In 2009 Fletcher Cleaves was a top high school football prospect ready for the next level, eager to do in college what he'd done in high school: rack up yards as a running back. But before Cleaves could realize his dream of playing at the next level, a texting, distracted driver plowed into the car he was driving, forever changing his life's trajectory.
Today, Cleaves, paralyzed from the chest down as a result of the accident, serves as a tragic reminder of something as seemingly harmless as texting and driving can alter lives. It's impossible to watch the video below and not immediately realize three important facts:
- Texting and driving is a big deal.
- This young man was unfairly robbed of his future.
- This big brand nailed the messaging.
Telecommunications brands (and airline companies) enjoy some of the worst customer service ratings on the planet. And to make matters worse, their core messaging via print, radio and online ads is equally atrocious, doing very little to make would-be customers give them a second look.
However, with the latest iteration of the "It Can Wait" campaign, which is rich with stories and features stunning video recreation, AT&T did something all brands looking to make a mark in content marketing should copy: They delivered content with meaning.
The end of utility
We live in a world rich in information and teeming with data. The ability to analyze the results of our content marketing efforts, even in real-time, is as astonishing as it is mesmerizing and revealing. Our teams can know, before a word is written, a design delivered or a report is generated what the results should be based on the assigned key performance indicators (KPIs). The automation present in online marketing can make it feel as though the world we inhabit is more fantasy than reality, as if the press of a button will always lead to the results we expect.
Yet we still struggle with how to create content that commands attention, that nudges prospects to take immediate action, that leads to the vast majority of our customers moving from brand loyalists to brand ambassadors and advocates.
Why is this?
I propose that we've misread the tea leaves.
In the last three years, marketers (even this one) have sung from the rooftops that your content must be useful and relevant, have immediacy, and deliver impact. And if you followed this advice, you likely found a modicum of success, if only for a short time.
How could we expect any different when the customers we're all clamoring for are being bombarded with thousands of messages every day? When that happens, even the most resonant voices get drowned out. And for those of us who've thrown our hats into the usefulness and relevance ring, we've largely committed ourselves to a life of struggle that's tough to recover from.
This line of thinking occurred to me in July of 2014, as I finished Jay Baer's book Youtility during the plane ride home from MozCon 2014. I agree with and applaud Baer for bringing to light the novel term, which he defines as "Marketing that's wanted by customers. Youtility is massively useful information, provided for free, that creates long-term trust and kinship between your company and your customers."
But I'm afraid this ship has largely sailed. Not because usefulness is any less importance, but because the threshold was so low that every brand and their sister jumped online via websites, social media, forums, message boards and everywhere else with information that temporarily sated prospects' appetites but did little to create a lasting impression.
If your desire is to create a brand whose content is sought-after and, indeed, clamored for, you must bake meaning into your content.
Without meaning, your brand's content is adrift
Like many of you, most of my early content-creation efforts were centered around pleasing Google, whereby my inspiration was for thinking in terms of queries:
1: Informational: Where prospects are likely to look for information
2: Navigational: What prospects are likely to be looking for on those sites
3: Transactional: What prospects are ready/likely to buy
The result of this thinking (outlined in the graphic below) was the myriad 350-word posts that now clog the web.
There's a better way.
It's time your content led with meaning, and that process begins with a revamping of the thought process surrounding content ideation and content creation. Why is that important?
We cannot win otherwise, says Bill Sebald, founder of Greenlane SEO, a Pennsylvania-based SEO firm.
"Think about it," he says. "Many brands are still writing low-quality articles that deliver little value and have zero impact to their customers or prospects. That's bad enough, but when you consider the prevalence of these thin content pieces, is there any wonder how the Panda Update evokes fear in these same brands? Being useful is great. It can and does work fine, for a while. But what you want as a brand is lasting impact, people seeking you out, top-of-mind awareness. As it regards content marketing, that only happens when your brand is known for delivering content with meaning, which sticks in the gut of the folks who read it."
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In All Your Content Doesn’t Matter Without Meaning, Sebald shared five easy-to-follow questions he thinks brands should ask themselves as they work to create content with meaning:
- Did I say anything new?
- Did I say something that will get someone’s attention?
- Is the content part of a strategy?
- Am I really an expert in this topic?
- Did my copy focus on relationships Google knows about?
Any brand committed to asking themselves at least three of those questions before any content is created is swimming in the deep end of the pool, having moved away from the pack and on the way to delivering meaningful content.
After reading Sebald's post, I dug into my notes to discern what I think it takes to win the race for content marketings next frontier.
If your brand is looking to separate from the back, I'd like to share three ideas I've seen work well for brands of all sizes, even in boring verticals, such as HVAC and plumbing.
