Content marketing is no longer the new kid on the block. Everyone is talking about it, but sadly few are doing it well. Most of those who tried are dipping in and out of it without properly investing; others are confusing content marketing with social and most commonly those who are investing are putting all their money into the creation but barely investing into distribution. ‘Viral’ is not really a thing, and hope is certainly not a plan!
At Outbrain we have been running content marketing workshops for a couple of years with some of the top brands in the UK, and during this time we have heard a lot about their key challenges.
Measuring ROI is always top of the agenda. Defining the right metrics for measuring success is not perhaps as straight-forward as other digital marketing channels. The main question we are asked by participants is often “should we measure content marketing in the same way we measure other activities?” And then there is everyone’s favourite new buzz word - data. Common conversations around data range from which data is useful and where can it be found to what is data-driven content.
But before we try and address ROI and data, marketers must first get buy-in. How do you get your executives to understand the value of content marketing?
Do your executives ‘get’ content marketing ?
Top of the list is executive buy-in. Editorial content was ranked as one of the most trusted advertising formats by consumers in the UK and yet marketers are still struggling to get internal support. There is no shortage of data supporting the value of content marketing - and while content marketing tends to be associated with brand awareness KPIs, it also delivers on all other stages of the funnel including conversion to sales.
- 70% of consumers prefer getting to know a company via editorial content rather than ads
- 67% of B2B buyers rely more on content to research and make purchasing decisions than they did a year ago
- 61% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand that creates custom content
So why are marketers struggling to get executive buy-in, budgets and resources to roll out a successful content marketing strategy ? Research shows that getting buy-in is the number one challenge for brands that are new to content marketing, and a top five challenge for those already engaged in content marketing. So what next ?
This is where the all-important business case comes into play. Boring I know, and nobody really wants to do it, but this is the best way to not only get buy-in but set the parameters for measuring success.
I want to share a few key points a good business case should include:
1 Define content marketing
Make sure everyone in the organisation is on the same page and understands what content marketing really means. The CMI defines it as below:
“Content marketing is 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”.
2 Value to the business
Find some data or case studies which demonstrate how content marketing can add value to the business. Show how content marketing has gone from being a competitive advantage to a business imperative with 79% of marketers report their organisations are shifting to branded content (Forrester, March 2013).
3 Audience demand
Demonstrate the audience appetite for branded content through both general industry stats and data on your own brand’s audience. 27m pieces of content are shared daily.
4 Benchmarking
Case studies are a great way to demonstrate successful examples of Content Marketing by some of the leading brands.
5 Pilot
Put forward some options for a pilot. This can either be done internally or externally but make sure you think through the pros and cons of both options.
6 Investment and ROI
Everyone’s favourite! Make sure you layout clearly the investment it will require to get the programme running, and most importantly, state what metrics will be used to measure success and ROI. Kraft estimates that it generates the equivalent of 1.1bn ad impressions a year and four times as much ROI through content marketing than through targeted advertising.
A well thought-out business case will not only give you a solid framework to work from but will set you up for success in terms of executive buy-in, investment and measuring success.
Outbrain’s Content Marketing Academy runs monthly and helps brand marketers address their key content marketing challenges.
Antonia Faulkner is European marketing director at Outbrain
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