Has More Become Less?
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August 12, 2021
According to Seth Godin, "Content Marketing is the only marketing left." He's usually right but there is little consensus as to what people mean by 'content marketing'. Here are a couple of definitions for you to noodle over.
"The creation and sharing of online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services."
"A strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action."
Both start out the same but notice "to attract and retain a clearly defined audience" in the second. Is Content Marketing targeting an audience or is it self-serving? Is the audience defined or defining itself? The next discrepancy is that one aims to simply "stimulate interest" while the other goes in much harder, "to drive profitable customer action."
If there is any clear blue water between content marketing and advertising, it seems that advertising is thrust into the oncoming path of a viewer (better referred to as the interrupted one) while content is more likely to be discovered - via search or affinity. It’s worth noting that advertising will always need a media budget while content marketing technically doesn't.
As media has fragmented, effective content has to prove magnetic to eyeballs. Shock tactics like exaggerated claims and fake news have driven virality in politics but commercial content has to be honest and authentic to keep the faith of customers and stakeholders. Independent Influencers and User Generated Content both offer seemingly impartial testimony to a company's products or services. This third party, credible, authenticity works. The world's biggest make-up business, L'Oreal is so keen on these channels that it expects to quit advertising in under 5 years.
Agencies were built to make money out of creating content but their margins have been under pressure since social kicked off. They've struggled to make more for less but skimpy budgets have impacted creativity. While everyone wants richer, better produced content, brands are unwilling to pay for it. Funding models need to change so agencies earn from royalties or sales commission not media commission.
If you can figure out what someone is trying to get done - 'I see you are trying to finance a car purchase', 'unblock your drains', etc. then you should be able to serve up some useful material. Useful content will be read, upvoted and shared. The key is to frame the need as tightly as possible before offering an answer. Don’t jump to the solution, help refine the question.
One thing is certain, everyone is being interrupted to death. With the exponential rise in mental illness, this is literally true. How much do we think of the recipient before pumping out another marketing blast? Our brand might benefit from that piece of research but will the respondent think so positively about our brand? Most of us don’t have enough time in our lives to do what is already demanded - so think hard before asking for more.
Unless it's incredibly well targeted - which is hard to do well - advertising doesn't work. People don’t look at it, they block it and they don't trust it. We prefer to believe what our friends tell us. 68% of consumers say a positive referral from a Facebook friend makes them more likely to buy a specific product or visit a certain retailer. A brand is no longer what we tell consumers it is. It is what consumers tell each other it is. Anything you can do to encourage customers to become advocates will pay massive dividends.
Society is losing faith in institutions. Government, Banks, The Church - the list is long. Faith has been eroded by lies and coverups. Truth, when it’s presented, is often blunted and twisted. Yet even bad news can build trust if you deliver it clearly. People we trust encourage us to buy. We don’t care if recommendations don't even come from expert sources so long as they’re honest. 84% of millennials say user-generated content has influence on what they buy, so encourage its production wherever possible.
There are some solid reasons why marketers believe Brands are under pressure - even dying. But adhering to the goal of brand consistency still makes complete sense. The purpose of a brand is to convey a promise of quality and reliability. As marketing legend, Jeremy Bullmore once put it, "Consumers build an image of a brand as birds build nests. From the scraps and straws they chance upon." So whatever your brand stands for should be embedded in every shred of communication and at every point of contact.
For content to move the needle, it needs to be relevant and useful. Don't create content like confetti - just for the sake of it. People don’t care where your creative team get their coffee from. Forget hype and spin, explain what your product or proposition can actually deliver. Emotional triggers will always work but the more facts and insights you can convey, the more effective the story and its reach.
Try and design your work to last. Invest in a film or a report that will survive for a year or two, not a day or two. With the demise of 'big tent' media so did the opportunities to broadcast ad spots to the masses. The new content model demands that you drive traffic to it over time. So spend enough time and money to make content that is beautiful, informative, entertaining and ideally - enduring.
