Junta42 blog

10 Content Marketing Tips to Start Now for 2009

One of the reasons I love my job is the different kinds of people I have the opportunity to interact with. Over the past year, I've met with entrepreneurs, thought leaders, agency executives, top marketers, social media gurus, publishing veterans, authors and others - all with particular insights and challenges about how to sell more, do more and be more.

If 2008 was the year social media went mainstream, 2009 should be the year of content marketing, the corporation as media company, the brand as publisher and broadcaster. Why? Because everyone of those incredibly intelligent people I met with, in some way or another, told me that the difference for brands who make it versus those that don't will be relevance. How can we, as brands, be relevant to our customers? How can we create and develop real relationships with them? How do we engage?

As my friend and colleague Kirk Cheyfitz has said over and over - brands can do only two things to create the goal of 100% engagement - we can inform our customers - or give them a good time.

To help, I've put together 10 tactics that I believe you need to seriously consider NOW as part of your 2009 content plan (not in any particular order).

1. Tell the Story Differently through Different Media - It's frustrating to watch the sheer number of marketers tell a great story, but repurpose that story the same way in all their media. Ian Alexander over at Eat Media constantly harps (and rightfully so) on the concept that the story you tell in print versus mobile versus website versus video must be told in a very different manner. Seems obvious, but it's not done. Most commonly, this mistake is made from taking a print custom program and just putting it online. Do you engage with content in the same way in print as you do the web? Most likely, you don't. Do not expect more of your customers than yourself.
2. Raid Traditional Media Outlets - As traditional media continues to lay off the best journalists in the world and layoffs and bankruptcies abound, your opportunity to acquire talent has never been greater. Of course, I'm biased a bit that I believe most marketers should outsource their content and find great providers through our service, but this opportunity is too good to be true. First, the talent is available now. Second, expert journalists are very open to working with corporations today. Third, you need great content to survive as a marketer. To do this, you need talent that understands how to tell a story. Go get that talent today while there is still time (and before they all start up their own content marketing businesses).
3. Why Partner with Media Companies, Just Buy Them - Granted, this is for the larger marketers among us, but a great strategy nonetheless. Paul Conley just posted an excellent read on the shape of the media industry, and his #1 prediction was that content marketers may start to buy b-to-b media companies. I've agreed with this strategy ever since I was at Penton (when I thought Penton should be purchased by eBay Business - and still think it's a great idea for both). Remember, a media company is all about connecting buyers and sellers. Corporations need to do that as well, they only want to limit the number of sellers (to one).
4. Time to Start Using Twitter - I will agree with you...I thought Twitter was stupid when I first tried it. Now, it is an indispensable tool, where I've increased my network, formed partnerships, and led to new business opportunities. To understand the true power you need to use a tool like TweetDeck, which is the ultimately reputation management tool if you can't afford a real reputation management tool. Check out this article by Ann Smarty on using Twitter for Business, as well as Shama Hyder's 101 Ways to Rock Twitter. And finally, if you are distributing relevant content, try sending your RSS feeds through Twitter by using TwitterFeed.
5. Get Serious about a Content Audit - In all honesty, this is a huge task and very challenging to look for all the pieces of content in an organization from the inside.  If you are serious about performing a content audit, look to an outside expert to execute it.  For example, they will look at all your forms of communication and the information you are sending out in order to make recommendations on how to create and fine tune a consistent and relevant message to your customers and prospects.  This includes all the content you have on the web and what's circulating around your company.  Just think about your website…is it consistent?  Does it communicate your vision? If you are serious, we have a number of providers in the Junta42 Match system.
   
   The results of the content audit will help define the purpose, context, types, topics, voice and style for your content marketing plan.  With this information, you’ll have a good handle on where you are currently, and where you need to be in relation to your customers. Hat's off to Kristina Halvorson at Brain Traffic for showing me the light on content strategy.
6. No Reputation Management System? - Work on Your Google Alerts: Of all the listening tools out there, Google Alerts is probably the one I use the most (even more than Twitter).  The way Google Alerts works is that I can monitor keywords and brand names, and whenever anyone mentions them on the Internet, I’ll get a notification.  As a rule, when anyone blogs about me, my company, or my book, I want to know about it and comment to them.  Google Alerts helps me find most of this.
   
   But where this is really of value is to find out what people are saying around they topics that are important to you and your customers.  For example, by monitoring the term “content marketing” over the past couple years, I’ve really gained insight into how the definition has broadened and how more people are using the term in general. It also introduced me to thought leaders like Chris Brogan, who regularly posts and advocates the use of content marketing.
   
   We can help shape the conversation through our own content because we know what’s being talked about on other sites.
   
   So, how do you do it?  Google Alerts is a free tool.  The first thing you need to do is create a Gmail (or Google mail account), which is also free.  Once you have a Gmail account, just type in your keywords into Alerts and set your notifications. To use exact phrases (recommended), try using parentheses like so - "content marketing".
7. Assign a Chief Conversation Officer - Whatever you call it, make sure someone is in charge of listening to customer conversations through blogs, Google Alerts, and Twitter.  Have that person be the personality for your brand.  Customers want to talk to other people, so it’s very important that you put a human face on this.
   
