content marketing - why do we have it? why now?

Content Marketing Why do we have it? Why now?

@AndreaTEdwards

AndreaTEdwards

AndreaTEdwards www.thedigitalconversationalist.com

The Digital Conversationalist

The Digital Conversationalist

Because we just don’t care about brands anymore

15% of people trust recommendations from brands

84% trust recommendations from people they know

Source: Gartner

67% of the buyers journey is now digital

Source: Sirius

Digital owns 90% of the buyers journey

Source: Forrester

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Who do we trust?According to an affilinet survey, the order of trust1. Family 2. Friends3. Bloggers4. Social media connections5. Colleagues6. Journalists7. Religious leaders8. Celebrities9. Brands10.Politicians

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We have all the power•Global conversations• Sharing knowledge• Speed•Human conversations• Communities• Today’s playing field• Brands speak marketing

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What is content marketing?• It’s a philosophy, not a tactic• It’s not an add-on to marketing• It’s not advertising•Move from selling to serving• Fundamental shift in mindset• It’s a revolution

Content Marketing is fundamentally about

business transformation

It’s not something the marketing team ‘does’

Everyone must be on board and it starts at the top

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Our goal todayCreating conversations with customers,

partners, influencers, employees, potential employees

To achieve that, it’s about creating content so good, it earns the right to exist in your

customers world, where they are

We’re building so much loyalty with customers – because we consistently deliver value to them – they reward us and buy from

us

Must start with content strategy

What’s the conversation you want to align your brand to?

What’s the big idea?

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A content hub – mission critical• A central destination• Easy for customers• It’s content audience wants•Not sales or promotional content• Subtle branding is good•Wrap CTAs around the content

ROI – reported as single largest source of new leads and revenue for American Express

ROI – what owning a category looks like

ROI – what owning a target audience looks like

ROI – how you change the global brand narrative

ROI – can connect individual blogs to million$ deals

ROI – biggest brands in the world working with me

Amplification strategy?

“The majority of content discovered by your audience comes from just three channels: email, search, and social. The best marketers focus their efforts on creating content that can be discovered across all of these.”Michael Brenner, Marketing Insider Group

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Multiple amplification channels• Social? • Email?• Search?• Advertising?• Native advertising - Outbrain?• PR?• Events?• Influencers, customers, partners?

What about employees?

500 connections500 x 500 = 250K5k x 500 = 2.5 mil

And remember, people are trusted

Employees sharing content increases exposure 10x

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Unleashing the employees

1. Culture2. Guidelines3. Employee brand first 4. A Platform 5. Effective

measurement 6. Champions 7. 1-2-1 Coaching

“If your employees aren’t

your biggest fans, you’ve got problems WAY

bigger than social media”

Jay Baer

But employees must be advocates for themselves first, brand second

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A content marketing driven biz•Understands customers in their bubble • Thinks holistically, taps into their need• Educates/enhances their life• Answers their questions• Engages with them how they want to be engaged• Creates content they can’t resist• And then they buy

Once you’ve done that, measure, measure, measure, refine and keep going!Patience really is a virtue

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Success requires energy• It requires a hunger• A true obsession to help customers• The quality/intent of content all that matters• A sense of urgency•Half hearted? Content shock

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It takes guts• A powerful CCO• An energetic, determined team• Company-wide commitment• Commit to strategy• Simplify the processes• True collaboration

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True success is big picture

1. Siloes down2. Partnership 3. Train & trust4. Leaders

engaged5. Culture change

Your customer has a challenge Identify it, align your brand to itCreate world-class content customers can’t resist

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All amazing images courtesy of Shutterstock