Why Content Marketing Builds Trust

WHY CONTENT MARKETING BUILDS TRUST

The Power of Customer Publishing

Brussels

March 2010

The APA :

“Customer publishing is a rapidly growing industry where brands are using

editorial content, irrespective of channel, to engage consumers, drive loyalty

and to deliver tangible marketing effect.”

• APA encourages best practice and promotes the industry on a global level

• Drive growth of new business and margin for members (both print and digitally)

through:

Promote: Marketing/International

Prove: Research

Persuade: ASK – new business service

Proclaim: Events – training and awards

Protect: Environment/ lobbying

The industry:

• Fourth biggest media – spend £904m*

• 50 members, over 1,000 brands – 90% of UK market

• Agency not media owner model = fee based

• Not „free media‟ – charge clients for producing editorial content that delivers tangible

results

• Hence proven model to monetise web content

• Entire industry backed by proven research - both reach and results

• Internationally renowned and respected; the APA also run the International

Customer Publishing Federation with 17 countries as members globally

• International Content Summit – The power and future of content

* Mintel 2008

In association with De Post/La Poste

£904m spend

323,000 average circulation

33/100 circulation titles

45% of client work is cross media

An overview of the UK market:

16% growth92 launches

70% posted

20% income from 3rd party advertising

Key reasons for growth:

• The changing media marketing place:

• 1,000‟s of ways to reach consumers

• Difficult to engage time poor consumers

• Reach versus outcomes

• Customers losing trust in brands

• Trend towards participatory communications

• Innovation

• Power of editorial online and in print

• Creativity and quality

•Effectiveness

• ROI is key

“Long copy - and prolonged leisurely engagement - are often

out of fashion in an advertising business which often confuses

creativity with brevity. This would have driven David Ogilvy

insane. Happily your industry is one of the last few pockets

where this talent still flourishes: and it's a talent that somehow

lends to brands a quality that nothing else can.”

Rory Sutherland

Vice-Chairman,

Ogilvy Group UK

Effectiveness - engagement is key:

Proving the power of customer magazines:

APA/Millward Brown Advantage Study:

• 21,000 consumer interviews

Key findings:

• 25 minutes time spent with a brand

• Top 6% of consumers spent over an hour with the brand

• More time than any other media = 50 x 30” TV slots

• 57% of consumers read at least half of the magazine

• 18% of consumers pick the magazine up 3 – 4 times

• 60% keep the magazine for a week or more

• 14 % keep it for reference

• 8% pass it on to a friend

Engagement = loyalty

Engagement = loyalty:

Customer magazines drive response:

• On average 44% of consumers who receive a customer magazine do

something as a result:

• 78% - retail sector

• 45 % - membership titles

• 30% - automotive sector

• 23% - finance sector

Improving loyalty and driving brand equity:

• Positive impact on consumers view of a brand:

• Increase view of leadership values by 11%

• 32% increase in brand loyalty

Tangibly drive sales:

• Drive an 8% increase in future sales

• Readers of supermarket titles spend over £5 or more on groceries than non-

readers

Retail titles:

44

78

63

62

51

47

29

25

21

21

16

15

9

7

Study Average

Retail Average

Tried a recipe

Visited store/branch

Bought a new product/used a new service

Used a voucher

Showed the magazine to a friend or relative

Entered a competition

Recommended the store to a friend

Visited the website

Enquired about a specific product/service

Visited a department you would not usually shop in

Carried out an idea

Used a service you would not usually use

Level of active response%

Best performer

Finance titles:

44

23

15

10

9

8

6

5

4

2

1

Study Average

Financial sector average

Called the company for more info



Visited a website

Visited a store/branch

Bought a new product/used new service

Added to an existing product owned

Used a voucher

Responded to an offer


Base: Magazine sample (915)

Automotive titles:44

30

23

14

13

13

12

12

10

8

7

7

5

4

2

1

1

Study Average

Automotive sector average

Discussed with friend/colleague

Visited store/branch

Visited the website


Called/visited dealership

Given copy to interested friend

Called the company for more info

Bought a new product/used new service


Requested a test drive

Bought a winter service

Requested a brochure

Responded to offer

Used a voucher

Contacted the featured insurance company


Base: Magazine sample (1529)

The power of posted magazines in driving loyalty:

• Receiving a magazine through the post does have a positive impact on

engagement

• Customers are more likely to spend longer reading a posted magazine in

comparison to a picked up title - 20% more time spent

• They are also more inclined to keep hold of it for longer and to keep it for

reference – 20% more keep it for over a month and 40% more like to keep it for

reference

• This difference in consumer response to posted vs picked up magazines (greater

consumer engagement with posted magazines) is most evident in the retail sector:

• 30% more likely to read it for 30mins or longer

• 50% more likely to read it for an hour or more

• There is a strong desire among readers of B2B customer magazines to receive it by

post.

