9 Content Marketing for Brand Curiosity (Initiating Conversations with Powerful Storytelling)
- Content is the New Ad, #Hashtag is the New Tagline
Content has a big role of making a brand appealing, the content that will be posted in social media should be compelling, attractive and engaging. It should be an interesting story for people to read it and take action about it. Nowadays, hashtags are used as taglines which is the traditional format. Content marketing’s role is to bring about the truth about the brand. Since there is an advent of trust towards peers than companies, it has become a challenge to all marketers to clearly convey value proposition without the impression of hard selling. Moreover, content should be very creative and overwhelming yet a credible information. Consumer can now has the ability to choose when, how and where to consume the content or even decide if they want to consume or not. Advertisers faces the five-second challenge to attract the viewers of the ad in Youtube or Facebook.
There are 2 types of content, a content that delivers an information about the product with the goal of selling the products and services and the other one is a content that will address the needs of the consumers. Content nowadays should touch the emotions and the first 5 seconds should achieve a brand recall. In creating content, consumer’s definition of content should be prioritized.
With the resort, the content that we make should always be helpful, like tips and guidelines that makes sense to all who will read it not a content that will push sales. Content in a form of video or blogs should be useful and relevant to its readers or viewers.
Sample content for the resort would be.
- Travel must haves: What you should have in your camping backpack
- How to prepare for a Long Drive to the beach
- Igloo Tents vs Arbhor Screen Tents?
- 10 Best Beach Pose
- Top 5 Beach Activities that you should try
- Camping Outdoors vs. Staying in a Deluxe Room
- 10 Trendiest Beach Attires
- How to save on your summer beach outing
- Tools that you might need in your Camping getaway
- 10 Reasons why you should go camping.
2. Step-by-Step Content Marketing
Pre-production and post-distribution are essential steps in making a quality content
GOAL SETTING – This is goal setting, the exact target goal number should be identified. Goals must be very specific. Content must be distributed to the right digital channel.
2 Categories of Content
1. Sales Oriented Goals – lead generation, conversion, this has a call to action included in the content.
EXAMPLE:
- Increase occupancy rate in lean season by 50%
- To achieve 50% or 115 bookings from Facebook inquiries per month.
- To increase search engine conversion ratio by 30% and get 3,969, bookings in 3 months.
- To achieve 50 bookings from Search Ads / Google ads in 3 months.
2. Brand Related Goals – brand awareness, brand loyalty/advocacy, this should be consistent with the brand character and should build the brand image.
EXAMPLE:
- To get 10 travel bloggers talking about the resort in 3 months.
- To gain 20 affiliate partners in 3 months.
- To increase YouTube views by 50% that will achieve 12,439 views from all owned videos combined in 3 months.
- To gain 50 new members for the online community website in 3 months.
AUDIENCE MAPPING – building the brand persona or target market. This is the specific audience that will read the content. Target market and Market segment.
EXAMPLE:
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FIRST PRIORITY THE COMPANY |
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Name |
Leini Rose Apun of Inovus |
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Age |
33 |
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Class |
B and C |
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Sex |
Female |
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Occupation |
Corporate Events Personnel |
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Monthly Income |
P50,000 |
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Budget can allocate |
600 per person per day |
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Identifying traits/ Attitudes |
Single, Broad-minded, Communicative, Compassionate, Generous |
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Emotional needs |
Sense of autonomy and control, Being emotionally connected to others, Unity |
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Core desires & Psychographics |
To get foster unity in the organization and build friendship.
