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Marketing Through Content
November 2008 | Volume 6 Issue 11
Difficult economic times require communicators to deepen their understanding of how their organizations can better serve the needs of customers. Content marketing is about revealing the credibility of your brand through customer-focused information—with an authentic and trusted voice. It’s an opportunity to use creative thinking—rather than a big budget—to get better results than traditional marketing methods. The experts in this issue of CW Bulletin guide you through the process of understanding and implementing effective content marketing strategies.
Natasha Nicholson
Executive Editor
Amanda Aiello
Associate Editor |
Features
CREATING VALUABLE CONTENT
by Gordon Plutsky
Media—everything from static images and printed copy to interactive web sites and video—exist to convey valuable information to targeted audiences. Whatever the form, media’s basic premise is the same: People will pay attention, get involved and take action when they find value in the content provided to them. Today, technological and societal evolution has radically altered the way people obtain and engage with information.
CONTENT MARKETING MISTAKES
by Joe Pulizzi
In the past, content marketing initiatives meant a print or e-mail newsletter to customers, usually delivered on a monthly or quarterly basis. Now, the idea of delivering content to customers is taking on a whole new meaning, and becoming central to companies’ overall marketing programs.
BRANDING THROUGH STORYTELLING
by Simon Kelly
Stop me if this sounds familiar: Audiences are fragmenting, budgets are being spread ever more thinly, your marketing message is increasingly harder to get across and the CFO wants to know your marketing ROI today. Well you’d better get used to it: Welcome to the Post-Advertising Age.
This is the age in which the brands that succeed are the ones that tell the best stories—it’s as simple as that.
CONTENT-RICH WEB SITES
by Newt Barrett
Traditional marketing avenues have become both more expensive and less effective as basic buyer behavior has changed dramatically. Today, the vast majority of buyers use the Internet to find out everything they need to know about a product or service before they contact a prospective vendor. That’s why it’s crucial for organizations to include relevant and compelling content on their company web sites.
NICHE MARKETING
by David Gorodetski
In the push to engage web users and reach niche markets, online media outlets seek to capitalize on personalized content. However, it’s difficult to produce a behavior in consumers when, amid the overload of messages and materials, promotions talk at them. Here are some key elements that can help marketers personalize their content and their consumer’s experience.
Columns
Advertorials:
A good addition to your marketing mix
by Natalie Canavor and Claire Meirowitz
Does your business use advertorials—a word cobbled together from “advertisement” and “editorial”—to promote its products or services? Also labeled “special sections,” this is a popular and growing format that helps sell everything from tourist destinations to investments to real estate to advanced technologies and more.
It’s Time to Join the Social Media Conversation
by Daria Steigman
Growing up, my mother seemed to know everything. Whether she was explaining the origins of Paul Simon’s “Mrs. Robinson” or discussing the economic theories of Thorstein Veblen, my brother and I would shake our heads and ask how she knew so much. “Because I’m an educated woman,” she’d reply.
OK, that’s a line you have to use judiciously, but her point is valid. Being both knowledgeable and intellectually curious matters—especially when it comes to running a business. So why do so many communication consultants look like deer caught in the headlights when asked about social media?
The Global Financial Crisis and the Real Value of Organizational Communication
by Fábio Betti
U.S. financial markets are in crisis, stock markets are in chaos worldwide, and, consequently, all is not well here in Brazil either. Everybody says we should proceed with caution, so I’m doing what everybody else is: sitting around and waiting for the crisis to finally hit us like a tidal wave. But I’ve also found myself wondering why organizational communicators have not emphasized how communication can help organizations survive a crisis like this.
- “The Eco Experience,” Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
- “The Source: Strategies and Solutions for Supply Chain Success,” Consorta Inc.
- “A Canadian First: Cementing Listerine’s Position in the Oral Hygiene Routine,” Environics Communications Inc.
Communication in the News
Related Resources provides additional articles and resources for understanding this month’s topic of marketing through content. You can also find some of these links alongside each corresponding feature article for quick reference. Links include:
- “Content Marketing and the Economic Recession,” by Patsi Krakoff
- “Content Strategy as a Marketing Tool,” by Heidi Cohen
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