   Remember, a successful content marketing strategy is dependent on how well you know the customer's informational needs. Listening is required.
   
   Here’s an example why you need ownership.  Type in "Kodak" into Twitter Search and you'll find that there are hundreds of people just in the last day that are talking about Kodak in one way or another.  This takes someone’s full time attention to monitor what customers and prospects are saying (which is why Kodak has Jennifer Cisney @KodakCB as their Chief Blogger).  If done right, and with transparency and honesty, there may not be a better way to gain loyal customers than to interact with them in a personal way through social media.  So, I encourage you to take a very serious look at assigning an owner to your social conversation management.
8. Are you BtoB? If so, choose to "Be the Media": Heck, BtoC can do this as well (it's just more challenging). Most brands don’t look at themselves as publishers or media companies right now.  This is starting to change.  Over the next five to ten years, content marketing – or whatever the phrase is – will be the engine behind most of the marketing that happens around the globe.  That’s because buying behavior has changed, and will never go back to the days of mass marketing.  I believe the early movers in providing best of breed industry and educational content will have a clear advantage and be able to position themselves as trusted content providers – which in the long run – will position them for sales and profit growth.  It’s not easy, and right now it takes work to measure, but, as Seth Godin has said, Content Marketing is the only marketing left.
   
   Point is, don't wait for your industry's trade publication or online resource to cover an important topic - important to you and your customers. Go out and develop that information yourselves. Become the trusted content provider in your industry. Not only a good thing to do for your customers and industry, but believe me, it will be good for your bottom line.
9. Find Someone to Be Your Publisher/Media Company - Yes, even though I believe you should grab the journalistic talent when you can, partnering with an organization that focuses on content 24/7 is just a smart move.
   
   You need someone to own your content process.  Select someone to be your turnkey publisher. In my experience, marcom people are not necessarily the most qualified to create story-driven content.  So, if you are serious about growing your business through content marketing, find the expertise now. 
   
   Once you select your publisher or journalist as part of your content team, you should expect them to assist you with the following:
   
   • You can count on this group to help you develop the content plan.  This means that they need to have the best understanding of your customer’s informational needs, and make sure that you have a plan to communicate to each of your customer segments – valuable, relevant and compelling information.  This will involve surveys and discussions with your customers and prospects, and from that you can create a buyer persona for your customer, which is a detailed representation of who your buyer is.
   • Now, Once the content plan is created, you may be asking what types of programs you may need to execute. This will ultimately be dependent on your content plan and the kinds of information that you need them to receive. 
     
     So, you need case studies, interviews with customers about challenges solved. Industry white papers or ebooks that cover a key topic that your customers need to be educated on.  White papers are generally done quarterly by even smaller organizations. For webcasts, you can produce webcasts for resellers, educating them on what’s going on in the industry so they can sell better, or communicate with webcasts/webinars directly to customers.  Key for webcasts is to do it consistently.  Many brands partner with media companies to use webcasts as lead generators.  When done right, there may not be a better lead generator than webcasts.
     
     Believe it or not, custom magazines are still growing, and yes, in print.  Most consumers still enjoy reading print magazines, and even with all the Internet hype, readership in magazines hasn’t gone down.  For distributing in depth information and positioning yourself as a true solutions provider, custom magazines or even online digital magazines are a good choice.  With custom magazines, think retention for your very best customers.
     
     eNewsletters are the most popular content vehicle, and unfortunately most are pretty bad.  You have an opportunity to really position yourself as an expert if you deliver consistently valuable content instead of news release/press release type information. I've always loved what the folks at IMN do with their Pro&Content eNewsletter.
     
     And finally, social media community sites/blogs and content-focused microsites are all growing in popularity.  The key to any successful blog or social media site is this: If you can’t handle customer comments that may be negative in nature, don't go in this direction.  Some companies mask the openness of a blog but don’t allow comments.  My question to that is, what’s the point?  Also, the content needs to be good, and it needs to be personal.  Ghost writing a blog is possible but tough…to make this successful you really need a company personality…but your content provider/publisher can help you get the direction right.
     
   
   Those are just a few…remember, every communication challenge is different, and may require a different content initiative - which is why an expert publisher is so important.  Also, for the most part, none of these initiatives work independently.  For example, there is no such thing as just a custom magazine.  There is always an online component, which may be a microsite, additional web content, white papers and more - and in each of those media channels, the story needs to be told differently for maximum engagement.
10. All this is Meaningless Unless You Measure: Yes, content marketing is a good idea for any size company, but without measurement, how do you have any idea what is working? My former boss at Penton Media, Bill Donahue, used to preach to me all the time that "Hope is not a strategy". Even hope, without an idea of a preferred end result, may actually be defined as insanity.
    
