The year 2019 was a phenomenal time when marketers took a leap of faith to experiment more with content marketing. These were the marketers who closely monitored the behaviour of dynamic consumers and addressed the need of the hour— that consumers were getting aloof from ads. They demand more interaction with the brand at a personalised level. And nothing beats content marketing when it comes to engaging with consumers through strong storytelling and smart and customised content pieces.
A lot of marketers tried their hands on various kinds of content formats, partnerships and interactive content on social media. The year 2019 also saw two robust emerging platforms taking centre stage in the content distribution strategy of brands—Instagram and TikTok.
The other two platforms that have become the sweethearts of brands for content marketing are OTT players and podcasts.
The previous year also saw a massive paradigm shift in the marketing world as bold marketers set examples for ‘safe players’ (pun intended).
As content marketing is fast becoming an integral part of marketing strategies, marketers need to tick as many boxes as possible for a visible impact of their content initiative on their brand.
Compassionate and purpose-driven content
In times of economic, social and cultural unrest, it’s essential to put forward much thought-through, cause-driven and educational content. We are living in an era when it is of the utmost need for marketers to create and distribute content that has the power to influence the thinking, lifestyle and behaviour of consumers in a positive way. It’s time to act responsibly and create more and more insightful, educational and enlightening content.
One applause-worthy initiative undertaken by HUL’s Lifebuoy in recent times was a public service message in a leading print newspaper. We all know that the deadly Coronavirus has taken so many lives in China and has made a footprint in India with two cases detected until now. In the print initiative, the brand mentioned tips to secure oneself from the ill-effects of the virus and the importance of hand wash. Along with the advice, the brand said that one doesn’t need to wash hands only with Lifebuoy but any other soap.
Going back to the basics
One must not forget the most straightforward principle to create successful content initiatives — ‘going back to the basics’. Creating relatable, contextual, personalised and targeted content is a basic requirement one should fulfil before jumping on to the new-age jargons.
Real stories
Consumers today are demanding authentic conversations. They want brands to create content which is closer to reality. The power of non-fictional content to influence the mind of consumers is much higher than any fictional content piece until unless it is unique, has a compelling narrative and is clutter-breaking. That’s why a lot of brands are creating a series of aspirational and inspiring videos of influential people and relating them to brands’ philosophies. One such long-running content initiative is ‘Where the heart is’ of Asian Paints.
More than this, a lot of brands are investing in creating and executing concepts around reality shows on TV, OTT channels, owned platforms and social media. In 2019, Myntra launched a reality show ‘Myntra Fashion Superstar’ on its app and collaborated with Zoom channel to create and distribute the show’s content.
Consistency is the key
While a lot of brands are experimenting with content marketing, it is just one of the things they do in the overall marketing strategy for many. One can’t just do a piece of content and expect it to fetch ROI in real terms. It has to be a long-term process. Even if doing content just for once shows some little short-term results, doing it consistently and persistently in the long run will only show some reliable results. Also, not just doing it in long term is essential; maintaining the pace at which a brand produces content and sticking to a theme for the same plays a considerable role.
Don’t just jump onto the bandwagon, own it
One must have a proper strategy with a long-term view in place before starting with the content marketing journey. Have a plan that makes the brand a trendsetter. Create content that is unique and clutter-breaking. Otherwise, your content game will get lost among the plethora of content offered by all the brands to the consumers.
We expect 2020 to bring a lot of trendsetting content initiatives by brands. Some brands that made a mark in the content marketing field in India in 2019 were Myntra with its ‘Myntra Fashion Star’ and ‘Myntra Unforgettable stories’, Flipkart and Zomato experimenting with original content on their platforms and Future Group and Mondelez experimenting with Instagram web series.
ROI measurement remains a concern
This is one big puzzle. A lot of marketers have raised concerns around the lack of having proper metrics and tools to measure content marketing effectiveness. Measurement of ROI in content marketing is to date an ambiguous process for the lack of industry-standard tools and metrics to do so. Marketers expect content platforms, creators, publishers and agencies to create tools that give them definite and authentic ROI figures on content marketing, resulting in content marketing taking more prominence in the marketing plan and budget of the brands.
