Dawn Papandrea is a freelance writer based in Staten Island, New York, specializing in content marketing, personal finance, and higher education. She's a regular contributor to NewsCred (a CMI benefactor), in which she covers the digital marketing industry. Her work has also appeared in national publications and websites including Family Circle, Parents, WomansDay.com, CreditCards.com, and many others.
Few would argue about the power and value of educational content – whether a blog, an e-newsletter, a white paper, or a how-to video. However, some brands have taken this concept further by developing full-fledged classes and curricula for their audiences.
Let’s look at eight brands that give their audience opportunities to get an education in unique and entertaining ways.
When it comes to innovative content marketing and customer service, let’s just say the financial services industry hasn’t taken a leading position. Yet as customer relationships evolve from in-person transactions to omnichannel engagement, consumer-facing banks and insurance companies have realized it’s time to step up their game.
“One of the primary drivers as to why banks are late to the party is the legacy systems they are dealing with,” says Steve Facini, chief marketing officer for ondemandCMO, a New Jersey-based marketing firm. He works with financial clients and worked for Citibank. “Today’s banks grew to the sizes they are through acquisitions, so it’s difficult for them to integrate all of that information into one system. It’s also a heavily regulated industry,” he says.Continue Reading
Most marketers know that having a documented content marketing strategy and understanding one’s audience are vital for success. Where you may fall short, however, is by under-investing in media research — the type of research that will help uncover how you will distribute and promote your content before you create it. That comes from Chad Pollitt, vice president of audience and co-founder of Relevance, and author of The Content Promotion Manifesto.
“Research will not only tell you who you’re writing for, it will also uncover how you’re going to promote your content from an earned and paid perspective,” he says.Continue Reading
As brands seek new ways to tell their stories, some are finding value in creating brand museums to showcase their company history and heritage. Whether it’s a dedicated space in a flagship store or global headquarters, or a standalone venue such as the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee or the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Germany, nostalgic on-site visitor experiences can be an effective form of content marketing.
Nostalgic on-site visitor experiences can be an effective form of #contentmarketing says @dawnpapandrea. Click To Tweet“Heritage plays really well with audiences,” says Jason Dressel, managing director of client strategy and development for The History Factory, a heritage-management agency that recently helped launch the New Balance Global Headquarters Visitor Engagement Center and museum display, among many other projects. “There’s a reason why there’s ‘throwback Thursday’ and ‘flashback Friday’ on social media. People respond favorably to this kind of content,” he says.Continue Reading
When Toby Lee joined the tax & accounting division of Thomson Reuters in 2012, he was asked to bring excitement to the conservative (and sometimes stale) industry marketplace. His Silicon Valley marketing background was a perfect fit for an organization hungry for inspiration and change.
“They didn’t care that I was new to the industry because they wanted someone who understood marketing,” Toby says. “When I arrived, expectations were running high, which helped generate momentum and support for a new world order.”Continue Reading
Does this sound familiar? You have a limited marketing budget, but you need to make meaningful connections with your target audience. Adding to the challenge is that your target audience is not known for its tech savvy.
That’s exactly the situation Thao Le, vice president of marketing at Hyland’s, set out to conquer when tasked with promoting the homeopathic medicine company’s Hyland’s Leg Cramps product to active seniors. She never anticipated that the journey would lead to the creation of a hyper-niche content platform called Pickleball Channel. Yes, pickleball!Continue Reading
When Dusty DiMercurio began his work at Autodesk, he had a bold vision of what was possible for the design-and-engineering software company. To win over allies, however, Dusty started small by launching a blog called Line//Shape//Space. Four years later, he’s grown that small pilot project into a multi-award-winning publication and is influencing the entire organization to think differently about content.
Leading by example, Dusty and his team are changing the culture of Autodesk, teaching how to tell stories that are so good their audience wants to engage with them. For all those qualities, Dusty is one of our 2016 Content Marketer of the Year finalists.Continue Reading
A software company that helps civil and industrial contractors manage projects from bid to completion, HCSS has been in business for 30 years. Its customers build everything from roads and waste treatment plants, to bridges, dams, and pipelines.
While the company traditionally has had a rich marketing culture, four years ago it opted to emphasize content and brought in Dan Briscoe. Soon after, he went on to hire Skyler Moss to run the digital marketing department. Anchored by a strong content foundation, Dan, Skyler, and their team (which has grown in size from five to 23 in four years) have reached towering heights of success, one story at a time.Continue Reading
We connected with thought leaders to talk about their content marketing hiring wish lists. Here are four of the uncommon positions they have or would like to have on their teams.Continue Reading
In June 2015, Margaret Magnarelli took the helm as managing editor of Monster, one of the most-visited career websites in the world. She was tasked with reestablishing the brand’s voice and reconnecting with its core audience of job seekers. To make that happen, she shifted resources and budget from outsourced agency relationships to in-house talent, and grew her staff from three to seven.
The results? So far, efforts have paid off in many ways:
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