They published a really useful piece on June 30 about renowned PR Executive Richard Edelman’s wake-up call to his industry.
I love this kind of thing. The crux of it is that even though brands understand that they are now publishers, they often rely on old models—even in a new environment. Quoting Edelman:
However, the communications approach brands have been using as publishers is still often anachronistic. “It’s always been marketing first and communications as a servant,” Edelman said. “I see the emergence of a new paradigm, which is ‘communications marketing’ instead of ‘marketing communications.’”
As you might expect, I like this concept a lot. Content marketing is all about connecting over a story—something compelling and useful enough that people are motivated to share it of their own volition. It’s the most powerful marketing available, and brand managers are still getting it wrong.
Why? It’s an incredibly difficult balance to achieve. You have to be:
- Personal enough to form real connections.
- Authoritative enough to establish thought leadership.
Back to Edelman for how to do this:
The key to “communications marketing,” Edelman said, is “substantive storytelling.” Purveying interesting and surprising stories instead of ads. To work, he said, brands must publish content that is:
- “Rational and built for consumption.” (Useful to the reader.)
- “Emotional and built for sharing.” (Of human interest.)
- “Supported by data and insight.” (Factually sound.)
That’s a content strategy, in a nutshell. And this stuff works. Repeat after me: Short, sharable pieces of informational content.
Be present and be useful. Provide value to your audience. You have to make the first move—with a generous mindset, not a transactional one. These are the New Rules.
Listen to Edelman. This is your wake up call. It’s time rethink your strategies and remake your processes. What you did before is not going to continue to work in the future. There are a ton of articles on this, just search #contentstrategy or #contentmarketing on Twitter.
I’ve written lots on the topic as well. For more of the basics of how a content strategy works for entrepreneurs, here’s a great starting point for you:
- Entrepreneurs: Why Do You Need a Content Strategy? http://bit.ly/CSE-02
- Entrepreneurs: Your Story and Why It’s Important http://bit.ly/CSE-04
Best wishes, and call on me if you need specific help with your content strategy!
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Source: ‘Traditional Marketing Is Broken,’ Declares Richard Edelman by Shane Snow, published on Contently, June 30, 2014.
This piece is a part of a series called Content Strategy for Entrepreneurs. If you need specific help in building a content strategy for your business, please see http://michaelboezi.com/entrepreneurs. If you like this post, please sign up for my mailing list!
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Photo credit: “World Alarm Clock – Grove Passage, London” by Bob Bob (bobaliciouslondon) is licensed under CC BY 2.0.