content marketing & the earned media revolution (pram 2014)
DESCRIPTION
Earned media used to be a game defined by the relationship between PR and media, with marketing watching curiously from the sidelines. It was about brands influencing others to tell their stories for them. That game has been turned on its head thanks to the rise of content marketing, with brands finding their voices, crafting their own stories, and often bypassing media to go straight to their audience. In this session we’ll explore this dramatically changed landscape where brands become journalists, story placements give way to organic reach, and PR, marketing, advertising and agencies of every stripe fight it out for budgets and influence.TRANSCRIPT
Content Marketing: The Earned Media Revolution 2014 PRAM Conference
Kevin Briody @kevinbriody
Generating earned media used to be
the special domain of PR and the tools
of that trade
media was the primary non-paid path
to the audience
Today, brands are telling their own
stories
direct to the audience without filter, interpretation
bypassing the media
relying on mechanisms such as organic search and social
media spread to drive that wonderful earned media
AUDIENCE
METRIC
TACTIC
Media & Influencers Influencers & Customers
Placement & Tone Organic Search & Social Spread
Relationship – Pitch Brand-Created Stories
Worth Sharing
Result? It’s getting crowded out there
social media was just the
start of the change
content marketing turns generating earned media
into an omni-channel marketing function
everyone is piling on:
agency partners internal teams
every kind of expert
“Content marketing is the technique of
creating and distributing relevant and valuable
content to clearly defined and understood
audiences - with the objective of driving
profitable customer action.”
-PACE
content marketing
≠ simply
storytelling
“Content marketing is the technique of
creating and distributing relevant and valuable
content to clearly defined and understood
audiences - with the objective of driving
profitable customer action.”
-PACE
Content marketing is not new
aka branded publishing,
custom content
PACE has been doing it for 40 years…
So why is it all the rage now?
1. Distribution got vastly cheaper 2. We figured out how to prove it works 3. Rise of social media catalyzed demand
for engaging content
2013 Content Marketing Institute / MarketingProfs
86%USE CONTENT MARKETING
14%DO NOT USE CONTENT MARKETING
84%USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO DISTRIBUTE CONTENT
16%DO NOT USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO DISTRIBUTE CONTENT
The evidence of the wave is in…
What does the rise of content marketing mean for PR?
Remember the crowd I mentioned?
It’s like an earned media rager out there!
But the questions this raises for PR, and the industry as a whole, are immense…
Who owns content marketing within brand walls?
PR, Marketing, Brand, Social, Support… A cross-audience “content” function? Varies by desired goal: brand affinity, satisfaction, reach/impressions, sentiment, e-commerce, retail referrals, etc.
How do we measure success against those goals?
Blending web analytics, social
analytics, PR metrics, & omni-channel
attribution modeling
…don’t forget endless performance optimization
Who do brands partner with? AORs (Creative, Digital, PR) Specialists (Content, Social
Media, SEO) Technology Shops
Everyone is building a content practice or toolset, but each with a distinct flavor and focus.
What skills, work experience, and functional specialists are the best fit?
Editors, journalists, PR, marketers, content strategists…?
Social media as a guide to content marketing’s future? ü Massive hype and
expectations ü Rise of specialists ü Everyone jumps in the
pool ü Ownership battles ensue
and PR stakes a claim ü Transformation from
discrete strategy to ingredient tactic
ü Still unsettled…
Where does PR ultimately fit into the emerging content marketing mix?
Traditional PR skills and expertise are essential in a content marketing world Mastery of storytelling, working with editors and journalists Expertise with timely content & how to influence the news cycle Knowledge of identifying and engaging influencers Generating earned media
“Content marketing is the technique of
creating and distributing relevant and valuable
content to clearly defined and understood
audiences - with the objective of driving
profitable customer action.”
-PACE
what’s unspoken is the how
PR = Earned Media
Specialists Content
Marketing Social Media
Influencer & Media
Engagement
Image Credits Images not listed were sourced through iStockPhoto or provided by my employer. All others found via Creative Commons search on Flickr and Compfight. Flickr source user listed by slide, with apologies for any slight errors: 2. WilsonRivera 3. muffin9101985 5 & 14. marfis75 7. armadillo444 13. LizGrace 15. Penuja 16. Panouino 17. Filmingilman 18. Livenature 19. spblatt 23. Damianhopper 25. Mformatthjis (background image)