This week, content marketers are talking about an insurance company that isn’t waiting around, an interesting and previously unpublished finding on how bloggers responded to the pandemic, and a great reaction to bad behavior on social media.
Here are the things content marketers noticed this week.
Don’t wait for your audience to be ready
WHO: NRMA, Australia-based insurance company
WHAT: Mentioned in a recent Marketing Week article and recognized as a 2020 Content Marketing Award finalist, NRMA didn’t stop investing in content when its audience was focused on topics other than insurance when the pandemic hit. In fact, it spent more – 68% more – in its media budget in the first three months, focused solely on “emotional, top-of-funnel, long-term branding.”
WHERE: Described by Mark Ritson in the Marketing Week article ‘Funnel Juggling’ is the Answer to Marketing Effectiveness
WHY IT MATTERS: As Mark writes, “COVID-19 provided NRMA with the perfect storm to run just long communications for several months and then benefit from activation once the market started (to) re-enter the category.”
Though the Marketing Week article focuses on advertising, the lesson is even more critical for content marketers. All brands must embrace a long view in audience development with their content marketing – even when they must take a short view too.
HOW IT WAS DISCOVERED: Liz Mace spotted the Marketing Week article and shared it with us to emphasize how content marketers should invest in long-term audience building and be ready to pivot to meet changing audience needs.
#Content marketers should invest in long-term audience building and be ready to pivot to meet changing audience needs, says @elizabethmace via @CMIContent. #WeeklyWrap Share on XHANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:
Bloggers amp up content production in pandemic
WHO: Orbit Media Studios
WHAT: Orbit Media’s 7th annual Survey of Blogging, released at the end of the month. Almost one in four (22.5%) respondents increased their publishing frequency as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Orbit co-founder Andy Crestodina surmises: “A lot of bloggers have more time than before (less travel time, no commute, maybe a dip in billable work, maybe shorter meetings, less water cooler chit chat, etc.) What to do with this time? For a lot of us, we drove straight into content.
“What do you do with your time if you lost a few clients? Get busy marketing.”
WHERE: Orbit Media’s 7th annual Blogging Survey published report stuck to its immensely helpful standard questions about blogging practices (frequency, length, drafts, challenges, etc.) Andy shared the unpublished results for the coronavirus question with CMI readers here.
WHY IT MATTERS: The results align with Andy’s earlier published insight about how bloggers react to a crisis:
As Andy writes, how we respond to a crisis determines where we end up on the other side. Whether you think that response should be publishing more, shifting topics, or something else, the point is to make a deliberate decision on what you’re going to do NOW that will better prepare you for the future.
How we respond to a crisis determines where we end up on the other side, says @crestodina via @CMIContent. #WeeklyWrap #Blogging Share on XHOW IT WAS DISCOVERED: Andy Crestodina shared the finding with CMI’s Jodi Harris, who is quoted in the survey results blog post.
Societal issues on your social media channels
WHO: Toronto Raptors Fan Facebook page moderators
WHAT: The team’s private group reflects the Raptors’ commitment to racial justice. But some commenters don’t support that and don’t hesitate to say so. At one point, some linked to false stories around the Jacob Blake shooting.
A group moderator Mollie Rolfe penned a long post to the group, which included: “(R)acism and any commentary that promotes racist ideologies or rhetoric without any sense of a desire to have an open mind, learn, unlearn and relearn will not be tolerated here.”
To join the group, new fans must agree they won’t post derogatory comments:
WHERE: Moderators of Toronto Raptors Fan Page Are Combating Racism More Than Discussing Sports published by blogTO and mentioned in 5 Reasons You Need Community Management in 2020 by Rachael Mattice on the LURE Digital blog.
WHY IT MATTERS: “Social media managers are gatekeepers for what should be allowed on a brand’s page, and often have an ethical obligation to make the right call,” Rachael writes.
#SocialMedia managers are gatekeepers for what should be allowed on a brand’s page, and have an ethical obligation to make the right call, says @RachaelM_OC via @CMIContent. #WeeklyWrap Share on XIt’s a great point. You never know when your brand can become the subject of hate speech, criticism, or other challenging content on social media. No longer just the responsibility of the public relations team, crisis communications is something the social media team needs to be ready to implement.
HOW IT WAS DISCOVERED: Rachael Mattice saw the blogTO article and wrote her piece, then shared it with CMI.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
