"Man, I'm sorry. You guys weren't ready to adopt the brands as publisher mindset. I suspected you'd never be ready to do it successfully. I knew it; I could sense you knew it. I wish I'd spoken up when I saw the intra-departmental debates waging. That's on me. My bad."
Those were my words to the executive of a midsize lifestyle brand I worked with in 2014. It took me months to get up the nerve to reach out and make it right, even though I'd done nothing wrong.
He seemed to understand. But he did have a question that stopped me in tracks and continues to haunt me.
"If we couldn't get it right, with all of our resources, what does it say about the feasibility of becoming a brand publisher?" he inquired. "Does that make content marketing [in and of itself] a bad idea?"
A fair question, to be sure, and one I did not have a sufficient answer for. But in looking back, I realized this exec, like so many others before him, made the mistake of thinking he could do quickly what he had not yet learned to do well. Content marketing wasn't the missile that sank his boat. The decision to do content marketing at warp speed and with little direction was his brands' albatross.
Four things doomed his efforts from the start, and each was self-induced:
- He drank the brands-as-publishers Kool-Aid
- He chose the wrong goals for his brand
- He attempted to execute a plan that wasn't meant for his business
- He attempted to do content marketing by skipping the small but important steps
Any one of these could have led to failure. Facing them all at once is akin to content marketing suicide. I see these same four elements dooming content marketers so frequently that I've resorted to naming them the four horsemen of content marketing failure.
For the purposes of this post, I want to illuminate how attempting to be a brand publisher is a lofty, needless goal for all but a handful of brands. Then I will highlight how to make steps 2, 3, and 4 work for your brand, not against it.
Before I begin, however, I want to make one thing abundantly clear: The ideas shared in this post have been formed through working with hundreds of brands over more than a decade, either as a writer, business strategist, content strategist, product marketing consultant or in a PR/media relations capacity.
I'm under no illusion that each (or any of them) will apply to everyone, but experience has shown me that these elements play an invaluable role in the success (or failure) of most brands embarking on the content marketing journey.
Where content marketing went off course
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The web is rife with examples of marketers sharing the "wisdom" of brands becoming publishers, and no less common are the examples of brands who've done just that, adding content publisher to the laundry list of services they already provide. Here's the problem with that logic: You're not a publisher, and attempting to become one is fraught with risks that more often than not lead to failure.
The logic of brands as publishers
Brand publishing refers to brands attempting to behave as media companies, specifically with regard to content breadth and frequency. Also, and most important, it requires a mindset wholly different from that of a typical content marketer: These brands view publishing as part of their business model.
That's where the confusion comes in. A lot of very knowledgeable people say any brand that publishes blog posts or adds updates on social media is a brand publisher. But that's akin to saying anyone who runs is a marathoner. It's about scale. While content marketing's goal is to attract and retain customers through the creation and distribution of content, being a brand publisher means you have layers of staff, strategic insight, vision, resources to build platforms for sharing new content and, most important, the ability to produce content at a rate that rivals, well, publishers.
If content marketing is a single-family dwelling, brand publishing is a city of one-million-plus.
It's not that being a brand publisher is a bad idea all by itself. It's that too many companies, who are barely ready to do content well, now think being a publisher is a sound idea.
As brands continue to bite off more than they can chew, the realities are tough to stomach, and have led to some interesting conclusions:
- Brands who have and who can successfully make the transition to being a publisher can be very successful (e.g., seeing increased links and traffic, greater organic visibility, a significant lift in paid search and enviable social traction).
- The number of brands who can successfully pull off being publishers is miniscule.
After months spent developing content strategies for clients looking for content marketing help, I decided that, in good conscience, I would never again insist that brands become publishers.
Instead, I adopted a strategy that's as far away from one-size-fits-all as possible.
Good for business doesn't mean good for your business
First, I refrained from using the term brand publisher. Next, I became a vocal proponent of the good-for-business-doesn't-mean-good-for-your-business philosophy, which meant that in meetings with managers, directors and C-Suite execs, I had the courage of my convictions in sharing that while content marketing is a sound practice, becoming a full-fledged publisher is something that requires a minimum of three things to be successful:
- Near-limitless resources: Take a look at the companies crushing it as true brand publishers, and you very quickly see why there aren't many like them. Red Bull, consistently singled out as the leading brand-as-publisher, invests in the full gamut of content, including movies, books, TV shows, magazines and more. The privately held company doesn't release figures related to those activities, but it's likely in the tens of millions. "[The expense is] something we grapple with on a daily basis," says Werner Brell, head of Red Bull Media House, the content arm of the brand. "It's obviously expensive."