Need for better influencer-led content strategy
Influencers have the power to amplify a brand’s content marketing effort among the targeted audience. Two things that concern marketers while using influencers are the quality of content and ROI measurement-related issues.
A lot of times, it is seen that influencer-led content looks like an ad, which should not be the case. The influencers should only collaborate with brands in which they truly believe and can talk to their audience about it most authentically and realistically about the brand. The influencers should be given creative liberty to the extent it doesn’t hamper the brand’s reputation in any way. It’s good to call them creators and not influencers.
The brands are also concerned about the measurement of ROI while collaborating with the influencers. There are still no standardised means to figure out what is the right kind of investment they should make in influencers and also figure out the real ROI they are driving.
Quality is still a concern
One must not shy away from spending on quality content. No point in having a fantastic distribution plan if the quality of content is not good. A lot of times video content pieces end up looking like ads, actors used in the content are not good enough or apt, and at times the production quality is low. A lot of brands want to produce content in vernacular languages but shy away from doing so because of the lack of quality execution capabilities of the production houses and content creators in the regions of those vernacular languages. Making the best ones in the system to work on vernacular content becomes an expensive game for the brands. Therefore, the industry must collectively work towards uplifting the quality of content created at regional levels.
Bringing content marketing to centre stage
Even after knowing the potential content marketing holds, it is still secondary in comparison to traditional advertising and regular digital advertising for a lot of brands. It’s high time for marketers to persuade and motivate each other to bring content marketing to the forefront and leverage its full potential.
It’s time to be brave!
It takes a lot of courage to try content marketing for the first time, but once done, there is no looking back. Doing content on TV is expensive, digital needs unique ideas to stand out in the clutter; print doesn’t drive real-time engagements, radio and outdoor has its issues. But a brave marketer knows how to deal with these challenges.
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Commentary: Only the bold and real can win the content marketing race
Beard the lion in his den with BuzzInContent's secret sauce to keep the content marketing game up to the mark
The year 2019 was a phenomenal time when marketers took a leap of faith to experiment more with content marketing. These were the marketers who closely monitored the behaviour of dynamic consumers and addressed the need of the hour— that consumers were getting aloof from ads. They demand more interaction with the brand at a personalised level. And nothing beats content marketing when it comes to engaging with consumers through strong storytelling and smart and customised content pieces.
A lot of marketers tried their hands on various kinds of content formats, partnerships and interactive content on social media. The year 2019 also saw two robust emerging platforms taking centre stage in the content distribution strategy of brands—Instagram and TikTok.
The other two platforms that have become the sweethearts of brands for content marketing are OTT players and podcasts.
The previous year also saw a massive paradigm shift in the marketing world as bold marketers set examples for ‘safe players’ (pun intended).
As content marketing is fast becoming an integral part of marketing strategies, marketers need to tick as many boxes as possible for a visible impact of their content initiative on their brand.
Compassionate and purpose-driven content
In times of economic, social and cultural unrest, it’s essential to put forward much thought-through, cause-driven and educational content. We are living in an era when it is of the utmost need for marketers to create and distribute content that has the power to influence the thinking, lifestyle and behaviour of consumers in a positive way. It’s time to act responsibly and create more and more insightful, educational and enlightening content.
One applause-worthy initiative undertaken by HUL’s Lifebuoy in recent times was a public service message in a leading print newspaper. We all know that the deadly Coronavirus has taken so many lives in China and has made a footprint in India with two cases detected until now. In the print initiative, the brand mentioned tips to secure oneself from the ill-effects of the virus and the importance of hand wash. Along with the advice, the brand said that one doesn’t need to wash hands only with Lifebuoy but any other soap.
Going back to the basics
One must not forget the most straightforward principle to create successful content initiatives — ‘going back to the basics’. Creating relatable, contextual, personalised and targeted content is a basic requirement one should fulfil before jumping on to the new-age jargons.
