The 3 E’s of Content Marketing

When I wrote Marketing 2.0 in 2009 I set out to write a book for the average marketer. My goal was for marketers, particularly in small and midsize businesses and non-profits, to understand what social media is and how to embrace it productively. I boiled my book down to two core principles: content marketing and relationship building (through your content). In this post, I focus on content marketing because it is so crucial. And, truth be told, I still see many marketers struggle with their content marketing strategy.

Any business, in any industry of any size can (and should) create a compelling content strategy. Regardless of your industry, a content strategy should deliver on the 3 E’s.

Educate   |   Enlighten    |    Entertain

We live in an interactive world. People go online to do research about the products they’re considering, the companies behind them and even the people who make and sell them.  There is no hiding behind a corporate façade any longer. It’s not 1997, nor 2007. Those days are long gone. If a company tries to hide behind a corporate identity, they probably don’t even realize how much damage they’re doing to their brand because their corporate head is buried in the sand.

Businesses who produce great content that attracts people to it win. Period! Let’s look at how the 3 E’s of content marketing allow these three companies to market effectively. BTW, it was hard to pick just three examples.

Educate
SpaShopper sells spa pumps, filters, covers and other parts and accessories for spas and hot tubs. Their blog, Hot Tub and Spa Expert focuses mostly on educating consumers on a variety of relevant topics of interest to hot tub and spa owners. The topics range from how often the water needs to be changed, to how to regulate the temperature, adjusting filter cycles, proper use of chemicals, reducing electrical costs, how to winterize your spa and much more you might never have thought of.  In addition to great articles on these topics, they’ve produced educational video on topics such as replacing your spa pump and motor which shows a young lady dressed in overalls replacing a spa pump and motor. The message in these videos is anyone can do it! And the message is delivered in a believable, educational way.  SpaShopper also has product promotions displayed on their blog, which results in product sales each time a new educational blog post is released. A key driver in product sales is how the blog content is spread in part through their Twitter account and Facebook fan page. In full disclosure, SpaShopper is a client.

Enlighten
Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH) enlightens by sharing insights about their hospital, their staff, their capabilities, what they care about and about the local community. For example, “Sarasota Memorial’s licensed mental health professionals are on call 24 hours a day to provide free mental health assessments, referrals and advice.” Or, did you know that May is national stroke awareness month? And, did you know that strokes are (unfortunately) rising among younger adults. And, did you know that the city of Sarasota has moved from #11 to #5 in the top 25 small cities according to American Style Magazine. This kind of content is endless on a daily basis from SMH. Of course, they also provide enlightening content through Twitter and Facebook and through a new construction blog. All this enlightening content helps make SMH a well known hospital system. And, it doesn’t hurt that SMH is ranked one of America’s top 100 hospitals according to U.S. News & World Report.

Entertainment
There are so many good examples of companies that use entertainment as part of their content strategy including HubSpot’s videos and, of course, Blendtec. But, the example I’ll share with you is from Indium Corp. Their story has become pretty well known too. They are outstanding content producers. Indium has more than 70 engineers blogging about solder paste applications in the electronic assembly manufacturing industry. That’s obviously a very narrow niche. If you’re not an engineer in the electronic assembly market, you wouldn’t be a reader of their blogs. But, the engineers who read these blogs, many of whom are PhDs, have a sense of humor.  Rick Short at Indium decided to create some videos designed to make fun of themselves.  As Rick readily admits, Indium is humanizing themselves by poking fun at the importance of solder paste. Let’s face it, while solder paste is very important to electronic assembly manufacturers, it’s not a product linked with romance or cheer on Christmas. Yet, Rick made video parodies about giving a tub of Indium’s solder paste to his wife on Valentine’s day and to a little girl on Christmas day. The result? Rick is effectively humanizing Indium and creating buzz that often creates new opportunities. Rick was once walking the halls of a trade show in China when he was approached by someone who saw his Valentine’s Day video. Rick had to explain that he didn’t really give his wife a tub of solder paste. It was a joke! Indium’s overall content strategy delivers on all 3 E’s including entertainment.

