3 Ways to Extract Brand Stories from Inside the Company

Posted on 30. Apr, 2012 by Joe Pulizzi in Blog, Branded Content, content marketing, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

You’ve done it.  You’ve developed why you need the content, created and vetted the buyer personas, and  identified the buying stages where this essential content will have impact on the business.  As you start to dig into your content marketing channel and workflow strategy, you realize that you simply don’t have enough brand stories to meet the demands of the content marketing initiative.

In many content marketing programs, the core brand stories have to deal with transforming an employee’s, customer’s or stakeholder’s passion and expertise into one or multiple brand stories or story elements.  How many times have you heard the following that have stopped you in your tracks?:

• Our [CEO, EXECUTIVE OR ENGINEER] doesn’t write – in fact, no one in our organization writes (almost certainly not true).
• Our [CEO, EXECUTIVE OR ENGINEER] can’t write (okay, maybe this one’s true).
• How are we going to get all this content created? – I just don’t have the resources (almost always true to an extent).

Now, before we look at some of the ideas below, we all need to realize that almost NO COMPANY has a shortage of raw material for content marketing (this piece on content audits may help).  What’s usually missing is that the content is not in storytelling form or that a process has not been created to extract the information in a way that works with the content marketing plan.

Capture the Content in Their Format of Choice

Some CEOs love to write, but most CEOs like to talk. If it’s a challenge to get your C-level executive to produce thought leadership content, capture their thoughts in a different format. Interview them using Skype, and record the conversation. Your managing editors can turn that into other content marketing pieces (e.g., blog posts, white papers, etc.). Or, if the content is good enough quality, you can use it in the captured format. Or, if they can’t really write — but they’re willing to just type an email — tell them to just write a long email to you.

In other words, don’t block the process by forcing them into something they aren’t comfortable with.

When you’re at industry events, be sure to capture photos and video. Mix and match them with pieces of content that you may or may not produce. Maybe the video gets used in a customer interview.

Another thing you can do is just sit down with the person. If there’s a product manager who is shy, or doesn’t feel like he can write 500 words on a particular topic, interview him. Take them to lunch and record the conversation. Again, re-use that content in multiple formats.

Help Them Tell Stories

Many times when you’re talking with executives about writing and creating content, you have to begin by simply teaching them what “writing” is. The act of writing is just transferring what’s in your head to words. As the famed sportswriter Red Smith used to delicately put it — all you have to do is “sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.”

Of course the real magic in turning writing into a story or something worth reading happens in the editing process. Relieve your team of their worries, and assure them that the copy will be “polished up” during editing. Then get them rolling, by offering the following tips:

1. Write it out. Just write blind — get it out. Writers are usually surprised by how much structure and genuine goodness comes out by just opening up and not letting their mental “editor” get in the way. Tell your prospective contributor to just spend half an hour typing out his or her thoughts (this post on free writing might help).
2. Storyboard it out. If they’re having trouble getting anything going or opening up, tell them to just visualize what they want to say and write down key phrases, or concepts, onto sticky notes. They can even draw what they’re thinking onto sticky notes. This is an especially great way to organize thoughts for a longer piece (mind mapping may help as well).

Help Them Become Aware of Content Opportunities

In one technology company we worked with in the past, much of the customer service happened through back and forth email. When we did an initial content analysis, we realized that a large portion of blog and article content was happening through direct customer email. It took only one customer service rep to notice this, and now the entire organization looks at the content they create every day as part of their business. Now, customer service reps, as well as sales reps, are more routinely aware if one of their emails should be used as an FAQ on the Web site or expanded upon in a blog post.

I have to say, in my experience, that sometimes getting an outside perspective on this process can really help the marketing department get pointed in the right direction…or sometimes, it takes someone from the outside to side with an employee to get the C-Level to open their eyes to the power of brand storytelling and content marketing.

For more on managing the content marketing process, take a look at Managing Content Marketing – the book.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

The original post is titled 3 Ways to Extract Brand Stories from Inside the Company , and it came from The Content Marketing Revolution .

