Content That Works

Shooting video, whether it’s for your company’s Web site, daughter’s ballet recital or favorite sporting event, is not as simple as point your video camera and let it roll. Take a little extra time to follow these few guidelines from Amber Gardner, Hammock's video and editorial intern, you will end up with a higher quality video.

Have you ever heard the expression, "You have to love yourself before you can love anyone else"? Well, the expression applies not just in relationships, but also when it comes to your content marketing strategy, according to Joe Pulizzi, founder of Junta42.

In his latest blog post, Pulizzi acknowledges the fact that so many businesses spend countless hours and resources creating buyer personas (sometimes even giving them names), so they can understand who their customers are, without really understanding the brand they are selling (their brand persona).

How does this relate to content marketing? Isn't content marketing all about the customer? Clearly not, when you consider Pulizzi's example:

"Just think of the difference between Southwest and Continental airlines. Two reputable companies. Two very different companies. If Continental came out with a video series about their flight attendants doing tricks on passengers, it would seem severely out of place. Southwest, not so much."

It may seem like newspapers, magazines and television stations are the experts when it comes to developing local content, but small businesses could have a corner on that market, too—if they just took advantage of it. More consumers are seeking online content about events they can attend in the community and information about local organizations—and small businesses are in the prime position to fill that niche, according this BizReport blog.

Social networks are the best way to publicize this information because they are "becoming the new search engine," said Jon Zack, co-founder of EggZack.com, which gives businesses an online platform for creating, uploading and distributing online newsletters, event flyers and other marketing materials. Sharing content through social networks ensures that customers will hear about the event and perhaps even repost a link to the information for family and friends.

At Hammock, we know that a well-executed content marketing strategy will allow a client to influence the decision-making and buying behavior of their customers, which is why we were not surprised to read the results of the latest annual Junta 42 Content Marketing Spending Survey, showing that 59 percent of those surveyed plan to increase their spending on content marketing in 2010. For marketers, the research show that content marketing spending is growing rapidly as a portion of their overall budget—serving as 33 percent of current overall marketing budgets, compared to only 11 percent in 2008. Marketers are expected to spend those bigger budgets on social media (72 percent), enewsletters (63 percent), blogs (63 percent), whitepapers (48 percent) and article marketing (48 percent).

View the Content Marketing Spending Report.

You've heard it before, the people who don't really "get" Twitter say it's just for telling other people about what you had for lunch. But if you're a marketer, you know Twitter is (and can be) so much more than that.

Jason Falls knows this. In a recent post on Social Media Today, he breaks down the four social media marketing styles that he's observed using Twitter:

• The Conversationalist. Those who "use Twitter for their business, but seem more apt and willing to participate in the daily chitter-chatter..."
• The Conversational Marketer. The marketer on Twitter who "... has a more obvious, even stated, purpose for using Twitter."
• The Salesman. Falls says this is the marketer who pushes products more than 50 percent of the time, conversing with others even less.
• The Broadcaster. Falls initially called this type of marketer the "spammer," but notes many of them definitely have a following.

So, which marketing style do you have on Twitter?

Ten years ago, custom content meant a newsletter or a member magazine of varying sizes and frequency. And today? It probably wouldn't be an overstatement to say a company's options are endless in how it can reach and engage current and prospective customers.

As John Bell points out on his Digital Influence Mapping Project blog, custom content, especially the digital kind, today can take many forms.

It could be an app, like the ones created by Kraft Foods and Geico Insurance. Or it could be a community site, like Weber Nation, created for owners of Weber grills to share their tips, techniques and grilling victories.

And the list goes on. There are more options today than in the past, but the goal of custom content has always been the same—to engage customers in a meaningful way.

The challenge for marketers is figuring out which strategy works best for their audience. Are you a marketer facing that challenge? We can help.

