Content creators often come with scripts simply seeking sponsorship, says Sumeet Singh, CMO, Info Edge

For Info Edge, content marketing plays a vital role in marketing its brands Naukri.com, Jeevansathi.com, Shiksha.com and 99acres.com, especially among millennials. Content marketing is not just a brand-building exercise but also fetches business metrics for the company and thus they treat it as performance marketing, Sumeet Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, Info Edge, told BuzzInContent.com.

“We have taken the challenge to convert content marketing to be effective on business metrics, and it has become another source of performance marketing for us. Like this, you can show a direct business impact. If you just limit content marketing to fulfilling brand objectives like brand lift and equity, then it won’t be given that much of importance in the marketing plan every year,” she said.

Info Edge’s job search website Naukri.com was the first brand to do a reality show ‘The job show’ around jobs on the TV channel CNBC. Most recently, it partnered with Punjabi channel Pitaara for the web series ‘Disha di Wedding’, where its matrimony platform Jeevansathi was integrated.

According to Singh, one must always set an objective that he or she wants to fetch from content. “Without clearly outlining the objective of content, if I approach the CEO of the company, he would question me on what that content piece is bringing to the table. Without a set objective, measuring ROI is tough. Only when one knows the objective of the content, it can be measured,” she said.

One huge challenge that Singh faces when content platforms, agencies and publishers approach with content ideas is that most of them don’t think of the relevance of the content they offer to the brand. “They often just look at a sponsorship rather than understanding the objectives of the brand and marketing team and then produce scripts. In my opinion most examples we see of the latter work well.”

Excerpts:

How important is content marketing for all Info Edge brands in comparison to other forms of marketing?

I would say ‘Content is king’ for our brand Shiksha.com, which is in the education space. It drives most of the business for Shiksha as most of the consumer interest comes via content only. I wouldn’t say we do a humongous amount of content marketing for our real estate brand 99acres.com, but there is enough Q&A and user-generated content that is generated on our site. We have a Q&A and articles section on 99acres. On Naukri.com, we have started with reviews and interview questions. There is a constant demand from job-seekers who would want to know additional information on the companies.

In various phases, we do content-led advertising on platforms such as Taboola, etc. We ride on related thematic content for all our brands when it comes to content-led advertising. We do a lot of social media marketing which is content-led. We invest a lot in the content on our core site because our businesses are all online. While the main content on most of our sites is listing, the article, Q&A, chats sections are very robust and essential as they drive a lot of traffic.

What do you mean by content-led advertising?

By this, I mean native advertising with platforms such as Taboola and Outbrain. Native advertising is quite similar to content.

Do you take content marketing as a brand-building exercise or also a tool to drive business goals?

We, as a team, are getting better at content marketing. The players that are working on it with us understand what content needs to deliver for us. We don’t just do content marketing to drive brand metrics, but also business metrics. It becomes a very integral part of the marketing mix the moment it starts driving business metrics every quarter every year. We have taken the challenge to convert content marketing to be effective on business metrics, and it has become another source of performance marketing for us. Like this, you can show a direct business impact. If you just limit content marketing to fulfilling brand objectives like brand lift and equity, then it won’t be given that much of importance in the marketing plan every year.

What tips will you give to content marketers when coronavirus is the only talk of the town?

I don’t think we should overreact and get overtly social and soft in the communication. That is what sometimes people tend to do, which is not good in the short term. We should be sensitive to what is happening around us and give it some time to settle. If you look at India, last week has been harsh compared to the time before that and every successive week is worse than the week before. I think one needs to give it a little bit more time to gauge the new normal going to be in the future. Instead of overreacting, let’s be sensitive and cautious and watch for some time before coming out with the best strategy.

According to you, what is stopping marketers from taking the content marketing route in a more aggressive manner in India?

From the agencies, publishers and the brands’ point of view, enough is going on in the field of content marketing. We are already seeing people utilising content power on TikTok. There is a lot of branded content that we see on platforms like POPxo, iDiva and TVF. Compared to the other pieces, content marketing is relatively new. It takes time to develop skill and expertise. Content marketing must have grown 4-5 times compared to what it was three years ago. I don’t think anybody is not taking it seriously. Everyone is doing their experiments and learnings. The brands recognise that specifically for the millennials, it is the only route.

Do you think there is a need for a separate content head at the brand’s end? Isn’t content marketing a job that should be agnostic across the marketing teams?

Depending on the importance of content marketing at the brand’s end, one can decide if it needs a content head. But it is imperative for content marketing to be someone’s KRA. New forms of marketing have very few past examples, success stories and not enough knowledge that exists. When you think that all the members in the marketing team should do content marketing, no one ends up doing it because it is new, needs investments, thinking, experiments and one must be okay to fail. When one does experiments, everything doesn’t turn out to be successful. If a person is doing 10 things and eight of them work out, and two don’t, it is still considered successful. Wherein, if someone’s only job is to do one thing, then the time and effort given to it will be far more.

What role can creative agencies play in helping carve the brand’s content strategy? Would you agree that creative agencies can create good ads but not good content pieces?

Creative agencies have a huge role to play. They understand both the creative and the content piece very well. I won’t say creative agencies don’t create good content, but one needs a different kind of expertise for long format. There might be some people in creative agencies who can crack it well, while some might not crack it. It’s not much about talent, but also about how much clients are pushing their agencies as clients.

Would you agree that to create content, one even needs to have a different mindset than of creating ads because in advertising one tends to show and talk about the brand more, whereas, in content, the brand has to be subtly integrated into the content?

I don’t agree. Good creative directors never want to show the brand in the face. It is us the brand managers who tell them to show the brand more and more in the pieces they create. I agree that most of the agencies have been working on short-form TVCs, but I do believe that if one has a very good team and the brand wants it, then it can be cracked. Big or small, the agencies play an essential part in creating content.

A lot of time, creative agencies don’t push content as much as they sell ads to include in the marketing plan of the brands. The content becomes secondary for them and mostly used as an amplification strategy for the primary ad campaign. What do you have to say?

That happens because of the talent the creative agencies have, and it is something they have worked on for brands from ages. It also depends on the trust we have on our agencies’ capability to create content. Therefore, it doesn’t entirely depend on the agencies, but the kind of partnership the agency and the client has. A lot of us have done content that has come conceptually to us. Most of the time, the content creators and publishers approach us with content in which we integrate our brands. On the other hand, when we create content for our social media, I use a mix of my large in-house content team that creates domain-related content and work with my agency content designers to create something whacky and creative.

What is that one huge mistake marketers make while taking the content marketing route?

One mistake that brands make is overtly trying to bring the logo and force-fit the brand upfront in content. If that happens, the credibility of the content goes down.

What is the next big thing according to you that marketers should explore in content marketing and will help them fetch maximum ROI?

I feel that just keep exploring what works for you. But before doing anything, one must outline the objective clearly. Without clearly outlining the aim of content, if I approach the CEO of the company, he would question me on what that content piece is bringing to the table. Without a set objective, measuring ROI is tough. Only when one knows the purpose of the content, it can be measured. If my content hasn’t shown business results, but only reflects a lot of views, then it won’t be appreciated by the CEO or the decision-maker at the brand’s end. One must not do something just because it is the latest thing to do.

What are the kind of issues you face when content platforms and creators approach you with content ideas and pitches? What are the things you expect them to keep in mind?

One of the biggest problems I face is that most of them don’t think of the relevance of the content they offer to the brand. A lot of content and boutique agencies often just look at sponsorship rather than understanding the objectives of the brand and marketing team and then produce scripts. In my opinion most examples we see of the latter work well.