Content Marketing Tactics Now Critical to All Businesses [INFOGRAPHIC]

Posted on 09. Feb, 2012 by Joe Pulizzi in B2B content marketing, Blog, Branded Content, content marketing, Fun Stuff, infographic, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media

I bumped into my good friend Chris Baggott from Compendium yesterday at the Online Marketing Summit.  Every conference we run into each other at, Chris pulls me aside and says, “Joe, here we are at this INSERT NAME conference and a content marketing conference has broken out”.

The point? Everyone is talking content marketing these days. The practice and integration of the creation and distribution of valuable, compelling and relevant content to attract and retain customers has never been more critical for brands of all sizes (see this Coca-Cola content marketing example if you want some proof).

It didn’t used to be the case.  Even though I’ve been trying to get corporate marketers to use the term “content marketing” since 2001, only recently has it caught on (see this Google Trends chart below. If content marketing were a stock, we’d be living the high life.)

To further establish the point, our friends at Blueglass Interactive put together this handy infographic, featuring a number of Content Marketing Institute’s  B2B content marketing research statistics. Also thanks for our friends at Mashable for covering this with some additional commentary as well. Enjoy!

The original post is titled Content Marketing Tactics Now Critical to All Businesses [INFOGRAPHIC] , and it came from The Content Marketing Revolution .

Coca-Cola Bets the Farm on Content Marketing: Content 2020

Posted on 03. Jan, 2012 by Joe Pulizzi in Blog, Branded Content, case studies, content marketing, content strategy, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

Coca-Cola's Jonathan Mildenhall

If you’ve ever seen the movie Jerry McGuire, you remember the blue mission statement. This is the moment in the movie when Jerry McGuire (played by Tom Cruise) wakes up in a cold sweat and writes, what he believes, to be the future direction for his sports agency.

Well, Coca-Cola’s marketing mission statement is Content 2020, a content marketing brainchild of Coca-Cola’s Jonathan Mildenhall, VP Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence, who recently stated that:

“All advertisers need a lot more content so that they can keep the engagement with consumers fresh and relevant, because of the 24/7 connectivity. If you’re going to be successful around the world, you have to have fat and fertile ideas at the core.”

I spent the better part of an hour reviewing the two videos below, and I encourage all marketing professionals (both client and agency side) to set aside 20 minutes to review these two short videos (video one is seven minutes, video two is 10 minutes). It’s that important.

Why Is Content 2020 So Important?

Content 2020 feels more like an internal video prepared especially for the Coca-Cola marketing team, laying out their strategic vision for the future.  Overall, it’s the strategy that Coca-Cola’s marketing future rest on the ideals of content marketing.

• Coca-Cola needs to move from creative excellence to content excellence, 
• They need to develop content that makes a commitment to making the world a better place and to develop value and significance in people’s lives…while at the same time driving business objectives for Coca-Cola, and
• Through the stories they tell, to provoke conversations and earn a disproportionate share of popular culture.

Specifically, check out the 3:30 mark of video two on the 70/20/10 model for content development.

In the beginning, the claim is made that Coca-Cola must create the world’s most compelling content. Toward the end, the comment is made that Coca-Cola can no longer rely on being 30-Second-TV-Centric.

Amen to that.

Enjoy…and I would love to hear your comments on the videos.

Photo courtesy jonathanmildenhall.com.

The original post is titled Coca-Cola Bets the Farm on Content Marketing: Content 2020 , and it came from The Content Marketing Revolution .

Google Will Be the Largest Content Producer in Three Years

Posted on 06. Oct, 2011 by Joe Pulizzi in Blog, Branded Content, content marketing, Custom Publishing, predictions, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

A decade ago when I worked for Penton Media, Google was a hot topic.  To partner or not?  Do we open up our web content to Google’s spiders?

It seems a silly discussion today, but it was big business then.  Publishers and editors were of the mindset that Google was somehow stealing their content by indexing it and serving it up to Google’s search engine.

As more publishers realized the number of relevant readers they were getting to their websites, Google turned from axis to ally.

So with publishers on board about the possibilities that Google could bring them (in both traffic and Adsense sales), it set the stage for Google’s growth.

And Google Grew.

In 2010, Google did almost $30 billion in revenue and $8.5 billion in profit.  They have $34 billion in short-term investments and cash-on-hand.

And Google continues to be the place where people find stuff.  They are the problem solver.  They link people to other people’s content, spatter it with a bit of advertising, and make a ton of money doing it.

