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”
Given the big news yesterday that TechCrunch has been acquired by AOL (for a reported $40 million, including earn-out), I thought it would be worth laying out some of the key lessons that this blog can teach us. Most of these are as old as media itself, but that’s the point: successful new media businesses MUST employ the eternal principles of good publishing, but be through-and-through ‘digital’, with low costs, a nimble approach, and an understanding and love for the digital community.
