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Page 1

turn

ing

cust

omer

dat

a in

to g

ood

insi

ght.

Peo

ple

thin

k ab

out

thei

r su

pper

whe

n th

ey c

omm

ute.

The

y fe

el g

uilt

y ab

out

eati

ng r

eady

-m

ade

mea

ls b

ut h

ave

littl

e ti

me

whe

n th

ey g

et h

ome.

Tes

co u

sed

soci

al m

edia

to

reac

h th

em o

n th

eir s

mar

tpho

nes

wh

ile o

n th

eir w

ay to

wor

k. T

he c

ampa

ign

ads

show

ed 4

-5 in

gre

di-

ents

and

a re

cipe

wh

ich

the

cust

omer

cou

ld tu

rn in

to a

n ea

sy e

ven

ing

mea

l. W

hen

the

righ

t per

son

sees

bra

nd-

ed c

onte

nt, i

t mak

es p

erfe

ct s

ense

to

them

.

Co

nten

t +

dat

a +

syst

emat

ic

exp

erim

enta

tio

n

Judg

ing

by t

he p

oor

leve

ls o

f eng

agem

ent,

muc

h co

n-te

nt m

arke

ting

dem

onst

rate

s th

e Pe

rfec

t St

rate

gy

in p

rac-

tice

: the

pla

n w

hic

h pr

omis

es t

o de

liver

the

des

ired

fut

ure

st

ate,

but

qu

ickl

y be

com

es o

bsol

ete

if it

doe

s no

t ada

pt. M

ar-

kete

rs li

ke c

reat

ing

cont

ent

beca

use

it is

eas

y to

man

age.

It is

pr

edic

tabl

e an

d m

easu

rabl

e, a

nd t

here

’s a

gro

win

g, r

eass

uri

ng

cons

ensu

s ab

out w

hat g

ood

cont

ent l

ooks

like

. Wit

ness

, for

exa

m-

ple,

all

the

talk

abo

ut s

tory

telli

ng, e

spec

ially

by

reti

red

ad m

en. B

ut

Why

co

nten

t m

arke

ting

is im

po

rtan

t

JAM

IE

PRIE

STLE

Y,co

rres

po

nden

t

Lond

on

.

Alt

houg

h ob

viou

s to

mar

ke 4

1’s

exp

ert

read

ers,

it’

s w

orth

re-

stat

ing

the

reas

ons.

Con

tent

mar

keti

ng is

a

stra

teg

y th

at a

ims

to c

reat

e an

d sh

are

valu

able

, rel

e-va

nt c

onte

nt t

hat

attr

acts

and

ret

ains

a t

arge

t au

di-

ence

. By

2021

it w

ill g

row

by

16%

and

be

wor

th $

413

billi

on, s

ays

Tec

hna

vio,

a r

esea

rch

firm

. Mor

e an

d m

ore

mar

kete

rs

are

doin

g co

nten

t be

caus

e th

ey h

ope

that

it’s

the

ant

idot

e to

the

A

dbl

ocka

lyps

e. A

nd c

onte

nt a

ppea

ls b

ecau

se t

he p

rize

is n

ot ju

st

to r

each

an

aud

ienc

e bu

t re

mai

n w

ith

it -

on

the

basi

s th

at p

eopl

e bu

y m

ore

from

tho

se t

hey

know

and

like

.

Stra

teg

y is

no

t w

hat

it u

sed

to

be

If yo

u’re

ove

r 30,

you

pro

babl

y le

arne

d ab

out s

trat

egy

from

gur

us

like

Port

er, K

otte

r an

d A

nsof

f. T

hey

advi

se o

rgan

isat

ions

how

to

mov

e sy

stem

atic

ally

tow

ards

som

e id

eal f

utur

e st

ate.

