Five ways to improve your content marketing strategy

Content is king, but it's also killer. It can be difficult to create, and time consuming to do well. But there are ways to transform information, data, and goings-on within any organization into authentic news and content, the kind that connects with digital and media audiences.

These approaches are increasingly important today as content drives more of our marketing initiatives. A recent study by the Custom Content Council found 35 percent of CMOs believe that custom content marketing is the future of marketing. This is compared to 19 percent in 2006.

This study also found 73 percent of consumers prefer to receive information as articles rather than blatant advertisements. What's more, 61 percent of consumers said they feel better about companies when they deliver content and are more likely to buy from them.

Virtually any company can publish content and see value for it. Here are five ways to creatively create and capture content that integrate with blogging, media relations, and corporate communications.

Be the media. Lansinoh Laboratories, a long-time Gregory FCA client, understands well the power of transforming everyday business events into news. When the company recently sponsored a red carpet event, The Concert for a Healthy Birth, it sent its own blogger to interview Ricki Lake about her newly released documentary, "The Business of Being Born." Flattered by the interest, Ricki gave a ringing endorsement of the Lansinoh products she's used in the past. The video interview transformed the event into news, gave Lansinoh authentic content for its blog, and secured a major celebrity endorsement by thinking content, rather than marketing hype.



UPDATE 7/29/11: This week Ricki favorited a tweet from Gregory FCA's Robyn Ungar, in which she included a link to this video. The favorite re-shared the video with Ricki's Twitterverse, again illustrating Ricki's support, as well as the long shelf life of digital content.

Transform one-and-done events into long-tail marketing opportunities. Events create gold mines of content that can be documented and repurposed across multiple channels. An example comes from Gregory FCA client ProtonMedia, which sponsored its own sold-out life sciences seminar. To get more from its investment, the company videoed, photographed, and live tweeted the entire event; posted the coverage in a series on its external blog; and integrated it into its sales efforts. The after-burn helped lead ProtonMedia to securing several new clients.

Reply round up: My responses to the latest comments

We've been receiving a steady stream of great comments lately on our blog. I love hearing your insights, feedback, and contributions to the conversations we have here. I wanted to respond to some the most recent comments you've shared with us.

RE: Each person who commented on The hottest new job in public relations: chief content officer

You're not the only one who found value in the post about chief content officers. We received loads of e-mails and six comments on the topic. It seems to have hit a real chord.

My colleague here at Gregory FCA forwarded me a post from David Meerman Scott who used the term "brand journalism" to communicate the same notion I expressed in the post. I am not comfortable about the use of journalism in this context.

Rather, I think content is a little more transparent. Journalism connotes objectivity. A chief content officer will always have to have the corporation's best interests at heart. But more and more, that interest has to include a degree of transparency, less the audience simply stops listening because of the bias.

Thanks for your note.

Greg

RE: Frank Freudberg on When good social media goes bad

Thanks for the thoughtful comments, Frank. In communications, the future is hitting us like a giant wave. We shared an important mentor years ago. Sid might put it a bit more bluntly. Get up every morning and run like hell! I'm eagerly awaiting your next book.

Greg

RE: Anonymous on When good social media goes bad

Thanks for your kind comments. With the blog, we're just trying to tell it like it is from inside the world of Gregory FCA. It sounds like you share our interest and inquisitiveness about the changing face of public relations. Perhaps we should talk?

Greg

RE: Anthony Graziano on Gregory FCA is 20 years old today

Thank you for the compliment. We love working with you guys at Integra. It's been a very good ride. We are fortunate at Gregory FCA to have attracted the quality of talent that you reference in your comment. Kathryn, Kathleen, and Leigh have set some pretty high standards, and I appreciate you singling them out for the credit! Now, if only this real estate recession would end!

Greg

RE: Elaine Hughes on 48 hours of bliss with my new iPad

You're right. The iPad can't run Flash, a real bumper when you go to Hulu and learn that you can't watch any of the videos. Let's hope Mr. Jobs makes friends with Adobe.

I do think the iPad has the ability to replace my desktop. I have found lots of apps to help me get there. One allows me to see my network files. Another allows your iPad to emulate a Windows 7 computer. I think we'll get there. But right now, an inability to print to my network and the challenge of typing directly on the screen has divided my time between the iPad and my Windows-based laptop.

Greg

The hottest new job in public relations: chief content officer

I'm going to make a call. In three to five years, a new member of the C-suite will emerge. He or she will work shoulder to shoulder with CMOs and CEOs. The job description will look nothing like we have ever seen. They will be called chief content officer.

Their purpose will be to originate and share a constant stream of information flowing from inside the four walls of the corporation directly through new digital channels to partners, customers, clients, employees, prospects, and investors. Their skill set will be part journalist, part brand manager, and part public relations professional.

They will be charged with capturing and articulating the character and voice of the company, and they will be responsible for ushering in a new era of corporate transparency -- a world where outsiders can gain a true and authentic view of the company. Filters will be fewer. Responses quicker. Information will flow more freely.

If the evolving nature of public relations is teaching us anything, it's that content is now the single most important asset at our disposal for conditioning and positioning companies for increased revenue and value. As traditional media struggles to find relevancy, more and more corporations will turn to social and digital media to communicate directly with online audiences.