I hope these three examples have provided some inspiration to develop a content strategy that delivers on the 3 E’s. If you’ve only been delivering one of the 3 E’s that’s a good start. Consider what else you can do with your content to expand into the other 2 E’s. Study your competition. Don’t copy what they’re doing (if they’re doing any good content marketing). Rather, look for ways to capitalize on your strengths and differentiators by creating more content that delivers on each of the 3 E’s.

Did you give someone you love a tub of solder paste on Valentine’s Day? If not, now you have an idea for next year…

Top 5 Reasons Your Social Media Strategy Can Fail in 2010

There are many reasons your social media strategy can fail in 2010. Here are just five of them…

No Top Down Support
It doesn’t matter how mainstream social media is without top management support you’re going to fail. Social media takes time. When the boss sees people Tweeting, blogging and Facebooking during business, if he’s not on board he’s not going to like it. Find examples of competitors or other companies in your industry doing an effective job of engaging community and brand building through social media to get the boss on board.

No Content Strategy
Just because your company has a Twitter account and a Facebook fan page doesn’t mean you have a strategy. You need a content hub and a content theme for an effective content marketing strategy. Define the “why” and the “what” of your content strategy. Develop content that delivers on the three E’s: Educate, Enlighten, Entertain. Use platforms like Twitter and Facebook to support your content strategy. But, put the horse in front of the cart, not the other way around.

No Consistency
You’ve developed your content marketing strategy and you have the boss on board. You plan out the first two months of content and you post. Then that big trade show comes up and you get super busy. Your consistency goes from daily, to weekly and before you know it your only consistency is being absent from your social media strategy. This is worse than not having a social media strategy. If you’re not consistently posting content and engaging community, you’ll never enjoy the benefits of social media marketing. You wouldn’t water a garden once or twice then walk away from it, would you? Consistency is not an option in social media marketing.

You’re Too Loud
If all you do is consistently deliver a sales message on social media, you may just as well go buy billboards and skip social media. For social media newbies, the temptation is sometimes to use the tools as megaphones to shout sales messages. Some brands can earn the right to offer deals and promotions on social media. But, even those brands must have a loyal audience. In most cases the loyalty must be earned through consistent content and authentic, creative engagement. Brands that engage their community through enjoyable experiences win.  Remember the three E’s.

You’re Not Human
Brands who hide behind a corporate facade with corporate speak and no human interaction don’t do as well as brands who engage human to human. Zappos and Ford Motor are good examples of large B2C brands that engage well human to human.  In B2B some relatively unknown names such as Indium Corp.

BatchBlue and HubSpot are successful at engaging human to human rather than hiding behind a brand. The people at each of these companies post content in their individual name, respond to comments and engage with people who engage with them. They recognize that the brand perception is what other people think it is. They don’t ignore anyone. They engage human to human and it’s very effective for them.

There are other reasons your social media strategy could fail in 2010. For additional reasons, you’ll find an entire chapter dedicated to it in my book, Marketing 2.0.

Add your comments below to join in the conversation.

Bernie Borges

Social Media Results in Motion

The December 14th issue of BusinessWeek has an article entitled: Beware Social Media Snake Oil. The article is intended to be a balanced look at the lack of marketing success some companies are having with social media through industry consultants. I disagree that it’s balanced. I think the article is biased against the social media consulting industry. Here’s why…

As the owner of an inbound marketing agency helping clients get measurable marketing results through web marketing strategies which include social media, I take exception to the general characterization of “snake oil” to my entire industry. Sure, it’s hard. As Chris Brogan points out in the BusinessWeek article, social media marketing is still new. Many companies are still trying to figure out social media. And, some are doing it wrong. And, yes some may be getting bad advice from so called experts. But, that’s no excuse to call the entire industry a bunch of snake oils.

