Junta42 blog

The Decline of Advertising and the Rise of Content Spending

Just read through a very interesting post from Brian Solis on Forrester's Five-Year Media Spending Forecast. From the results, this quote from Forrester's Shar VanBoskirk is worth some discussion:

"The most interesting takeaway from the research is that overall advertising budgets will decline.  Yep.  With dollars moving out of traditional media toward less expensive and more efficient interactive tools, marketers will actually need less money to accomplish their current advertising goals."

Takeaways here...

• Five years is a long time.  Twitter isn't even that old.  Take these with a grain of salt.
• Anyone who doesn't think that advertising budgets will decline should try a new career.
• Yes, online efforts are cheaper, and social media is essentially free...but what's not being said here is a lot.

Where's Content?

Let's look at a few of the biggest projected growth areas, social media and search marketing.

• I've said it before and I'll say it again, social media doesn't work without relevant, valuable and consistent content. Success in social media relies on a web content strategy that works for the brand and especially for the brand's advocates. Although social media distribution is essentially free (Twitter, posting on YouTube), the content planning, resource allocation and then creation is not. That's where the money is going.  Take Hubspot for example.  The distribution of their content is very cost effective (blog, online TV series, community site for example), but the planning time, knowledge, resources and coordination cost plenty.  Worth it...absolutely, but inexpensive...no. Content usually shows up in another line item on a budget, which may be the problem.  No one ever knows how much the content really costs. I know some executives that think that the content magically appears every week at the end of a rainbow.
• Then comes search marketing. Showing up in search results means you need great content. Getting results from pay-per-click usually means you need a great content offer. Either way, without content, search doesn't work.

What I've just pointed out may seem obvious to some, but I see this over and over again first hand. Small, medium and even large companies look to "alternative" online strategies and discount the cost of the content.

Actual client: "I want to create an ongoing content series, most likely a blog, that we can integrate into a social media campaign. We need a content plan and need to outsource the editorial.  Also looking for integration into social media (Twitter and other stuff like that) and monitoring of our objectives (more traffic) . Budget is about $5k." Yikes! (This example is from a $500 million dollar company)

Spend on the Right Content Initiatives

Okay, so what should you do with this?  First off, stop thinking about content marketing or content strategy as the end deliverable. The content process is not just the video series, the enewsletter or the custom magazine. It's the entire content strategy process, including (shout out to Kristina Halvorson from Brain Traffic on guidance here):

• The Content Audit. Before you usher in more content noise, it's worth it to figure out what you have said. Anyone about to spend significant investment in content creation should develop a content benchmark first.
• The Content Plan. Who's the audience?; What are their informational needs?; What are the success metrics of the content plan?; Who owns the plan?; What are the best content tactics?; How will we execute those tactics?;
• Content Maintenance.  Once we create the content, how do we keep it fresh, updated, and continually monitor our customers' informational needs so that we succeed with the content plan?
• Content Marketing. How are we distributing our valuable, relevant content so that we deliver on our success metrics?

So, the morale of the story is, take all that money you are saving by not advertising, and make sure you put it into the right content buckets. Yes, social media may be free, but succeeding in social media and your web content strategy is not.

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Create these 10 Media Channels for Your Content Marketing Strategy

Had the pleasure of presenting "Please Stop Talking about Yourself" at the Web Content Conference 2009 in Chicago this week.  As usual, I was discussing the importance of brands creating their own media channels, and putting their publishing hats on in place of traditional marketing practices.  You can catch the PowerPoint presentation on creating media channels here, but for the PowerPoint averse, here are the top 10.

Please Stop Talking about Yourself - Joe Pulizzi Web Content 2009

View more OpenOffice presentations from Joe Pulizzi.

