Our recent B2B Content Marketing research compared the practices of self-described effective content marketers with those who are less effective.
One of the most striking differences between these groups is the level of executive buy-in. Fewer than 10% of effective marketers who use content marketing have an issue with executive buy-in, but almost a quarter of less effective marketers cite this as a challenge.
So what can a marketer do to educate and justify to their executive team the value of content marketing? In our new series of posts, our CMI contributors will provide you with insights and examples to help you make the case for content marketing in your organization.
First up, they answer the question, “Content marketing can be a new way of thinking for some marketing teams. How would you explain the value of content marketing to a manager or executive who is primarily familiar with traditional advertising approaches?”
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– Ahava Leibtag (@ahaval) |
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(Unlike grease-powered vehicles, the only “stink” comes when you haven’t listened intently enough to understand your audience in the first place, ha!) |
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The other important point to make is content marketing puts the organization in complete control of their message, especially when using social media. Most managers are attracted to the idea of autonomy. |
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There is nothing wrong with traditional marketing approaches. In many cases, they still work. But as each day goes by, traditional marketing is less effective. It’s harder to buy eyeballs and interest. Today, our “advertising” must be so interesting that people don’t consider it advertising. That’s where the magic can happen. – Joe Pulizzi (@juntajoe) |
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It’s often helpful when just dipping your toes into this field to try to “think like a publisher” and recognize that if you’ve got a website, blog or even social media accounts where you are pushing out messaging then you already are one. |
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In other words, we use traditional advertising to make people aware of our brand and, in many ways, to demonstrate the heart of our brand. It’s the content marketing that can bring living proof of our brand to our customers in the form of video demonstrations and interviews, educational webinars, case studies, white papers, blog insights and advice, and so much more. This proof is what will keep them coming back to our website and encourage their loyalty to our brand. |
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– Nate Riggs (@nateriggs) |
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Content marketing works beautifully with established traditional marketing tools. Even better, though, is that it adds relevance, meaning and dimension to traditional approaches so you engage with potential customers. Content marketing helps your overall marketing work harder for you. More specifically, content marketing allows you to tell potential customers what you are about; it pre-qualifies customers. Imagine sharing in customer-relevant terms the story behind how you help customers. Imagine building trust and meaningful relationships with them before asking for the sale, before they realize they need you. The result is a richer, deeper and more satisfying business relationship. Isn’t that worth bringing into your organization? This post– Digital Visibility: The Reason Behind Content Marketing — adds perspective to this question. |
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Summary
The takeaway? There are a lot of ways to explain the difference between traditional and content marketing, so think about what your management team cares about the most. Compared to traditional marketing, content marketing:
- Is about the customer, not you
- Pulls customers in with relevant content instead of one-size fits all blasts
- Is two-way conversation instead of a monologue (you’re talking to your customers instead of shouting at them)
- Is more dynamic and easier to change
- Costs less
- Reaches wider
- Involves less risk
- Has a much longer shelf-life
- Provides the proof that marketing is working and is easier to measure
- Maximizes one of your most important assets: word of mouth referrals
- Happens before and after a sale
And, to take it a step further, here are some of the suggestions on how to show the value of content marketing (stay tuned to the series – more suggestions are coming soon!):
- Show them data from a successful content marketing campaign.
- Provide word-of-mouth referrals.
- Recognize that you are already doing a number of content-marketing-related activities such as your website, blog or social media accounts.
I’d love to get your thoughts. How would you explain the value of content marketing to someone who is new to this concept? Let us know in the comments!
If you are interested in learning how to educate and justify the importance of content marketing, stay tuned to our posts on Tuesdays. Even better, sign up so to get all of our content marketing how-to articles.
Other posts in this series:
- How to Get Started in Content Marketing
- How to Measure and Present the Effectiveness of Your Content Marketing Program
- How to Find Internal Allies for Content Marketing
- Content Marketing in Action: 13 Examples to Get You Inspired