- Come-hell-or-high water commitment: If you choose the brand-as-publisher route, understand that you'll get up close and personal with the word commitment. Aside from the financial commitment, including staff and the cost of producing content, you'd better be prepared for publish or perish to become part of your brand's DNA. There is no "This isn't working. Let's change tactics." This is your horse and you'll keep riding it. It's the lot you've chosen.
- A change in your brand's overall corporate philosophy: This is the big, hairy gorilla that (fortunately) saves many brands from dooming themselves from choosing the brand publisher route. Few C-Suite denizens are willing to disrupt their corporate model and add publishing to their mantle. And if you're the VP of content or CMO, you're wise to accept this level of restraint.
If your company is ready to shoulder such a commitment, then by all means dive right in. If not, there's a better way to do content marketing, one that is no less effective but does not require you to mortgage your future in the process.
A better way: content marketing for your brand
Instead of attempting to become a publisher, or even a content marketer, focus your efforts on becoming a brand that consistently creates content that puts the needs of prospects and customers first, while simultaneously providing meaningful solutions to their problems.
I've been a very vocal haranguer of content marketing, though not because of its inefficacy.
I'm simply not a proponent of brands thinking of themselves as anything other than what they are in the minds of their prospects and clients.
Hopefully, at the core of your business is a product or service customers clamor for, not a content engine.
That's why becoming a customer-first brand that has meaningful content as part of its DNA is the safest, surest, easiest-to-adopt model for brands with the desire to do content marketing right but who aren't willing to re-org the business to get it underway.
In this way, you keep the main thing the main thing. That main thing in this case is serving your core audience.
At this point, I'm hoping you see the light, realizing that becoming a brand publisher isn't necessary for your company to be successful at content marketing.
If you're ready to chart a solid, more reliable path to success, it begins with turning away the four horsemen of content marketing failure.
We've banished the first horsemen. Let's do the same with the other three.
Choose the right goals for your business
Whenever I sit down with a prospect to discuss their business, I open up my notebook and write down the following three phrases, including a checkbox next to each, on a sheet of paper:
- "...Be successful."
- "...Rank No. 1 in Google."
- "...Increase...conversions."
Then I ask "What are your goals for the business?" all the while knowing full well the answer will be one of the three things I've written down.
The followup question, too, is canned: "What are you doing to get there?" That answer, too, is typically never a surprise: "That's what you're here for, right?"
Wrong!
After I've apprised them that the shortest path to failure is not having a clear view of their goals, I have their attention and they are ready to begin the goal-setting process.
Here's the catch: Only you and your team can decide what those goals are/should be. It's important that the goals take into account the entirety of the business, not just SEO, content, social media, etc.
Also, I've found it helps if the metrics assigned to measure a business's success toward their goals are meaningful (e.g., a sincere help to the overall business) and clearly communicated (e.g., everyone involved is aware of what they're working for and being judged against).
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No matter what specific goals you decide on, applying the principle of "HAS," as in holistic, adherable (er, sticky) and sustainable, can be a huge help:
- Holistic—Content marketing success requires that a lot of moving work parts in unison. Your goals must take into account the entirety of the business, though not all at once.
- Adherable—How likely are you to stick with the goals, seeing them through to fruition? It won't matter how sound your goals are if they don't make sense for your business, or don't make sense for your business at a given time.
- Sustainable—Will you be able to maintain the needed level of effort for the goals to reach maturity?
I've found that keeping these principles top of mind helps to order a brand's steps, ensuring that everyone is aware of the goals and of their role in working toward them.
As an example, let's say you're a small business ready to jump into the murky waters of content marketing, but you don't yet have a website.
The right goal would be to launch a new website. To make the goal as HAS-friendly as possible, you could assign a timeframe—say, 90 days—then break out the associated tasks by order of importance (see image below).
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I'd even suggest keeping a checklist in a Google Doc where team members can stay abreast of what's going on, in addition to seeing who's responsible for what and having a better understanding of where the team is in terms of completing each task related to their goals.
Execute a plan that's right for your business
If I had to single out the No. 1 reason content marketers I've worked with have failed it would be that they based their goals on what the competition was doing instead of what's best for their own business.
Seeing a competitor rank higher for their main keywords; having thousands of web pages indexed by Google; spending mad cash on paid media; and having brand pages on Google Plus, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, these businesses attempt to do the same.