Historic Transition

We are in a period of transition in marketing history. As we close out 2009 there are still a mix of traditional marketing channels which allow marketers to deliver outbound messages through tried and true tactics including advertising, mail, events, contests, email, etc. But, as time passes some of these so called tried and true marketing tactics are becoming less and less effective. Ask yourself (as a consumer) how many advertisements you allow yourself to see or read? Better yet, ask yourself how many ads truly influence your purchase decisions? Now, ask yourself (as a consumer) where do you go to get information about products and services you’re considering? I’m not against advertising one iota.  But, I want marketers to ask yourself are you willing to ignore the connected consumer regardless of your industry? Are you willing to allow your competitors to engage your target market through social media while you ignore it?

Let the Experiments Begin

Most marketers are beginning to realize they don’t have a choice but to participate in social media. If some social media consultants irresponsibly lead you down a failed path ask yourself did he/she promise quick results?  Did he/she promise the tactics would work out of the gate? If he/she was one hundred percent honest he/she explained it will take time and the tactics you try may or may not work. A competent social media consultant will formulate a plan based on research and much dialogue with you to develop the plan. After the plan is developed, then let the experiments begin! That’s right – experiments!

Measuring Results

The BusinessWeek article is critical about the inability to measure results. There are numerous articles, books and blogs that have argued that measuring results in social media can be difficult. The issue is exacerbated by consultants counting Twitter followers as results. The only results that matter are tied to sales (or equivalent for non-profits). That said, there are many interim steps that lead to sales and a well planned social media strategy can facilitate those steps.  All marketers have the choice of implementing any combination of tactics to reach their consumer. The channels marketers use are a choice. It’s been said for decades by marketers: “Fifty percent of my marketing budget is wasted, I just don’t know which fifty percent.” This is no excuse for not measuring. The issue is how do we measure results? I’ve blogged about measuring results and written about it in my book, and so have many others more prominent than me such as Chris Brogan.

Results in Motion

All businesses want to get a return on their marketing. However, measurable results from a social media strategy may or may not look the same as they do in other channels.  And, they may or may not happen quickly. While there are many big brand examples of successful social media marketing including Dell, Comcast, IBM, Starbucks, Ford and  Zappos, there are also examples of smaller, unknown brands. I call these results in motion because they are a work in progress. Remember, social media is still new!

Consider how Utica, N.Y. based Indium Corp reaches a worldwide audience of engineers to educate them about their solder paste used in electronic assembly equipment. In this B2B example, Indium has 85 blogs staffed by 15 engineers. They also produce video content which is educational and sometimes humorous. Results: They produce contacts with engineers around the world, a portion of which become sales opportunities…Results in motion….

Consider how Toronto based Homemakers Magazine reaches Canadian women to engage them on topics such as cooking, health and life balance. They have a diversiied content strategy which gets delivered across various channels on the web. They measure the growth of their reach, which is a stepping stone to selling subscriptions and advertising…Results in motion.

Consider how Ford Motor Company developed their social media strategy as summarized in this slide deck:

Notice that the word “product” or “sales” is not in their social media strategy statement. But, look at their most recent sales results (below). I’m not suggesting that their social media strategy is entirely the reason for their positive sales performance. I believe strongly that Ford is an example of a big brand who is doing an effective job of integrating traditional marketing (e.g. television advertising) with social media through community centric events and activities which builds trust with the consumer and spreads through word of mouth, all under the leadership of Scott Monty, their head of social media.

These are just a few of many examples of businesses who recognize they must experiment with these new social media channels. In the process of experimenting they are willing to take some risk and learn lessons about what does and doesn’t work. They are measuring results that impact their brand, which impacts their ability to differentiate from competitors and compete for sales.

Choices?

Do marketers really have a choice but to experiment with social media? Remember the question I asked about where do you turn to gain insights about the products and services you buy? If your answer wasn’t the Internet are you being honest? When you turn to the Internet to search for products and services, do you rely on ads or do you  seek input from others and do you allow input from others to influence your decision?