    Before you launch any content initiative, create the content strategy around your marketing program, and be very specific with how you will measure success. Use numbers whenever you can to quantify your plan. Then, have your management buy off on those numbers to support your content plan. Although we finish with this strategy as our last, it probably should be the first. Successful content marketing plans need at least six months just to get any traction at all - so plan for a minimum of 12 to 18 months and continually modify your plan as you gain customer intelligence.

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Traditional Media Bad, Custom Content Good

Anyone in marketing must be sick of hearing about how bad it's getting with in the media world. Brands across the board are slashing their media spend, at least according to a recent Reuters' article.

In the article, the prediction is made that 2009 could be as bad, or possibly even worse than in 2008 for traditional media spending. In general, we are most likely looking at flat spending for 2009.

Traditional media is not dead by any means. Leading brands spent good investment on the Olympics, and the political race is always a boon for traditional media in the form of TV, radio, print and online display. At the ABM/FIPP Business Media conference, in-person events are continuing overall growth, and innovative companies like Google are still looking to break into the traditional radio and print space. So, if Google is interested in it, that's where the money is.

That said, the trends are flat to down for traditional media.  They have been, and continue to be, and we see stories like the one from Reuters and others talking about the death of media.

The Problem Is Not Media
This is important.  Nothing is broken about media itself.  Consumers have more media choices than ever before. They can also turn on or off most online advertising by opting in or out of particular messaging.

Just this morning I started the day with the print newspaper, caught a bit of news on CNBC, checked the news highlights and RSS feeds on Yahoo!.com, and caught a few industry articles on the web.  Getting information is easier and more effective than ever.

That's it.  It's key is information.  Wow, we've hit on it.

Information is what people want, not advertising.  They want to be educated and entertained by really good stories. Just this week Story Worldwide CEO Kirk Cheyfitz said that there are only two ways that customer communication works - to give customers relevant content or to give them a good time. It's that simple. Those two things create brand engagement.

Now look at traditional advertising.  It's very hard to deliver relevant and compelling content or give customers a good time by renting space with a media company.  It's hard to create true engagement. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Limited Space - Whether it's a 30 second spot, an online display ad, radio commercial or print advertisement, there is simply just not enough time or space to tell a story that engages. Plus, you have to share it with many others who want to sell, sell, sell.

2. Rent Not Own - With traditional media, you are renting a tiny portion of space from another company to pitch your product or service. You don't own much besides your own creative, and once the ad program is done...poof, all gone.  There is no substaining life beyond the program in most cases.

3. Inefficient - Even as traditional media gets better at targeting, it's still lacks the effeciency of targeted customer programs. Whether you admit it or not, much of the message goes unnoticed or ignored by prospects and non-prospects alike.

There are many more reasons, but you get the point. If the goal is engagement, and you get engagement by telling stories, traditional media is a dead end. Brands need have conversations with customers, to help shape conversations in an educational or fun manner. Traditional media makes that difficult, if not impossible in most scenarios.

Custom Content Rolls
Yes, traditional media is not coming back - ever. There are too many choices for both brands and customers today - and too many more effective choices.

At the same time we talk about the "flatness" of traditional media, custom content continues to grow. According to Veronis Suhler Stevenson, the industry is now growing faster than any other category except for word-of-mouth. The money that once went to traditional forms of media, is now being invested in targeted, relevant and compelling information to customers. The money is not going way. It's being reinvested.

So don't be sad. It's just like when someone reallocates their 401k investments. We used to be overweight in traditional, underweight in content. The process is underway to reverse that trend.

So, if you are a financial adviser to the brands, traditional media would be a bad investment right now, while custom content would be good. Where do you think you'll get the best return?

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Attract and Retain Customers with Content NOW - A Complimentary White Paper

Today’s Internet-savvy buyers are hungry for content. And not just any content...valuable, relevant content that offers solutions to their problems and helps them lead successful, productive, enjoyable jobs and lives. However, they are also inundated by thousands of marketing messages every day, most of which they ignore. To get through, you need to communicate differently—you need to do more than just sell products and services. You need to provide information. Smart marketers know this and are creating strong brand relationships by providing good, authoritative, even leadership-type content.

For that very reason, Junta42 is offering this complimentary white paper entitled, "How to Attract and Retain Customers with Content NOW."

The majority of companies are set up to sell products and services, not to create valuable, relevant and compelling content on a consistent basis. To deliver content that has a chance to create long-term relationships with customers and prospects, businesses need to develop a new content mindset.  This free white paper will help you get there.

Here are just a few of the content marketing issues that are covered in this white paper:

• Content marketing defined
• Why companies have to "Be the Media"
• Six reasons why you need to begin today
• How to develop a content strategy
• Putting the plan in motion
• How to measure your success
• Content + Marketing = Customers

We also include a few case studies from leading brands that are making it work today.

