Marketers are experiencing a major problem. That problem is that there is no longer a captive audience for anything. Consumers have tuned out advertising and traditional marketing tactics, leaving many marketers searching for a solution.
In her presentation at Content Marketing World, Tami Cannizzaro from Oracle offered some great insights that she has gathered from her years of experience at everywhere from IBM and eBay, to her new position as Vice President, Head of North America Marketing at Oracle.
She opened with a story about her experience on the New York Subway. One day she was getting off of the Subway and noticed that there was someone handing out money. Instinctively, she walked right by him. Similarly, marketers could literally be handing people money but people will move right by you if it feels like you’re selling.
To help your get your marketing on the attention grid and build a captive audience, consider the following steps for building earned authority with your audience.
#1 – Build Advocacy
In Tami’s role at IBM, she made a point to celebrate employee advocacy. She even went so far as to send out a newsletter to recognize employees that had participated.
In order for your brand to be successful, it’s important that your marketing teams be highly engaged in social media. Also, if you’re able to tap into the expertise of your internal team for content creation, social media and more, you can build a center of competency within your organization.
Another model for building advocacy is by working with influencers. Each influencer will have slightly different needs and value that they add but you can incorporate them into content, events and other types of projects.
#2 – Engage with Relevant, Timely Content
Before creating content, take some time to think about how relevant and timely your message is to your target customers. A prime example of timely content creation is when Oreo quickly responded with social ads when the lights went off during the Super Bowl.
#3 – Use Content to Build Authority & Boost SEO
This is a place for marketers to really think about building their thought leadership and marketing authority. Brands need to be asking what they’re trying to drive and who the key personas are.
American Express does a great job of incorporating brand created content alongside 3rd party content and tools to offer consumers what they need.
#4 – Target local. By Role. By Vertical.
Brands have an opportunity to build authority within specific verticals. One way to do that is to host meetups around particular topics. These types of events can be an inexpensive and effective way to penetrate local markets.
#5 – Personalize & Engage
While it can be tempting to create a single social ad or message for a campaign, a little personalization can go a long way. Instead of blasting the same message to everyone, you can create very targeted messages for the same product in a way that speaks to specific demographics.
Are You Building Momentum with Your Content?
Creating authority and trust with your audience doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that takes time, dedication and evolution of process. The insights that Tami provided in her presentation will help you get started down the path toward better, more impactful content marketing.
What do you believe is your biggest opportunity for building momentum with your content program?
