Content + data + systematic experimentation Content · First, brands are creating content which...
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turning customer data into good insight. People think about their supper when they commute. They feel guilty about eating ready- made meals but have little time when they get home. Tesco used social media to reach them on their smartphones while on their way to work. The campaign ads showed 4-5 ingredi- ents and a recipe which the customer could turn into an easy evening meal. When the right person sees brand- ed content, it makes perfect sense to them. Content + data + systematic experimentation Judging by the poor levels of engagement, much con- tent marketing demonstrates the Perfect Strategy in prac- tice: the plan which promises to deliver the desired future state, but quickly becomes obsolete if it does not adapt. Mar- keters like creating content because it is easy to manage. It is predictable and measurable, and there’s a growing, reassuring consensus about what good content looks like. Witness, for exam- ple, all the talk about storytelling, especially by retired ad men. But Why content marketing is important JAMIE PRIESTLEY, correspondent London. A lthough obvious to marke 41’s expert readers, it’s worth re-stating the reasons. Content marketing is a strategy that aims to create and share valuable, rele- vant content that attracts and retains a target audi- ence. By 2021 it will grow by 16% and be worth $413 billion, says Technavio, a research firm. More and more marketers are doing content because they hope that it’s the antidote to the Adblockalypse. And content appeals because the prize is not just to reach an audience but remain with it - on the basis that people buy more from those they know and like. Strategy is not what it used to be If you’re over 30, you probably learned about strategy from gurus like Porter, Kotter and Ansoff. They advise organisations how to move systematically towards some ideal future state. Central to their thinking is the idea of the perfect strategy. Long before implementa- tion starts, a plan is refined and perfected by the best in the firm, perhaps with the help of brilliant advisors from McKinsey or even a communications agency. And then it’s sold to the employees Content Marketing 2.0 KOMMENTAR | Insights from a Small Island
Transcript of Content + data + systematic experimentation Content · First, brands are creating content which...
turn
ing
cust
omer
dat
a in
to g
ood
insi
ght.
Peo
ple
thin
k ab
out
thei
r su
pper
whe
n th
ey c
omm
ute.
The
y fe
el g
uilt
y ab
out
eati
ng r
eady
-m
ade
mea
ls b
ut h
ave
littl
e ti
me
whe
n th
ey g
et h
ome.
Tes
co u
sed
soci
al m
edia
to
reac
h th
em o
n th
eir s
mar
tpho
nes
wh
ile o
n th
eir w
ay to
wor
k. T
he c
ampa
ign
ads
show
ed 4
-5 in
gre
di-
ents
and
a re
cipe
wh
ich
the
cust
omer
cou
ld tu
rn in
to a
n ea
sy e
ven
ing
mea
l. W
hen
the
righ
t per
son
sees
bra
nd-
ed c
onte
nt, i
t mak
es p
erfe
ct s
ense
to
them
.
Co
nten
t +
dat
a +
syst
emat
ic
exp
erim
enta
tio
n
Judg
ing
by t
he p
oor
leve
ls o
f eng
agem
ent,
muc
h co
n-te
nt m
arke
ting
dem
onst
rate
s th
e Pe
rfec
t St
rate
gy
in p
rac-
tice
: the
pla
n w
hic
h pr
omis
es t
o de
liver
the
des
ired
fut
ure
st
ate,
but
qu
ickl
y be
com
es o
bsol
ete
if it
doe
s no
t ada
pt. M
ar-
kete
rs li
ke c
reat
ing
cont
ent
beca
use
it is
eas
y to
man
age.
It is
pr
edic
tabl
e an
d m
easu
rabl
e, a
nd t
here
’s a
gro
win
g, r
eass
uri
ng
cons
ensu
s ab
out w
hat g
ood
cont
ent l
ooks
like
. Wit
ness
, for
exa
m-
ple,
all
the
talk
abo
ut s
tory
telli
ng, e
spec
ially
by
reti
red
ad m
en. B
ut
Why
co
nten
t m
arke
ting
is im
po
rtan
t
JAM
IE
PRIE
STLE
Y,co
rres
po
nden
t
Lond
on
.
Alt
houg
h ob
viou
s to
mar
ke 4
1’s
exp
ert
read
ers,
it’
s w
orth
re-
stat
ing
the
reas
ons.