If you are signed in as a Junta42 member, you'll go straight to the white paper.  If not, your name and email address will direct you to the white paper download.

Download your complimentary white paper now! For all you media types and publishers out there, make sure you check out the sister-white paper to this document - "The New Rules of Custom Publishing: Nine Strategies to Create a World-Class Content Marketing Organization." Enjoy.

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The Genius of Joel Osteen, Content Marketing Expert

Joel Osteen is one of the most popular ministers in the world. I'm sure you've seen his 30 minute sermons somewhere on Sunday television. If not, maybe you've caught his best-selling book in the book store. Whatever the case, Joel Osteen Ministries from Lakewood, Texas has become one of the most influential groups in American when it comes to spiritual development.

For the moment, I'm asking all of you to put your religious preferences aside. This example of Joel Osteen focuses specifically on what we can learn from Joel Osteen, the content marketing machine. For this post, consider Joel Osteen Ministries the business, and Joel Osteen the CEO.

According to their Web site, Osteen preaches weekly to over 38,000 (in person) and has been noted by Forbes for having one of the fastest-growing and most diverse congregations in the country. Over the past few years, Osteen has used a multi-platform content marketing effort to not only drive his local business, but his national and international business.

Note: The Importance of the Marketing Database
If you look at the Web site, you'll notice how many "gifts" are offered for free.  All a user needs to do is give over their name and email address. This brilliant marketing strategy is used by some of the best marketers in the world - because it works. Joel's most important asset is his database. Through his database he drives his business. Without a name and contact point, Joel can't do much. With a name, he can spread his word through multiple communication efforts.

• Free Giveaway - By just signing up with your name and email, you will receive "30 Thoughts for Victorious Living" for free. Just as a traditional business gives away a white paper, eBook or free seminar, Joel gives away this mini-booklet. Once you subscribe you begin to receive Joel's email updates.
• "Today's Word" Email Newsletter: As you sign-up for the free giveaway, you receive a daily email (shown here) complete with a scripture passage (repurposed content) and a motivational passage from Joel and his wife Victoria.
  
  
  
• Weekly Video Emails: In addition to "Today's Word" you can receive Joel's "Live Like a Champion" email that includes a web video presentation clip of one of Joel's sermons. Again, Joel uses already-created content, puts a different spin on it, and delivers it to customers.
• Online Video: Customers can watch Joel through streaming video anytime by signing up or logging in.
• Podcasts: Same as above...if buyers want to listen instead of watch, they can download and receive regular podcasts, much of which are repurposed from sermons.
• In-Person Events: Joel and his ministry team travels around the country promoting their message. His events are often sell-outs, and tickets are sometimes harder to come by than a Yankees-Indians series ticket.
• Print Books: Joel cranks out a number of books, including best seller "Your Best Life Now" and soon to be best seller "Become a Better You." Joel also focuses on smaller, niche titles that go deeper into targeting the marketing database.
• Prayer Requests: If a customer wants prayer support, they can type the request into Joel. By doing so, Joel gets prospect information for the database.
• Weekly Television Sermons: Joel promotes all the above content marketing/custom publishing initiatives through half-hour sermons on cable television. Throughout the telecast, Joel promotes the in-person events, books, podcasts, emails and more. So, while you are watching his "great content", you get the opportunity to go to the Web site for more great content. During the entire sermon, joelosteen.com is in clear view.

Putting It All Together
Joel hasn't become one of the most popular evangelists in the world through print advertising, radio spots or television commercials. He has done so through the effective use of multi-platform targeted content.

• Joel effectively integrates his content through multiple channels (print, online, in-person) to meet his target buyer where they are at. Each customer has different preferences, and Joel recognizes that.
• Joe mixes tastes of traditional media (cable broadcasts, print books) with non-traditional media (streaming video, podcasts, targeted roadshows) to create the highest amount of publicity and word-of-mouth buzz. Even though I'm sure Mr. Olsteen recouped profits from the book, if it was used as simply a loss leader for the other products, it would be an effective tool.
• Database is Key: Joel's database is a key driver for book sales, events and other promotions. He understands that his followers like information in multiple-formats, and he makes all kinds available.
• Repurposed content: Original content is often expensive and time-consuming. Joel's Ministries can take a traditional sermon and create the original product (30 minute cable product) and repurpose those into daily emails, streaming video, podcasts, and content for the book.

The next natural step for Joel would be a blog...but honestly, Joel is already doing a ton to get the word out on his ministries.  It would seem that a blog would really assist the site's search engine optimization efforts. According to Alexa.com, Joel Osteen's site ranks 260,996 with 186 linking in, while his church URL ranks 34,701 (both impressive rankings). That said, a blog would help. Joel would get more love from Alexa if the sites came from the same domain (both sites are essentially the same, but with different domain addresses).

It also looks like Joel does NOT invest in any search engine marketing. With a database as large as he has (estimated in the hundreds of thousands - if not more), he probably doesn't need to.