“I need to find an affordable place for team building that will develop camaraderie of our employees.” |
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Sentiments |
1. Has the responsibility to maintain harmonious and amicable relationship within the company. 2. Evaluates employee’s behavior and attitude. 3. Conceptualize, develop and disseminate information to maximize HR/Admin Division budget. |
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Techno-graphics
Digital Usage Habits
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1. Usually equipped with gadgets for online use -desktop/laptop, smartphone, and/or tablet. 2. Regularly monitors Facebook and Twitter accounts and is almost always online. 3. Has active accounts in job search sites such as JobStreet.com, JobsDB.com, LinkedIn and the likes. SOURCES & DATA: 1. 31% of population in the Philippines ages 25-34 uses the internet for research and buying products as per Comscore via rappler. 2. Internet penetration in the Philippines rose to 35% this year from 29% in 2011 from DST Sec. Louis Casambre. This was attributed to the lowering cost of accessing the Internet and the growing accessibility to web-capable mobile phones among Filipinos. –PHILSTAR |
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Techno-graphics
Content Consumption Preferences
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1. Checks her emails almost every hour. 2. Reads blogs almost daily about topics related to human resource and employee relations. 3. Spends 3 hours surfing the net daily, watches trending YouTube videos at the end of his/her shift. 4. Some even subscribe to newsletters related to their interests and buy online. 5. They visit news sites for current events like www.inquirer.net, ph.news.yahoo.com, www.rappler.com and ABS-CBN or GMA news FB pages. SOURCES & DATA: 1. According to a recent study by ComScore, Filipinos were found to spend 41.5% computer screen time on social networking sites versus 17.3% on services website and 19.5% on news. 2. Top 1 Facebook media page is ABS CBN and Top 4 is GMA according to Social Bakers. 3. Filipinos are second when it comes to the number of blog readers and video uploaders, a study released by Universal McCann. |
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Techno-graphics
Consumer Content Creation Profile
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1. Express opinions and is comfortable in “speaking their mind”. (CRITIC) 2. Also subscribes to newsletters based on their interest. (JOINERS) 3. Fond of using hash tags on Instagram and Twitter. (COLLECTORS) 4. Fond of posting OOTD and Throwback pictures on FB (CREATORS) SOURCES & DATA: 1. Most popular post on FB according to Social Bakers September 2014 is about Throwback pictures with 210K Total Interactions and 22.4% engagement from Social Bakers. 2. In research by digital audience measurement company Effective Measure, 83% of the respondents engage in the Facebook page influenced them to purchase from those businesses. |
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Aspirations |
1. Wants to develop harmony and build self esteem among employees. 2. Prioritizes employee’s welfare and personal development. 3. Wants to cultivate teamwork within the organization. 4. Wants to deepen employee-employer relationship. |
CONTENT IDEATION & PLANNING – Themes relevant to audience and industry brand. Content should be clear and relatable. It should address anxieties and desires. Brand image and voice should also be applied here, same with that it has to be have a very consistent brand character. A good content can cover visuals, info graphics, games, video, short film, photos. Multi-formats are the key these days. Conent should be attractive to promote curiosity that addresses the “appeal” and “ask” stages.
EXAMPLE:
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Content |
Purpose |
Frequency |
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Email Content *For Brand Loyalty |
To contact cancelled bookings, paid bookings and for feedback gathering that will increase guest return rate |
Daily
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Survey Content |
To collect feedback from guest at the resort after their camp experience and to know if they will recommend to others. |
Daily (After check out) |
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FB Post *For Branding and News Updates |
To give updates about the resort, drive guests into the resorts website; increase customer awareness, engagement to FB page and traffic to the website. |
Daily (MWF) at 6-9 pm and T,TH, Sat, Sun at 5-7am |
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FB Ads Content *Target specific market segment |
To attract target market with clear CTA and entice them to experience the resort by linking the ads to the rates page and gallery that showcases what the resort can offer. |
Daily for 3 months (starting March-May) |
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Promos and Discounts *Showcase group packages |
To present package offers for a specific group number to help the guest in deciding on what amenities that will fit their budget. |
Once a week (Every Wednesday) |
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Instagram Content *Capture real emotion |
To show what beach activities can they do at the resort. To express peoples emotion through pictures. To share what is new at the resort. |
Three time a week (Tues, Thurs, Sat) |
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Affiliate Program Letter *X deal for added exposure |
To invite and establish a link with online travel agencies and be able to add media exposure which can increase ROI. |
Send invites 3 X a week for 3 months. |
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Press Releases / Blogs *Online Reputation |
To promote the resort with use of blogs and positive press releases and improve online reputation. |
Once a week |
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Online community Site Content *Share valuable Information to campers |
To unite all campers and have a one stop resource site about camping, this will increase awareness about the resort and at the same time aid potential guests in a successful camping activity. |
Once a week |
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You Tube content *To draw guest to visit the resort |
To entice people to visit the resort, this will contain shots of happy people and amazing scenery, beauty of nature and camping how -to’s directed to the resorts website. |
Once a week |
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Google Paid Ads *To yield higher reach of potential guests |
This is to target key terms that are not used in SEO, for brand awareness, higher reach and geo-targeted locations. The ads should contain phrases which supports the big idea. |
Daily for 3 months (starting March-May) |
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Landing Pages *To cater to a more specific need of the potential consumer |
This is to address the specific interest and the precise reason why the potential consumer clicked on the Paid ads, this is to keep them glued to the page and prevent them from getting confused with other unimportant information on the page. |
Once a week |
CONTENT CREATION – Content creation itself. Marketers should act as publishers with strong writing skills and an eye of an editor. Content should be truthful and consistent. Creating content is a continuous process. Quality and appealing content should be planned and created ahead of time. Marketers can opt to hire journalists, animators, videographers. It must be compelling and inviting for the viewers to make their own version that can be shared across digital media.