1. Create an online media site. Examples - HomeMadeSimple.com and BeingGirl.com from P&G; Out-Law.com from the UK law-firm Pinsent Masons (we also talk about Out-Law as a full case study in Get Content Get Customers).
2. An educational enewsletter (not to be mistaken for the "sales happy" enewsletter). Godfrey gives us a great example from the b2b marketing side.
3. A slideshare channel. Why not create your own presentation channel at slideshare? Trendsspotting provides a perfect example of this in action.
4. The free web app. Hubspot's website grader is a classic.
5. The Twitter tips channel. Collect the best information on the web and distribute through Twitter.  Be the expert content resource for your industry.
6. A Facebook movement. Fan pages are fine, but provide something of relevance that your customer base can dig into.  Shama Hyder does a great job with her ACT blueprint page.
7. Raid traditional media. If you are not looking at media properties in your industry to purchase or partner with, you are not being a smart marketer.
8. The mobile helper. Kraft's iFood assistant could change the way people cook.
9. A digital magazine. Yes, even with all the social media rage, there is still a place for digital magazine. Betty Crocker creates targeted digital mags for consumers of all food specialties.  Check out this one on birthday parties.
10. The video microsite. Can't do a post like this without mentioning willitblend.com, perhaps the greatest ROI ever on a video storytelling series.

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Five Reasons why Content Strategy comes before Social Media

Get Content Get Customers is just hitting bookstores now (you can read the news release from McGraw-Hill here). When Newt and I first started putting the book together in late 2007, content marketing was a relatively unknown term. Now seemingly a household phrase (at least according to Twitter), brands are still struggling with exactly what it means to develop a content marketing strategy.

Ah, but social media is all the rage. Is social media working for you? Are you struggling to figure out how to make it work for your customers? Could it be that your content strategy isn't driving your social media initiatives?

Here are five important reasons why a content strategy needs to be considered before integrating social media into your marketing plans.

1. Social media does not work unless you have something valuable to say! Developing a content marketing strategy is about understanding your customers' pain points, and then delivering multi-channel content that solves those customer challenges. Without having something to add to the customer conversation, how is it possible to leverage social media tools where you can help guide the conversation and position your brand/company as a trusted advisor?
2. Publishing is marketing, marketing is publishing. If we've learned anything over the past few years, it's that the majority of new media marketing efforts rely on a keen understanding of publishing. That means that you (the marketer) need to take your sales and marketing hat off and put on your publishing hat. Instead of features and benefits communication (look at most enewsletters, which are most times product or offer driven), are you delivering information like a publisher does to readers? The publishers of the future are not going to be media companies, but companies that ultimately offer a product or service. That includes you.
3. Social media activity does not mean you are accomplishing your marketing goals. That's where content strategy comes in. What is the purpose of your content? What are your key messages? What content assets do you have and what do you need to acquire? All the social media interaction in the world won't answer these issues for you, which should be completed first.
4. It's the content that is ultimately shared through social media. Valuable educational and amusing information is shared through social media. So many brands have rushed into social media wondering why they don't have the right kind of Twitter followers, or why they don't have enough comments on their blogs or within their communities (or what they are getting out of social media in the first place). Understanding that it's the content plan that drives the spreading of your ideas is the first step.
5. Social media = I hear you + I'm listening to you + I understand (thx @briansolis). Now replace "social media" with "publishing" or "content strategy". Works, right? Now try this...content strategy = I hear you + I'm listening to you + I understand + successful marketing goal and content measurement. This cements the fact that you are producing this content, not only to be shared by your customers and prospects, but to accomplish a significant marketing objective.

Ultimately, it's not about just experiences and interactions through social media. It's about creating meaningful experiences and interactions. It's about creating valuable, relevant and compelling content on a consistent basis that positions your brand as the trusted expert to your customers. When that happens, customers and prospects want to talk to you, and want to share your content.

Ah yes, that is where social media is so important. Social media is where the magic can happen. But consider content as all the upfront work, research and practice that it takes to put the magic show together. Social media is the Abracadabra.

So, I urge you, step back from your social media initiatives for just a second, and consider the following:

• Where are the content assets in your organization that provide the editorial information for your content strategy? Do you need a content audit?
• Do you have experts in your organization that can write from a journalistic perspective? This is not features/benefits content. It needs to be the best of the best on the topic you are writing based on your marketing goal. If it's not the best, can you honestly position yourself as the expert? Hire a turnkey content provider to help you that understands this. Quality content counts!
• Who owns the content strategy in your organization? Where is that individual at - marketing, PR, communications? Without ownership, creating a consistent message to your individual customer segments is a challenge at best.

