Which Came First? The Content Or The Egg?
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the rDialogue blog.
Everyone’s talking about content like it’s a revolutionary new concept. In reality, it isn’t new, but it’s becoming more and more vital to provide relevant content to your customers to keep them engaged in the digital age of hyper clutter. In fact, some very smart companies have been using content to deepen customer relationships for decades—over a century in some cases—by providing a wealth of information beyond their core product.
There’s no better example than the Michelin Guide (which I admittedly didn’t know). At the turn of the century, brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin published the first Michelin Guide and distributed them at no charge in an effort to encourage car owners (of which there were less than 3,000 in France at the time) to take car trips and travel. Four years and 35,000 copies later, they published their second Michelin Guide—this one for Belgium—and the rest, as they say, is history.
Over 100 years ago, these brothers understood and delivered what so many retailers are struggling with today. They knew more travel meant more replacement tires—and that travel tips and guides would spur travel and replacement tires. Countless other retailers—in particular consumer packaged goods companies—have provided relevant content for years through recipes, cookbooks, websites and newsletters. Think back to your mother’s or your grandmother’s kitchen. I can clearly remember a multitude of pamphlets and cookbooks and mail-in recipe booklets from Campbell’s and Betty Crocker. And while today you’re more likely to find all of that information on a website or through an app, it was—and still is—relevant content.
My favorite content partnership right now is the collaboration between Tractor Supply Company and The Chicken Whisperer. Brilliant in its simplicity, The Chicken Whisperer provides videos and newsletter content and goes on quarterly road trips to meet customers at Tractor Supply stores. His information is relevant and of great interest to Tractor Supply customers, driving them to the website and stores, without Tractor Supply having to develop any of the content themselves.
Providing relevant content doesn’t require you to become an expert in a multitude of content areas; instead you can leverage others’ expertise through partnerships and bloggers. But it does require understanding your customers and the types of content they’ll find valuable.
It’s easy for any company to start leveraging content marketing, one article, blog or travel guide at a time, slowly determining what your customers need to know to have a reason to use your product or engage with your brand.
How is the role of content evolving for marketers in the digital age? What advice would you offer for improving the relevance and reach of a brand’s content?
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15 Comments on "Which Came First? The Content Or The Egg?"
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Content has been a BIG ISSUE since the creation of retail. The digital age just creates more channels and this means more demand for content. Content should already be priority #1 in any product or retail marketing program. You can never, ever have too much content available to a person spending cash!
Tom…a content-rich retail guy….
The internet has trained consumers to go about researching a possible purchase differently. The degree to which they are encouraged to lean forward and seek out information, becoming their own tour guides, is transformative. Consumers will seek out relevant content in self-guided ways and often this begins with a search where relevant content is presented via search results. How could a marketer ignore this process? How could they NOT create content that is optimized to be an attractor for people considering a purchase of what they have to sell?
There are still great examples of brand content (or, as we used to call some of them, “newsletters”) that have not gone digital. For example a nationwide specialty grocer has a detailed newsletter that describes new items and suggest great recipes for their products. This is a hard copy paper that customer can pick up and leave around the house that is a great reminder to shop that store soon.
As far as digital, there are countless vehicles for brand promotion that are serving both CPG and retail companies…and the customers they serve. The challenge is to create interesting, fresh content regularly, so the shopper has something new to see, say, each week. Give shoppers a compelling reason to come back to see the new content you have created. This is an intentional, focused effort that needs dedicated people on the task.
Jodi, thanks for bringing this discussion full circle. Relevant content and storytelling has been the core of human communication since folks were using charcoal to draw woolly mammoths on cave walls. Understanding your desired audience and their broader world will provide you with the foundation to be able to tell your story but you need to be creative and connect the dots like the Michelin brothers did. They understood that travel led to tires; just like Andy Schneider aka, The Chicken Whisperer, understands that folks that shop at Tractor Supply Company will most likely have chicken issues! (How many of you Googled ‘The Chicken Whisperer’!!??).
Brands all have a story to tell and shoppers enjoy hearing a great story that connects with them emotionally. Check your archives and I’ll bet there is a wealth of material that you thought had no value or relevance! Wrong! That material is priceless! Gather it, curate it, manage it and publish it! Your shoppers and customers will love it!
Allow me to morph this discussion slightly, broaden it really, to the bigger issue of focusing on the delivery system versus the content (or, in a different sense, the business proposition).
I listened to a great analysis from a “rule breaking” investment service over the holiday weekend. The entire focus of the first 45 minutes was how disruptive technologies would devastate cable companies. As you might imagine, several new tech companies were mentioned as smart investment plays to capitalize on this.
But then the discussion did a 180 in the last 15 minutes. The “rule breakers” breakout advice? Ignore all the delivery system bets and buy the content providers. Their rationale? That way you win, no matter whether it’s an “i-something” or an “x-something” you wind up using to get your content. It’s the content you want.
Parallels? I think so.
I think Ian’s point should be read by marketers and executives across our entire industry. The content is not a “me-me-me” proposition (we do this, and we were founded then, and we believe in, etc.) WITHOUT it being DIRECTLY connected to the shopper/consumer/buyer.
Often, the internet has become a huge price checker for shoppers and then people providing reviews/complaints/compliments about a company/product/service. The “education” of the shopper is where I see content going next (what you COULD DO, what you CAN LEARN, how your life COULD IMPROVE, etc.) through use of our products/services/company’s offering.
To me, relevant content is conversation starters, ideally seeded with a resonant emotional trigger that inspires those that read it to get involved. Best trigger framework I’ve seen in a long time is in Sally Hoghead’s “Fascinate” book. Worth a read. Her trigger combinations are especially relevant to almost all brands.
The conversations/content that influences behavior the most is peer-to-peer. It’s prudent to be a starter, an extender and to listen well so you don’t overstay your conversational welcome.
It’s the same question we’ve always had: are you trying to improve your customer’s lives, or are you simply trying to sell more product? Unless you can (truthfully) say it’s the former—and provide a brief explanation as to how—you’re never going to be relevant. I don’t see that “digital” has anything to do with it.
Companies need to use customer data to create customer intimacy and drive relevant communications.
Here’s a recent example from Netflix based on their recent introduction of customer profiles within a household.
Netflix has now put the customer in charge, giving us the option to willingly share personal choices that it can then use to improve the brand experience. With this simple-to-attain information, Netflix can discern how each individual in the home interacts with its service, enabling it to better understand not only individuals, but also the household, down the road.
More information on the Netflix example here: http://pearson4loyalty.com/2013/08/netflix-uncovers-clue-to-customer-preferences/
What other examples have you seen lately?
In yesterdays marketing, content was colorful language, attention getting words, emotion drivers, put it in their faces signage, anything that might get the attention of the consumer and maybe stir up the buying urge.
Today’s marketing is anything but the above. Today’s consumers, especially the younger ones, don’t want anything they didn’t ask for and especially not in their faces! Today’s content is about putting the goods and services in context and making it relevant. Then you have to go to where your customer is likely to hang out. Whether it be online, in-store, wherever…so THEY can find YOU!
Content is useless unless it invites conversation and useful dialogue. Gone are the days where you can shout at your customers and expect them to follow.