EXAMPLE:
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Day |
Topic |
Theme |
Detailed Context |
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Sunday |
Games /Trivia Quotes and Facts |
“Special Sunday” |
Games/Trivia’s about the beach, Quotes and facts how nature nourishes the soul, facts about the beach – nature and what It can offer. It could also contain link to published articles and owned blogs. Posted on a Sunday to offer relaxation to everyone. |
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Monday |
Events |
“Manic Monday” |
Events like Kite flying tournament, Barbecue Party, Beach Volleyball Clinic. Posted on a Monday to give guests ample time to prepare for the events. |
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Tuesday |
Gratitude Day |
“Thankful Tuesday” |
Welcome and Thank you note patronizing the resort. Pictures submitted to the team and YouTube videos created will be shared on this day. Posted on a Tuesday to acknowledge selected guests who visited the resort and those who have submitted their pictures to the management. |
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Wednesday |
Best shots |
“Wacky & Wild Wednesday” |
Post pictures of people in motion and action, group barkadas best shots and couples romantic shots. Posted on a Wednesday when majority are planning for a relaxing weekend. |
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Thursday |
All about food |
“Tasty Thursday” |
Food / Drinks and preparation Posted on a Thursday, to give ideas on what food to bring for the weekend getaway |
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Friday |
Package Rates |
“Fantastic Friday” |
Package Rates, Teambuilding packages, Wedding Packages, Reunion packages, Lean Season rates, Special Discounts, Promos. Posted on a Friday for last minute bookings. |
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Saturday |
News and Updates |
“Steady Saturday” |
Holiday update, Weather update, meteor shower, tide updates, Staff update, policies, behind the scene updates and what’s new about the resort. Posted on a Saturday to give real time updates about what’s happening at the resort. |
CONTENT DISTRIBUTION – Content distribution does not need to focus only on digital, in person events may also be a good addition to a digital marketing plan because it allows human to human interaction. The 3 categories where content can be published is through owned, paid and earned media.
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POEM Usage |
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Paid |
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Owned |
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Earned |
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SAMPLE CHANNEL MIX
CONTENT AMPLIFICATION – Content amplification strategy begins when there are audiences who becomes influencers, normally these are the people with high number of followers and can be brand advocates. To keep a long lasting relationship with influencers, the content should be very useful that it is worth sharing and that content should also improve the influencer’s reputation. Once amplified, the marketers should continue the conversation and keep a record of these brand loyalist, there should be a program or system to retain them. Once a positive feedback or a positive press release was awarded to the resort, it is the marketer’s duty to nurture the relationship.
CONTENT MARKETING EVALUATION – This is managing metrics based on media channels that was chosen. This will establish data and identify if the content marketing plan has actually made an impact on the business. Analytics tools may be used to determine engagements like Facebook Insights. It should be able to determine if the content is effective by looking at areas of how much became curios (aware) of the brand. People was able to relate (appeal), people actually made a move to contact the resort (ask), People booked (act) and shared (advocated). In offline, KPI will be a measure of no of respondents of the survey, no if guest who will be willing to recommend the resort to their friends. No. of guest who have heard of the resort through other people or by referral. In online, Key performance indicators may be measured if your content has been passed to another, they registered on your site, they created a their own version of your content though blogs etc., has been actively joining your contests, making votes, like, engagement and recommendation, sharing of photos positively influencing others about your brand, positive review rating and by increased review rate. Here are some formulas that can determine KPI’sCONTENT AMPLIFICATION – Content amplification strategy begins when there are audiences who becomes influencers, normally these are the people with high number of followers and can be brand advocates. To keep a long lasting relationship with influencers, the content should be very useful that it is worth sharing and that content should also improve the influencer’s reputation. Once amplified, the marketers should continue the conversation and keep a record of these brand loyalist, there should be a program or system to retain them. Once a positive feedback or a positive press release was awarded to the resort, it is the marketer’s duty to nurture the relationship.