I am a BusinessWeek subscriber and I have been for many years. I rely on BW to keep me informed on many business topics. I have seen BW do follow ups to stories in the past. For example, in May 2005 BW did a cover story on blogging and the impact on business. In May 2008 they did a follow up to that cover story called Beyond Blogs, which expanded the coverage to social media. While the social media snake oil story is not a cover story, I would like to see BW do a follow up story with favorable examples of companies (not limited to large brands like Ford) who are getting solid advice from consultants and who are achieving measurable results, even if those results are results in motion….

Rick Short is Long on Social Media Marketing Success

This podcast interview is with Rick Short, Marketing Communications Director at Indium Corp. The interview is an excerpt from my forthcoming social media marketing book and covers the history and success of Indium’s social media marketing strategy.

Indium is a 75 year old manufacturer of electronics assembly materials. Rick has been there 25 years and has seen many evolutions in marketing during this time at Indium.

Rick started at Indium as a tech support specialist. He quickly learned that their customer is extremely educated, passionate and concerned with details. Indium’s experience with social media is about four years old. He emphasizes that social media allows us to be social with people. Indium’s culture has always been about helping people understand how to use their products in relevant ways.

Rick needed to help people at Indium understand that the tools in social media are available….No blog communication was strategy needed. This would violate social culture…Rather, they implemented a social media policy. But, they needed to convince the CEO that social media is real in B2B. To do that, Rick used this simple logic.

People talk on the phone…People email customers…People send faxes..People speak at conferences…People write in magazines…And, there are no formal policies for these methods of communication.

But blogging can live forever! Yes, but, so can the other media…It’s not a reason to inhibit the use of blogging.

Blogging is the most prevalent social media platform at Indium. The ultimate goal is to produce face to face contacts and relationships. Blogging is a version of communication that is close to face to face. It advances close contact. You can include video, photos, invite comments, post emails and phone numbers to invite customers to engage in conversations offline.

Indium now has 10 blogs with 15 people hosting them. The blogs are comprised of specific market segments to address the needs of these market segments. The bloggers write about the nuances of each market segment.

Rick has a very creative way of motivating engineers to blog. He provides inspiration them inspiration. The effectiveness of blogging has proved itself at Indium over the last four years. Blogging has actually replaced some tasks that are no longer good use of time or effective.  As results have become self evident the time management and the way you structure staff has also evolved.

At the annual attendance of the biggest trade show of the year in North America, Indium’s content was the primary focus. The content is asset which drives sales opportunities. Indium no longer spends a lot of money with big trade show booths. They actually cut trade show spending by 75%. Instead they sent more people to the technical sessions to engage in human conversations. Although trade show attendance was down 30% Indium generated as many leads as in years past!

Rick’s mantra: Rick receives content and hands off contacts. The sales team builds the relationships that produces sales.

Measuring Results
Rick measures traffic, and other traditional web metrics. But the primary metric is how many contacts (leads) he produces for the sales department.

Rick’s advice to executives who have not yet implemented a social media marketing strategy.

• Don’t rush to do it just because others have told you to do it. Your heart must be in it!
• It’s ok to make some mistakes. Fail forward.
• Begin at the end. What does your situation look like two years from now? Write it down.
• Build confidence through education, support, relationships. Cultivate skills.
• Refresh frequently. Challenge status quo. Are there newer/better tools?
• Measure results.
• Be very trasnparent. You’ll get a lot of help and support from others.
• Be committed. Start small by listening and commit resources to taking some action.

Indium also creates videos, both educational and humorous videos. They get tons of positive feedback for poking fun at themselves. Rick say’s “people feel respected when we poke fun at ourselves.”

Indium Corp’s successes using social media are an inspiration to any business who thinks that social media marketing is only for big brands or only for B2C brands. If a 75 year old electronics assembly manufacturer with a very technical customer can have success with social media, chances are you can too.

If you haven’t listened to the podcast interview for the full story, click the play button above. Enjoy.

Bernie Borges
@berniebay