1. Be where your prospects are, at the time they need your information, with a message so good they cannot ignore you.
As a lifelong angler, I'm keen to compare marketing to bass fishing, whereby bait and location are pretty much all that matters. Or so I thought, until one day I got my hands on an underwater camera and could see fish swimming all around my lure, which they ignored.
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That's when I realized bait and location are only as good as timing.
No matter how great the quality of my tackle or how well-placed was my lure, the fish must be ready to bite for me to find success.
How your brand can put this thinking to work: Personalize your company's blog by adding bi-weekly or monthly interviews with people who've used your services/products, and who can share information that's hyper-relevant to issues prospects are likely dealing with at the time.
For example, in the month of October a pool company might highlight a customer who maintains their own pool but who hires a pool company for winterization help. Or, in the same month, an accountant might share a video blog of a couple who owns a small business and does a great job of staying on top of expenses.
You might notice that I never said the person spotlighted mentions the brand or even uses them for service. That's immaterial. What's key is (a) the person shares a compelling story that's (b) delivered on your blog and (c) is information they can use right away for where they are in the decision-making process. (It's important that the content not appear salesy because too often the prospects who're most likely to need your services aren't even looking for those services. They're simply suckers for a good story.)
2. Make them feel confident about what the brand stands for, not simply the purchase they might someday make.
One of my favorite words from college is ubiquity. Get to know this word if your brand is to produce meaningful content. Your brand should show up in all the places and for all the things prospects would expect to find you ranking for, conversing about and, more important, being shared by others for.
To instill your content with meaning, it must show up in places and for things prospects likely would expect to find it showing up for. This isn't simply about ubiquity. It shows empathy.
A brand that does this better than most is Seattle-based REI. It's amazing the range of terms they rank highly for. If they sell it, there's a great chance REI shows up somewhere in or near the top of the SERPs for the category.
For example, I simply typed "snow goggles" into the search box, and voila, look who shows up. Also, look who they show up above. Better yet, imagine all of the large eyewear brands they're outcompeting for this position.
By clicking on the query, you immediately see why they're at the top of the SERPS: The content is rich in visuals and answers every question a prospect would ever have surrounding snow goggles.
I discovered the strength of REI's content ideation and creation efforts in 2013, while completing a content strategy roadmap for one of the largest two-way radio manufacturers in the world.
Despite the brand's heft, REI was always ahead of them in the SERPs, with social shares, in online conversations, etc.
San Francisco, I understood why REI had content ubiquity: "From the start, they did something right that continues to [work in their favor]," says Colman, who works for Facebook in the areas of product user experience and content strategy. "They simply focused on creating and sharing the best content for their users, not on marketing."
Those words resonated with me, as they should with you.
How your brand can put this thinking to work
Stop thinking like a marketer and start thinking like a customer. I've written before about keeping and sharing a document that lists the questions and comments prospects and customers share during calls, on social media and via any any other platforms used to capture customer sentiment.
This document could form the basis for content that's written and shared by your marketing team. However, your brand must go farther to deliver meaning through it's content.
An approach I've recommended to clients and seen good success with works as follows:
- Focus on creating one big piece of content per month: This pulls your team away from thinking about creating content for content's sake. It also ensures that the team is able to marshal its resources to research, design, and create content with meaning. The goal with each big content piece is to answer every reasonable question and/or objection a prospect might have before doing business with you. For example, an SEO agency might, in month one, create a big content piece titled "How Small Companies Can Win With Personalized Content," detailing in depth how becoming a popular local expert can earn the brand links, gain press attention and increase overall business. In month two, the same agency might go all-in on a post titled "How Your Mom and Pop Shop Can Beat the Big Guys," whereby they outline an actionable plan for how to smartly use their blog, one social media platform and a small PPC budget to generate awareness, site visits, links and earned media. Prospects are likely to see the agency as the one to help get them over the hump.
- Ignore the competition: Instead of checking the SERPs to see what's ranking highest for content in your vertical on the topic you wish to create, look at the content that's being shared outside your area by brands that have no relation to your vertical. You cannot win long-term by copying a strategy that your competition is better equipped to deploy, so don't emulate them. Look at what non-competing brands are doing to deliver meaningful content. It could be a TV show, even, which you study for how characters are developed. Think of the regional car dealerships who grew to be household names in the late '90s by delivering sitcom-style commercials and ads based off popular TV shows that meant something to the audience. Your brand can find similar inspiration by looking outside your area.