EXAMPLE
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ROI and Average Time on Site |
Ultimate measure of success of the campaign an indicator of websites to keep track of guests |
ROI = Income from investment – Cost of Investment / Total cost of investments Average Site Time = # of visitors
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WEBSITE FOR MAIN SITE AND COMMUNITY WEBSITE CONVERSION RATIOS
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1. Search Engine Conversion Ratio (SEC) 4. Cost per Impression |
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EMAIL MARKETING |
1.Bounce Rate 2. Open Rate 3. Replied Rate 4. Unsubscribe rate |
1. No of emails returned to sender = # of bounced/email sent 2. No of emails opened and read = #of emails read / Emails sent 3. No of emails with reply = # of emails opened / Total emails sent 4. No recipient unsubscribed = Unsubscribed / Total no of emails sent |
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SOCIAL MEDIA |
Social Media ROI
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SMR = Investment Return – Social Media Spend / Social Media Investment percent LEAD GENERATION= # of leads form SM channels/total # of leads |
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FB ADS, GOOGLE ADS AND ENGAGEMENT SCORE
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1.CONVERSION RATE 2. Engagement Score 3. Cost per Impression 4. Cost Per Acquisition 5. Cost per click |
CR= Number of conversion # of clicks CTR=Total Points CPM = Flat rate per month (Total Impressions / 1,000) CPA = Ads spend # of Impressions (CTR)(CR) CPC = Flat rate per month Total number of click |
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BLOG |
A new blog has been made by a client as earned media and has been spread over the web. |
1. Check the quality of the blogs if it can give access to the target audieence. Celebrity or Travel advocates if possible. 2. Check back links inbound links from external bloggers 3. Blogs should come from a credible source and if the blogs has a good position in search engine results. 4. A call to acion towards FB page and webste should be visible.
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INSTAGARM |
Measure of follows and regrams |
REACH = # of followers ENGAGEMENT RATE = # of likes + # of shares + comments / total number of posts |
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YOU TUBE |
Measure of Videos popularity and shares |
Number of likes, shares, and embeds Number of youtube documentation by guests. ENGAGEMENT RATE = # of likes + # of shares + embeds / total number of posts
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CONTENT MARKETING IMPROVEMENT– Content marketing can be easily improved with a little tweak on schedule and approach or scheduling. It may be experimental in the sense that there is no right or wrong as long as the appropriate content is distributed to the right channel. It should only be consistent with the brand image, voice, character, personality and focused on company’s vision and brand’s mission.
3. Summary: Creating Conversations with Content
Shifting to content marketing from the traditional advertising requires a shift in mind set, it is a totally different arena, it is easy to track the results with the analytics available, less expensive and easy to modify. However, it also require pre-production and post-distribution activities for it to be successful.
A. What is the content that you think will be valuable to your customers?
Content that is engaging, games probably or any informative details like the example mentioned above. The content should address the questions on how to have a successful beach camp, the video content must be enticing enough to be shared and replicated with their own version. They would appreciate weather reports or information. Thanking the guests would also be a good content. They should feel appreciated, tips and guide for a safe and long drive can also be a topic, same with team building games suggestions. Info graphics or a short cartoon skit about the trip in a beach would also be fun to share. Promos, rates, announcement about contests, link to blogs which features the resort is also acceptable. The ideas are endless.
B. How can the content tell a story about your brand?
The content can be a storyboard of an ordinary traveler, an adventure that is memorable, the content should also be written in a creative and narrative way. Following the 2 options as presented in this chapter, it should inform and should be consistent with the brand character and should build the brand image.
C. How do you plan to execute your content-marketing strategy?
The report should combine online and offline content, all survey content should be polished all towards building return guest and loyal advocates. FB content should include information, games, promos, packages, pictures, info graphics, blogs and links to resort videos. The content should be interlinked to each other. The content plan should be prepared ahead of time and needs to be approved by the content manager. It should be well written and that it should also showcase real people, real emotions and even behind the scene pictures of real people who works for the resort. Real life stories and content should also acknowledge those people who are trying to be a part of the company, we shall post pictures submitted to us by the guests as we aim to our guest feel that we are a family. To be able to successfully execute the plan, it should follow the step by step marketing plan as discussed above because it covers specific goal setting, building the persona, planning the content, setting up metrics o measure success, amplification and retaining advocates and evaluation of the strategy for further improvements.