Sounds comical, right, until you realize it happens all the time and to businesses of all sizes.
So we just had a new client shut down our social strategy to instead "copy anything and everything their competitors are doing" #brilliant
— Greg Gifford (@GregGifford) January 26, 2015
Problem is, no two businesses are entirely alike and, well, "You aren't them," as the saying goes.
Aside from having little idea of how much real success the competition is enjoying from their search, social and content efforts, these brands are taking their eyes off the main prize: their own business.
An approach that works well and is easy to carry out entails taking an inventory or where you are in relation to where you want to be while keeping a keen eye on the competition.
With your goals solidly in hand, begin by sketching out a plan based not on where you are, or on what the competition is doing, but on those actions that would likely lead to success for you.
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In the graph above, created in Google Docs, you can see that I mainly focused on the content-related activities that would have the biggest impact over the next 90 days. (Caveat: This is simply a high-level overview of one area of the business, but it's plenty thorough enough for a team to begin working from.)
The key is to take the time to get to know (a) what success looks like for your business, then (b) focus on specific, actionable elements that can be done in the allotted timeframe.
Sweat the (seemingly) small but important stuff
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"Why do you hate content marketing?" I get asked these words at least once a month. The answer is always the same. I don't hate content marketing. I hate most brands' approach to content marketing.
There is so much more to making it a success than we're typically led to believe there is.
The focus is always on produce, produce, produce. Outreach, outreach, outreach. Produce more. Outreach evan more. Rinse and repeat.
As marketers, we've seemingly trained a generation of brands that the focus should be on doing fast (and often) what they barely know how to do at all. We never learn to do well.
Yeah, I know it works...for some. But is it scalable over the long-term? Better yet, will it remain scalable into the future?
If you want to position your brand for success in content marketing, make sweating the small but oh-so-important steps a priority.
This process starts with clarity.
- Begin by defining who you are and who you desire to be in the minds of your prospects and clients. I can see the eye-rolling. But without answers to these questions, you're wasting your time and, likely, money. Devote the time to having weekly brainstorming sessions with your core team. During these meetings, keep the air open, relaxed and free-flowing, allowing ideas to bounce freely around the room. The goal is to start each meeting with a big question. Then let it "breathe." Your first big question should be "Who are we?" followed by "Who are we to our customers?" Put on your introspection hats, viewing yourselves through the words and interactions of prospects and customers, who have likely shared comments via email, phone, text, and your website.
- Ask "why" a lot. During Mozcon 2014, Wil Reynolds dropped a slide that gave me goosebumps:
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Simple. Brilliant. What I loved about this slide and the line of thinking is it helps brands (and the staff who work for those brands) stay the course, focused on their already-defined objectives. For example, once you know who you are and who you are in the minds of your core prospects and customers, any actions you take should be done with this information in mind.
Therefore, if the team begins to get distracted by shiny-things syndrome, anyone has the right to ask "Why are we doing this?" or "Why does this...make sense?"
Nothing like forcing someone to defend a bad idea to provoke clarity.
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Get to know your audience. The better you know your audience, the easier it is to market to them. Even if you cannot afford the fancy tools and platforms Mike King has previous talked about to develop personas, you can have staff members spend an hour each per week scouring social media, forums, discussions boards and sundry websites' comments sections looking for people who are likely interested in the products/services your business offers. Gather as much information (e.g., age, income, occupation, etc.) about these people and their needs as possible, in addition to what sites they frequent, how often and for what. In this way, you're developing personas without it feeling like an onerous task. Keep copious notes, which can be entered into a Google Doc and shared with teammates.
- Build a community. I hate the term secret sauce, mainly because no such thing exists. However, if a brand wants to set itself apart from the competition, they should adopt this mentality: Get to know your audience, but build a community. An audience might read your blog, consume and share your information, and recognize your content from the rest of the pack. A community, however, is engaged and passionate, actively seeking out your content, sharing it broadly and fervently, and is easily willing to help in the creation of content for your business (e.g., YouMoz) Have your team keep a watchful eye on out for engaged, visible members of your audience, especially via social media. Share their content, answer their questions and, as resources permit, surprise them with personaliized GIFs or mail them skotskes. The audience-to-community threshold is smaller than you likely think.