Whatever you think about Joel Osteen, and judging from the blogosphere there are many who do not agree with his spiritual tactics, you can't deny that Joel Osteen is perhaps the greatest marketing minister in the world.

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Related Articles:

• Microsite Scorecard - See How the Microsites Stack Up
• Key Questions When Launching a Content Marketing Initiative
• Why Most Custom Publications Aren't Measured
• Content is King, But What Is It Really?
• Stop Shouting Features: 5 Tips To Create a Knowledge Marketing Program
• 4 Content Marketing Essentials for Every Business

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Trade Publishing's Dirty Little Secret

I've been focusing a lot lately on the rise of corporate media. I've received more than a few notes and emails that I'm flat out nuts about this notion, and a few that agree with me. For perspective, check out Are Corporations The New Kings of Content?

One of the underlying principles behind the growth of corporate content marketing is the diminishing role of the trade publication. My third point in this post on corporate content reviews the financial dissimilarities between corporate spending and the investment of traditional media.

"It is corporations, and not the traditional press, that have the financial resources to go out and create the best content."

In the "Corporate Kings" article, we review that:

"Corporations often have bigger budgets and more resources to find and pay for the best research and content in the markets they serve. Unfortunately, too many media companies have been cutting both research and editorial budgets at the same time. The quality of corporate publications today are excellent and ever-improving. At some point, their quality will surpass independently-produced publications."

A "Per Word" Comparison

Let's just look for a second at what trade publications spend on outside editorial versus what corporations spend. This forum post reveals that trade publications tend to pay $0.50-$0.75/word for writing services. I know one that pays $0.30/word. At the same time, good writers can get $1.00/word and upwards of $2.00/word for writing on corporately-funded projects. Even when writers work directly with a custom publisher, $1.00-$1.25/word is commonplace. It's easy to see where the quality talent (and therefore product) is going.

Dirty Secret?

I had an interesting conversation with a former trade magazine editor who has recently moved onto other opportunities. He confirmed the information above and went on to state that,

"With all of the competition for time/attention, it's suicidal for trade publishers to reduce the quality of their core print product. They [trade publishers] say it's just as good as it ever was, and while it's difficult/impossible to measure the quality of the output (which is part of the problem), no one can argue that there are less editorial resources being invested on the input side (fewer people), and those resources are being spread more thinly across print, online, and events. This logically translates into lower print quality."

Is this trade publishing's dirty little secret? I'm not sure how much of a secret this is, but I do know how much more challenging it has become for advertising reps to sell the "quality of editorial" as a reason to purchase an ad.

There is no question about this though: The majority of trade publications have seen a "steep" decline in resources as a combination of cutbacks and multi-purposing of staff. Have you looked at what a trade magazine editor does today? Writing, editing, designing (in some cases), event management, webcast coordination and speaking, managing freelancers, going on sales calls, blogging and more. All this with less staff than ever before. It would take a thousand miracle-workers across a thousand industries to maintain "leadership-type" quality in those publications. Is it hard to see why many of these editors are leaving for corporate shores?

What Does This Mean for the Corporate Marketer?

For those marketers in corporations, this trend means that it has never been easier to get great editorial and writing talent for your content marketing and custom publishing projects. Frankly, many established editors in industries across the board are looking to jump ship...they just don't see the right opportunity yet.

I had a nice discussion with an expert in eMedia trade publishing today. He is recommending that his clients focus on a true competitive set, which includes, in some cases, their largest customers in each category. This is difficult for publishers to accept. Now they not only have to worry about the number 1, 2 or 3 book in the field, they also have to worry about their (traditionally) best customers. Oh, how times are a changin'.

What this also means for corporate marketers is that trade publications are much more accepting to work on custom publishing projects than ever before. New revenue streams are hard to come by for the trades, and custom publishing/content marketing initiatives are growing at a significant clip. Forming good relationships with your trade publishing counterparts may assist you in your content efforts...that is, if they have enough staff to fully service your project.

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Are Corporations the New Kings of Content?

Here is the original article entitled, "Are Corporations the New Kings of Content?" recently published in Folio magazine. For the edited article in Folio, click here.

There are significant changes underway in the media business. Competition, which has traditionally been fairly straightforward and easy to identify, is now surrounding the playing field.

Of course, the internet is a big factor here, but something more important is going on.  

Magazine brands can no longer look at the other magazines or Web sites in their field as the competition. While most publications still fight it out with their direct competitors, their customers, the very ones they are fighting over, have started to compete with them, and are spending millions of dollars to do it.

That’s right. Corporations are the new content providers, jumping with both feet into the province once deemed the sacred right of publishing houses.

The new marketers call it “content marketing.” Its roots are in the earlier formation of custom publishing and the concepts of branded content.

The transition in the control of editorial content that started over a dozen years ago is gaining momentum and traction with increasing speed. The Custom Publishing Council, Veronis Suhler Stevenson and others put the value of corporate editorial projects somewhere between $28 and $55 billion and growing at 20% plus every year. Those are startling statistics.