Con
tent
mar
keti
ng is
a
stra
teg
y th
at a
ims
to c
reat
e an
d sh
are
valu
able
, rel
e-va
nt c
onte
nt t
hat
attr
acts
and
ret
ains
a t
arge
t au
di-
ence
. By
2021
it w
ill g
row
by
16%
and
be
wor
th $
413
billi
on, s
ays
Tec
hna
vio,
a r
esea
rch
firm
. Mor
e an
d m
ore
mar
kete
rs
are
doin
g co
nten
t be
caus
e th
ey h
ope
that
it’s
the
ant
idot
e to
the
A
dbl
ocka
lyps
e. A
nd c
onte
nt a
ppea
ls b
ecau
se t
he p
rize
is n
ot ju
st
to r
each
an
aud
ienc
e bu
t re
mai
n w
ith
it -
on
the
basi
s th
at p
eopl
e bu
y m
ore
from
tho
se t
hey
know
and
like
.
Stra
teg
y is
no
t w
hat
it u
sed
to
be
If yo
u’re
ove
r 30,
you
pro
babl
y le
arne
d ab
out s
trat
egy
from
gur
us
like
Port
er, K
otte
r an
d A
nsof
f. T
hey
advi
se o
rgan
isat
ions
how
to
mov
e sy
stem
atic
ally
tow
ards
som
e id
eal f
utur
e st
ate.
Cen
tral
to th
eir
thin
king
is th
e id
ea o
f the
per
fect
str
ateg
y. L
ong
befo
re im
plem
enta
-ti
on s
tart
s, a
pla
n is
refi
ned
and
perf
ecte
d by
the
bes
t in
the
firm
, pe
rhap
s w
ith t
he h
elp
of b
rilli
ant
advi
sors
from
McK
inse
y or
eve
n a
com
mun
icat
ions
age
ncy.
And
the
n it’
s so
ld t
o th
e em
ploy
ees
Con
tent
M
arke
ting
2.0
KO
MM
EN
TAR
|
In
sigh
ts f
rom
a S
mal
l Is
lan
d
this
is n
ot e
noug
h to
sel
l stu
ff. G
ood
cont
ent
tells
you
r cu
stom
ers
you
und
erst
and
them
; con
tent
plu
s da
ta p
rove
it. A
t th
is p
oint
the
m
antr
a of
a s
tart
-up
(Act
, Mea
sure
, Adj
ust,
Rep
eat)
mus
t re
plac
e th
e id
eal o
f the
Per
fect
Str
ateg
y. T
he t
ask
is t
o ge
t co
nten
t to
the
ri
ght p
erso
n at
the
rig
ht t
ime,
and
tha
t req
uir
es m
arke
ters
to
lear
n as
the
y go
alo
ng.
Aft
er a
ll, t
oday
’s s
ucce
ssfu
l pl
an t
o pr
omot
e T
esco
is
tom
orro
w’s
din
osau
r b
ecau
se c
han
nels
and
cu
stom
er
pref
eren
ces
will
hav
e ch
ange
d.
Of c
ours
e th
is n
ewer
, mor
e ite
rati
ve a
ppro
ach
has
its w
eakn
ess-
es t
oo, m
ainl
y be
caus
e it
requ
ires
dee
p in
tegr
atio
n ac
ross
the
mar
-ke
ter’s
org
anis
atio
n. T
he c
usto
mer
loya
lty s
yste
ms
that
pow
er c
on-
tent
mar
keti
ng d
epen
d on
col
lab
orat
ion
bet
wee
n de
part
men
ts
whi
ch th
ink
very
diff
eren
tly: m
arke
ting
see
s th
e w
orld
from
the
out-
side
in; I
T th
inks
from
the
insi
de o
ut. W
hen
the
chie
fs (o
f mar
keti
ng,
tech
nolo
gy a
nd in
form
atio
n) a
re in
the
sam
e ro
om, a
nd w
hen
they
re
ally
hea
r w
hat
each
oth
er n
eeds
, the
y ca
n st
art
to b
uild
a fr
ame-
wor
k th
at m
atch
es t
heir
am
biti
ons
for
the
cust
omer
exp
erie
nce
to
the
orga
nisa
tion
’s d
ata
mod
el. T
his
is e
asie
r sa
id t
han
done
: th
e ri
ght
solu
tion
em
erge
s on
ly w
hen
peop
le a
nd d
epar
t-m
ents
gen
uine
ly a
ccep
t th
eir
inte
rdep
ende
n-ci
es. B
ut th
en n
o st
rate
gy c
an g
uara
ntee
suc
h co
-ope
rati
on b
ecau
se c
ult
ure
, as
we
know
, ea
ts s
trat
egy
for b
reak
fast
.
Co
nclu
din
g t
houg
ht
Mar
kete
rs m
ust
deliv
er t
he p
erfo
rman
ce t
hey
pred
ict.