- Create and share meaningful content. Notice that I saved content creation until last. That's no accident. Content marketing is cruelest to those who dive in headfirst without clear goals, lacking a plan of action and who're content to simply "be on social media" or to "share some blogs." If you're committed to creating and sharing meaningful content, there are three areas you must focus on:
- Inspire. People want to feel good about themselves and the work they're doing. Why not use your content to help them and generate buzz for yourself in the process? For example, if your business sells email solutions for small business, a sizable portion of your content should cater to helping business owners "take back a part of your day." When creating content, put yourself in the shoes of your customers, and ask yourself "What can I create that'll inspire and compel them?" In this way, it's less about the action you need them to take and more about tapping the emotion needed to bring that action to reality.
- Immediacy. While evergreen content certainly deserves a spot in your quiver, make certain to offer content that speaks to the immediate needs of the community. This is when a sincere effort at thinking like a publisher comes in handy, especially if you have experts in-house who can speak, with your brand's voice, to these needs. A great example is the job Eric Enge and Mark Traphagen are doing at sharing information regarding Google's updates and important social media news. Look for ways your brands can contribute in a similar fashion.
- Indispensability. Your content needs an I-can't-do-without-this component. It's the surest path to ensure your content gets read and shared; your website retains steady traffic; your blogs always have significant eyeballs; and your brand is sought-after online. Look at the job the Buffer folks are doing in educating their community on all things social media, time management and productivity hacks. Their posts are read and shared by thousands daily, with many (including myself) seeing the blog as can't-do-without material. Same for the excellent work the Bruce Clay, Inc. content team, whose comprehensive resources add a layer of "stickiness" to the brand that's hard to beat. How can you do the same? Commit wholeheartedly to learning the needs of your community, especially those needs associated with pain points they desperately need removed. Creating content around these areas/topics is the easy part.
I can't say for certain that, if you refrain from attempting to be a brand publisher, you'll be a successful content marketer. I also cannot promise that going all-in with the three points outlined above ensures your success.
What, however, I can say is the vast majority of brands would do better if they banished "I want to be a brand publisher" from their lexicon and decided to focus on the right goals, executed a sensible plan and made the small things part of the main things.
What about you? Are you ready to do content marketing wisely? Dive into the discussion in the comments below.
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Ronell, this is a wonderful post!
"Why do you hate content marketing?" I get asked these words at least once a month. The answer is always the same. I don't hate content marketing. I hate most brands' approach to content marketing.
Words to my ears! I've seen countless businesses -- including some clients at prior agencies -- just publishing blindly without an overall strategy. I've heard things like, "So, how many times a week should we publish something for our Google rankings to go higher?"
Fail.
It all goes back to the strategic marketing process I've outlined on Moz in various essays: KPIs > Audience Research > Messaging and Positioning > Channel Research > Content Creation > Campaign Execution > Audit and Adjust
Just in case it's not obvious, I'll restate this: Content creation is the fifth step of the process! It's not just something one should throw together and put out there.
Today, here are examples of what I tell people:
1. Who is your target audience really -- what are their hopes, dreams, and fears? What problems do they have that you can help solve? To which messages do they respond (as a demographic group)? It takes research.
2. Where is the audience? If they are searching Google to solve problems, then your content should be the best at addressing that search intent. Often -- but not always -- it should be in text format. If they are on Pinterest for hours every morning, then you should start to think about graphics and other image-based content. If your want your content shared on social media (and who doesn't), then you need to format it for sharing and include Open Graph tags.
3. How will the content help your business goals? Will the e-book contain links to sales representatives, future webinars, a sign-up form? Will the YouTube video contain a link at the end to a product page? And so on.
And these are just a few things that go into the strategic part of the process. The worst thing in the world that a company can do is just "publish and pray." Content marketing done poorly often results in expensive failure. Content marketing done well can be a digital gold mine.
But I think perhaps part of the reason that many companies don't "get it" is partly our fault as digital marketers. We've pitched "content marketing" -- among other things -- as though it's some mysterious, entirely-new thing. But I remember when "content marketing" was just called public relations, publicity, and advertising. It's still just transmitting "content" (how "marketing collateral" was renamed) to an audience via communications channels.
Perhaps if we stop renaming existing practices with new buzzwords in the Digital Age, companies would realize what they need to do (based on the marketing best-practices that have always existed) -- and that includes stopping their bad content marketing!
