor behind

50% of buying decisions• Blogs on company

websites drive 50% more visitors

• 70% of consumers prefer getting to know companies by articles than ads

Risks: bad• Content ≠ content

marketing• Easy to slip into SEO

spam• Curate content and

you risk becoming a multiplier for other people’s content

Source: http://contently.com/blog/2012/03/22/content-marketing-benefits-infographic/ Source: http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/8e1382eb-19bd-4ddf-9c99-88b7eb945939.aspx

7 content marketing tips

1. Know your customer. Spend time with them, actively listen to them, speak their language

Whether they are teens who love make-up or grizzled IT BDMs, once you get onto their wavelength, anything is possible. But you must get them there.


2. No hard sell. Content marketing is not a short-term win, but a long-term relationship

In a world of weak ties and fleeting attention, the big winner is the one who people recognise as trustworthy, helpful, or simply pleasant.


3. Commit to excellence. Great content leads to great respect, nothing less will do

Creating great content is increasingly within reach on every budget. Ever heard of thewritersforhire.com, writingassist.com or copify.com?


4. Email is still key. No matter how much people like the idea of subscribing, they love receiving a letter.

The role of email in a world of pull marketing was unclear for a while. Now it is back with a vengeance, and the tools now exist to make it fantastic!


5. Make sharing easy. Increasingly, your content will spread at the hands of humans, so don’t hold them back

Sharing is a basic human behaviour and it has driven the growth of

social media. {Contextual sharing tools take that to the next level.}


6. Stop obsessing about channels. You don’t need a Facebook strategy, you need a content strategy (Mark Ragan).

For two reasons:a) great content transcends channelsb) the audience pick their favourite channels anyway


7. Plan measurement. Before you plan content, consider how you will measure performance.

You can measure almost anything. Select channels and pick content

that give you a glimpse into the mind of the audience. Then iterate.

Getting creative

Three main sources of creativity in content marketing:• The product: great storytelling is key• The audience: you can reflect what

they say, how they say it• The channel: photography, for

example

Using the network

Search turned us all into professors.

Network analysis turns us all into nosy neighbours.

Source: http://www.33-digital.com/

Challenges

Three things that often go wrong for content marketing campaigns:• Quarterly cadence: marathon, not

sprint• Corporate integration: no more siloes• Bottom-up decision-making: be

prepared to make mistakes and amend

Recap

Take aways:1. Know your audience2. Create a story that could have come

from their mouth3. Know how you’ll measure before you

start

How do you choose what type of content to create?

We’re here to help you decide

Business

Content Marketing: new introduction to an old marketing idea