Scaling your content without draining your budget
Columnist Seth Price discusses how to scale your content marketing efforts efficiently and cost-effectively by applying a media-based model to content creation and distribution.
Every day, billions of pieces of content are published like clockwork on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat. Yet the clock has stopped for most marketers when it comes to creating content that breaks through the noise.
Despite what some have coined as “content shock,” 77 percent of B2C content marketers expect their organization to produce more content in 2017 than it did in 2016. But scaling content marketing is not only expensive, it’s often mystifying. Most efforts tend to be campaign-based, copycat initiatives; and what’s equally surprising is that 63 percent of marketers are creating content without a documented strategy or a means for defining success.
But not all is lost. With the growth of smarter, more accessible SaaS campaign tools and lower-cost media production, building out a content-driven demand engine is more accessible than ever for modern marketing teams — especially as channels present fresh opportunities for distribution and measurement of content.
The Three Ts
With an eye on content growth and engagement, companies will now question how they can scale production of new media assets without breaking the bank. And even more, how they can measure the effectiveness of each of their tactics. This is where we turn to The Three Ts — tactics, teamwork and targeting — to efficiently and cost-effectively apply a media-based model to content creation and distribution.
Tactics
It’s no secret that technology is crucial to operational efficiency, and organizations across industries are leaning on automation and measurement tools to build their audience and measure success.
According to the 2016 B2C Content Marketing Report, the popularity of some data-driven tactics is skyrocketing. Promoted social posts are up 17 percent from 2015, and similarly impressive jumps were made by social advertising and search engine optimization. As we look to 2017, there’s no slowing in sight for measurement tools, either. OnBrand Magazine’s State of Branding Report found that it’ll be a big year for investing in marketing analytics and social media monitoring, two key tactics for measuring engagement and overall success.
With ROI remaining a top challenge for marketing teams, the most successful strategies will need to lean heavily on tools that get the right content in front of the right people and provide the numbers to back it all up. Once these tools are in place, you’ll find yourself on the most productive path for scaling your content marketing.
Teamwork
When it comes to execution, cross-functional collaboration is crucial. Collaborating both internally and externally is the new sweet spot for successful content creation and distribution. Working with sales, support and product teams will add depth to your brand message and synchronize your entire organization to make it that much easier to achieve your KPI-related goals.
Internal collaboration is just the start. As I pointed out in a recent blog post, collaborating externally with partners and influencers is the new black. The most authentic and effective way to scale content is by building relationships with influencers in your field, leveraging their networks and expertise, and co-creating content to maximize your reach and impact on your target audience. This new approach is what my friend Lee Oden coined as “Participation Marketing.” Though its impact may not be immediate, its long-term effectiveness is changing the way we think about marketing “teams” and bringing content marketing efforts to an entirely new level.
Targeting
There’s no point in scaling your content marketing if you aren’t scaling in the right direction. When it comes to identifying and segmenting your audience, leave it to the data to drive those decisions.
Customer sentiment and web analytics remain the most popular techniques for gaining insight into your target audience — which brings to light how insight-driven decision-making remains top of mind for today’s digital marketers. So if you’re looking to scale your content without wasting time on dead-end leads, leveraging data that enables content marketers to tailor their content to the right people, on the right channels, and at the right moment in the customer journey will never go out of style.
Final thoughts
Taking The Three Ts into consideration, scaling new media content doesn’t need to drain your budget or your time. If you’re prepared with the proper tools, collaborators and customer insights, the transition to a media-based approach will be seamless, and there will be no looking back.
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