I first came to the strategic marketing process in your last post "How to Approach Owned and Earned Media". Basically at the end you suggested to measure the effectiveness of your communication plan and then adjust, which is a must do. However, I am working on a new project and I have found that what the client really want is to get it right from the beginning, the last thing they want is to go through that process again, specially when creating content or becoming a publisher is not their area of expertise. Also, I am dealing with a big dilemma: Should we focus on the most profitable, natural but no so big, or the easier to reach audience? all with different needs, problems and ROI. They could said that the right thing to do is not always the most profitable path.
I have the feeling that, in some cases, our job should be something like "ok client, go ahead and be spontaneous, be yourself, create some content" and then we are going to tell them how close they were on meeting the KPIs, suggesting better ways to communicate their ideas, choosing the right channel for distribution and execute the campaign. I do agree though that creating content with the sole purpose of gaining rankings is not a wise thing to do.
Raul,
I know of what you speak. One of the problems is listening to the client. It's a bad idea. We should "hear" them, certainly. But listening to them is a recipe to get fired. Example: client says, "I want my money keywords in the top 10 of Google." You work your but off through paid, social and search and that happens. Two months later, you're fired. Why?
You heard: first page of Google
She actually said: I want conversions, which will come about if my money keywords are in the top 10 on Google.
We have to be willing to give clients a wee bit of want they (think they) want and some of what they need, but focus the lion's share of our energy on those efforts that'll yield the best returns down the road, not just immediately.
That takes an ability to push back.
RS
What an inspiring piece! What you seem to ultimately be pointing out here is how far brands have fallen from the most simple elements of marketing - know your audience & their needs. And secondly, who are we / who are we to our customers? Questions that even successful, established brands either haven't or can't answer. Heck, we even saw some major misses from the giant brands that paid millions for Super Bowl commercials!
The concept of "service" - how can we serve our prospects & customers? - is another I think falls in line with what you're getting at. I frequently reference this with brands & find that it always inspires good ideas.
I really appreciate your insight on this & have pulled about 10 quotes/key points that I will be sharing with my team!
Sheena,
Thanks for the kind words. One of the biggest lessons I learned working at an agency was brands are eager to get to the what (e.g., what should should we be doing? what impact will it have? what features do we need? what goes into this product?) but reluctant to deal with why (e.g., why are we using this marketing channel, why did we select these KPIs? Why are disparate parts of the business not aligned?).
I expected this from small businesses. But I see it most often with moneyed big brands.
You are certainly hitting the nail on the head with the idea of service. It goes back to education, and how the educational element is the low-hanging-fruit for brands.
With service top of mind, content creation, promotion and amplification is simplified:
Know the audience and their needs > Create content that solves a problem > Content resonates with audience > Content is shared and linked to > Engagement yields clues for future content
But I didn't need to tell YOU that. You already have it figured out.
Thanks for commenting, Sheena.
RS
I like how you put content creation last in the process. As one of the people tasked with creating content, I often wonder if we've put the cart before the horse. Content can't be very meaningful if it's created in a vacuum. It needs the direction of a well-defined audience, community, strategy, and all that "special sauce."
Thanks Ronell!
Adam,
I'm stealing your "Content can't be very meaningful if it's created in a vacuum." So very true. If you nail audience, community and strategy, special sauce isn't even a thought, as you well now.
"Good for business doesn't mean good for your business". But it is hard to explain that to people. Especially when they see that someone else did it and succeeded. This is called "informational cascade". According to Wikipedia:
"An information (or informational) cascade occurs when a person observes the actions of others and then—despite possible contradictions in his/her own private information signals—engages in the same acts."
Thanks for clarifying term "brand publisher". Perhaps you can dedicate a post to explain not-so-well-known or misinterpreted terms?
Stelian,
Too often we frame success incorrectly: It could be that a brand is success despite the strategy they employ, not because of it. Tough to know from the outside looking in.
You've given me an idea on a post clarifying terms.
RS
Pointing to our (Bruce Clay, Inc.'s) efforts as an example of the indispensable? I'm going to float high on that recognition for a good while, Ronell. Now, beyond that, your post is insane. I had to take a step back. "[A]ttempting to be a brand publisher is a lofty, needless goal for all but a handful of brands." ?! This statement was a reality check for me because I'm guilty of drinking (and slinging) the brand-as-publisher Kool-Aid, as you put it. Here's where you helped me return my brain to my skull from which it had jumped:
"The web is rife with examples of marketers sharing the "wisdom" of brands becoming publishers, and no less common are the examples of brands who've done just that, adding content publisher to the laundry list of services they already provide. Here's the problem with that logic: You're not a publisher, and attempting to become one is fraught with risks that more often than not lead to failure."