Cen

tral

to th

eir

thin

king

is th

e id

ea o

f the

per

fect

str

ateg

y. L

ong

befo

re im

plem

enta

-ti

on s

tart

s, a

pla

n is

refi

ned

and

perf

ecte

d by

the

bes

t in

the

firm

, pe

rhap

s w

ith t

he h

elp

of b

rilli

ant

advi

sors

from

McK

inse

y or

eve

n a

com

mun

icat

ions

age

ncy.

And

the

n it’

s so

ld t

o th

e em

ploy

ees

Con

tent

M

arke

ting

2.0

KO

MM

EN

TAR

|

In

sigh

ts f

rom

a S

mal

l Is

lan

d

Page 2

this

is n

ot e

noug

h to

sel

l stu

ff. G

ood

cont

ent

tells

you

r cu

stom

ers

you

und

erst

and

them

; con

tent

plu

s da

ta p

rove

it. A

t th

is p

oint

the

m

antr

a of

a s

tart

-up

(Act

, Mea

sure

, Adj

ust,

Rep

eat)

mus

t re

plac

e th

e id

eal o

f the

Per

fect

Str

ateg

y. T

he t

ask

is t

o ge

t co

nten

t to

the

ri

ght p

erso

n at

the

rig

ht t

ime,

and

tha

t req

uir

es m

arke

ters

to

lear

n as

the

y go

alo

ng.

Aft

er a

ll, t

oday

’s s

ucce

ssfu

l pl

an t

o pr

omot

e T

esco

is

tom

orro

w’s

din

osau

r b

ecau

se c

han

nels

and

cu

stom

er

pref

eren

ces

will

hav

e ch

ange

d.

Of c

ours

e th

is n

ewer

, mor

e ite

rati

ve a

ppro

ach

has

its w

eakn

ess-

es t

oo, m

ainl

y be

caus

e it

requ

ires

dee

p in

tegr

atio

n ac

ross

the

mar

-ke

ter’s

org

anis

atio

n. T

he c

usto

mer

loya

lty s

yste

ms

that

pow

er c

on-

tent

mar

keti

ng d

epen

d on

col

lab

orat

ion

bet

wee

n de

part

men

ts

whi

ch th

ink

very

diff

eren

tly: m

arke

ting

see

s th

e w

orld

from

the

out-

side

in; I

T th

inks

from

the

insi

de o

ut. W

hen

the

chie

fs (o

f mar

keti

ng,

tech

nolo

gy a

nd in

form

atio

n) a

re in

the

sam

e ro

om, a

nd w

hen

they

re

ally

hea

r w

hat

each

oth

er n

eeds

, the

y ca

n st

art

to b

uild

a fr

ame-

wor

k th

at m

atch

es t

heir

am

biti

ons

for

the

cust

omer

exp

erie

nce

to

the

orga

nisa

tion

’s d

ata

mod

el. T

his

is e

asie

r sa

id t

han

done

: th

e ri

ght

solu

tion

em

erge

s on

ly w

hen

peop

le a

nd d

epar

t-m

ents

gen

uine

ly a

ccep

t th

eir

inte

rdep

ende

n-ci

es. B

ut th

en n

o st

rate

gy c

an g

uara

ntee

suc

h co

-ope

rati

on b

ecau

se c

ult

ure

, as

we

know

, ea

ts s

trat

egy

for b

reak

fast

.

Co

nclu

din

g t

houg

ht

Mar

kete

rs m

ust

deliv

er t

he p

erfo

rman

ce t

hey

pred

ict.

Uns

urp

ris-

ingl

y, t

here

fore

, the

y pr

efer

to

cont

rol a

s m

uch

as p

ossi

ble.

But

to

mee

t th

eir

targ

ets

they

nee

d to

be

as n

imbl

e as

the

ir e

lusi

ve c

us-

tom

ers,

so

the

perf

ect,

in

flexi

ble

stra

teg

y is

look

ing

incr

easi

ngly

u

nsaf

e. It

’s t

ime

for

mar

kete

rs t

o th

ink

mor

e lik

e ch

eeky

ent

repr

e-ne

urs

, les

s lik

e br

and

cura

tors

. b

y Ja

mie

Pri

estl

ey

who

will

impl

emen

t it.