If you are new to the content strategy game, I urge you to check out our book, which includes dozens of examples from companies that are putting successful content strategies to work.

Developing a content marketing strategy is not easy, but necessary.

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42+ Social Media Marketing Tools

Had a great time yesterday at the MagsU workshop on "Opening the Emedia Toolbox - Social Media Tools". In the session, we reviewed numerous online tools on how to develop social media strategies for personal branding, new revenue streams, search engine optimization, new content initiatives and more for content providers/publishers.  Here's a taste.  If you have some social media tools you'd like to add, post them in the comments. Special thanks to those who made recommendations.

The Basics

• LinkedIn - Start the practice of connecting with every business card you receive from contacts.
• Facebook - Consider a "Facebook Movement" - creating a topic or trend in Facebook outside of your personal or brand fan pages.
• Twitter - A staple for all of us. Here's a must read basics of Twitter article. (Courtesy of @mike_stelzner).
• Google Profile - This is a Gold rush here.  Secure and verify your personal name (i.e., Joe Pulizzi - Content Marketing Expert), before someone else gets it.
• Plaxo - organizes business contacts via the web (courtesy Judith Berkowitz). 

Conversations and Listening

• LinkedIn Answers - Listen and answer.
• LinkedIn Groups - Find groups that make sense for your business.
• Yahoo! Answers - Listen and answer questions. Position yourself as the expert.
• Google Alerts - Get updates on who's talking about you, your industry, your customers.
• Google Groups - Find the group relevant to your job and get active.
• Alltop - The digital magazine rack. Find the alltop for your industry - here's content marketing.
• Google Reader - Organize RSS feeds from media sites and blogs (courtesy Andrew Davies, Simon Henault).
• Backtype - Follow and share comments on the web (courtesy Andrew Davies).
• Ning - Create your own social networking site (courtesy of Kyra Reed).

Twitter Management

• Tweetdeck - The ultimate Twitter management system.
• Hootsuite - Manage multiple twitter accounts from one dashboard.
• Twitterfeed - Set your RSS feeds to post automatically on Twitter.
• Twitter Search - Find anything on Twitter real-time. For tagging, use the # (hash) tag (#magsu event)
• Tweetmeme - Find what's hot on Twitter.
• Twilert - Twitter search alerts via email.
• Yammer - It's Twitter for inside the company walls (courtesy of Paul Dunay)
• Tagalus - Directory of Twitter hash tags (courtesy of Kyra Reed)
• MyTweeple - Manage tweets and followers. Especially good for managing multiple profiles (courtesy of Laurie Dunlop).
• Twitter Facebook App - Updates Facebook via Twitter (courtesy of Greg Padley).
• Selective Twitter Facebook App - Updates Facebook only when you use #fb (courtesy of Greg Padley). 
• Seesmic - Managing with multiple accounts (courtesy Brad Hays). 

Content Sharing

• delicious - Share your content through bookmarking. Great way to share with teams (courtesy Michelle O'Hagan).
• Slideshare - Upload your PowerPoint presentations for all to see.
• YouTube - The #1 video sharing site.
• Vimeo - an alternative to YouTube
• Tubemogul - Distribute your video to them and they'll spread it to other video sharing sites for you.
• StumbleUpon - Randomly generates content for users by interest area.
• Digg.com - Content sharing site (great for tech and news).
• Marketwire/PRWeb - Distribute your content using social media online news releases.
• Google Custom Search - Set up your own niche search engine on your site or blog.
• Scribd - Share original writings with others (courtesy Andrew Davis).
• Squidoo - Set up your own targeted vertical content lens (courtesy Ambal Balakrishnan).
• Flickr - Share/upload/find photos (courtesy Wendy Boyce). 