Thanks for the wake up call and for laying out an alternative (and wholly reasonable — vs. outrageous and almost comically nonsensical) attitude and approach. And while your post had me questioning my whole content marketing philosophy, I'm going to look at that shout out as a sign something's alright at BCI!
Virginia,
I basically learned SEO from reading your site, in addition Moz, Distilled and a handful of others. So I know the work you and the team are doing. I appreciate that Team BC sticks to the core, educating the community. Many brands are giraffes that insist upon being gazelles.
This post has been in my head for a long while. The frustration kept building as I saw more and more brands wanting to sprint before they could walk. And, to make matters worse, they didn't see any other choice.
There is and are far better choices for all but the biggest brands.
I think--and I could be wrong--we have to get away from seeing brands only through the prism of online marketing. They won't be successful in this false vacuum we're creating.
Thank you for the kind words, Virginia.
RS
"Content marketing is cruelest to those who dive in headfirst without clear goals, lacking a plan of action and who're content to simply "be on social media" or to "share some blogs."
This rings true every time I hear it!
So many businesses and brands struggle because of a lack of clear goals and strategy. Content marketing doesn't work in isolation of your business goals. Unless businesses take time to understand their target audience first, there is likely to be a mismatch between content produced by them and content desired by their customers.
My other favorite part of the post is #5. Create and share meaningful content, especially the "share" part.
In 2015 and going forward, even if you put in a lot of effort and create a truly valuable piece of content, your job is still not done. In fact, it's just the start. Brands can't hope that Google will pick up a great piece on its own and start sending relevant traffic right away.
Businesses must put just as much effort in content promotion as they do in content creation. Knowing how to use all the right channels to share and promote content often makes the biggest difference.
Ronell - What are your top 3 ideas/platforms for sharing meaningful content?
The absolutely should focus on promotion. Something I've found to be a huge help in this regard is to focus on creating content that WORTHY of links, sharing and promotion. Too often businesses create crappy content, then wonder why it lacks traction.
Favorite platforms:
Personal: Blog, Twitter, dominant website in the category
Brands: It depends
RS
Ronell interesting post !!!
Some businesses have increased their income after making a marketing content on their websites.
I think what works for you in a business does not have to run you another.
Any business that wants to succeed must have clear objectives, follow a strategy, worrying about their customers, answer their queries, etc. This will make your business go up posts. If your customers are happy they will advertise your business, and this will come more customers, which in turn will make you gain rankings in Google.
Tino,
Yes, every business has different goals and objectives. The problem comes when one tries to copy the other's strategy.
RS
The followup question, too, is canned: "What are you doing to get there?" That answer, too, is typically never a surprise: "That's what you're here for, right?"
Wrong!
Great post Ronell. I especially agree with the fact that most people get it all backwards - thinking about how to reach #1 page in Google rather that defining specific goals and understanding the best methods to help reach those goals.
Content marketing is without doubt one of the best (and most trending) strategies for developing a vibrant & trusting audience, as well as establishing an authority in specific niches and fields.
Stellar post - Ronell! I could spend a few days on here going over the different sections and check all of the links resources. I also find it to be quite daunting having to teach & instruct the client in the right direction with their digital marketing efforts. Between a combination of bad information, bad experiences with previous agencies or in-house staff, a lack of vision (e.g. the whole picture, not just SEO), lack of resources or just plain ignorance and arrogance - I feal sometimes like a therapist. I'm right in the middle of having to reprogram one of my clients thought process in regards to online marketing / SEO and all the fixin's. It's like a series of therapy sessions and business coaching.
I run my agencies client process the same way you speak about in this post. I especially love it when the clients tell us what we are going to do (e.g. what methods, strategies and techniques we are going to use to help them reach their unrealistic and poorly thought out goals - like you mentioned). I work with a lot of attorneys and they can be tough in that respect. I actually told one this one day, "I would like you to start consulting me in regards to your cases." he was like, what? I said, "since you want to manage the services I'm doing for you, then I think it's fair that I get to the same for you." That was the last time he intervened. But, of course - that was an extenuating circumstance and I don't recommend myself or anyone else speaking to a client that way.
Again, thank you for the great material here. Bookmarked and shared.
