PRESENTER
Donna Bedford, Global Digital Lead, Lenovo
SESSION ABSTRACT
Understanding the need for change and testing in your content marketing strategy. What works now may not work in six months' time. In order to be successful at content marketing engagement, it is important to keep ahead of how people consume content and consider how device types, time of day, etc. affects consumption.
KEY TAKE-AWAYS
- Examples of some of Lenovo‘s content marketing over the last 5 years
- Case studies of how some varied tactics worked
- Insight on how to how to spot a content marketing trend
INTRODUCTION
Speaker Donna Bedford began by highlighting the key concept that content marketing is the art of creating content that people want to read. Of utmost importance is how you choose to tell your story – and that story can go a long way in digital marketing. As she also shared, asking the right questions and understanding your research, strategies, and the reasoning behind content creation will lead to more engaging and shared content marketing.
Key Question: What is content marketing?
Content marketing is the art of creating content that people want to read, engage with, and share. Science is crucial to get to that point. Content marketing has been around for thousands of years, but how we present it has changed. It is how you tell your story.
TAKE AWAY
- The speaker began by highlighting the fact that content marketing is the art of creating content that people want to read. Of key importance is how you choose to tell your story – and that story can go a long way in digital marketing
- Before you define your KPI‘s, have you defined your strategy? If you don‘t get your strategy right, everything else starts to crumble
- Who are you targeting? The new user, returning using, or people who are comparing products? Build out profiles for every type of visitor. What are their interests, how do they connect, how to they view content?
- Do you understand the customer journey?
- What are you trying to accomplish? New customers, conversions, followers
- Content should always be created for a reason. It should always have a call to action
- What does the user want? What is the user‘s intent?
ACTION ITEM
- Do your research
- AdWords is a great tool to find keywords. Look at what is trending
- Put in hashtags that you would like to use and see what people are using those hashtags for currently
- Read consumer complaint reviews to get insight
- People who are buying technology may not understand terms your company is using. Write in a language that a normal consumer would understand
- Define your strategy
- Content doesn‘t have to go on your own property. Try branded stuff on
- other sites to bring users back to your site
- Get employees to be your brand ambassadors (on LinkedIn posts for example)
- How do you determine the type of content you should be using? This depends on what you find in your research. Learn to create the content to fit user‘s needs and where they belong:
- Infographics
- Social platforms
- Blogs
- Podcasts
- White papers
- Webinars
- Learn where and how to share your content
- Takes testing
- Takes research
- Don‘t be afraid of trying new methods, such as:
- On site
- Communities
- Paid media
- Organic social
- Social influence marketing is the most successful, all can be done throug influences. Find people who are passionate. They don‘t have to be celebs, just passionate people who keep posting and sharing your information
- Don‘t put everything into traditional marketing. Be adventurous. Look for people who are blogging or tweeting about your product and invite them in!
- Don‘t expect to be successful right from the beginning
BEST PRACTICE
- Always start with a strategy; a strong strategy can give you a blueprint first
- Content should always be created for a reason and it should always have a call to action; but avoid being sales-y
- Create content with reason, not fluff!
- Gently put the call to action around the edges
ACTION ITEM
- Find social influencers to use for your product. Search for people who are passionate and already talking about your product
- Test and research to find the best places and ways to share your content
FINAL THOUGHT
The speaker offered a number of suggestions for further action such as finding connections and providing the right style of content and marketing that research indicates is best for your audience. Learn to create content that fits your user‘s needs and market it where the user hangs out digitally. It‘s not how good your creative is, it‘s how good you match it to your target!