- Make consistency a mainstay: REI wins at content marketing in large part because the brand is consistent. No matter where you find their content, it's thorough and deserving of its place in the pantheon of content marketers. Don't simply pour your heart into the big content piece, then allow everything else to fall by the wayside. Your brand must imbue every area, all departments and any content shared with meaning. This effort takes shape as the development, design and product teams placing users in the driver's seat early on in the process; the marketing team only sharing information that, first and foremost, addresses the needs of the audience; the customer service team creating customer happiness, not quashing complaints; and sales team members frequently checking on prospects, even when no sale is imminent.
The goal here is to, as the saying goes, be so good they cannot ignore you.
3. Help your customers become the best versions of themselves
It's likely you've seen the graphic below online before, maybe even on the Buffer Blog, which is where I found it. The image expertly sums up where I think the brands who ultimately win at content marketing will have to go: Turning away from their own interests and keying in on how the brand can better enable the customer to (a) better do what they endeavor to do and (b) become a version of themselves they never imagined possible.
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Sound far-fetched? Imagine the car commercials showing an average Joe who is all of a sudden a handsome hero admired by beautiful passersby because of his new wheels.
Your brand can become the means-something-to-prospects darling of its industry, too, with the adoption of three simple steps applied with conviction:
- Personalization — Develop people (at least one, but a few would be even better) in your company who can become the public face of the brand, who make it easier for prospects to form a connection with the company and more likely that content is shared and amplified more frequently as their popularity increases.
- Become a helper, not a hero — Stop thinking that your content or your product or your service needs to be life-changing to get the attention of prospects. They desire to be the heroes and sheroes of their own journey; they simply need an assist from you to create a lasting bond they won't soon forget about.
- Make users' stories a core of your marketing efforts — Let's get this straight: No one gives a damn about your story. Your brand's story only becomes relevant when prospects have been made to feel important, special by you then desire to explore further the meaning behind the brands. How do you accomplish that task? By integrating the stories of customers into your marketing efforts.
How your brand can put this thinking to work
The importance of using an engaging personality to deliver meaning for your content cannot be overstated. In fact, it's likely the shortest path to winning attention and garnering success.
I'll use Canadian personal trainer Dean Somerset as an example. I discovered Somerset a few years ago when he dropped a few helpful knowledge bombs in the comments of a fitness blog I was reading. I then found a link to his blog, which I have now become a religious follower of. Over the years, we've traded numerous emails, interacted myriad times via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and I've even hired him for training assessments.
Why?
Aside from being brilliant, he's a goofball who takes his work, not himself, too seriously.
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But most important, the core of every post he creates or video he shares or every Facebook Q&A he offers is helping others become better at physical health and physical fitness than they ever imagined they could.
The result is that, in a relatively short time span, Somerset has become one of the top young minds in the fitness industry, in no small part because he creates heroes with nearly every piece of content he shares. (If you doubt me, watch the video below.)
Don't think for a second that your brand can't do the same:
- Look for members on your team who have personality and who are uniquely qualified to create content (e.g., video, text, SlideShare, etc.) on topics readers care about. Empower them to share, converse and engage around this content, whether locally (e.g., Meetups) nationally (e.g., conferences) or online (e.g., blogs, social media, etc.).
- The script these experts must work from, for everything they share, should begin with the question, "How can this [blog, video, etc.] help at least one person do something better tomorrow that they cannot yet do today?" Answer this question, and you won't simply create meaning for your content, you'll create meaning, relevance and top-of-mind awareness for the brand as well.
It's hard for a brand to escape being successful if this mindset is ever-present.
The last area we'll look at is storytelling, which is very popular in content marketing. And almost no one gets it right.
Yes, people do love stories. They eat them up, especially compelling, heart-wrenching stories or, even better, tales of tremendous uplift.
However, people are not interested in your brand's story — at least not yet.
The only story brands should be telling are those of their users. The brands who have realized this are leaving the brand storytellers in the dust, while turning up the dial on meaning and significance to the audience.
A great example is Patagonia and their Worn Wear video series. Instead of creating ads showcasing the durability of their products, they filmed actual customers who've been using the same Patagonia products for years and who wouldn't trade the brand's products for those of any other company.
These are rabid fans, loyal to the nth degree.
Don't drink the brand storytelling Kool-Aid. Tell the stories of your users.
Identify a handful of ardent fans of your product or service, then reach out to them via phone to ask if they'd mind being part of a short-video series you're doing to showcase people and brands doing great things. (I mentioned a similar approach earlier, which is ideal for the smallest companies. I think this effort plays into a much broader strategy for larger brands.)
Depending on your budget and their location, you could either have a small camera crew visit their office or walk them through how to shoot what you need on their mobile devices. You could also provide them with a script.
