The interesting thing about content marketing, the industry’s buzzword of the past few years, is that essentially we are all just talking about ‘stuff’, with brands across the world producing the same stuff forever. Some brands have better stuff than others, but essentially they are doing what they are doing so that we buy their specific stuff.

It is this contradiction, between the corporate requirement of a brand’s content to sell, and the content marketer’s ambition to create a brand following based on more than just units sold, that makes the very concept of content marketing a challenge for agencies and brands alike.

In this piece we take a look in-depth at the rising trend of content marketing, finding out how and why it should be scalable for brands of all sizes and, crucially, asking the question: with such an emphasis on fast, consumable, shareable content, will the bubble burst?

You do not have to look far to find exceptional examples of content marketing by brands that have made phenomenal investment, through people and platforms, into this strategy.

Brands such as Red Bull, with its Red Bulletin, has got it spot on. It’s execution and delivery is not only fully immersive, it is also credible, authentic and distinctive. It positions Red Bull as a unique, high-octane media house that also happens to sell a drink.

It’s about becoming an authority figure on a topic, lifestyle or subject, which means that you won’t have to directly sell a product or brand. But it isn’t just the big brands that should be focusing on the type of content they are producing. As it turns out, no business can ignore content marketing any longer.

Global brands such as Red Bull, showcase that by publishing and distributing content which engages and attracts customers, they are enabling their lifestyles and not product-centric. The reasons that brands can now produce content like this is the diversity and accessibility of digital platforms available to them. Essentially more platforms means a lot more noise is accessible and available, meaning more brands and organisations can share the same digital space.

Get this element right and an independent brand can be talked about more than a global one, particularly as these digital spaces are led by interactive and engaging communities. Authenticity is key, and it is the bigger brands who tread the thin line, as customers and audiences get increasingly cynical of the ‘brand voice’.

Thanks to this, marketers across the globe are increasingly seeing content as an opportunity, and a challenge, with SmartInsights (2015) reporting that content marketing was a priority in 2015. That is not to say, however, that anyone has a plan. The same report showed that 56% of marketers have no defined strategy for their content.

One of the most important factors to consider in a content marketing strategy is reach. Reach has always been a key driver in the growth of a brand, but once you start talking about building brands using shareable content it becomes not only fundamental to a campaign’s success, but also implicitly trackable.

To increase reach we need to make sure that the content we are producing for a brand resonates with its target audience. And to do that, we need to know who they are. It’s where every effective content strategy has to start. The utopia for brands is a strategy that delivers compelling content that drives organic growth. A brand needs to be seen as a publisher. Focus on quality and something that can demonstrate a return.

Our approach to this challenge is what we call Elegant Content. From social media to email, onsite blogs to PR campaigns: it has never been easier for brands to offer customers useful, interesting stuff to engage them and, ultimately, get them to part with their money. Unfortunately brands saturated their feeds with irrelevant content, throwing out disjointed, weak messages across a plethora of platforms. And it’s the Internet’s entire fault.

This has resulted in, for want of a better phrase, an influx of rubbish content. Our timelines are now filled with brands publishing content without strategy, without any connection to a wider brand message and, worst of all, without any quality control.

But there is another way, which is Elegant Content - The redefinition of branded content as value-driven stories that can be as intellectual and entertaining as traditional editorial.

Elegant content can be defined by in the following ways: does the content have a feeling of being created, rather than curated? In other words, does it work with the rest of the strategy? Is the content immersive, taking the audience deeper? Finally is the content recognisable and consistent? Essentially, what Elegant Content comes down to, is that the best story always wins.

A brand needs to nail comunication at every touch point, every conversation needs to feel natural with the audience and not just talking at the customer. A great example of this is Chicago Music Exchange, it’s interesting, knowledgable and insightful content makes the user forget they are being sold to.

Another example from a small, independent company which is redefining the way, and standing side by side with the global brands, is Rapha, a maker and vendor of cycling clothing. From feature-length documentaries to city guides, the content offering by Rapha ensures buy-in from the consumer thanks to rigorously high production values and a brand tone that never veers off course. It’s this type of authentic, courageous and well-thought activity that is paving the way for the future of content marketing.

So what can other marketers and brands learn from this?

Content marketing strategies must start with audience insight. This enables brands to plan, create and distribute content that is relevant, useful, compelling and shareable. Content needs to be lifestyle-centric and not product-centric. It must elevate a brand above and beyond the dim of the Internet.

Elegant Content does not attempt to change the way that brands deliver their messaging, but, as a concept, it sets a precedent by asking questions. Always think of the following; is this right for our brand, our audience and our product? Does it exemplify what it is that we stand for? And does it help us to stand out?

Because what we as content marketers should be focusing on, is chasing love. And not likes.

 

By Clair Morris, Communications Director at Cube3.

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