Blogging/CMS Tools

• WordPress - My recommendation for a blog CMS platform.  Our custompublishers.com blog uses WordPress. I also recommend using this CMS for any small-business website (also courtesy Tina Bentley).
• TypePad - Set up and blog in just a few minutes. This blog uses TypePad (also courtesy of Britton Manasco).
• Joomla - Another option for blogging/CMS platform.  Joomla users praise it.
• Technorati - Blog directory.  Find the blogs in your industry so that you know which ones to listen to.
• IceRocket - Search for blogs and blog posts by category. IceRocket's Trend Tool will tell you how "hot" your keyword is.
• Google Blog Search - First rate blog search tool.
• Tumblr - Post anything quickly and easily.
• Zemanta - Great for adding additional content and links (courtesy of Drew McLellan).
• Posterous - Post to a blog by sending an email (courtesy of Richard Shatto).
• Tipjoy - Simple social media payments (courtesy of Greg Padley). 

Measurement

• Google Analytics - I recommend using Google Analytics even if you have a paid analytics service (courtesy Cim Buser).
• Hubspot - I'm a customer. I use Hubspot to track the performance of my keywords and competitors' keywords (courtesy Gretel Going).
• Website Grader - Hubspot product that will grade your website on a number of analytics and social media indicators.  Great free tool!
• Alexa - Some high-level information on website traffic for any site.
• Compete.com - Excellent comparison tool for web analytics-type information.
• Quantcast - Provides good overview of analytics and site demographics (courtesy of Kyra Reed).
• Woopra - Analytics on steroids (courtesy of Kyra Reed).

Operations

• Google Apps - Runs all email and calendar functions through one place.  We use it and love it. Basic option is free.
• Google Docs - Share Word documents, spreadsheets and presentations via secure invitations. Great for editing a document with multiple people involved.
• Microsoft Live Workspace - Like Google Docs but with Microsoft. 5GB free space (courtesy Kate H).
• Teamwork Project Manager - Easy-to-use project management tool.
• BaseCamp - An alternative to Teamwork Project Manager. Also very easy to use.
• aMember - Handles paid memberships for websites (courtesy Simon Payn).
• Junta42 Match - Finds expert providers for web content projects. 
• Freemind - Open source mind-mapping software.
• Mindmanager - One of the best mapping software programs around (courtesy Kavita Jhunjhunwala).
• Mindmeister.com - It's like Google Docs for mindmapping (courtesy George Kao).
• Box.net - Save everyday work files...access from anywhere (courtesy Michelle O'Hagan).
• Xobni.com - Outlook plugin that helps track down files easier (courtesy Craig Hodges).
• ExpertMagnet.com - Free service to find professional service providers. 

Other Cool Online Tools

• Blinkplan - Creating flatplans for magazines (courtesy Kevin Lund).
• Jing- To create screenshots for clients when something needs to be explained (courtesy Tom Deeter).
• Gimp - Quickly edit images from Flickr (courtesy Tom Deeter)
• VisualCV - Online social media resume (courtesy Michelle Corsano).

What did we forget?  Comment below...

Related Articles:

• 42+ Social Media and Online Content Marketing Predictions
• 15 Steps to Small Business Business Online Marketing Success
• 10 Content Marketing Tips to Start Now

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Content Marketing for Small Businesses [podcast]

Big thanks to my good friend Susan Friedmann, CSP for having me as a guest on her radio talk show, Riches in Niches, this week. As you'll hear, Susan is a real pro and we had a great time chatting about the subject of attracting and retaining customers with content marketing.

Susan's radio audience is mostly small business marketers, so we talked specifically about what small, smart companies can do to become trusted advisers for their customers (and turn prospects into buyers).

In part one of the broadcast [12 minutes], we covered:

• What exactly is content marketing?
• What types of content can be effective as part of a content marketing strategy?
• Why delivering valuable information to your customers is a key to driving your business?
• What happens if you are not a writer?  Can you still be a content marketer?
• Why has marketing changed so much in the past few years?
• What does it mean to put on a publisher's hat?
• Why strategy rules?
• What does it mean to set up listening posts?