Real stories
Consumers today are demanding authentic conversations. They want brands to create content which is closer to reality. The power of non-fictional content to influence the mind of consumers is much higher than any fictional content piece until unless it is unique, has a compelling narrative and is clutter-breaking. That’s why a lot of brands are creating a series of aspirational and inspiring videos of influential people and relating them to brands’ philosophies. One such long-running content initiative is ‘Where the heart is’ of Asian Paints.
More than this, a lot of brands are investing in creating and executing concepts around reality shows on TV, OTT channels, owned platforms and social media. In 2019, Myntra launched a reality show ‘Myntra Fashion Superstar’ on its app and collaborated with Zoom channel to create and distribute the show’s content.
Consistency is the key
While a lot of brands are experimenting with content marketing, it is just one of the things they do in the overall marketing strategy for many. One can’t just do a piece of content and expect it to fetch ROI in real terms. It has to be a long-term process. Even if doing content just for once shows some little short-term results, doing it consistently and persistently in the long run will only show some reliable results. Also, not just doing it in long term is essential; maintaining the pace at which a brand produces content and sticking to a theme for the same plays a considerable role.
Don’t just jump onto the bandwagon, own it
One must have a proper strategy with a long-term view in place before starting with the content marketing journey. Have a plan that makes the brand a trendsetter. Create content that is unique and clutter-breaking. Otherwise, your content game will get lost among the plethora of content offered by all the brands to the consumers.
We expect 2020 to bring a lot of trendsetting content initiatives by brands. Some brands that made a mark in the content marketing field in India in 2019 were Myntra with its ‘Myntra Fashion Star’ and ‘Myntra Unforgettable stories’, Flipkart and Zomato experimenting with original content on their platforms and Future Group and Mondelez experimenting with Instagram web series.
ROI measurement remains a concern
This is one big puzzle. A lot of marketers have raised concerns around the lack of having proper metrics and tools to measure content marketing effectiveness. Measurement of ROI in content marketing is to date an ambiguous process for the lack of industry-standard tools and metrics to do so. Marketers expect content platforms, creators, publishers and agencies to create tools that give them definite and authentic ROI figures on content marketing, resulting in content marketing taking more prominence in the marketing plan and budget of the brands.
Need for better influencer-led content strategy
Influencers have the power to amplify a brand’s content marketing effort among the targeted audience. Two things that concern marketers while using influencers are the quality of content and ROI measurement-related issues.
A lot of times, it is seen that influencer-led content looks like an ad, which should not be the case. The influencers should only collaborate with brands in which they truly believe and can talk to their audience about it most authentically and realistically about the brand. The influencers should be given creative liberty to the extent it doesn’t hamper the brand’s reputation in any way. It’s good to call them creators and not influencers.
The brands are also concerned about the measurement of ROI while collaborating with the influencers. There are still no standardised means to figure out what is the right kind of investment they should make in influencers and also figure out the real ROI they are driving.
Quality is still a concern
One must not shy away from spending on quality content. No point in having a fantastic distribution plan if the quality of content is not good. A lot of times video content pieces end up looking like ads, actors used in the content are not good enough or apt, and at times the production quality is low. A lot of brands want to produce content in vernacular languages but shy away from doing so because of the lack of quality execution capabilities of the production houses and content creators in the regions of those vernacular languages. Making the best ones in the system to work on vernacular content becomes an expensive game for the brands. Therefore, the industry must collectively work towards uplifting the quality of content created at regional levels.
Bringing content marketing to centre stage
Even after knowing the potential content marketing holds, it is still secondary in comparison to traditional advertising and regular digital advertising for a lot of brands. It’s high time for marketers to persuade and motivate each other to bring content marketing to the forefront and leverage its full potential.
It’s time to be brave!
It takes a lot of courage to try content marketing for the first time, but once done, there is no looking back. Doing content on TV is expensive, digital needs unique ideas to stand out in the clutter; print doesn’t drive real-time engagements, radio and outdoor has its issues. But a brave marketer knows how to deal with these challenges.