The impact of this movement has effectively challenged traditional publishing’s claim of producing the markets “trusted, unbiased, and objective” editorial content. In case you haven’t noticed, corporations have figured out how to do exactly that. They have hired some of the best journalists around, looked for, found and paid for authoritative experts to inform their audiences, set editorial and graphic standards that surpass those of many publications. And, perhaps one of the most critical components, have launched stringent measurement analysis to both determine and improve the content they are sending out.

The challenge for publishers is understanding how to manage this change and become part of the new publishing paradigm.  Here are some of the issues shaping the future of content media:

 

• Change in consumer behavior. Today’s sophisticated, internet-savvy consumer looks for valuable and informative content from any source for making buying or purchasing decisions. This consumer does not care if the content comes from “credible, traditional sources.” A publisher’s traditional advantage as “the authoritative information resource” is sliding down a very steep hill. Media in North America is evolving much like the United Kingdom's, where seven of the top ten newsstand publications are custom publications. 
• Distribution. A key strength of both paid and controlled circulation magazines was in their ability to document and deliver specific demographics on just about any kind of definable market. Technology took that advantage away long ago. Most corporations today have better and more detailed information in their CRM systems than publications do. As they refine databases, the need for the publisher’s names gets marginalized.
• Budgets. Corporations often have bigger budgets and more resources to find and pay for the best research and content in the markets they serve. Unfortunately, too many media companies have been cutting both research and editorial budgets at the same time. The quality of corporate publications today are excellent and ever-improving. At some point, their quality will surpass independently-produced publications.
• The “Anti-Sell”. The more informed the consumer or buyer is, the more difficult it is to sell them. Smart marketers know this and are creating strong brand relationships by providing good, authoritative, even leadership-type content. Media companies are often in reverse, giving in more and more to advertising demands that weaken the editorial product in efforts to maintain ad dollars.
• Technology. Technology is the underpinning of much of this change and is increasing exponentially in ways that make content distribution easy. Corporate marketers are taking advantage of all the technology they can get their hands on.
• Editorial. The key to successful media programs for corporations is great content. Not just any content. Great content. Consumers know the difference between great content and a blatant sales pitch with no inherent value. Corporations address this issue by, in many cases, establishing editorial standards that exceed those of media companies.

 

But all is not lost. Media companies that want to participate in the content marketing revolution have some basic competencies that appeal to corporations that have or are planning to deliver their own content to the marketplace.

The primary difficulty for corporations moving into content is that they lack the built-in proficiencies such as setting editorial and production schedules, and planning and producing a “sustainable editorial product.” They don’t have inherent understanding of the importance and adherence to the production process, blending and coordinating the timelines of writers, graphic artists, editorial advisory boards, approvals, printers. Media companies, if they are good, excel at understanding how to effectively communicate with a marketplace. And they know how to project manage the process that delivers the communication.

Media companies can leverage their basic communication competencies on behalf of their corporate customers. Editorial, research, databases and technology can all be duplicated. Communication experts, who know how to market and manage media projects, are still very hard to find.

Participating in the content marketing marketplace means learning to sell your communication expertise along with the ability to sell advertising.

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It's Gold Rush Time for Corporate Content

Check out this post targeted to custom publishers on the Custom Publishing Council site! Key is, as more and more marketers move into creating their own content, more and more service providers will be offering these services. The differentiator will be great content!

Toyota Connections Hits and Misses the Mark

Toyota Connections is a custom magazine targeted to Toyota owners in the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Professionally executed by Pace Communications in Greensboro, North Carolina, Connections is a beautifully-designed piece with a lot of promise.

Spec Report
- 32 Pages
- 4 Color
- Standard Size
- Summer 2007 Issue
- Frequency - 3x annual

Here's a quick review of the high points, and places where this magazine could take a few steps forward.

Hits
1. Variable/data-driven pages. Page 3 of the magazine includes a personal letter to the car owner offering highlights of the current issue. The personalization gets my attention, and the note is from the dealer who sold the owner their last Toyota. The address of the dealership is on this page as well.

Page 4 includes current events around the reader's area that are within a one-to-two hour drive. Grabs my attention immediately and is a pleasant surprise.

2. Perforated and attached to the cover is a full-service coupon set. Perfect motivation to get the car back in the shop. Some good deals here as well.

3. Articles on "Portable Fitness" (exercising while on the road), "Natural Beauties" (three national parks I can drive my Toyota to) and R&R (recommended music to listen to in my Toyota) are all engaging articles that make me want to get in my Toyota and head for the road.

4. Book contest. Those who return the owner's update card or complete it online can randomly win one of the books in this column.  Good motivator to fill it out. Wish there were more possible winners though.

Misses
1. Two features on Toyota cars is one too many (Highlander and Scion). One is enough.

