Content Marketing Today

In the age of the Internet, the answer is a resounding, Yes!

Our Australian content marketing colleague, Bret Gilbertson, is a great one for shattering marketing myths.  Everything that he does on behalf of clients is aimed at generating measurable results.  The vast majority of his work is online, either with websites, blogs or eNewsletters.

In a recent post he shares a frighteningly amusing and instructive video from an Australian TV show that is dedicated to, believe it or not, advertising.  In a June 2008 broadcast, the host, Will Anderson, got the panel to talk about advertising that backfired.  He managed to elicit a quote from the managing director of an Australian subsidiary of global giant Y&R:

All advertising works. It's just a matter of how much.

Brett notes that advertising is the biggest marketing expense for many companies for both good advertising and bad.  He makes an interesting, indirect prediction, "Maybe Russell Howcroft's statement that all advertising works is true in an advertising agency sort of way... but maybe not for long."

Be sure to check out this video excerpt from the Aussie advertising show.  You'll be amused and simultaneously appalled.

Julie Power inspired me to make a counter-intuitive recommendation based on research conducted by the parent company of her Internet Marketing Report Online.

A survey of 359 business executives discovered that 70% of them had no interest in using any kind of social media. Only 17% were even trying them.

It's important to note that they did not limit social media to stuff that might be a little bit offbeat for many of us, such as Twitter.  It included both blogs and podcasts which have become mainstream for knowledgeable content marketers.

So this means you should avoid social media like the plague, right?  Wrong!  You should do just the opposite.

Here are the five reasons that dictate your need to use social media tools right now:

Whether out of inspiration or desperation, struggling newspapers are trying to find ways to develop targeted content that, in turn, attracts targeted advertising dollars.

We all know that our local newspapers are suffering grievous losses of advertising revenue that is translating into fewer editorial pages and less coverage of important topics. Typically, that also means fewer dedicated sections that are conducive to focused advertising aimed at business owners or moms, for example.

Most local newspapers have virtual monopolies in their markets and have therefore been cash cows, sucking in ad dollars from local small businesses. When those businesses could also place their ads inside a section that had a strong probability of being read by their target buyers, local newspaper advertising made good sense. And, besides, there were rarely any other good choices.

In the past, advertisers would hope to be included in a section that was relevant to their buyers.  Frequently, however, they had no choice because it was the luck of the draw.  Today with fewer editorial pages, the likelihood of being in the right spot is even less probable. What is a small business to do?

He thinks a rising Tide lifts all brand advertising, but ignores how content marketing works for P&G on the web.

Jim Spanfeller, Forbes CEO, was quoted in the Media Post Raw blog on why traditional brand advertising will not be displaced by Internet efforts.

“Brand advertising is the most efficient allocation of big marketer dollars...The Internet has not fundamentally altered how consumers respond to advertising.”

Spanfeller chose Proctor & Gamble’s Tide as his example. “There aren’t enough clicks on the planet to move 500 million boxes of tide.” Finally, as the blog framed it, 'he proclaimed hopefully': “The biggest irony that will come from the Internet is it will restore the luster of brand marketing.” 

Clearly, Spanfeller is missing the point.  The real power of the Internet for Procter & Gamble--and for the rest of us--lies in our ability to create compelling content online.

Joe wins "Custom Media Innovator of the Year" from ABM

Custom Publishing is the progenitor of content marketing.  Think of all those airline magazines, for example.  They are produced by custom publishing companies and represent both a marketing and a revenue enhancer. But they, and most of their custom publishing brethren, are basically add-ons within much larger advertising and marketing campaigns.  Joe took it to the next level.

Joe Pulizzi, who was a long-time custom publishing veteran at Penton media, was one of the first to recognize that content creation should be a core component within every company's marketing arsenal.  As he and I put it in our book, Get Content. Get Customers., marketers must begin to think of themselves as publishers by creating content that is relevant and valuable for their customers.

Why? Because connecting with the media is important but connecting with the public is vital! In the Internet era, this distinction is crucial.

It's easy to confuse the two concepts.  When most of us think of public relations, we think of the PR professionals who are skilled at getting coverage for our organizations in print, on the radio or on TV. Traditionally, that was the most effective way to put our companies and our message in front of the public.  That is no longer true. And, that is why understanding the difference between media relations and public relations becomes even more important.

Is the rest of trade publishing also at death's door?

I am sad to report on my observations of the state of the market because technology publishing and I go back 25 years.  But, it's important to understand what has happened because this market segment represents a microcosm of what is happening to print publishing overall.

I have been around technology publishing long enough to remember the introduction of the IBM PC in August 1981.  Not only did this launch represent the birth of a new era in computing, which created thousands of millionaires in Silicon Valley.  It also created a new generation of publications that were dedicated to personal computers. 

Just two years after the arrival of the IBM PC, I arrived at Ziff Davis to take charge of a recently launched magazine called PC Tech Journal. It was the runt of the litter in a company which featured PC Magazine and PC Week.  We were able to take it from a bimonthly publication to a monthly and to revenues of $8 million per year.  Today, that revenue would look pretty darn good, but back then it was almost a rounding error.  At the time, the joke around Ziff Davis was that PC Magazine had become so large (400 page issues were not unusual) that the company was going to introduce a portable version.  In fact, there was so much advertising that what began as a monthly was soon publishing 24 times per year.

Those days are long gone.  I just received the July 2008 issue of PC Magazine which is positively anorexic. Understanding how it got to this precarious state provides critical lessons on why content marketing has become the essential alternative to traditional advertising for so many companies.

Lou Bortone is an experienced TV and video producer with a great sense of humor.  He also understands the importance of content marketing.  Best of all, he eats his own video dog food.  That is, he uses amusing and sometimes wacky videos to promote his services by teaching us how to use video effectively on the web..

Lou calls himself the "online video guy" and refers to his series of videos as "loutube" as opposed to YouTube.  I receive his new eNewsletter which is frankly promotional, but was effective in motivating me to check out three of his videos. 

I picked out the one below in which he gives five tips for better videos.  The tips are great because they are aimed at people who know little of anything about how to produce a video.  He stresses that it's basically inexpensive and easy to do an effective video if you pay attention to certain fundamentals.  So check out what Lou had to say in the video below.

You may be surprised at how willing they are to help you.

Despite the troubles many media companies are experiencing, their best publications can still put your advertising message in front of your buyers.  For many small business marketers, traditional advertising should still play a role in an overall content marketing strategy.  But, like many of your peers,you will be devoting more and more financial resources to content marketing in the months and years to come. 

To succeed as a content marketer, you will need to learn fundamental publishing skills in order to communicate effectively with your customers.

The venerable San Jose Mercury News is about to launch an e-Edition as I learned from a recent e-mail from their marketing folks.  It seems to me that this is a desperate, last-ditch attempt to salvage their brand and their business.

As the Silicon Valley grew with the explosion of PCs and the Internet, this newspaper grew along with it... until recently.  Clearly, it is now suffering from the same malaise as the vast majority of newspapers around the country. 

All over the US advertising and circulation revenues are falling significantly.  With very few exceptions--the Wall Street Journal being the most successful--online versions of daily newspapers have been giving away their content.  They have tried to support their online versions with advertising revenues alone.  This has been problematic because the amount that newspapers can charge for online advertising is a fraction of what they have gotten for print in years past.  Moreover, circulation revenues typically would cover the cost of newspaper production.  This meant that a much higher percentage of advertising revenues could go to the bottom line.

So I understand why The Mercury News is attempting to charge for subscriptions.  But their rationale for changing their model seems to be all about them and not at all about me.