For a

ll its

vir

tues

, thi

s ap

proa

ch

is u

nder

att

ack.

It

has

been

des

crib

ed a

s a

“sm

all

scie

nce

of i

mpo

sed

patt

erns

” t

hat

relie

s to

o m

uch

on w

hat h

as w

orke

d in

the

past

, and

le

aves

litt

le r

oom

for

orig

inal

ity

afte

r th

e st

rate

gy is

set

. Its

cri

tics

ques

tion

how

wel

l it i

s su

ited

to th

e flu

id a

nd

com

plex

wor

ld th

ey s

ee to

day.

The

trou

ble

is th

at e

ven

good

str

ateg

y ca

rrie

s tw

o da

nger

s: t

he fi

rst

is t

hat

it be

com

es o

bsol

ete

whe

n it

s as

sum

ptio

ns a

re n

o lo

nger

val

id. T

he s

econ

d is

fals

e co

nfid

ence

-

whe

re th

e m

arke

ter c

an’t

see

cust

omer

nee

ds c

hang

ing

beca

use

she/

he b

elie

ves

a lit

tle to

o m

uch

that

str

ateg

ies

pred

ict t

he fu

ture

. Pla

n -ni

ng is

val

uabl

e, o

f cou

rse,

but

onl

y if

it he

lps

orga

nisa

tion

s to

be

com

peti

tive.

And

yet

the

Per

fect

Str

ateg

y co

ntin

ues

to s

educ

e u

s. I

s th

is

also

true

in c

onte

nt m

arke

ting

? N

ow s

eem

s a

good

mom

ent t

o as

k,

beca

use

cont

ent i

s fa

st b

ecom

ing

the

mar

keti

ng s

trat

egy

of c

hoic

e.

Co

nten

t is

no

t a

stra

teg

y

Bec

kon.

com

rec

kon

s th

at s

pen

din

g on

con

tent

mar

keti

ng i

s up

30

0% v

s a

year

ago

, yet

the

leve

l of c

usto

mer

dis

enga

gem

ent (

95%

) is

dep

ress

ing

and

stat

ic. I

t is

over

20

year

s ag

o th

at B

ill G

ates

de

clar

ed ‘

Con

tent

is

Kin

g’.

If i

t is

sup

pose

d to

find

bet

ter,

mor

e lo

yal

cust

omer

s to

inc

reas

e sa

les

and

prom

ote

the

bran

d, 9

5% d

isen

gage

men

t su

gges

ts t

hat

mar

kete

rs a

re c

ur-

rent

ly fa

iling

. The

re a

re t

hre

e lik

ely

reas

ons.

Fir

st, b

rand

s ar

e cr

eati

ng c

onte

nt w

hic

h se

rves

the

bra

nd s

trat

egy

but f

ails

to

ex-

cite

the

cus

tom

er. S

econ

d, c

onte

nt s

trat

egie

s ca

n co

nfu

se q

uan-

tity

wit

h q

ualit

y. M

arke

ters

kno

w th

ey m

ust fi

ll th

eir b

rand

spa

ces,

an

d co

nten

t fo

r 10

¢ pe

r w

ord

or le

ss m

akes

th

is p

ossi

ble

for

the

budg

et-c

onsc

ious

, but

it te

nds

not t

o ho

ld th

e in

tere

st o

f dis

cern

ing

cust

omer

s fo

r lo

ng. T

he t

hir

d re

ason

is t

he o

ver-

opti

mis

tic

view

that

goo

d co

nten

t is

enou

gh, w

hen

in fa

ct it

is o

nly

hal

f th

e ba

ttle

. The

oth

er h

alf

is t

o ge

t th

e ri

ght

info

rmat

ion

to

each

ind

ivid

ual w

hen

they

wan

t it

. Tes

co r

ecen

tly

cre-

ated

a s

ucce

ssfu

l co

nten

t ca

mp

aig

n in

the

UK

by