Interesting interview with Primoz Inkret and Igor Savic from Poslovni Mediji (Business Media) in Slovenia. Some points covered include:
The use of the term content marketing in Slovenia, talking about the move from corporate magazines to integrated corporate content.
Traditional media usage in Slovenia, and the challenges with content marketing education.
Social media in Slovenia.
Thanks to both Primoz and Igor for their insights, and for having me at their wonderful event on content marketing. FYI, below is my presentation, Publishing is the New Marketing.
On each flight and in all the waiting areas, I saw people holding, reading and engaging in print magazines.
Then, I spent the day listening to the state of content marketing in Europe at POMP Forum 2010 conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Here's what I learned from the Julia Hutchison and Patrick Fuller from the APA (the association of branded editorial content in the UK).
The average time a reader spends with a custom print magazine is 25 minutes.
Custom print magazines get an average 44% response rate.
On average, custom print magazines see an 8% increase in sales (as opposed to those who don't receive the magazine).
18-24 year-old men and women who receive custom magazines from a corporation are the most engaged of any age group (yes, really!).
Surprising, huh?
Then, I see this Fortune interview where they are investing heavily in the print magazine...including higher quality paper and significant design/font changes.
What does this tell me? When we develop a content marketing strategy, we need to look at all possible tactics to get the best return for our investment. While digital is hot, print may still be a key component to your strategy. It might be worth revisiting.
My content marketing friends, Igor Savic and Primoz Inkret from Poslovni Mediji (Business Media) in Slovenia, were nice enough to give me a branded Moleskine notebook on my arrival to their beautiful country.
I've heard of Moleskine before, but now I know their story.
Included inside the legendary notebook is a detailed history of the product (see picture below).
"Moleskine is the legendary notebook used by European artists and thinkers for the past two centuries, from Van Gogh to Picasso, from Ernest Hemingway to Bruce Chatwin. This trusty, pocket-size travel companion held sketches, notes, stories and ideas before they were turned into famous images or pages of beloved books."
It means something to write in a Moleskine. To be an owner of a Moleskine says something about who you are. In the video (produced by Moleskine), it says something about who Bruce Chatwin was.
Moleskine has endured all these years because they tell stories as well as the people who used their product. Brand stories don't just happen. They are told...and spread.
Just returned back from Online Marketing Summit 2010 where the statement "brands as publishers" almost seemed overused. Although we've been talking about that on this blog for three years now and in more detail in Get Content Get Customers, this is the first time I've heard this type of statement in force "out in the real world".
It started with John Batelle from Federated Media. John might be most well-known for being one of the creators of Wired magazine. In the opening keynote, John stated that for brands to stay relevant and develop a true online experience for their customers, brands must master the art of content creation.
Later in my session on content marketing strategy, we talked about the fact that any online marketing, whether social media, email marketing, search engine optimization, landing page conversion, etc., does not work without first having content strategy.
Need more proof? Check out this excellent content strategy post from Kristina Halvorson. Specifically, I like this line from Kristina:
Let’s not gloss over content strategy by focusing solely on what we should be doing; let’s also focus on the why and how.
I couldn't say this better myself - and this point was evident at the OMS conference. The brand marketers there were so focused on SEO and social media and all the content tactics, but they have never taken the time to ask the question why? - what are the informational needs of my customers? - what is our brand story, our brand voice?
Want proof? Of the room of 300 marketing professionals we were speaking to at OMS, only four people raised their hands that they actually had a documented content strategy.
Junta42 has been receiving quite a few calls/emails regarding our content marketing matching service versus the new Hubspot inbound marketing marketplace. In response, I took a few minutes to explain what I believe is the difference based on what Hubspot has shared.
Here are the highlights from the video:
Inbound Marketing vs. Content Marketing
Inbound marketing is a subset of content marketing. Although both look at how to attract and retain customers with compelling, consistent content, inbound marketing focuses most of the energy on online channels. Content marketing takes a more holistic approach, looking at your content strategy as it relates to all channels (online, print, in-person and mobile). An effective content marketing strategy must also look at how the content program needs to be integrated with traditional marketing efforts.
Hubspot vs. Junta42
Hubspot's new "ebay for marketing services" is a marketplace that's much different than Junta42's "vendor matching service for content marketing". A marketplace, while still very valuable - ala eLance - still puts most of the work on the brand's shoulders in finding a content provider. Hubspot has developed a valuable service here for inbound marketing for a certain size (mostly smaller) companies needing inbound marketing services. It's a good move for Hubspot, which hopes to get people signed up to use their software and help retain those customers that are having trouble developing a solid online story.
Junta42 is not a marketplace. We take input from the brand on the content needs (through a five-minute survey and conversations with the client), project needs, audience target, project size and more. From that, we "match" the brand with one to five pre-qualified content marketing experts, saving the time and resources that it takes to search for the right provider, and the hassle of doing a formal RFP. We ensure that the vendor understands the type of project (print, online, in-person), the content area, and understand the art of content marketing storytelling.
It's also important to note that Junta42 experts handle the full breadth of content marketing services, including events and print content marketing, and not solely on inbound marketing solutions that Hubspot does. For more details on the types of projects we've matched up, check out this 2009 Junta42 annual report or our content marketing customer testimonials.
Joe Pulizzi is a leading author, speaker and strategist for content marketing. Joe, founder of content matching site Junta42, is co-author of Get Content Get Customers. This blog looks at the trends in content marketing, and how marketers can learn to think and act like publishers.
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