2010-02-24 13:35:07
Ideas to Build On, from Function: Content Management
There was a time that marketers reached their audiences solely through print – printed pieces of mail, printed advertisements in magazines and newspapers, and printed stories in those same publications. But that method of communications is quickly becoming obsolete. Print is the way things used to be – back in the day. And while print is still fighting the good fight, “the times, they are a-changing”.
Thanks to the Internet, the time when the line between publishers as content filters, and businesses, as content pushers is coming to an end. A new kind of communication is on the rise. Suddenly, publishers aren’t the only ones distributing content. As individuals, businesses and agencies created their own websites, they began to spread information themselves. Not only did the websites serve as sources for news; they allowed businesses to control the content. Websites developed into blogs, blogs into Facebook pages, Facebook into Twitter and so on. Social media is changing the playing field at an explosive pace.
Company blogs have become a portal for a company to establish a personal connection and “relationship” with its audience and clients. For too long businesses have been impersonal entities. Customers like to know what employees are doing during the day, what jokes are being told in the office and what kind of coffee people drink in the morning. It makes them feel connected- like the company they are dealing with is filled with actual people. Today, everyone is a publisher. And everything is content.
And consumers? Well, they want content. We are now, like it or not, a society on information overload. Information is at our fingertips. As Sean Callahan, Media Editor for BtoB Magazine, points out in a recent BtoB article, it’s all about providing something valuable for your audience. In today’s digital world, content is valued. And if you don’t provide useful information and valuable content, you’re going to be ignored. Not only does information need to be created that a company’s audience deems valuable, it is also important to provide masses of information that will be picked up by Internet search engines. More is better. Always.1
Matt Johnston, VP marketing and community for uTest, a software marketing service says it best: “content is king.” Johnston claims that 30-40 percent of his marketing company’s time is spent on content generation (or research or editing).2 So what type of content is important? Company news about products? Miscellaneous information? Personal anecdotes? Today the answer is all of it. Some would argue that it’s not only important; it’s necessary. Customers don’t only want to know about a company’s product; they want to know everything. In our information-filled society, more is better. Content is king.
Some industries are quick to embrace the “content is king” philosophy while others are more hesitant and see social media as irrelevant to their industry. But even these latecomers are beginning to test the trends. In the building and construction industry specifically, blogs, Facebook and Twitter are slowly being adapted. Although some building product manufacturers (BPMs) are slower to create company blogs, organization and blog-like websites such as AIA.org and Treehugger.com are becoming hugely popular in the industry. BPMs are gradually
building Facebook pages and the Twitter community is beginning to fill with architects and a BPM or two. This is a common pattern in social media; some people and some industries catch on more quickly than others. And then over time, the trend increases until it becomes the norm.
As a business, take a look at your audience. Think about how they would like to hear from you, and what they would like to hear. Yes, businesses still need print – it hasn’t hung its hat up just yet. But when it comes to effective communications strategies (marketing, advertising and public relations), the rules to coming out on top are simple: Stay on top. Stay on top of content. Stay on top of changing trends. We are currently at an industry crossroads. And the bottom line is that businesses have the option of jumping on the content bandwagon or being left behind, sorely outdated.
1 Sean Callahan, BtoB Magazine, October 12, 2009
2 (Sean Callahan, BtoB Magazine, October 12, 2009)
Thanks to the Internet, the time when the line between publishers as content filters, and businesses, as content pushers is coming to an end. A new kind of communication is on the rise. Suddenly, publishers aren’t the only ones distributing content. As individuals, businesses and agencies created their own websites, they began to spread information themselves. Not only did the websites serve as sources for news; they allowed businesses to control the content. Websites developed into blogs, blogs into Facebook pages, Facebook into Twitter and so on. Social media is changing the playing field at an explosive pace.
Company blogs have become a portal for a company to establish a personal connection and “relationship” with its audience and clients. For too long businesses have been impersonal entities. Customers like to know what employees are doing during the day, what jokes are being told in the office and what kind of coffee people drink in the morning. It makes them feel connected- like the company they are dealing with is filled with actual people. Today, everyone is a publisher. And everything is content.
And consumers? Well, they want content. We are now, like it or not, a society on information overload. Information is at our fingertips. As Sean Callahan, Media Editor for BtoB Magazine, points out in a recent BtoB article, it’s all about providing something valuable for your audience. In today’s digital world, content is valued. And if you don’t provide useful information and valuable content, you’re going to be ignored. Not only does information need to be created that a company’s audience deems valuable, it is also important to provide masses of information that will be picked up by Internet search engines. More is better. Always.1
Matt Johnston, VP marketing and community for uTest, a software marketing service says it best: “content is king.” Johnston claims that 30-40 percent of his marketing company’s time is spent on content generation (or research or editing).2 So what type of content is important? Company news about products? Miscellaneous information? Personal anecdotes? Today the answer is all of it. Some would argue that it’s not only important; it’s necessary. Customers don’t only want to know about a company’s product; they want to know everything. In our information-filled society, more is better. Content is king.
Some industries are quick to embrace the “content is king” philosophy while others are more hesitant and see social media as irrelevant to their industry. But even these latecomers are beginning to test the trends. In the building and construction industry specifically, blogs, Facebook and Twitter are slowly being adapted. Although some building product manufacturers (BPMs) are slower to create company blogs, organization and blog-like websites such as AIA.org and Treehugger.com are becoming hugely popular in the industry. BPMs are gradually
building Facebook pages and the Twitter community is beginning to fill with architects and a BPM or two. This is a common pattern in social media; some people and some industries catch on more quickly than others. And then over time, the trend increases until it becomes the norm.
As a business, take a look at your audience. Think about how they would like to hear from you, and what they would like to hear. Yes, businesses still need print – it hasn’t hung its hat up just yet. But when it comes to effective communications strategies (marketing, advertising and public relations), the rules to coming out on top are simple: Stay on top. Stay on top of content. Stay on top of changing trends. We are currently at an industry crossroads. And the bottom line is that businesses have the option of jumping on the content bandwagon or being left behind, sorely outdated.
1 Sean Callahan, BtoB Magazine, October 12, 2009
2 (Sean Callahan, BtoB Magazine, October 12, 2009)