.rising leaders: 5 things we've learnt about content marketing

Our second .rising leaders feature comes from Jon Hulme, Managing Director and co-founder of Contentive, a fast growing b2b publisher – responsible for our very own .rising – that helps brands grow their business by reaching new audiences and delivering personalised, highly valued, relevant and engaging content. At the heart of Contentive’s strategy is the belief that “content marketing” is a discipline that can deliver genuine marketing ROI.

Jon reflects on his experience at the helm of a youthful digital publishing company, discussing what the past two years have taught Contentive about content marketing. 

5 things we’ve learnt about content marketing 

Content marketing is nothing new. Brands have been using ‘content’ of various kinds to tell stories that attract and retain customers for as long as brands and customers have been around. What’s new and exciting today is that brands have so many more ways to reach more potential customers, more often – and that these channels are easier to access than ever before.

This also, of course, makes it all the more important that content marketing is done well. With so much content being produced, promoted and read on a daily basis, how do you make sure that yours stands out from all that background noise?

As the name suggests, content marketing is exactly what we do here at Contentive. We’re still young, but over the past two years we’ve built up significant expertise (and had great success)  in creating and disseminating high quality content on behalf of our clients, making sure they get the right messages to the right people at the right time.

Here are some of the key lessons we’ve learnt so far, which I hope will prove enlightening and useful to anyone embarking on their own content marketing campaign.

Please feel free to let me know if you agree, air your views on the future of content marketing or share your own suggestions for best practice by commenting below and tweeting @dotrising.

 

1. Have a clear purpose

The starting point for any content marketing campaign should be knowing what you want to achieve. Are you hoping that your content marketing will increase your brand awareness? Do you want to position you or your organisation as a thought leader in your space? Or are you looking to generate leads? The best form, tone and distribution channels to use for your content are dependent on your intended outcome, so it’s crucial to get that clear from the start. Knowing what you want the results to be will, of course, also mean that you can more effectively measure the success, or otherwise, of your efforts.

2. Don’t over-brand

If display advertising can be thought of as a bit of a caveman, clubbing people over the head with a sales pitch to try to win them round, content marketing should have the character of a knowledgeable friend. You want to win the trust and respect of your readers by engaging their interest and delivering your message without making them feel like they’re being sold to. They should end up feeling that you’re both on the same side. This means that you should be prepared to let the content take precedence over your brand, in terms of subject matter, messaging and design.

3. Make it valuable

You might not be asking for money, but bear in mind you are still asking your audience to pay in some way, whether that’s through directly submitting their details to access a download, or simply spending their precious time on your content. For this to be a fair exchange, you have to give them something valuable in return. You owe it to your readers to provide useful, relevant, interesting content. If you don’t, they definitely won’t be coming back for more.

4. Start a conversation

This should not be about you standing on a platform shouting at people through a megaphone – you want your audience to get involved. If people actively engage with your content, you will boost the return you see on your investment enormously by increasing the number of people you reach and giving your content a life beyond its original context. You can help facilitate this buzz by making sure you open up channels for commenting and sharing, creating content that ties in to current, relevant trends and even including interactive polls or quizzes.

5. Choose the right delivery channel

Once you have a great piece of content ready to go, you need to make sure it’s going to get seen by the right people, which means getting it published in the right place. This is not necessarily just going to be whatever site gets the most page views – as with everything in content marketing, the key to success lies in careful targeting. Who are your potential customers and what sites are they regularly visiting? By knowing the information sources your audience already has an established relationship with, you can not only make sure you’re reaching the right people, but also add value to your own content by associating it with a name they know and trust.