Junta42 Content Marketing blog

In-source or Outsource Content Marketing?

The answer is...Yes.

According to a soon-to-be-released research report from MarketingProfs/Junta42, 55% of b-to-b marketers outsource some portion of their content marketing. Larger companies (1,000 employees or more) are 60% more likely to outsource than micro-companies (less than 10 employees).

Makes sense, right?  Smaller companies with smaller budgets doing more with less resources.

It may make sense, but business-wise, it's not smart.

In my opinion, 100% of companies should be outsourcing at least part of their content marketing. Don't get me wrong...it's natural to want to do everything ourselves.

But get this...if we really want to position ourselves as the leading experts in our industry, we must outsource portions of our content marketing.  Why?

Brian Solis Rocks Latest Junta42 Top Content Marketing Blogs

This is our ninth installment of the Junta42 Top 42 Content Marketing Blogs.  Since our first back in January of 2008, Brian Solis has finished in the Top 10 five times, including a second, fourth and fifth place. This time the popular author, speaker and social media blogger earned a clear first place. Congratulations Brian.

We started with reviewing 81 content marketing related blogs in 2007.  Today's Top 42 contains nearly 400 blogs. For those interested, here's how we judge the Top 42. Special thanks to our lead researcher, Janet Robbins, who goes through each one of these blogs individually every quarter.

Content Marketing is like Social Work 101 [guest post]

The following is a guest post from Pam Kozelka, Junta42's Director of Operations.

My background is in social work.  I know that makes absolutely no sense, but as I got older and had kids I realized it wasn’t for me anymore (at least full time).  So now I dig content marketing and social media.  

I just read a post from MediaPost called It's about the Consumer Stupid and it really resonated with me.  Here’s why.  

Lately a lot of the projects we have been getting at Junta42 are what we call content-only projects.  They are successful brands who know that they need good content to demonstrate thought leadership, or maybe to enhance their search engine rankings or social media, but these brands are not ready to take the leap to a full content strategy or a full turnkey project. 

It's the "time to go get the content" strategy.  That means someone realized at the 11th hour that content was needed, but it wasn't part of the plan in the first place.

Why are we getting all these content-only projects? It's not because these brands have in-depth content marketing plans and strategies and only need content.  Most of the marketers we talked to don't. The answer is Social Work 101.  

Smaller Companies Spend More on Content Marketing

Only a few weeks left until we release our findings from the 2010 B2B Content Marketing Study from Junta42 and MarketingProfs with assistance from the Business Marketing Association and American Business Media.

One thing that caught our attention was the difference in content marketing spending and tactics between small companies and larger business-to-business companies.

A few key highlights:

• Small companies (those with less than 10 employees) blog more than large companies (over 1000 employees) at nearly double the rate (64% to 39%).
• Small companies have been faster to adopt social media and eBooks.
• The average B2B company spends 26% of their budget on content marketing.  Small companies spend 34% of budget while large companies spend 21%.

But one thing did ring consistent within all company sizes and sectors...over 50% of B2B marketers are increasing their spend in content marketing for 2011.  Of the more than 1100 B2B marketers we surveyed, only 2% were going to decrease their content marketing spending.

Not too shabby.

When the final report is complete, you'll hear about it right here.  Thanks for your patience.

Say it ain't so! Advertising and Content Marketing Work Together

We received an unbelievable reaction to my post last week on why print will be making a comeback in 2011. The overall point was this: Print is still an incredibly important part of the marketing mix, even though it may have fallen outside of the spotlight for the past few years. (If you get a chance, take a stroll through the comments of the post.)

Joe Pramberger from NASA Tech Briefs was nice enough to point out some findings about how important the integration of advertising and content marketing are (findings in association with Lion Associates).

Here are some of the major findings in their 2010 reader survey.

After reading an article in the magazine or viewing an ad in the magazine...

• 75% visited the company's website
• 66% went to a search engine for more information

This means that the print communications, without a heavy dose of great content on the website and readily available in search engines, isn't going to be nearly as effective. The print and online content must work together. 

The search engines point is critical. If someone is going to a search engine after engaging in a print piece, they are most likely going to learn more information. That information could come from the company featured in the print, or it could come from the competition.  The point may be this: the best most findable online content may just win the buying recommendation.

And get this: when buyers go to the web (according to the survey), they are 77% more likely to click on a search engine or online directory result if they've seen that company in an ad. Publishers have been pushing this data for years, which they should. 

Advertising and content marketing can't live separately.  Heck, they share the bedroom!