There are some great bits of insight here and to just pick up on one very interesting observation as others have touched on most of them, asking why 5 times is a tool used in Six Sigma process optimisation. I trained up on Six Sigma and the number of tools, like the 5 whys, that can be brought into SEO / Marketing process optimisation is incredible. Hopefully I'll find the time in the not too distant future to write more about the cross-over tools so stay tuned for that and if you can't wait then do a quick search for six sigma tools.
hi smith this is a wonderful post ,
thanks for sharing with us
Wow this has been one informative post! Sam, I loved when you said "publish and pray". That is so often what ends up happening. It is so easy to tell a client they need a content strategy without explaining the need and the why. It is easy to just publish to publish and hope for the best. But results are not accidental and it is not due to luck.
You have to get the clients attention and make sure you get their minds turning. Like mentioned in the article, clients just think "that's why you're here". But you have to get the client involved and thinking as well. They have to commit. It doesn't have to be to brand publishing, but they still need to commit to a strategy.
Even if it is a smaller company they need to have goals and stick to them. It is our job to make them face facts, and make them take the steps forward.
Tory, thanks for the comment -- I was worried about using alliteration, but sometimes it works!
I've encountered situations where a company just wants X number of random blog posts per month simply because they heard that "content is important." But when one asks how the posts will play into their overall business goals and marketing strategies, they often don't have an answer.
In just a situation, it's crucial to push back -- as long as you say that you are trying to help them by presenting the larger picture. In one example, I pushed and pushed for them to include calls to action within blog posts to their product pages or landing pages or contact forms. But I had mixed results.
Hello Ronell,
I really enjoyed this post. Thank you.
What advice do you have for the people who prepare the content? Maybe that's a post for next month?
Thank you, EGOL.
My advice:
This is just a start. But I've led meetings based on these simple points alone and been amazed at the results.
RS
Thank you, Ronell !
Though being a brand publisher may seem like a must to win at content marketing, this is not the case. There are in fact simple ways that you can essentially win at content marketing without bowing to big name brands and using brands as the sole publisher. For starters, it is important to kick aside the thought that only big name brands can be successful. That is not the case at all. By setting the right goals for your brand, finding and executing a business plan that works for your particular business, and following all the necessary steps to a successful content marketing campaign, anyone can be successful. It is important that on top of everything else, you have confidence in your content and in your own skills.
An interesting read Ronell, what I have really observed in my industry as that people start setting goals with tools and the clients are not interested in that jibber jabber because they don't really know what stuff you are actually placing in front of them with a name 'Action Plan'. Clients are usually interested in the ROI and nothing at all. Designing and implementing strategies is what we do at our end and content marketing is the backbone of it. Really loved your detailed post about content marketing!
Eugenio,
Thank you for the kind words. Feel free to reach out if you have additional questions.
RS
Sam,
I might copy and paste your comments into Wordpress and post them as my own :)
I know my friends get tired of me telling the same story, but businesses approach content marketing in much the same way as couch potatoes approach a marathon: They read the "17 weeks to marathon-ready" article in a fitness mag; spend 17 weeks preparing; "run" the race; and then wonder why their knees, hips, feet and back hurt for the next two years. Because you WEREN'T prepared!
As marketers, I think we've done a disservice by continually talking about all the doing that goes into content marketing. We need to take a step back and be willing to say, "Let's start here."
Thanks for the sage words, Sam.
RS
Thanks for the kind words!
Feel free to use my words -- for the credit, just link back to my personal website multiple times with exact-match keyword anchor text. ;)
great article thanks for sharing your thoughts on this! bookmarked to read it tomorrow as well, very useful considerations about how brands should invest in useful content for serving customer needs more then as publishers
My Favorite line:Begin by defining who you are and who you desire to be in the minds of your prospects and clients.
What better way to pinpoint and differentiate yourself from the mass of competition that is out there, even if a brand/company finds a niche/gap in the market, there is no guarantee it will stay their niche, so this is perfect advice.
On this point, a great case study is how Jack Daniels defines their brand:by personality, and looking at what and who they represent as a brand. They do this by looking into what they don't represent.
It's a social media-based one but I like how every story they tell and every piece of content marketing they produce is based around this personality. It's non-obtrusive and a strategy that takes away from a commercial side of things and looks at making it more human.
BTW not affiliated with JD in any way, nor do i work for them :)
Preeti_v,
Thanks for your comments.
The Jack Daniels example is apropos. It's no coincidence that the vast majority of companies who can successfully pull off being brand publishers are traditional and/or heritage companies (e.g., GE) brands who have a rich tradition and who know their audience (er, community) very well.
