Heck with the Recession; Companies Are Investing in Content Marketing

Luckily, I was on the golf course yesterday instead of catching the news about the blood bath on Wall Street. Upon coming back to the office, I looked at my stock portfolio.  Ouch...a sea of deep red.

It's already been a challenging year for most companies, and it seems that we have yet to turn the corner. Especially until we figure out where the financial industry is headed.

That said, small, medium and large companies continue to pour money into their content marketing. Although I rarely promote our service, Junta42 Match, on this blog, it's worth using as an example of what is going on in the marketing world.

With very little Junta42 marketing to date, business and marketing professionals from all over North America (and globally in some cases) are finding our little site to search for content partners.  Yes, some of these projects are small - white papers, enewsletters, and blog help - but extremely important to their marketing activities.  They need to find the right vendors, so they seek us out. We've also seen other projects from some of the biggest brands in the world with high six-figure projects like custom magazines and versioned newsetters to customers and prospects.

The biggest eye-opener? Approximately 90% of the content projects coming through the system are NEW. This means that these aren't ongoing projects that they look to outsource or find a new vendor to replace their current one.  This means that they are investing in content in order to sustain or grow their business.

As ad spending falls at its steepest rate since 2001, businesses are taking that money and investing it in content activities that help to develop a conversation with customers and prospects.

Here are the types of approved projects that we've seen through the first three months (number in parentheses is the total number):

Advertising/Sales Management (3)
Advertorials & Supplements
Blogs (9)
Books - Electronic (eBooks)
Books - Print
Case Studies (2)
Custom Events & Roadshows
Digital Magazines (6)
E-mail Newsletters (9)
Magalogs
Magazines - External Audience (15)
Magazines - Internal Audience (6)
Mobile Solutions
Newsletters - External Audience (6)
Online/Virtual Trade Shows
Podcasts
SEO/SEM (2)
Syndicated Content Packages
Video
Web Portals/Microsites (3)
Webcasts/Webinars (2)
White Papers (9)

We've seen a lot of research to date about the growth in custom content and custom publishing. Even though we "hear" it, it's hard to visualize unless you can see it first hand. This type of Junta42 data shows that more marketers are taking up the content flag and selling it successful in their own companies to fund content-based projects.

In recessions, marketers turn to the initiatives that have the most impact on their current customers. What does that better than valuable, relevant and compelling content?

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Comments

[Dominique Hind]

I think a lot of companies have been thinking about content projects for a while. Yes, the economic downturn may have made them think about it quicker, but so many marketers and articles are talking about engaging with the customer and being involved that companies/clients are starting to listen.

In Australia, so many of our clients need proof (a successful case study) before they dip their toe in the water or even consider doing it. To help show success, I use the Dell IdeaStorm example to show clients how you can and need to fail before you can succeed. Then when success comes it is worth it. I have been following Dell's progress over the last three years and whenever any client sees the progress they buy into it: http://dominiquehind.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/dells-journey-to-listening-ideastorm/

[Prz]

I think this position requires someone who frets over comma placement, wonders if website is one word or two words, and believes that the dictionary and thesaurus are essential tools for life. I feel the most important aspect is popular search engines, web directories for increasing link popularity and other related SEO activities.

[Joe Pulizzi]

@Prz...not really sure what you mean. Are you saying that creating valuable content on the web is easy or something different? If storytelling was easy, everyone would have a book on the NYTimes best-sellers list. It's an art, and a science, and essential to driving exposure on search engines and SEO activities. Thoughts?

[Penny Stocks]

Nice post.keep it up good work.