Google Is Changing The Model

For all of its amazing innovations such as Google Voice, Google Apps and even their Android platform, the large majority of Google’s revenue still comes from Adsense.  The product diversification has happened, but the revenue results are lagging.  For those of you who understand the stock market, Google trades at a PE Ratio of 12.3, a historic low.  This means that investors look at Google as more a value play and not a growth stock any longer.

So where does Google go from here?

Ah yes, to Content.

I need to find something.  I go to Google.  I do a few searches on Google.  I click on a link.  After that, for the moment, Google loses me as a revenue opportunity.

But what if?

I need to find something.  I go to Google.  I do a few searches on Google.  I click on a link.  That link is a piece of Google content (video, textual, audio, etc.).  Google monetizes that content through more advertising and sponsorship.

Yep, this is the future.  Heck, it’s the present. The clear start of this was Google’s purchase of restaurant-review media company Zagat a few months ago. No one made a peep.  Everyone seemed happy.

And now, according to the Wall Street Journal, Google is putting up $100 million to create content for its YouTube franchise.  Google is the publisher investing in content in order to monetize that content on the back-end through sponsorship.

In a matter of just a few weeks ($125 million investment in Zagat and a $100 million YouTube content investment), Google has become one of the largest publishers on the planet.  And now there is no stopping them.

What Should You Expect from Google?

Regarding content, here are just a few possible events that shouldn’t surprise you over the next few years:

• Google will provide customized content for both brands and media companies.
• Google will start purchasing the leading niche providers of content in multiple verticals.
• Google will begin to hire journalists and content creators of all types to provide content for all Google platforms.

It makes too much sense.  Google can stay with the consumer throughout the purchase cycle.

I’m not saying that this is good or bad, I’m just making the point that this is happening…and that this will affect content creators (media-side and brand-side) in all industries and verticals.  Google will be the largest content producer on the planet. We need to start preparing for this now.

Announcing My New Book: Managing Content Marketing

Posted on 31. Aug, 2011 by Joe Pulizzi in B2B, Blog, Branded Content, case studies, content marketing, content strategy, Junta 42, Junta42 Events, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

The past few months have been busy.

The big international content marketing event is next week.

We launched a content marketing news channel.

The Content Marketing Institute site got a much-needed face lift.

So, you probably could tell that I was getting a bit bored…so Robert Rose and I decided to write a book (launching at Content Marketing World) called Managing Content Marketing: The Real-World Guide for Creating Passionate Subscribers to Your Brand.

Why this Book and Why Now?

In my first book with Newt Barrett, Get Content Get Customers, we needed to explain the why of content marketing.  Back in 2008, most marketers didn’t get the concept yet. Fast forward three years and everyone we talk to and consult with get the concept, but they are all struggling with how to actually implement and integrate content marketing into their organizations.  That’s exactly what Managing Content Marketing is…it’s an owner’s manual to help you actually put content marketing to work in your organization.

Robert goes through the 10 takeaways/questions from the book in this excellent CMI post:

1. How do we build the business case for content marketing?
2. Who are our buyer personas?
3. What are our pillars of content?
4. What channels do we use?
5. What’s our content marketing workflow?
6. What tools do we need to make content marketing happen?
7. How do we get the choir to sing?
8. What is the best way to listen?
9. How do we measure success?
10. How do we put it all together and integrate it with our total marketing plan?

When and Where Can I Buy a Copy?

If you’ll be at Content Marketing World, we’ll have a limited supply available for purchase (they will literally be hot off the press).  You’ll be able to buy directly from Amazon.com in the next few weeks.  We’ve already been getting requests for bulk copies.  If your organization is interested in bulk purchases, complete your information here and we’ll get right back to you.

Big Thanks

So many people to thank on this one.  First and foremost, to my co-author Robert Rose for taking the ball and running with this.  Also thanks to Jeffery Hayzlett, former CMO of Kodak and the author of The Mirror Test, for writing a most excellent foreword for the book.  Finally, thanks to the CMI Books team for working night and day to make sure this was ready for the show: Newt Barrett, Lisa Murton-Beets, Joe Watson and Neal Lorenzi.

Robert and I really feel proud about this book, which is based on actually working with real companies on their content marketing strategies and tactics. I truly hope it helps you take the next content marketing step in your organization, big or small.