.

Posted Magazines Research results:

• Over a third (39%) of consumers that receive a magazine in the post are driven

online to investigate or purchase from that brand

• Posted customer magazines drive more people online than those that are picked

up in-store (26% compared with 23%)

• 18-24 year olds are the most likely age group to go on to buy a product online as a

result of reading a magazine they receive in the post

• 25 – 24 and 35 – 44 year olds are by far the most likely age groups to be driven to

investigate a brand online having read a posted title

“Posted Magazines Drive Online Activity”

“Posted Magazines to Engage Youngest Audience”

• Posted customer magazines engage the 18 – 24 year olds more than any other age

group

• This notoriously hard-to-engage group are more likely to purchase online, pass the title

on to friends and twice as many consumers take more notice of that brand’s other

advertising and marketing having read the magazine than any other age range

• More than double the number of consumers in this age range feel that brands should

make the effort to post their title than those over the age of 45

asos.com – the history

asos.com launched in 2000.

Awarded Retail Week Rising Star 2005.

Drapers Etailer of the Year Award 2005.

Company High Street Award – Best online shop 2006.

Launched asos Magazine - September 2006.

Retail Week Awards – Online Retailer of the Year 2007.

APA Award Most Effective Retail Consumer Publication 2007

PPA Award Customer Magazine of the Year 2008.

Launched asos men‟s magazine – May 2008.

Communication

Newsletter: generated 8% of company sales.

Analytics: Refining processes to maximise conversion.

CRM: Single customer view.

PPC: ROI consistently above £50.

Partnerships: Driving qualified traffic.

Social Media: Double the amount of traffic and quadrupled

sales generated in 4 months.

The asos.com customer

3.9m unique visitors a month.

On average visitors return 2.5 times a month.

41% of “best customers” visit daily and over 90% visit weekly.*

Average time on site is 10 minutes.

Average pages viewed is 27.

Gender split 80/20 female biased.

*Customers research 2008

asos.com magazine – the history

Launched in September 2006 as a 3 month trial.

Objective to showcase product, drive traffic, increase sales.

Format was 68 page with a print run of 100,000.

Initial plan was for the magazine to be distributed:

- with orders

- purchased from the website

- field marketing

- bagged with target fashion magazines.

First three issues generated over £1.5m.

Drove a significant increase of sales of respondents.

What they think of asos magazine

“I thought, oh god it’s going to try to make me buy things, but I actually really

enjoyed it and realised it had some stuff that I really liked”

“I like the fashion shoots... I’m not going to buy the whole outfit but it gives me

ideas”

“If I see something I like in the magazine I’ll turn a page down and look it up when

I’m next online”

it’s very similar to Grazia, I was expecting a catalogue”

“I didn’t expect to see a SATC article in there, it’s very magazine like”

“it’s like Glamour…..it’s travel size….it’s good for the handbag…..it’s like having

the website in your hands”

*Focus group 2008

asos.com magazine – the original brief

Awareness Loyalty and

Frequency

Driving traffic/sales/

conversion

Reactivation Awareness Loyalty and

Frequency

Loyalty and

FrequencyReactivation Awareness

Driving traffic/ sales/

conversion

Lapsed/

Dormant

New Active

Due to its success the magazine becomes the single biggest marketing investment.

A review was necessary to align magazine with business objectives and determine the

most profitable customer segment to target.

asos.com magazine – our findings

Active customers‟ response rate was up 8.5% on dormant and 2.3% on lapsed

customers.

Active customer ABV was up 6.8% on dormant and 8.3% on lapsed customers.

Conclusion

The magazine is most effective when used as a loyalty tool.

The magazine is more likely to have a positive brand effect, drive ABV and UPO

of an active customer than a lapsed or dormant customer.

Smaller 36 page supplement to drive new customer acquisition.

asos.com magazine – the brief redefined

Awareness Loyalty and

Frequency

Driving traffic/sales/

conversion

Reactivation Awareness Loyalty and

Frequency

Loyalty and

FrequencyReactivation Awareness

Driving traffic/ sales/

conversion

Lapsed/

Dormant

New Active

asos.com magazine – today

Asos magazine glossy monthly fashion magazine

with more readers than leading titles Company,

Elle, Grazia and More. ABC certified (429,406

Jan – June 08).

Magazine targeted at active customers.

Magazine primarily used as a loyalty tool with a

smaller supplement used for acquisition.

asos.com magazine – supplement activity

The magazine had been used as a cover mount on target fashion publications.

