May 06, 2012

Campaign Versus Content Marketing Mindset

One of the hardest challenges to good Content Marketing is changing mindsets.

Many B2B marketing groups are trying to add Content Marketing to their mix. Habit and culture can sometimes make the addition difficult. This is because Campaigning—whether via advertising or email marketing—naturally involves content. So it's easy for some to think, "content marketing, yes, we do that."

It's not so much that the outbound, interrupt driven channels can't be used for Content Marketing. Rather, it's the mindset around how the content is developed. Campaign content is naturally driven by "internal" factors—there's a product launch or media event that requires or generates content. Or maybe you just have the need to "do an email blast."

In the end, this content is created to meet a market or product need rather than a information need of users. you end up as a living example of Myth #3.

Without editorial driven content that is designed to fit the engagement cycle, you may still end up with very good content. But it is usually not optimized for inbound marketing. What you end up with is content that reflects the messages you want to promote and not the useful content that prospects are seeking.

I find walking through the following table helpful in generating the "ah-ha" moment where outbound marketers see the difference.

Campaign
Marketing
Content
Marketing
DriverMarketEditorial
DurationPerishableDurable
DistributionAdvertising/PromotionOrganic**
DiscoveryInterruptPull
StructureProducts & MessagesContent Funnel
Mind Set“Think like a Marketer"“Think like a Publisher"

** It might still be paid; Organic in the sense that the user drove it by seeking content

No comments:

Post a Comment