Content marketing a ‘slow burn’, as creators question if brands can be ‘authentic’
9l-r) Tim Burrowes; Tim Buesing; Chris Collacot; Lucy Sutton; Micha Schwing
There remain too many “vanity metrics” around content marketing while one strategist admitted it is hard for brands to come across as authentic during a panel discussion yesterday.
During the event, organised by Mumbrella and Getty Images, brands were told they must set out their objectives more clearly but were warned they should not expect overnight success in terms of sales.
Questions were also raised over whether brands, through content marketing, could come across as “authentic” or whether it was just a shallow attempt to increase revenue.
“It’s insane how much money people are paying to put an ad in front of people who are probably not watching anyway,” she said. “With content marketing you can be sure that people are looking because you have metrics and measurements to figure out what is working rather than hope someone is watching the TV.”
For some with such a fancy title, this is such an ill informed comment.
The different between a TVC campaign and content marketing is that with a TV campaign you are buying an measured audience before hand, rather than sending it out to everyone and then measuring how many people see it afterwards.
You are buying a measured audience but you have no idea if they are even remotely paying attention or indeed are even in the same room. I always switch channels during the ads or hit mute during the ads. If someone lets a youtube ad play longer or watches a video you know they were in front of the screen.
Besides your argument makes little sense because ratings are measured after broadcast and not before. You know it will be measured but not what the measurement will be, is that particularly different than content marketing? Surely it’s just volume and engagement which is different.
@Billy C. I accept your attention point. But the OzTam methodology will/should overcome any ad break skipping, muting or leaving of the room scenarios.
My point on measurement was that with TV you buy a determined audience in the planning phase. The same as you would in any other media. And you (should) be delivered that audience as part of the agreement.
With content marketing you are trusting that your message will be strong enough to gain the audience.
As such, although content marketing may deliver better engagement it is built on the hope of an audience, not the guaranteed delivery of one.
*Brands have no option than be authentic. PR practitioners need to be brand’s ethical guardian*
Being authentic means being the same on the inside as you say you are on the outside. It’s about transparency, truthfulness and being genuine. Brands who fail ‘walk the talk’ will find their customers (and other important stakeholders) spotting the ‘legitimacy gap’ and voting with their feet.
Public relations professionals should help organisational leaders articulate what the company stands for and how it can live up to what it says it is. In other words public relations professionals should play a major part in developing the organisation’s corporate values and ethics from which positive action is driven. This is part of a much larger narrative around open and transparent brand and organisational communication. There’s further discussion on the importance corporate values play here: http://linkd.in/WR57Ve
Let’s be realistic – people are very savvy at skipping ads, everyone does it – no-one wants to sit in from of a TV or whatever and watch a block of them.
So many more people are now recording and fast forwarding through them…then just have a look at the way people jump onto Facebook and twitter during the X Factor breaks for instance. The days of “ad-breaks’ are numbered – like it or not.
Absolutely, Scott Guthrie.
All of a sudden there’s this talk about a new channel that creates a slow burn, builds authentic relationships and richer consumer connections that can lead to sales.
Heavens, we’re now even open to the idea that a channel that may not generate an immediate sales spike, yet may still be viewed as a very valuable addition to the marketing mix. Perhaps ongoing, relevant content serves could build brand love?
Oh hello that sounds like the way PR works… Content marketing that’s interesting enough to garner 3rd party endorsement. That’s how you have any hope at catching that elusive ‘authenticity’ for the brand.
Setting, sharing and promoting a brand’s values and achieving external endorsement of its products benefits is something we’ve always done.
We’ve traditionally not had the luxury of big budgets to pay for placement of our content, or the means to then web stalk those who click through… but we’ve never had a problem being ‘always on’, either.
And as we know, both Mumbrella content marketing awards were picked up by PR practitioners / agencies.
A good place to invest.
“I find myself cynical that a brand can be authentic”
Interesting. Wonder if your brand clients agree.
“I find myself cynical that a brand can be authentic.”
A brand is authentic when its product or service truly means something to the customer – it makes them feel good, or connected to something bigger, or any other reason why someone spends hard-earned money to buy something that they like. I believe the customer experience is what’s authentic, not the brand’s portrayal of themselves.
Think of brands like Nike, the Body Shop, Apple, which each connect to an authentic idea that is truly believed and embodied by those companies and their customers. It HAS to be about more than just selling products to make money.
If you don’t really believe that your product or service means anything special to your customers, no wonder you’ll be cynical about your content.
The ONLY way that content marketing works is by giving customers and potential customers the choice to engage with it. The content MUST be authentic or the audience will use their well-trained BS radar and hit delete or backspace.
A well formed content strategy ensures you learn as much about your audience as they learn about your brand. The technology platforms that allow you to manage your content also provide the insights into what’s engaging your audience, what’s leading to conversion and what’s contributing to loyalty in the long-term.
Treat your content marketing as a leading indicator for brand health. If it’s not meeting an authentic need, then it’s not just the content that’s failing.