In part two of the broadcast [10 minutes], we covered:

• Why consistent communication is the key?
• Start simple.
• How often should you update your website?
• How to package your information that will position you as an industry expert?
• Setting up the content calendar.
• Biggest mistakes small businesses make with content.
• Resisting the urge to "sell" too much in your content.
• Don't wait for perfection.  It will never come.

Big thanks again to Susan and the folks at WS Radio for putting this together.  I hope you enjoy it!

Related Articles:

• 15 Steps to Small Business Business Online Marketing Success
• 10 Content Marketing Tips to Start Now
• Opportunity Abounds for Small Business
• The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Plan

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Letting Your Customers Tell Your Story - Nxtbook Map

When possible, showing how your customers use your product is always the best option. It's also challenging.

Digital publishing provider Nxtbook Media found a way to do just that - with a little help from Zappos.

Showing that customers read digital magazines is not easy. You can't take a picture of them (yet). Sure, you have a lot of great statistics, but it's tough to bring those statistics to life.

Enter Nxtbook Map. Nxtbook Map shows in real-time around the world who's reading a Nxtbook digital magazine. According to Nxtbook's marketing guru Marcus Grimm (@marcusgrimm), someone opens a Nxtbook every two seconds. With Nxtbook Map, you can see this in real time. Truly powerful stuff.

And for the Zappos connection. The idea for Nxtbook Map was taken from Zappos' Map, where you can see people are buying shoes from Zappos in real-time around the United States. 

So often we focus on creating content that doesn't already exist. While that's important, we also need to look at leveraging the content we already have.

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Kodak: Why Content Strategy Is the Key to Marketing

I had the pleasure of meeting Tom Hoehn from Kodak at Online Marketing Summit - DC last week.  Tom has a really cool job at Kodak, where he is director of brand communications and convergence media.

After my presentation on the Keys to Social Media, Tom and I got to chatting and we realized that we focus on many of the same things, the most important being the creation and distribution of valuable, relevant and compelling content as a core part of marketing. Tom was nice enough to participate in this Q&A about Kodak's content strategy.  There's some gold nuggets in here...enjoy! Thanks Tom!

Joe: Does Kodak have a content strategy that's a part of their overall marketing strategy?  If so, how do you integrate it into the plans?

Tom: Yes, our content strategy is two pronged. First, we focus on content creation that showcases our products in use. We have a long history of doing this. Our Tips and Projects Center is the best example.
It is chock full of examples, projects, tips, and inspirational photo essays. The second part of this strategy is about distribution. We use the content in a number of different permutations and distribute through our various channels based on seasonality, promotions, etc. Channels include our website, blogs, partners sites, social media, e-mail tips, etc. You can see our social media presence at http://www.kodak.com/go/followus.

Joe: When you hear the phrase "content marketing", does it mean anything to you?

Tom: It means everything to me! Seriously, we love how people use the products we make to tell the stories of their lives. It is great to work in a category that enables people's self expression. Giving voice to those stories and inspiring others is what it is all about.

Joe: What does Kodak call the process of delivering consistent, educational and entertaining information to customers?

Tom: Our job.  It is an expectation of our customers that we walk the walk and talk the talk and have quality content. We make sure that we leverage Kodak's businesses and sponsorship for content at every turn. It is in our DNA.

Some examples include:

• Doing red carpet interviews along side other media outlets during the recent Celebrity Apprentice finale that included Kodak
• Activating on numerous fronts during last summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.
• Showcasing our presence in golf with the start of the Kodak Challenge, which includes a fantasy game that will launch next week.
• Making your Inauguration moment more memorable by combining professional content with personal content.
• Featuring beautiful images on our homepage. Each week we connect the photos to a blog post that contains information about them. This week we are featuring photos in conjunction with the Cannes Film Festival. When we are not featuring photos from events or special occasions we use photos submitted by our visitors. Take a look at the previous selections at the blog posts dedicated to these stunning homepage photos.

So there you have it, we are nuts about content! ;-)

Joe: How do you take customer education to the next level to drive increased loyalty and sales?