So when these brands set out on the publishing path--even though publishing is far, far away from their core business, they have a huge leg up:
How does this come about? By having their ducks in a row with regard to who they are, who they serve and what the audience desires from them, they aren't setting off on a path with only a hope and a prayer.
This helps mightily when you consider that the C-Suite isn't patient.
In fact, many of these brands are using publishing as a de facto marketing/product testing arm of the business, discerning what the market wants/needs/expects by engaging them through creative content.
The key, to my mind, is the brands who are and who will be most successful at content marketing are those who realize content is NEVER the goal.
RS
The last sentence here says a mouthful. Content isn't the GOAL, it's the outcome of doing things right and providing value for your customers however you can. It's a tactic. Not a solution. Great reply (and strong initial post)!
I love this, and have also seen it with multiple clients. One point that Ronell made resonated with me (and is coupled to the last few points of the article - inspire and indispensability). I have known clients who want to push their 'content creation' to get more than a little hung up on the frequency part. This seemingly tangible (but completely unseen!) pressure to churn out a ridiculous amount of content is in my opinion the most destructive force working against their campaign. Whatever your goals for the campaign, without interest from the user the campaign is sure to fail. I suppose the old adage 'quality no quantity' is possibly the most fitting here. You HAVE to make sure that your content is awesome - and concentrating on frequency will simply do the complete opposite. Your content might be regular, but without the right resources and direction it will not attract, nor retain (*see 'community') the people that you WANT to attract and retain.
Nice one Ronell!
Simon,
The creation-at-the-expense-of-quality affliction is widespread. But marketers far wide preach "creation/promotion," which is not easily managed.
Inspiring and indispensable content is much, much easier to create than we often assume:
Thanks for the comments, Simon.
RS
Indeed, inspiring and indispensable really comes down to value for the user. Putting yourself in their shoes, asking what they want to know and delivering that to a high standard is a good place to start.
Simon
Thanks Ronell for the reply.
Ha, I thought I agreed with you, content is never the goal. Hopefully my comment didn't suggest otherwise. I was speaking more about the vision brands take and an example (which i thought was quite good) of how they go about it before moving on to creation.
Really just goes to show all the buzzwords never truly take away from the word 'Marketing', like you mentioned, that's where we get it wrong, the endgame is not about separating the different aspects like SEO or content or PR, but remembering to treat everything as a whole, or as traditionally known 'The Marketing Mix'.
Oh, absolutely. We're entirely on the same wavelength. The more we commit to understanding our audience, building a community and creating content that's consistent with resonant and educational, the closer we are to success, regardless of stage.
"Why do you hate content marketing?" (A) Its the long way around the barn. Just be impressed with my SEO mechanics and rank me lol (B) pollutes the web with countless garbage pages with people thinking that they are actually professional writers. Just a step above article marketing.
"You Don't Need to Be a Brand Publisher to Win at Content Marketing" But It sure helps EH? If you are a major brand with the advantage of almost unlimited resources and losing to a mom and pop, you need to start firing people because obviously they have no clue how to do the job they were hired for. Resources mainly $$$ counts in the content /seo game.. video, copy, graphics and distribution can really add up in a hyper competitive niche.
Just my 2 cents
and yes content marketing can be really fun and creative if everyone is on board.
If you are a major brand with the advantage of almost unlimited resources and losing to a mom and pop, you need to start firing people because obviously they have no clue how to do the job they were hired for.
lol. That's probably true.... and the thumbs down that you got probably came from someone who is gonna be fired as soon as his boss reads your comment.
To quote my friend Sorjova: "SEO is a battle of resources".
Resources can be "money", but even if you got money you still need another resource... "people with smarts".
yea the same people who couldn't get first page results for "left-handed right-wing dyslexic midget mime"if you spotted them an exclusive recorded video interview with Danny Devito talking about his new movie "Mr Midget Mime" a political thriller about a one armed midget who couldn't read nor right but became the US republican presidential candidate in 1520. lol I love the end of the day
While resources are a huge leg up, especially for larger brands, they are no panacea. I see a lot of big brands having success (e.g., individual campaigns) with content marketing, but I don't see a lot of them being successful (e.g., consistency across mediums).
As with most areas of business, small is nimble. Small also lacks the layers of bureaucracy. It's much easier for a small brand to kick ass with content marketing, primarily because they ARE part of the community, interacting with members daily, in person, not through data.
Resources are too often and too easily wasted.
RS