Here's the kicker: During the video, they are not allowed to talk about your brand, product or service in any way shape or form.
The goal is to get video of them going about their day, at home and at work, as they share what makes them tick, what's important to them, who they are and why they do what they do.
This is their story, remember? And as such, your brand is a bit player, not a/the star. Also, the lack of a mention washes away any suspicion viewers might have of your brand's motives. Most important, however, you get a real, authentic success story on your website and domain, so the implication is that your brand was a helper in this heroic journey.
If this post accomplishes anything, my wish is that it makes clear how necessary and how realistic it is for your brand to create meaningful content.
Hi Ronell - great piece! I feel like another way to phrase what you said here is "give your brand personality." Utility without personality is like conversing with a robot at a cocktail party :). And I agree - I think so many content creators focus so much on volume (of content, and within articles) that personality can be downplayed.
On the other hand, discovering your brand's personality almost intrinsically means that following any hard and fast rules about how to create content, or what to create about, should be thrown out the window. For example, you stress focusing on the users, but there are brands of great personality whose marketing is heavily influenced by their own story. (Virgin America and the iconization of Richard Branson, for example.) And advice on "one big article per month" may not fit a brand whose personality is better suited to daily doses of advice for its customers. I wonder if a better takeaway would be for each brand to discover its unique personality and the story it wants to broadcast to the world, then supporting that effort with meaningful content.
Hi Megan,
I could not agree more that the more authentic (read: original) the approach, the better.
But what I see daily and here often is many brands - even multi-billion-dollar brands - have one gear: create content.
My thinking is, if we can provide brands with a playbook and help them define a better process via examples of what's been done, we buy them time to develop the personal element while ensuring they're able to right away start sharing great content.
I'm a huge believer that - and your thoughtful comments corroborate this line of reasoning - too many companies confuse best options for brands and best options for OUR brand.
What ultimately works best for you will likely be unlike what anyone else in your vertical is doing. But that takes time and habit.
Thanks for commenting, Megan.
RS
Love this post Ronell and Trevor great point couldn't agree more.
I won't lie I have said it "let's build more content for google, it's what google wants" I truly do believe that content marketing isn't that at all. True content marketing is about giving your brand life. Some of the best brands in the world are more than just a brand or business name.
Again great piece Ronell.
Awesome info! Stop think like a marketer and start think like a customer is the key for every business, the brands must go farther.
isn't it we use to call "worthy & quality" content ? Yes. thats @ronellsmith, for worthy article. For me its more like redefining the way we need to brand Brands. :)
Worthy and quality can mean different things to different people. Meaningfulness is about a threshold, not a defined thing, that many of us recognize, if not agree on. In this way, we're all aiming for the same target, even if the path of our arrows never fully converge.
Ronell,
This is by far the best piece I've seen on this topic. It captures the essence of why meaningful content has real value for the brand. I wish more companies got this. Thank you for saying it so perfectly.
Vera
Thank you, Vera.
Agree with this...!
Thanks very much, Habibi.
Thanks for the article! You had some really good point there.
It is hard when you are only a starter in this business, but as with anything else - it just takes time to get the hang of it and be aware that success will not come overnight. I've noticed that the more I explore and learn, the longer my articles are, so that's basically my message to all my colleagues: never stop learning, and let good research be at the core of your content.
Looking forward to your new stuff!
VS
I remember listening to a speaker talk about how he started in video marketing years ago and how poorly he did initially. "They sucked," he said of the videos' quality. "But, you know what? I got better, slowly. And that's what I say to you: Start today. They'll suck at first, but you'll get better. That will not and cannot happen if you don't start."
It's the same in content marketing. Assuming we're working on the right things and doing so in a way that makes good business sense, our work improves with time. That's what you're seeing and will continue to see.
Thanks for the kind words and for reading the post.
RS
Thanks for the reply, Ronell! I haven't really managed to answer it sooner, but here I am now.
I have to say that I like the optimism we share. Both you, your speaker and I. I mean, that practically goes for anything in life - unless you start from scratch, you won't be able to succeed in the end. And I believe that success is surely out there, and you are going to achieve it one way or another.
VS
Hi Ronell, this post is incredible. Holding the attention of your prospective audience is so important. Thanks for sharing! :)
Thank you.
Great article, Ronell! Really appreciate you sharing your insight with us.
Thank you, Kenneth.
RS
You absolutely nailed it. I've been trying to push this idea on more CEOs. Many of them get annoyed at even suggesting it - but this article clearly outlines WHY this needs to happen and how it will be the most beneficial to the brand in the long run. Thanks for writing this and giving me the ammo I need to continue pushing this mindset.
