Tommy Puglia
By: Tommy Puglia – Bayshore Solutions Digital Marketing Manager
Insights from Content Marketing World Conference Day 1: Cleveland Rocks!
Hello from sunny Cleveland! And much better weather than Tampa this week!
This week is the Global Content Marketing World Conference, which I will be covering all week through Thursday. Each day we will bringing you a summary of some of the awesome “content” shared here, and can’t wait to bring it back to Florida! There are innovations in Content Marketing, and the value it brings to you and your customers.
But first, I think it’s important to clarify what Content is… and what it is not. If you are looking at or putting a budget into online marketing, I am sure “Content” has come up. It is a buzz word in the current digital marketing landscape.
Just take a look at the increase in demand/interest in content marketing over the last few years:
Demand for Content 2005-2013
Pretty big leap, right? I am sure one person or another has been pushing content on you, but let’s get one thing clear:
Content Marketing is NOT Content Writing.
Yes, writing for content is an aspect of content marketing, but by no means the end-all.
Content is substance. Content Marketing is giving substance to your Brand.
We will explore more of this in the coming days, but keep in mind that fact throughout these recaps this week. And with this, let’s get right away to the first workshop of the day, a half-day exploration of the elements of content marketing and some of the “Secret Sauce” by Andrew Davis:
What Do we Sell?
Content is more than just writing content for the sake of content. You must answer some basic questions, or your content will never move the needle. You need focus. And you need brand content that is more aligned to business objectives than random content. It is very hard at a brand level to make a large impact. If your goal is to double the sales of a particular product, then don’t start creating random content around the product. Instead, think of your content as the product. So:
Who are you selling too?
Define the goal, and then answer these questions:
- Who will you inspire
- What is the niche audience you are looking to grow?
- Create a statement that describes the demographics, the persona, you are looking to grow and market to, and let that focus dictate your content ideas.
- How will you increase the sales of that audience, those people, with what content?
- What do they want?
- This means dividing and sub-dividing your audience until you create you a niche of who you want to go after.
Key Point: If you want to increase revenue, get out of the commodity content business, and treat content like a product!
What Budget Line Is Content?
The Marketing budget is not getting bigger for more things (Do Paid Ads! Do Social! Do Off-line Mail! Do On-Line Mail!, etc.). It’s just getting sliced more and more ways. As I said, content is so much more than the effort of writing. What does content influence? Demand. What does demand do? Increase the market size.
Think about your current market share. Instead of thinking “How can we increase our market share?”, why not think “How can we increase market demand? If you increase demand in your market, even if your share stays the same, that is an increase in revenue… Instead of asking for more slices in the pie, ask for a bigger pie.
Key Point: If you want to increase awareness, buy ads; If you want to increase demand, create content.
Where Does Content Fit?
We need to stop looking at our content as the center of the universe. Drew gave a great example of the old-world view of the universe vs. the new. (Basically, Ptolemy vs. Galileo.) More often than not, we think that our website is the center for our customer’s universe of content consumption. Not every piece of content you create needs to be implemented on your site for the sake of being there. Again, it needs to have a focus. Content doesn’t need to be for a website initially.
Instead of content marketing focusing on bringing people to the website, go where the audience is. Think about the customer journey, and their “Moment of Inspiration” before they purchase. A great example: Needing a new car. When does that moment come up? Usually when their car dies, or is dying, or even when seeing a friend’s new car.
From there, usually most content marketing is focused on the next step, the “Trigger” of beginning to make a decision. But what if we can be a part of the “Moment of Inspiration” for a customer? How can your content impact or be the moment of Inspiration? What are your customers’ or your leads’ moments of inspiration?
The Content Branding Ingredients.
Like any good meal, you must have the right mix of ingredients. We spoke about this content branding, but what do you need?
- A Title:
Think about your favorite YouTube/Blogs/Email subscriptions. The title is what identifies the pieces of content, and usually there are weekly specials they distribute, and you probably can’t wait to read, too
- The Hook:
The same thing that got you to subscribe, the hook, is the piece that caught your attention in the first place.
- A Repeatable Format:
You need structure! The format of the content should stay the same, but content can change to that format.
- A Concept with “Legs”:
When a TV Studio pitches a new great new idea for a show, they need to prove that the format/title/idea can be used multiple times in different ways. Think about long-running shows like Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, etc.
- Clearly Defined Audience:
Who is your audience again? And what is their empathy statement?
Key Point: Turn Marketing Expense into an Asset. Create Content Worth Owning.
Again, this is just the beginning of what should be an awesome conference. If you have any questions about the above “Content”, please reach out to us at Bayshore Solutions!
Tommy Puglia is on the Digital Marketing Team at Bayshore Solutions—a Web Design, Web Development, and Digital Marketing Company.