Tom: The next level? In my mind it isn't always about what we think people want to learn. Amplifying the voice of the millions of people who take pictures, do cool things with them, and share with others is the big opportunity for us. People take 70 million pictures every day with Kodak cameras. Yes, you read that right. Don't you think that is quite an incredible wealth of source material that can be tapped?

Joe: Kodak has been in the middle of social media for a while now.  What's worked really well?  What are you no so sure about?  What hasn't worked?

Tom: Our blogs, starting with A Thousand Words, have been active since September 2006. That is ancient history in the social media space - in terms of large companies blogging it is positively prehistoric! The stories and photos we have shared from everyday Kodak people have been acclaimed by many. We get kudos for recognizing the space and how to use it. We are adding value to the conversations that are occurring. We are not shoving marketing messages at people. That doesn't work and we knew that from the outset.

Our distributed publishing model has worked really well for us. We decided not to have a few dedicated Kodak rockstar bloggers and opted to have many employees contribute. It helps to spread the work. I am happy to say we have published every business day since our launch - that is no small feat. A wise person by the name of Joe Pulizzi ;-) mentioned that "Frequency" is an important aspect of blogging. It looks like we embraced that from the get go. Every post contains a few photos (of course), most have more. One post I did actually had over 200 clickable thumbnails (but that is a story for another day).

A benefit we saw that was unexpected was the employee pride in contribution. They loved the fact that anyone could contribute their stories and were proud to share with family, friends, and their networks. 

Joe: How is Kodak promoting the use of social media within the company?  Do you have set guidelines?

Tom: We have a simple social media policy that was crafted with input from marketing, legal, our IT group, and corporate security. It contains very sound and practical advice and isn't overly restrictive. We promote the use of social media channels to product marketing groups and adoption rates vary. I find that people are eager to learn and we are happy to share our experiences.

Joe: What's the next great frontier regarding online content? (is there one?)

Tom: It is the power of you. Instead of everyone being famous for 15 minutes perhaps we will be famous to 15 people. Telling your story requires content. Text, photos (yes!), videos (naturally!). What stories are you telling to your network?

Joe: How about print?  Do you do any print magazines/newsletters for BtoC or BtoB?  Wondering what your take is on the distribution of print content?

Tom: Yes, we do print and make products that support print. Did you know Kodak has commercial businesses that are in the printing and packaging industries? It is a multi-billion dollar per year category for us. That being said, we use print for B2B publications for our Entertainment Imaging (motion picture)
and Graphic Communications (printing) businesses. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that print also extends to personal needs. Are your precious memories locked on a hard drive somewhere? I hope not!

I hope you found this Q&A helpful.Thanks Joe for inviting me.
Leave a comment I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks, tom @tomhoehn on Twitter

Relevant Articles:

• 10 Content Marketing Tips to Start Now
• Six Content Strategies for Keeping Content Fresh
• Five Content Marketing Ideas that will Pay Dividends

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Prepare the Way: We will all be media companies

Sat in on a great panel yesterday with Amanda Watlington (Searching for Profit), Christina Howe (Avid) and Rebecca Lieb (eConsultancy) discussing what the world's leading brands are doing.

The discussion was all about content (loved it!).

One attendee asked this question to the panel. "Right now social media is hot, but what is the next big thing we should keep our eyes on?"

I was the first to answer, and this immediately came to mind, and it will happen (is happening).

Over the next few years (not sure exactly when), we won't be able to tell the difference between media companies (publishers) and companies that off non-informational products and services.

Look at it this way. Advertising and traditional marketing is becoming less and less effective. Engagement is fostered today by delivering consistent, relevant, compelling content to our customers (like P&G) - or - showing them a good time (like Blendtec) [for more on that, check out this custom content post about UPS]. That content creation is the fodder for getting involved in the online conversation and positioning your brand as a trusted solutions provider.

At the same time, media companies that have developed great brands and loyal audiences around delivering content are having trouble selling advertising. They all know that traditional advertising (even online display in some cases) is not going to bounce back. So, they are looking at developing products their readers can buy like data products, online software tools (i.e., Smartools from MarketingProfs), and actual manufactured products ala what Martha Stewart has done.

