BULLSEYE CONTENT MARKETING CHEATSHEET
INTRODUCTION “Content marketing is any marketing format that involves the creation and sharing of media and publishing content in order to acquire customers. This information can be presented in a variety of formats, including news, video, white papers, e-books, infographics, case studies, how-to guides, question and answer articles, photos, etc. Content marketing is focused not on selling, but on simply communicating with customers and prospects. Successful content marketing relies on providing ‘consistent, high-quality content that solves people's problems’”. - Wikipedia “Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting.” - Bill Gates, 1996. “Our point of view is that we will sell more if we help people make purchasing decisions”. - Jeff Bezos, Amazon.
WHAT IS IT? It used to be said that Content was King but today the Consumer is King, Content is Everything and Everything is Content. Content marketing is nothing new. The first customer magazine was published by John Deere in 1895, giving farmers tips on maximizing profits. It’s still in print today and goes out to 1.5m readers. The Michelin Guide was first developed as a free publication in 1900. The phrase first came into usage in 1996 and today it encompasses a hugely diverse marketing offering that can’t always easily
2014 - Bullseye Content Marketing Cheatsheet
be classified into the traditional ATL/BTL categories including company websites & social media, apps, brand films, viral content, EDMs and so on. Its rise has been driven by the internet, digital and social media because consumers have come to expect a steady supply of free, quality content at their fingertips and available round-the-clock. Content marketing changes the emphasis from the existing outbound ‘push’ model to an inbound ‘pull’ one and it is working; content is 92% better than TV at increasing brand awareness and 168% better at driving sales according to Scott Donaton at UM. The reason for this is that content marketing allows consumers
to actively consume the messaging that is most interesting, relevant and useful to them and this self-selection makes it a highly targeted medium. High-value content is also much more actively shared amongst peer groups for positive amplification.
SOME NUMBERS Brands have effectively become publishers of their own content, Coca-Cola has more than 60m Facebook Fans in the US; CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC combined reach an estimated 35m people. The fact that brands are taking this new role seriously can be seen in the recent seven-figure deal Unilever signed with the Guardian to provide original branded content. The Wall Street Journal has, launched Custom Studios to deliver ‘white-label, co-branded and licensed content across print and digital media, tablet and mobile, video, graphic solutions, surveys, social and events.’ The Red Bull Media House is run as a profit-making division and in fact it wouldn’t be too far from the truth to say that the brand has become a content creator that happens to sell soft drinks.
2014 - Bullseye Content Marketing Cheatsheet
ACCORDING TO A NOVEMBER 2013 SURVEY OF AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES BY THE CONTENT MARKETING INSTITUTE: • 93% use content marketing • Only 33% rate themselves as effective • 52% have a content marketing strategy, + while 74% have an employee overseeing + it • 81% are producing more content than + they did last year • Currently 27% of the budget is spent on content marketing but 69% plan to increase that amount over the next 12 months • The top 10 activities are: company + website copy, social media, EDMs, + blogs, articles on third party sites, + videos, case studies, events online + presentations and microsites • EDMs are regarded as the most effective + followed by in-person events • The top social media sites for content + distribution are LinkedIn, Facebook, + Twitter YouTube and Google+ • The top three goals are brand + awareness, engagement and lead + generation • The top three metrics for success are website traffic, social media sharing and SEO ranking • The functions companies re most likely + to outsource are design and copywriting • The top three challenges are a lack of time, producing enough content and producing varied content
HOW DOES IT FIT WITH SOCIAL MEDIA?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR SEO?
Never before have brands enjoyed such direct relationships with their consumers and, thanks to social media, are able to partake in real-time two-way dialogue to engage them. These conversations are both fuelled by a company’s own content and contribute to it, customers have become co-creators of their favourite brands.
Search is becoming more humanistic. This started with Siri but the most recent Google algorithm change, Hummingbird, takes it to the next level and elevates the importance of good content in boosting SEO.