Uns
urp
ris-
ingl
y, t
here
fore
, the
y pr
efer
to
cont
rol a
s m
uch
as p
ossi
ble.
But
to
mee
t th
eir
targ
ets
they
nee
d to
be
as n
imbl
e as
the
ir e
lusi
ve c
us-
tom
ers,
so
the
perf
ect,
in
flexi
ble
stra
teg
y is
look
ing
incr
easi
ngly
u
nsaf
e. It
’s t
ime
for
mar
kete
rs t
o th
ink
mor
e lik
e ch
eeky
ent
repr
e-ne
urs
, les
s lik
e br
and
cura
tors
. b
y Ja
mie
Pri
estl
ey
who
will
impl
emen
t it.
For a
ll its
vir
tues
, thi
s ap
proa
ch
is u
nder
att
ack.
It
has
been
des
crib
ed a
s a
“sm
all
scie
nce
of i
mpo
sed
patt
erns
” t
hat
relie
s to
o m
uch
on w
hat h
as w
orke
d in
the
past
, and
le
aves
litt
le r
oom
for
orig
inal
ity
afte
r th
e st
rate
gy is
set
. Its
cri
tics
ques
tion
how
wel
l it i
s su
ited
to th
e flu
id a
nd
com
plex
wor
ld th
ey s
ee to
day.
The
trou
ble
is th
at e
ven
good
str
ateg
y ca
rrie
s tw
o da
nger
s: t
he fi
rst
is t
hat
it be
com
es o
bsol
ete
whe
n it
s as
sum
ptio
ns a
re n
o lo
nger
val
id. T
he s
econ
d is
fals
e co
nfid
ence
-
whe
re th
e m
arke
ter c
an’t
see
cust
omer
nee
ds c
hang
ing
beca
use
she/
he b
elie
ves
a lit
tle to
o m
uch
that
str
ateg
ies
pred
ict t
he fu
ture
. Pla
n -ni
ng is
val
uabl
e, o
f cou
rse,
but
onl
y if
it he
lps
orga
nisa
tion
s to
be
com
peti
tive.
And
yet
the
Per
fect
Str
ateg
y co
ntin
ues
to s
educ
e u
s. I
s th
is
also
true
in c
onte
nt m
arke
ting
? N
ow s
eem
s a
good
mom
ent t
o as
k,
beca
use
cont
ent i
s fa
st b
ecom
ing
the
mar
keti
ng s
trat
egy
of c
hoic
e.
Co
nten
t is
no
t a
stra
teg
y
Bec
kon.
com
rec
kon
s th
at s
pen
din
g on
con
tent
mar
keti
ng i
s up
30
0% v
s a
year
ago
, yet
the
leve
l of c
usto
mer
dis
enga
gem
ent (
95%
) is
dep
ress
ing
and
stat
ic. I
t is
over
20
year
s ag
o th
at B
ill G
ates
de
clar
ed ‘
Con
tent
is
Kin
g’.
If i
t is
sup
pose
d to
find
bet
ter,
mor
e lo
yal
cust
omer
s to
inc
reas
e sa
les
and
prom
ote
the
bran
d, 9
5% d
isen
gage
men
t su
gges
ts t
hat
mar
kete
rs a
re c
ur-
rent
ly fa
iling
. The
re a
re t
hre
e lik
ely
reas
ons.
Fir
st, b
rand
s ar
e cr
eati
ng c
onte
nt w
hic
h se
rves
the
bra
nd s
trat
egy
but f
ails
to
ex-
cite
the
cus
tom
er. S
econ
d, c
onte
nt s
trat
egie
s ca
n co
nfu
se q
uan-
tity
wit
h q
ualit
y. M
arke
ters
kno
w th
ey m
ust fi
ll th
eir b
rand
spa
ces,
an
d co
nten
t fo
r 10
¢ pe
r w
ord
or le
ss m
akes
th
is p
ossi
ble
for
the
budg
et-c
onsc
ious
, but
it te
nds
not t
o ho
ld th
e in
tere
st o
f dis
cern
ing
cust
omer
s fo
r lo
ng. T
he t
hir
d re
ason
is t
he o
ver-
opti
mis
tic
view
that
goo
d co
nten
t is
enou
gh, w
hen
in fa
ct it
is o
nly
hal
f th
e ba
ttle
. The
oth
er h
alf
is t
o ge
t th
e ri
ght
info
rmat
ion
to
each
ind
ivid
ual w
hen
they
wan
t it
. Tes
co r
ecen
tly
cre-
ated
a s
ucce
ssfu
l co
nten
t ca
mp
aig
n in
the
UK
by