2. Not sure the fit with some of the editorial. The "Safe at Home" column is good, but I don't see the relation with my Toyota. I was also at a loss with the home decorating feature. These two stories just don't seem to fit in with my Toyota magazine. Would like to see more of a link to my vehicle.

3. Some good call-to-action throughout (contest, links to pertinent Web sites, toyota50th.com commemoration, Sudoku key), but there could be some improvement here.  For example, could we go online to get a couple additional travel workouts?  How about additional imagery and "can't misses" from the national parks article?

Connections does a good job overall of pushing the reader to more, but there could be improvement in integrating the print version with online resources (read on for more, etc.).

The online version contains all the articles, plus some more contest information. But, Toyota misses the mark with the online articles by not having links like "forward to a friend" to get the articles out to other Toyota and non-Toyota owners. Also, other than the articles, there isn't much here. There is an opportunity here to create an online experience for the reader (which may be in the works). Get the reader truly involved in the Toyota lifestyle, don't just give them an online article.

Overall, the magazine is beautiful and professional, but there are clearly some opportunities to take the reader even further into the Toyota brand and experience.

>>If you liked this article, try Junta42 for more.

Corporate Content Will Take Over Media As We Know It

Yesterday I had a nice email exchange with a good friend and colleague regarding the rise and influence of content created by corporations. His belief was that traditional media will continue to be the main informational source for consumers and business professionals.

Specifically, he was responding to my blog post that stated, "The future of content around the globe will rest, not in the hands of the traditional press, but in the hands of businesses."

His statement back to me was that "media consumers are savvy, and are wary of the agendas of the sponsors of content. Traditional media will continue to have an important role as the independent arbiters of relevance, taste, etc."

Where I agree with him is that traditional media will always have a role...a very important one at that. BUT, the majority of the content we consume will NOT come from the traditional, unbiased press.

Here's why:

1. It's getting easier every day to ignore advertising placed along side traditional media. For example, take a read through this article by Greg Verdino on the 30-second spot where he questions a recent Online Publishers Association Study:

"...where's the study that helps marketers, agencies and media companies navigate a path to true innovation in online video? Where are the questions about branded content, the integration of product placements into online video and the use of next-generation video interactivity, including hotspots, overlays and telescoping? Where are the findings that justify the development of new video ad models that don't rely upon intercepting consumers when they just want to watch some content?"

These are the questions the Greg feels need to be answered as the 30-second spot continues to be deleted through TiVo.

Corporations must continue to be part of the content, since, to my friend's point, media consumers are savvy enough to ignore and delete the ads that surround the content they really want. Corporate media innovation is just getting started. Smart corporations will find away to deliver great content that is consumed in mass quantities because, frankly, they won't have any other choice.

Take two other examples. I can read a digital magazine and skip all the ads in it. I can get RSS feeds of my favorite business articles without looking at one ad. Technology will continue to help us ignore traditional advertising...so, what's a business to do?

2. Tomorrow's consumer looks at corporate content and the traditional press differently today than ever before. This article by Martha Spizziri for ASBPE Boston on the reader of tomorrow is eye-opening.

Boston University professor John Carroll discussed the four distinct characteristics of today's students when it comes to media. Of particular interest was #4, "They don't understand the value of a free press," Carroll said. "They don't get the role of a watchdog. They don't trust the press, they don't like the press, and they don't believe the press. ... They don't understand why the First Amendment is important. They don't understand why anyone would go to jail to protect a source."

Carroll goes on to state: "They don't understand that MTV is a series of commercials interrupted by ads. They don't understand that their cell phones are running them, and not vice versa. When you ask them who's going to report on the conditions at Walter Reed Hospital, it doesn't occur to them [to think about that], because they don't know about the Walter Reed story."

This should cause some concern, but if you really digest what he is saying, the future consumers "may" (dare I say) trust corporate content more than the traditional media. It is corporations they relate to with their iPods, Nikes, and Sean John...not the WSJ or Times.

3. It is corporations, and not the traditional press, that have the financial resources to go out and create the best content. Now this is not a certainty, but don't tell me that Google or Microsoft (MSNBC?) couldn't start a media property tomorrow. Frankly, eBay should be buying up industry trade publications left and right (a built-in buyer/seller community).

Over the last decade, I've seen more and more traditional journalists "cross the line" and create content or perform research for corporations. Where in the past this was looked down upon...not anymore. Hey, writing for Microsoft, Cisco or Parker Hannifin looks good on a resume. So not only do corporations have the financial bucks to go out and get the best in research and editorial, the best journalists like it.

In summary, technological advances, consumer behavior and financial resources will culminate and create the "age of corporate media" as the dominant media we consume, day in and day out. Businesses will get better at creating great content, and great content is what consumers want. Consumers ultimately will not care where it comes from or (even worse for traditional-media types) they may actually "prefer" content from corporations.

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>>If you liked this article, try Junta42 for more.