Whether you are a brand that offers products and services or a brand that offers information as the product, this completely changes your business model.

This is coming, and soon.  Actually, it may even be here but we haven't noticed yet.

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Five Content Marketing Ideas that Will Pay Dividends

Really cool eBook by Amplifier Content Marketing (full disclosure: Amplifier is a client of mine) called "Five Music Marketing Ideas that Could Pay Dividends Now".

Truthfully, the five ideas in this eBook could be applied to any industry, not just music.  Also includes some amazing examples and case studies.

Five Music Marketing Ideas That Could Pay Dividends Now

View more presentations from Glenn Sabin.

The five ideas to seriously consider now for your brand (according to the eBook) include:

1. The Content Filter - Be the "editor" in a market and present people the best content in that market or that topic. Be the enabler of the information they are looking for.
2. The Microsite - Become the trusted expert on a particular niche topic (on a different URL than your company URL, i.e., Mercedes Benz Online Magazine).
3. The Magalog - Combine that outdated catalog with the compelling content of a magazine and give your customers something to really engage in.
4. The Digital Magazine - Go no further than checking out what KLM is doing with their digital magazine, iFly.
5. The Tweeter - Same concept as the "content filter" or "microsite" model...just distribute the content through Twitter.

Download the full PDF of the eBook here. Thanks to Glenn Sabin from Amplifier for putting this together.

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Three Things Now! - Content Marketing, Listening and Social Media

I gave this presentation last week at the Esource Utility Marketing Conference in Phoenix, AZ.

Three Things NOW! - Content Marketing, Listening and Social Media

View more presentations from Joe Pulizzi.

Here are a couple key takeaways from the presentation above.

We Have Come Full Circle
Centuries ago, the information world as we knew it was shaped by many voices. Thousands of newspapers and pamphlets from across North America was how people become informed through media.

Then came big newspapers, big television, big radio.  We went from many voices to few voices.

Today, there are more voices than ever before (we have come full circle and are back to the beginning).

What that means as marketers is that we need to adjust where we place our attention and budget. 70% of marketing dollars still goes toward "bigger, placed media". Knowing how media has changed, does this still make sense? Probably not.

Marketing Today is Publishing
For our marketing to succeed, we, as marketers, need to understand what successful publishing is. The majority of our marketing spend needs to be dedicated to the creation of consistent valuable and relevant information to our customer segments.

But even that's not good enough? We need to develop this information in ways that can easily be spread.

I've never had anyone send me a print ad, or forward me an online display advertisement. But I've had many forward an interesting article, video, or piece of branded software.

If your content is something that your customers are willing to share, you've unlocked the secret of engagement.

Be the Trusted Expert in "Something"
Being a provider of some product or service is not good enough today. You need to be the trusted expert of something. Figuring out what that "something" is for your customers will ensure that you actually have long-lasting relationships with your customers.

Social Media Should Be about Listening FIRST
If you aren't using social media tools such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook to listen, forget about distribution. Never has there been greater opportunity to talk one-on-one with your customers. Don't screw that up by shoving content down their throats before you really understand what their pain points are.

My Four Rules to Twitter

1. Never answer the question "What are you Doing?" Who cares? No one.  Focus on what your customers' informational needs are. Answer that.
2. Assign Ownership. Make someone responsible. This should be someone's job.
3. Be Democratic. Don't be so presumptuous to think that only your organization creates and distributes great content. Nothing will make you the trusted expert faster than to distribute the best content from anywhere you can find it...even from your competitor.
4. Be Human. People do business with people today, not companies. With Twitter, there is no other option.

Content and Social Media - Follow These Steps!

1. Understand who your customer is and where the pain points are.
2. Develop consistent, relevant content in multiple channels.
3. Let go of all control. Let your idea spread.
4. People share your ideas, link to your content.
5. Content is found through social media and search engines.
6. Customers start relying on you for your expertise (relationship!)
7. You are the trusted solutions provider in your industry.

Thanks to the great folks at Esource for putting together an unforgettable event.

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