idio Content Marketing Breakfast: Jim Boulton on ‘Why a Nudge beats a shove’

Jim Boulton, Partner at Story Worldwide

Story operates on the idea that advertising-as-interruption is over. Instead, they “connect brands to customers by telling engaging and entertaining stories that audiences actually want to hear”.

Story’s commitment to content marketing comes from its peculiar marriage of a digital skillset combined with a publishing mindset – that is to say, creating expert digital properties for brands that regularly publish new content over a given period.

Treat each brand like a magazine programme

According to Jim, the best brands sites are very generous with their content.

“The campaigns and websites that are most successful have been the ones with content at the heart. If you can encourage people to come back to your site regularly, then you are more likely to get a conversion. The best way to do this is make brands – a *repeat* publishing platform – with a content plan to encourage people to turn up”

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Content Marketing Breakfast

Content Marketing and the Role of the Social Editor

We wanted to create a forum for networking, learning and discussion around eCRM and “content marketing” (ie using content to attract, engage, and retain customers). So, I am pleased to announce that on August 10th, we will have our first Content Marketing Breakfast, for a select group of agency executives.

This event will be a great opportunity to make new contacts, discuss emerging trends and to start the day with a really good breakfast!

The main topic for the event is “Content Marketing and the Role of the Social Editor”. Brands are now publishers, and quality, relevant content is a vehicle for building strong customer relationships. Martin Harrison (Head of Social Media at Tullo Marshall Warren) will lead a discussion on this emerging trend and its implications.

The event will be organised in conjunction with the Like Minds Club and will be held at their gorgeous location just off Trafalgar Square.

This is an invite-only event. To request an invite and agenda, please email events@idioplatform.com.

The Way of the Brand Content Ninja

photo courtesy of flickr user Andrew Broadfoot

To the naked eye, there isn’t much common ground between the concept of brand content and the ninja’s way of life. Example. While espionage, sabotage and assassination are nifty tricks in a ninja’s trade, they are not mandatory for brands. Still, it’s good to know that some guidelines that have been upheld for centuries by the ‘stealth soldiers’ are actually totally applicable for companies today.

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The Value of Content

Image via Wikipedia

I recently posted about using Content As A Sales Tool and thought it would be good to follow up by outlining what we see as the greatest benefits in this approach.

We have used various types of content marketing, from automatic aggregations to print magazines. Each has a role and a relevant context. But whatever form you use, there are three key benefits that should guide and focus your planning. The intended outcomes should be defined using at least these three main goals, with tactics for how to achieve them, and a way of actually measuring the achievement!

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Brand publishing

http://www.degweb.org

In an increasingly fragmented media landscape, the opportunities for brands to connect with their market are endless.

The old model, where magazines, newspapers and TV channels provided a marketplace for brands to inform and persuade consumers is failing. It still has legs, because there is nothing that yet compares to the mass-market impact of buying a 30 second advert slot during a primetime TV show. However, the demise of mass media, caused by the move to online content consumption, audience fragmentation, and the cyclical downturn which has quickly exposed the structural issues in existing media business models, has created a huge opportunity for brands that are willing to engage their customers beyond their transaction.

There are many ways to skin a cat

Traditional media players argue that there is huge value in the quality and volume of audiences that they can amass, and this is true to a point. When advertising in a premium publication, the brand aligns itself with the goodwill, history and quality of the publication. But its becoming harder and harder to make this case, when that same audience can be sliced and diced, and reached more cost-effectively through a huge variety of online publishers and communities, PPC campaigns, email marketing, SEO, etc…

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