In the majority of today’s marketing activity social media (whether paid or owned) is where brands amplify their activity. However in the content marketing sphere, it and social media are inextricably linked, often interchangeable and feed off one another. The best content is crafted so as to maximize share-ability and the best social media is content rich. Facebook’s new Paper mobile app champions content through its design and the social media site may become a series of apps each tailored to sharing different types of content. However with only 4% of people revisiting a brand’s Facebook page after ‘liking’ it and only 16% on average seeing its Facebook posts, social media content requires paid media support to cut through the chatter and the same is true of content marketing. The two should be complementary rather than mutually exclusive. Content is the product, social is the store.
2014 - Bullseye Content Marketing Cheatsheet
Google itself says that the key to ranking well in search results is to “have original, high quality content”. Hummingbird looks at the whole search query not just the keywords and seeks to move away from providing people with results to answering their questions. This naturalistic approach to search will become more importance as voice search increases in frequency and long tail keywords are a natural consequence of well-written content and every webpage needs to be optimized for content, not just the homepage. Content marketing doesn’t so much plug the gaps between SEO, paid, owned, earned and social media but provides an overarching strategy within which these disciplines can work together to maximize effectiveness of each.
Gen Y Referred to as Generation Y or the ‘Millennials’, the youngest are currently in their mid-teens and the oldest in their mid-30s with the majority as tech-savvy, connected 20-somethings who draw no divisions between the physical and digital spaces they work, play and purchase in. Brand Loyalty Millennial consumers are ready to engage with brands that demonstrate empathy and which they feel cares about them. According to a 2011 survey by Edelman Digital they are also very brand loyal – 70% will keep coming back to a company they like, 58% will share personal info with a brand they trust and a massive 86%will share their brand preference online.
MILLENNIALS AND CONTENT MARKETING It isn’t content itself that is altering the marketing landscape but the way in which it is being consumed, adapted and used.
2014 - Bullseye Content Marketing Cheatsheet
A fifth of Millennials have attended a brand-sponsored event in the past month and 65% of those purchased the featured product. A quarter of them have joined seven or more brand-sponsored communities online. Emotional Appeal The key to engaging with the Millennials seems to be creating an emotive link. A study presented at SXSW 2013 found that they are surprisingly attached to physical objects – as seen in the resurgence of vinyl and boom in stationery and greetings card businesses – while at the same time finding digital experiences too polished and lacking in emotion.
As attached as they are to their iPads, more than half claimed to prefer the feel and smell of a magazine to reading the same content online. After all, most big ticket or personal purchases have an emotional aspect to them, whether bought impulsively or after long deliberation and regardless of whom it is for. Sharing is Caring Social sharing is the Gen-Y Word of Mouth; 36% of Millennials said they have purchased a product that was introduced to them by a friend in the preceding week either directly or by sharing earned media. Facebook is the doorway into the social web but Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are the windows to engagement. Traditionally it was held that a happy customer tells a few people but an unhappy one tells as many as they can. However, among Millennials the reverse is true, with 47% sharing positive experiences and only 39% voicing negativity. Less than one per cent will use a call centre or email to complain to a company, instead contacting them via social media channels.
2014 - Bullseye Content Marketing Cheatsheet
Advocacy Consumers are the co-creators of a brand through sharing experiences on social networks and the results of online searches and interactions. Getting to Gen-Y Demonstrating understanding, empathy and utility by providing with something that has for them become a given; engaging, informative and useful free content.
Know your why Identify your brand’s role in people’s lives and ensure your content informs, entertains or empowers on that basis. Know your audience Insights drive ideas. Understand what motivates your audience and therefore how to address them. Good content starts from the point of view of the consumer and what they need to know. Add value With all content a brand needs to think about how it will inform, entertain or empower its customers. Put simply; demonstrate value to them.
THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (INFORM, ENTERTAIN, EMPOWER – AT LEAST TWO OF THE THREE)
The what, how and when of a brand’s content strategy is vital in making sure its messages reach its intended audience.