Response rate was strong but acquisition cost too high.

In 2008 developed a 36 page supplement.

Contained a targeted offer designed to drive ABV.

First supplement provided a ROI ratio of 1:9 with an ABV of over £100.

Company ABV for the same period was £60.

asos.com magazine – launched standalone menswear issue

Due to the success of the women‟s magazine menswear titled launched.

First issue ran in June 08 with a print run of 500K.

Distributed to customer base and bagged with

target publications.

Contained a targeted offer.

ABV of customers responding to the magazine

was Up 66% on company average.

50% of orders from target publications were from

new customers. This is 100% up on company

average.

“Editorialised content is now a hygiene factor in the

building of relationships between brands and consumers.

However the brands that get it right are the ones that truly

connect brand values and the brand promise to the very

real needs of their customers. Editorialised content is

absolutely key to continually refining and honing the

relationship and is a very real demonstration that brands

are listening.”

Chris Ward

Managing Partner

Partners Andrews Aldridge


And what about

BELGIUM ?


Belgian casesPresented by CUSTO


CUSTO

Set and defend high standards for real professional customer

publishing = CUSTO Quality Label

Promote customer media by unlocking expertise and best

practices

Providing efficiency benchmarks and ROI proof through neutral

and independent research = CUSTO-meter

www.custo.be

CUSTO The Belgian Federation of Customer Media professionals


Agencies with CUSTO Quality Label

AA DOCK‟S Customer Media

DECOM

HEAD OFFICE

HEADLINE Publishing Agency

HET SALON

JANSEN & JANSSEN

MEDIAPARTNERS

PROPAGANDA

ROULARTA Custom Media

SQILLS

VIVIO

CUSTO The members


Belgian cases


colora is a shop concept of

Boss Paints, with almost 40

branches


colora distinguishes itself from its

competitors by the personal

advice it gives on technical

aspects and colors


colora-magazine is distributed by

the Belgian Post 3 times a year

with a print run of 300 000 copies


Main aim of the magazine is to inspire, help and incite

people to (re)decorate their homes


colora-magazine creates and maintains a strong

relationship between brand and customers


colora-magazine creates and maintains a strong

relationship between brand and customers

Most importantly: it is perceived as a non-commercial

medium, where the company translates marketing

objectives into accessible content.

In association with De Post/La PosteIn association with De Post/La Poste

colora-magazine steps away

from pure selling

In association with De Post/La PosteIn association with De Post/La Poste

tries to make people dream and shows

colora as someone who can make those

dreams come true


How the magazine creates a bond (Custometer, 2009)

90% of the respondents does “something”

with the information:

48% of the readers saves the magazine

or part of it

43% of the readers gives the magazine

or part of it to someone else


How the magazine creates a bond (Custometer, 2009)

Some other results

For 90% of the readers the magazine

incites them to paint

For 96% of the readers colora-magazine

gives them new ideas

88% looks forward to reading the next

edition


AND…

it‟s a very effective tool to boost sales

*turnover is confidential


1

2

3

If you know a magazine that…

perfectly reflects the brand image;

demonstrates the know-how of its employees;

became the cornerstone of an extensive

loyalty programme;

and thus is a real TRUST builder;


then you’ve read A.S.Magazine.

Inspiring travel articles &

product information

150.000 copies

in-store distribution

4 issues / year


Engaging the reader = building trust

Custometer survey results for A.S.Magazine

Reading time: a new benchmark

A.S.Magazine: 39min14sec >< APA average: 25min

Overall rating: high

72,4% gave the magazine an 8+ score

A.S.Magazine proves that A.S.Adventure…

… is worth my trust > 80.1 %

… offers quality products and services > 84 %

… communicates openly > 82,5 %


Engaging the reader = building trust

The Explore More loyalty programme takes

A.S.Magazine’s editorial approach one step further and

sends to A.S.Adventure customers personalized and

relevant content by e-mail

Explore More e-letters

opening rates of 35 % to 55 %

Explore More triggermails

opening rates of 75 % to 99 %


Building trust stimulates sales

A.S.Magazine stimulates sales

79.2 % of readers “was inspired to buy products”

Explore More members are A.S.Adventure’s best

clients

top 30 % clients account for more than 70 % of

Explore More turnover

Explore More Members are bigger spenders

Average basket: +/- 100 € (non members: 70 €)


Conclusion

A.S.Adventure found its best clients

and is talking to them.


TRUST SUPERIOR

QUALITY IN CUSTOMER

MEDIA

Why Content Marketing Builds Trust

Business

Transcript of Why Content Marketing Builds Trust