B2B Social Media Site Targets Custom Content Marketers - Junta42 Press Release and Detail

On July 21st, Junta42 launched in preview release (we like preview release better than "beta"). The formal press release will be distributed on July 24th, but I've included detail on the launch here in my blog for colleagues and marketing professionals we are contacting before the 24th. The full and complete press release is just below this post.

Frankly, content marketing is the biggest industry that nobody has ever heard of. Finding case studies and basic information on multi-channel, editorially-based branded content is nothing short of a major challenge (even though, on average, corporations spend more than $1 million per year on content marketing initiatives). Junta42 was created to make it as easy as possible for marketing, association, and publishing professionals to find out what's going on in content marketing (for detail on the definition of content marketing, and its relation to custom publishing or custom media, check out this piece on "The Five Pillars of Content Marketing - The Ultimate Definition.")

The future of content around the globe will rest, not in the hands of the traditional press, but in the hands of businesses (small, medium and large). It's businesses, not the media, that have the financial resources to go out and find the best research and editors to create great content. Plus, businesses are beginning to figure out that the creation of great content is key to lasting customer relationships. To date, we are only seeing a partial picture, but the time is not far away when corporate content will be more dominant than traditional media. Technology is only speeding up this transformation (...and have you looked at corporate databases lately? Quite impressive!) (NOTE: Don't get me wrong, traditional media will always play an important role, but the majority of content that people will consume will not come from traditional sources.)

Our hope at Junta42, and our parent Z Squared Media, LLC, is that Junta42 serves as a tool to help marketers create better content for their internal and external customers. It is also our hope that a community around content marketing will enable better services for marketers to fulfill that goal (custom publishers, agencies, direct marketers, traditional publishers, interactive agencies, etc.).

As of the writing of this blog post, Junta42 has approximately 300 content marketing-related articles tagged and in the database. Our hope is that media professionals, bloggers, and marketers see the value in this tool and fill in the gaps where we need more content resources (such as case studies, educational articles, and industry trends).

Below is the complete press release that will go out on the 24th. Please don't hesitate with any comments or feedback. We are still working out the bugs, so let me know if you find anything.

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Joe Pulizzi
Junta42, a division of Z Squared Media, LLC
joe   AT   junta42   DOT   com (replace AT with @ and DOT with .)

B2B Social Media Site Targets Custom Content Marketers

Junta42 offers twist on b2b content, covers booming custom publishing industry.

Cleveland, Ohio – Custom publishing, or content marketing, is one of the largest and fastest growing marketing segments in the world. According to the Custom Publishing Council and Publications Management spending is at an all-time high of $55.6 billion. More corporations and associations are launching their own targeted content initiatives in print and online than ever before. Yet, trying to find useful information and case studies about content marketing is a different story.

Launched as a preview release in July, Junta42 (www.junta42.com) offers a solution for marketers, association professionals, and publishers looking for custom publishing or branded content solutions. “Junta42 was created out of our own frustrations with finding valuable information about the content marketing industry,” says Joe Pulizzi, founder of and chief content officer for Junta42. “Great content is out there in the form of expert articles, blogger posts, audio and video; someone just needed to create a little organization to help business professionals find it.”

Most social media sites let the user-community dictate the content. At Junta42, there is collaboration between Junta42 expert editors and the community. “We believe in the concept of the editor,” says Pulizzi, former vice president for Penton Media’s Custom Media division and a Custom Publishing Council (CPC) board member. “Combining a dedicated team of marketing experts to moderate content with outside contributors made perfect sense.”

Junta42 links to content sources from all over the Internet and includes abstracts on each article. “Marketers are busier than ever,” says Pulizzi. “We created an easily searchable site that they can ‘taste’ through expert abstracts. But ultimately, our goal is to direct marketers somewhere valuable as fast as possible.”

The site is free to all users, and includes a twist for members who submit articles regularly. “We know there is enough incentive for community members to submit great content, but we wanted to do something extra,” Pulizzi says about Junta42’s revenue-sharing program. “With Junta42, we share a portion of our AdSense revenues with active members. Those who contribute will share in our success.”

The site expects to earn profits through Google AdSense and keyword sponsorship.

About Junta42

Junta42 is a search community site focused on content marketing and custom publishing. Junta42 combines expert and user-generated results with computer results to give users the best possible matches to searches. Junta42 is a division of Z Squared Media, LLC (www.zsquaredmedia.com), which develops initiatives to help marketers and publishers create and execute content programs through integrated channels.

About Joe Pulizzi

Joe Pulizzi is founder of and chief content officer for Junta42, as well as president of Z Squared Media, LLC. Previously Joe was vice president at Penton Media, Inc., the largest independent b2b publisher in North America. Joe serves as a board member of the Custom Publishing Council, and recently served two terms as chairperson of American Business Media’s Custom Media Committee. Pulizzi, voted a Northeast Ohio’s “Top Mover & Shaker under 35” by the Cleveland Professional 20/30 club, is co-author of the book Get Content. Get Customers. which will be released this coming winter.