You may have heard about the four P's of B2C marketing: product, price, placement and promotion. But what are the rules when it comes to B2B marketing? In his blog, marketing guru Paul Dunay outlines the four C's of B2B marketing, which he argues are the most applicable principles to the challenges marketers face today. They are:

1. Content. Creating a steady stream of content to engage your audience.
2. Connection. Creating content that connects with your target audience.
3. Communication. Creating content that engages your audience in an ongoing conversation.
4. Conversion. Creating content that converts your audience into customers.

Whether it be for the blogs we maintain or the magazines we publish, we get lots of press releases and "pitches" at Hammock, so we appreciated -- and wanted to pass along -- these tips for online publicity from writer Lindsay Robertson. Her post goes into detail on each one, but here are the highlights:

At Hammock, we are big believers that a well-executed content marketing strategy develops content and media that engage a potential customer. That is why marketers should review this six-step content marketing check-up before they finalize their content marketing plans for 2010.

The six steps include: mapping site content to the buying cycle, reducing friction on gated content, reviewing content analytics, capturing the value of content, including sharing options with your content and optimizing content for search. This exercise will help marketers assess what is and isn't working for them when it comes to their B2B content development and content marketing efforts.

The start of a new year always brings a plethora of prediction lists: Resolutions, trends and forecasts. A recent blog post over at MediaPost Communications highlighting Keith Kelsen, founder of the 5th Screen Project and a contributor to Digital Signage Today, lists 10 predictions for 2010. Including one of our favorites: Content!

"Content will continue to be the No. 1 trend. As always, the most important part of any strategy remains the most difficult. According to Kelsen, DO companies really only began addressing content seriously in 2009. Kelsen sees more custom content created especially for DO networks, but at the same time more 'continuity' between this content and content delivered via other channels like cinema, TV, PC and mobile."

We agree with the magazine experts at Foliomag.com who are predicting that content’s role for publishers this year will expand and grow. The creation and execution of targeted content will be a huge asset for publishers and will help them connect with their readers who are looking to access content not only in a variety of places, but also with different platforms and tools.

"It will be imperative to respond to the readers needs—where, when and in the format they prefer—or see yourself being pushed out of the market. Print will still play a flagship role for most magazine enterprises, but there will be a continued drive to expand existing channels including print magazines and newsletters, digital magazines and e-newsletters, mobile, Web sites, blogs, podcasts, virtual events, video and many others."

A recent Deloitte & Touche study found that 75 percent of consumers in the U.S. think of Internet ads as intrusive, and some estimates say that more than 90 percent of Internet advertising is totally ignored.

So what's a company to do to get their message out online?

Adotas says that a good content strategy may be the way to go:

"More and more marketers are re-allocating some of their interactive advertising budget to create articles, posts, tweets, videos, contests, social networking pages and other content to engage customers in an ongoing dialogue — informing and entertaining them instead of marketing 'at' them."

According to the study, "The ContentWise and Custom Publishing Council’s 2009 Spending: A Look at How Corporate American Invests in Branded Content,"released by the CPC, marketers spent more on custom and branded content last year than ever before. Highlights of the study include:

• Spending on branded content totaled $1.8 million per company


• 78 percent of respondents reported that branded content is more effective than advertising


• 24 percent expected spending to increase in 2010

We're not out in Las Vegas this week for the annual Consumer Electronics Show (we're a bit jealous of anyone who is), but we'll definitely be keeping our eyes on what's coming out of the event.

The Business Insider is predicting 10 trends for this year's CES, and we're eager to hear more about #4:

Content generally takes a backseat at CES, but this year the show devotes an entire day-long track, called "Content, Creativity and Cash," to emerging paid models for content and how net-connected TVs, e-readers, tablets and mobile phones enable this new ecosystem. Not surprising: CBS and NBC Universal both have big stakes in how the CE industry interacts with content and both have huge roles in this year's show, the former as owner of CNET and the latter as official TV sponsor (CNBC broadcasts from the floor).