The 80/20 rule This means 80% should be lifestyle and customer-centric and anything but brand. The other 20% can be the brand messaging. Be Authentic As above, no one likes to hang out with people who only talk about themselves so to win friends and followers, brands should ensure their tone of voice is inclusive, authentic, expert and human. Make it look good Digital and social are very visual mediums. Make your content more compelling by making it visually appealing through great design Be sharable Make sure content is as sharable as possible (particularly for mobile) and be explicit about asking people to share or retweet it. If you can’t create content specifically for social media, repackage what exists already to make it more sharable
2014 - Bullseye Content Marketing Cheatsheet
Plan your distribution Hoping to go viral is not a strategy. Social media is now the main content conduit but it exists primarily for people to connect with friends and peers through communication, sharing and discovery not as another paid media outlet so use it accordingly.
Cross-pollinate but do it cleverly and use as many different types of content as possible while staying appropriate to your brand.
Measure twice To join in and lead the conversation brands need to know what is being said and social listening tools allow every aspect of the conversation to be monitored across any industry. Then continue to measure to refine your strategy as you learn what works and what doesn’t.
Be female friendly Women are much more active on social media, sharing information and content much more readily.
Timing is everything Knowing when to post is as important as what we post. Different days and different times of day see very varied results on the various channels. Support your distribution strategy with paid media. More is more Don’t let there be any dead ends, always provide links to more content but keep it siloed by topic to help people locate and navigate it. Let go a little The best content strategies recognize that a brand’s fans have become its advocates, defenders and co-creators which means allowing them some room to manoeuvre by letting go of the brand a little. Be appropriate Don’t try and force the same content to serve multiple purposes across different channels. The content needs to be appropriate and unique to the channel.
2014 - Bullseye Content Marketing Cheatsheet
Don’t just be digital Don’t forget the offline; experiential and events are great sources of content and conversation.
Be likable Don’t worry about the number of ‘Likes’ you receive, just try and be likable
WHO DOES IT WELL? Chipotle (Authenticity) The fast food chain has tackled the contentious topic of factory farming in a way which uses the power of storytelling and which pushes not its products but the philosophy and brand values. The delivery as well as the messaging comes across as authentic, warm and engaging. The company has since extended this from animated shorts (the two of them have been viewed 20m times) to a tablet game and a 4x30 minute TV series created with Hulu in which the brand is mentioned only once by name. The trailer for the TV series actually featured a fictional big agriculture spin doctor (with his own Twitter account) critiquing one of the earlier Chipotle shorts.
Amex Open Forum (Usefulness) This was created as an online version of Amex’s small business seminars and has since become an example of content marketing best practice. The content is all highly relevant and valuable to its audience without pushing American Express products but instead positioning the company as an expert and thought leader in all aspects of creating and growing an SME. The website is highly integrated socially; allowing LinkedIn logins, encourages sharing and invites users to contribute as well as consume content. Go Pro (Co-creation) The camera manufacturer has, despite have a limited range, become the darling of content creators everywhere by realizing that its products aren’t the heroes (despite their name) but their customers are. By providing a platform for sharing – and licensing the best UGC for its own use – it has elevated the owners of its products into the custodians of its brand and creators of its content. General Electric (Audience understanding) The global giant has become a content marketing and publishing powerhouse by understanding that large corporations are naturally content-rich and its employees are brand ambassadors and storytellers. It is the emphasis on storytelling that has led GE into unexpected areas of content such as Vine, Tumblr and Instagram. The company has also taken the time to fully understand its audience driven by the realisation that for each story it might be four million people, 4,000 or just 400 and
2014 - Bullseye Content Marketing Cheatsheet
how each can be best served through different types of content and delivery channels. Kraft (Community) Kraft Foods launched kraftrecipes.com in 1992, a content marketing platform before most of its competitors even had websites. Since then the company has concentrated on making it the hub of not just an invaluable resource but the centre of a community. Only a third of the recipes on the site are created by Kraft, the remainder are user-generated. The company also pays attention to how its audience discovers and shares outside of its own channels and utilises them to engage them further and distribute its content. McDonald’s (Customer first) It was a brave move for the much demonised fast-food company to invite its customers to ask any question they wished about its products but having decided on transparency it embraced it by making all the questions and their answers entirely public and presenting it as content. Having realized that there was a high volume of chatter out there, the company was able to identify the types of questions likely to be asked and prepare answers to them using a variety of different content types including video. The company then marketed its marketing by promoting its initiative offline.