Thanks for the kind words. Had those battles myself with VPs and C-Level folks. I've come to believe that the unwillingness to act comes less from inertia and more from how well the brand knows its customers. To get around this, I send the VP/C-level folks I work with an email asking three questions at some point in the relationship:
1 - What keeps you up at night, as it regards this company?
2 - What do you think keeps your customers and prospects up at night (w/o drawing a distinction between personal and professional)?
3 - What can we do today that'll help allay the fears/concerns of both groups?
This usually begins and insightful discussion, one that opens minds and, sometimes, pocketbooks.
RS
for a brand to be successful these days has to have some twist, something that engages the user and of course be original and that the prime quality over quantity, I forgot very good article, interesting.
Thank you, Antonio. Brands do need a novel, compelling element to be successful nowadays.
RS
I have much liked your article, but do not know how to apply it when it comes to a small blog like mine
Find the things that keep your audience up at night. Write about those things. Consistently.
RS
Thanks @Ronell
Enjoyed the post!. Curious to learn how you,(or others reading this) measure the value your content provides to your audience. While agree that simply tracking new leads through the funnel to a closed deal is the ultimate measure, what steps can marketers take to make sure that they are always delivering quality in content and value to the reader in ever interaction.
In other words, what can you do to improve your processes and accelerate conversion during the long period where ‘prospects’ are engaging with your brand before they become customers?
Regards:
Curious to learn how you,(or others reading this) measure the value your content provides to your audience.
Focus groups. Show the guide, article, or whatever you have to someone who is in your target audience. If he or she doesn't go "Wow!" then go back and make it better.
Second, don't think about "content." It's a meaningless, cliched word. Think about what you're actually creating. Is it an informational guide? Is it an advertisement? Is it something else? Each type of "content" has a different use and different best practices to use when making it.
It depends. It begins with a/the goal. Let's say a long-term goal is brand awareness on a topic, say, wood swing sets.
Short-term goals might looks like this: Have a blog up in 30 days; be active on two social media platforms where your audience congregates in 60 days; blog twice weekly with content that answers the key questions your prospects have by 90 days.
Concurrently, you could be measuring the engagement of your posts on the blog and on social media, while at the same time continuing to refine the content creation process by using tools such as BuzzSumo to determine what content/content type is likely to perform best.
In a nutshell, once you're creating content that begins to gain traction, discern what the key performance indicators are for your brand, then continue iterating to increase positive results in those areas.
I look at Content value like this.
Content is not a last-click marketing strategy. It sits higher up the funnel and should be measured on how it builds an audience around your brand and the value this creates for the brand. Often this audience will never be customer.
An example is RedBull's 4 million + subscribers on YouTube. Many of these subscribers (myself included) will watch 100 of their videos because it's great content but never buy a can of RedBull. Yet I am valuable to them because I have opened myself up to their marketing. I am in their database/community and their content is nurturing my loyalty to their brand. This can work with email databases too - I voluntarily give a company my email address usually because I want their content, not their product.
Now, if they track how I engage with their content, it will give them information that they can then use to tailor a product that will appeal to me. So if in the future, RedBull can use this data to launch another product (perhaps another drink) that I and it's content community may like. I become a potential quick customer because they will already know what I like and how to market to me.
That is the value of content.
It builds a database/community of customers, potential customers and brand advocates, that a brand can research and test for the development of future products and sales.
Most digital marketing channels such as SEM or Display convert about 2% of your audience anyway (generous assumption). Content marketing holds the interest of that 98% until you as a company can develop a product that this large audience will want to buy.
Very much agree with your ideas here. Sadly, the elements you describe are those which are so easily looked over for brands large and small. Far too often brands see content/content marketing as a panacea, not a mechanism for lead gen or for getting people into the funnel where they can be continually marketed to.
Thanks for your comments.
RS
Great advice! Most of my clients are SMBs with a loyal client base and I love the idea of telling their stories. I really believe it will resonate with potential customers more than another how-to or "top 3 reasons why" article.
You nailed it Ron! I couldn't think of any better content than the one that has meaning.
Thank you.
Hi Ronell, Mark here from Innovate Advertising & Marketing Agency.
Color me impressed with your elaborated piece. Thanks Ronell for your hard work. I hope you don't mind but I beg to differ with your statement: "Ignore the competition: Instead of checking the SERPs to see what's ranking highest for content..." It's true that copying your competitors won't do you any good, but I guess that's more reason why we should check them out. Otherwise, we'll be building plans and strategies that doesn't have any good foundation.
Telling customers stories that concerns them is the most basic of copywriting and marketing. However, this is often misunderstood by big brands. After all, exaggerated stories will never impress the large audience, while simple stories with big meanings often make it big and leave everlasting impression.