I'll end with this...over the summer, a publisher came up to me with a copy of my book and asked why I hate advertising so much. To that I said this:

Targeted advertising can still be incredibly effective, but without an integrated content marketing strategy, it's a waste of money. Most people who see an ad and take action go online looking for content, for more information. So my point is this...get your content marketing house in order, and then unleash your advertising.

There are two types of marketers: Content marketers and everyone else

I spent my lunch hour today enjoying this video from Jason Calacanis about entrepreneurship. Toward the beginning of the video, Jason makes this comment:

There are two types of people: Entrepreneurs and everyone else.

Jason then goes on to talk about how entrepreneurs are Samurai's and that people who work for other people without aspirations are like rice pickers. They settle. Tell us how you really feel Jason!

For whatever you think about Jason's comments, he is trying to make the point that the two groups, in general, have significantly different attitudes about what's possible.

Higher Purpose Content Marketing [the video]

The video presentations from Web Content 2010 are now available. Honestly, these videos are some of the best web content strategy thinking you'll find out there.

My presentation was a more light-hearted compared to most on something I've been calling Higher Purpose Content Marketing.

Basically, the six steps to higher purpose content marketing include:

How Much Should Brands Pay for Content Marketing?

This cost of content marketing post was inspired by Kate Headen Waddell's post entitled Pay Peanuts Get Monkeys.

At least one time per day, every day for three years, someone emails us at Junta42 or submits a project looking for a content vendor wondering how much content marketing (both print and web content) should cost them.  And who wouldn't want to know? 

Before now, we've never put all our thoughts and answers together into one post, but here it is, quite lengthy, but important enough to discuss in detail.

The Short Answer

Question: How much should I pay for my content?

Answer: It depends.

Unfortunately, it always depends, but there are ways to determine a fair price for content.

Sales Is the Reason Your Content Exists - Content Marketing ROI

Before I launched my business, I read the Bootstrapper's Bible by Seth Godin.  It was and is invaluable.

Every year or so, I dig it out of the file folders and re-read it.  I always find something new...something I didn't realize the last time through.

But every time, this is the statement that resonates the most.

Sales is the reason for your business to exist.

Nothing more true can be said about running a business.  With sales, all things are possible.

Don and Heidi Shultz, in their book IMC, the Next Generation, state, "For all the complexity of marketing and communication plans, firms want only four outcomes from them." Those outcomes are:

• To acquire new customers
• To retain and maintain present customers
• To retain and grow sales volume or profit from existing customers
• To migrate existing customers through the firm's product or service portfolio

The same thinking needs to be applied to your content marketing.

No marketer should be developing new content or curating content unless:

1. The content drives direct sales of a new customer (customer acquisition). 
2. The content leads a current customer to an additional sale (cross selling).
3. The content attracts someone that looks like a customer (lead generation).
4. The content ultimately helps lead to a sale (lead nurturing).
5. The content keeps sales in the house (customer retention and loyalty).

This is the very essence of content marketing.  In the formal definition of content marketing, the ultimate objective of content marketing is driving profitable action. That's content marketing ROI.

Do yourself a favor with these two actions:

1. If your content is not doing the above, stop doing it.
2. If you are not sure if it is or not, invest enough to find out.

Marketers Act Like Publishers, with One Exception

Jeremy Victor just published two excellent articles on how to think and act like a publisher (part 1 and part 2). 

It's strange, all this talk about being a publisher today. Who would want to be a publisher today?  I've seen many of my friends, both executives and support staff, lose their jobs in publishing over the past three years.

So why all this talk about thinking and acting like a publisher?

Believe it or not, people are consuming more information than ever before. Even as newspaper print circulation declines, more people are reading the news today. When cutbacks were made at any one of the magazines where my friends were downsized, in almost every case, readership and engagement was at an all time high.

Engagement has never been a problem for publishers.  Today's issue for publishers is monetizing the content.

As a marketer, you don't have that problem. There is one clear exception between marketers and publishers.  Marketers monetize their content by selling products and services, while publishers sell advertising or subscriptions.

NOTE: Have you noticed the number of publishers that are creating products and services.

As a marketer, you need to prepare for the following:

• Your marketing department is transforming into a publishing department. Just look at the activities performed by a marketer today (blogs, podcasts, videos, newsletters, webcasts and more).  Lots of publishing going on.
• In the recent past, good content was enough to deliver on your marketing objectives.  The bar is rising fast.  Marketers who were early to the content marketing game only had to compete with publishers in their industry.  Today, we are competing with everyone.  Today, we need to own our content category.
• Start understanding content curation.  Our roles as publishers is not just to create content, but to position ourselves as the experts by being filters for our customers.  Get used to hearing about content curation over the next many years.

Still need some more motivation?  Check out this one minute clip on becoming a publisher.