Overall, consumer insight matters most and how you identify your brand among your competitors is where the tough part lies. This is where an elaborated branding strategy comes in (not plans, plans will change a lot in the future) and why it's important to get better advertising and marketing company.
Also, is it fine if I use your this punchline in the future: "Be where your prospects are, at the time they need your information, with a message so good they cannot ignore you."
Mark,
In yesterday's post, Russ Jones, shared a very important point: "Conventional wisdom rarely helps you win in a competitive atmosphere. If you do what everyone else thinks should be done, you are predictable, and predictable is beatable."
The follow what the competition is doing strategy doesn't set you up for long-term success. As I write in the post, they are likely much better at executing that strategy than you'll ever be. Your time is best spent looking elsewhere for inspiration.
Also, in far too many instances brands cannot accurately identify the competitors. Often they are not in the same vertical (e.g., think car company and bike company for a crowded city such as San Francisco).
Thanks for your comments, Mark.
Ronell, all of the ideas in your post on how to create marketing collateral that resonates with viewers on an emotional level are sound -- great job! I just had a quibble with some definitions.
However, with the latest iteration of the "It Can Wait" campaign, which is rich with stories and features stunning video recreation, AT&T did something all brands looking to make a mark in content marketing should copy: They delivered content with meaning.
AT&T produced a (branded at the end) video and paid to transmit it to audiences. Isn't that just doing advertising and not "content marketing"? There was such "content with meaning" on TV long before the Internet.
A lot of the examples seem simply to be creative advertisements and the tips offered are similar to what people would give on how to do creative advertising campaigns.
Sam,
That's what we, as marketers, see and know, but is that how prospects and customers view it? I don't think so. I think the value derived from such a campaign - done with conviction and comprising meaningful information - supersedes the how and why it was created. Again, this is an example of how we in the echo chamber fail to see how the actual audience views what we create, akin to Plato's Allegory of The Cave.
So much of what we do and create, whether as paid media, earned media or owned media blends together to the audience.
I can tell you that the AT&T campaign, at a granular level, is getting people's attention much like any great content marketing effort would.
As marketers, we have to earn attention, deliver value and create top-of-mind awareness. Where and how that meaning comes from is immaterial. As I'm wont to say, we tend to overthink and under-execute everything.
Thanks for chiming in, Sam.
I don't think the use of paid media to distribute the message makes this 'not content', but when it's for cause-driven campaigns like the AT&T example, Samuel's right that it is fairly similar to advertising that's been around for a long time.
I think what differentiates it is the intent and where it lives. If they're driving users to continue the experience with more content on a microsite, then that strikes me as more of a content experience. If they're simply pushing the videos out there as a PSA, then it seems to be a bit more on the advertising spectrum. But - it's a spectrum, not an either/or situation.
At the end of the day, the important part is that it's not advertising solely around product-driven messaging. Content marketing and cause marketing (the name for a lot of the meaningful stuff Ronell is talking about) play well together and both can be used to attach a higher level of purpose to your brand.
Kane,
What is up, homey? Totally agreeing with you.
We have to consider, however, that customers and prospects don't see the channels we see in our minds' eyes.
The main purpose of using the examples (whether or earned or paid media) I used in the post was to highlight what meaning is, what it feels like, what it looks like and how you, as a content marketer, can create it.
Sometimes we have to be reminded of the possible.
Thanks for the comments, Dude.
RS
I think the industry needs to stop trying to delineate content marketing as a distinct area within digital marketing. It's as if we've all come to some understanding of "content" being like "email" or "social media," and it's why so many marketers fall back on "blogs" when they're asked what content marketing really is.
Content isn't a distinct area. It's all of the above. Kane and Sam are both right -- the AT&T ad is definitely an advertisement, and minimally branded ads like it have been around for quite some time. But it's still content.
The emails you send are content. The posts you publish to social networks are content. The style guidelines you publish to the rest of your company are content. I'll come back to my favorite definition, provided by Ian Lurie: "Content is anything you use to communicate a message to an audience. Anything."
When we move past the semantics and nomenclature, we see that Ronell is really onto something here -- the fact that AT&T really found a way to connect with people in a meaningful way.
Trevor, you're exactly right. But this is my point: Why do digital marketers talk about "how to create content that resonates with people" when, in this context, we should be talking about "how to create an advertisement that resonates with people"?
If we stop using the vague word "content" and be more precise when describing what we're creating, then we'll all learn a lot more.
For example, there is 90 years' worth of information on and examples of creating great ads. We should be referencing those and learning from them instead of trying to reinvent the wheel by using new buzzwords like "content."
I'd say because advertising -- while it's one fantastic possibility in attempting to create something that resonates with people -- isn't the only one. You can create a blog post that resonates. A social media post that resonates. Heck, if you put your mind to it, you could create a whitepaper that resonates. I agree with your premise that we should be more specific when that's called for (and many, many of those cases involve the overuse of the term "content") -- but in this context, I don't think specificity serves the same noble purpose. Sometimes we need to be broad in our descriptions in order to help prevent narrow thinking down the road.
Side note: I really want to see a post from you extolling the virtues of advertising, clearing any stigma that's been built up and showing people what it can look like. =)
Heh. I can work on that. :)
Nutshell: Advertising -- and "outbound marketing" in general -- is great at creating demand. Inbound marketing is great at fulfilling demand.
If no one knows that you, your company or product, or your solution to a problem exists in the first place, then mass advertising and publicity are two great ways to address that. I'd recommend that marketing mix for, say, a local restaurant over "content marketing" any day. (Every company is different.)
But it's late in my part of the world, so I'll leave that for later...
First, Sam the sentinel, I LOVE seeing you active on the blog. You're a sentinel for sure (hope you don't mind the moniker.)
I totally agree.
Two things:
1. I'm trained as a researcher, writer and strategist, not a marketer. I approach everything based on how I think the audience views it, not how I as a marketer views it/should view it. Beginning back in March, I started putting the ideas for that post together, which entailed talking to lots of folks inside and outside of marketing. The AT&T campaign stuck out to me, in large part because it gets customers' attention, it resonates on a guttural level and it provokes the type of reaction I think content marketing should hope to create.
2. When I worked in PR, branding and communication, I didn't think "Oh, sales has this great information over here; but it's sales, so I cannot use it." A great idea is a great idea no matter where it comes from, and content marketers can adopt a similar approach with their owned platforms to generate earned media. It's no different that PPC departments working with SEO and content. I've never worked on a project where one did not benefit the other.
Could not agree more about TV and content marketing.
RS
Thanks for the comment, Ronell!
First, I forget some words in English sometimes -- what's a sentinel?
Second, I certainly understand the point of thinking about audiences vs. marketers. But on Moz's blog, the audience here is other marketers and not (usually) the people to whom we market, right? So, that's why I think it's important to discuss theoritical and strategic ways to approach marketing for everyone's benefit. Audiences don't care about the 4 Ps or the Promotion Mix -- but marketers need to think about those things.
In that vein, I argue that we need to be more precise and classify things accurately as "advertising" or "publicity" or whatever because, then, we can focus on the best practices in advertising or publicity or whatever and then use those ideas in a digital context.
Third, I see that many of my comments get a few downvotes. Hey, it happens! I just hope that I'm coming across as someone who sometimes aims to give constructive criticism in order to help all of us. Heck, I openly welcome the same in return -- if anyone disagrees, I always love a good debate (as long as its TAGFEE). :)
Sentinel: "A soldier or guard whose job is to stand and keep watch." :)
You ALWAYS come across the right way. No question about that. Whether I agree with you or not - it's usually the former - I know the place your words come from.
RS
I dont see that as advertising at all even if it was paid. When i think of advertising i picture companies blasting you with their name or the product they are selling. That video made you connect on an emotional level and didnt even mention who or what they were until a brief moment in the end. Also they werent really selling you anything.
The definition of advertising from an old marketing textbook of mine:
Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.
In this context, note the "ideas" part.
Great Article, just wanted to point out a typo a control-F can find this bit
" To instill your content with meaning, it must show up in places and for things prospects likely would expect t find it showing up for. This isn't simply about ubiquity. It shows empathy. "
Thank you for the awesome info, keep up the great work!
Thank you.
Ronell,
I really enjoyed the screenshot from the two-way radios SERPs. Their bread crumbs were.....
www.rei.com › Learn at REI › Expert Advice
That "expert advice" might earn extra clicks.
Thanks
They know what they're doing, right? :)
Thankss for chiming in, EGOL.
RS
Hi Ronell Smith,
Amazing article.This article explains the perfect determination for your business that will bring success.You have clearly mentioned about the content which is considered as king of marketing and helps in various ways including indexing on search engines and provides personal touch to your customer while reading the content of your website..
Thanks
Webenxs
Thank you.
RS
an explanation of the role of marketing techniques to create highly technical content . That's what I like
Thank you.
Thanks Ronell
Hey Ronell,
Hope you've been doing well. In reading, I'm reminded of extrinsic versus intrinsic value in addition to Carl Rogers' "person-centered approach." Relating to produced content and choosing a brand is akin to personal interactions, like making a friend.
A share, click-through, conversion is measurable and has extrinsic value. However, creating advocacy is harder to measure and has intrinsic value. An advocate provides word-of-mouth, maintains loyalty, and doesn't rely on SERs but heads straight to your website.
An associate may give you a ride or introduce you to opportunity, but a friend "has your back." The phrase has no extrinsic value (other than a means of communication); it's real value is what the phrase represents, a number of memories, associations, and a confident feeling regarding the future of the relationship, which is intrinsic.
As the advocates spoke of the Patagonia products, those material items served an extrinsic purpose, but more importantly for the brand, they were emotionally charged. If you can introduce intrinsic value to a target market, you almost make marketing obsolete, the service/product speaks for itself, which though counterintuitive and perhaps crazy, is what (I hope) all marketers strive for, to eventually make their services obsolete, much like a great teacher.
Anthony,
Talk about making me happy to see you here. Long time to hear from. The Patagonia example gripped me for the reasons you describe. You cannot watch the video and not feel an emotional connection to the brand. It speaks to prospects and customers in a visceral way.
The intrinsic connection is so important but so often neglected. To make matters worse, the small brands who know their customers best and some of the worst offenders.
What a shame. Thanks for reappearing here, sir :)
RS
@Ronnell, great article - again!
Where do you think the line is between meaningful content and that which simply masquerades as such?
I'm particularly interested in your thoughts on this website: https://iamfearless.com.au/ . It's a microsite run by Libra which is a women's sanitary product here in Australia. The aim of the site is to "help young women learn to deal with their fears" and showcases Australian women talking about fears they've faced or overcome.
While advertising for sanitary products often focuses on the theme of empowerment, this campaign goes a step further and introduces elements of honesty, vulnerability etc. So do you think this is a good example of a brand creating emotional synergy with its audience - or is the link between conquering fears and sanitary products too tenuous?
Hi Scott,
Thoughts on the site:
Likes: Feels good, empowering
Dislikes: Easy to copy, been done better in lots of places
In many ways, this site does what I'd rather not see content marketers do: Focus PRIMARILY on the story.
The story is a way to build relevance, it's not the primary method by which meaning is delivered. Meaning is derived from picking at the very scab of the issue prospects are unwilling to face.
Instead of tapping the emotion of empowerment through stories, I'd rather have seen the brand show women who MIGHT use their products living kick-ass lives, doing amazing things AND who have a story. That's what creates the "just like me" feeling.
Thanks for your comments.
RS
Ronnell, I'm seriously impressed.
I think you have turned us onto Content Marketing 3.0 with an evolution from 1.0 (just create SOMETHING with the right keywords for a topic not already covered elsewhere), 2.0 (create something useful and somewhat relevant to your industry or brand) to finally 3.0.
In this new world of content marketing we pretty much need to drop the "marketing" part as you described. That little marketer inside us all doesn't need to die but he just needs to chill in the shadows until we gain a prospect's trust and brand love.
One thing I would question from my new Morpheus is if the content creation process still works generally the same for you or if that is flipped on it's head too. I've been following this general process outlined by sensei John Pring way back in 2012: https://moz.com/blog/indepth-guide-to-content-crea...
Thanks,
Ryder
Hi Ryder,
I like the graphic, but one thing I'm leery of during the research is seeing what the competition has done/is doing. The best products/ideas/services are born out of need, not from copying others. Yes, it can and is done, and very successfully, but you're beginning from a place of weakness.
Give your content the best chance of success by asking yourself (a) what makes our prospects and customers? (b) which of these elements are we uniquely qualified to help them with? and (c) what form should that help take.
It might not even be content. It could be a call, and email a talk given to the company. Whatever it is, run with it.
Thanks for commenting, Ryder
Ronell, compliments for this post! Very uselfull information. I specifically liked the part on how to create good non-branded quality videocontent for videomarketing.
I believe we have to stop thinking so narrowly and borrow ideas from everywhere, but especially outside of our area. When I was a newspaper business reporter, my executive editor used to say, "The best ideas are stolen." He was very right.
Thanks for reading, and for the comments, Mark.
RS
Great Insight Ronell. . .!
Thank you
Nice article, but did anyone run it through even a spell checker before publishing?
Did you catch something we missed? Please let us know what -- we definitely want it corrected!
I didn't have time to re-read the whole article, but here's a example:
No matter how great the quality of my tackle or how well-placed was my lure, the fish must be ready to bite for me to mind success.
Pretty sure that should have been "find" success. But hey, I'm no grammar nazi.
Great catch. Thank you.
RS
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