Content is Stuff and YES you need more STUFF

Content, in my mind, is best defined as stuff. Before you stop reading, think about it. Stuff is everywhere and today stuff has a way of finding us even if we are not looking for it. This creates a huge challenge for today's marketers. How do you blast through the clutter of stuff that continually bombards us in this increasingly connected world? If you think you know, guess what, you don't know.  What may work today is not going to work next year or maybe even next month. The quest for connecting with any market is becoming increasingly more difficult.

I blame this over saturation of unwanted stuff on email marketing. It was not long ago that marketers ditched print in favor of email. How is that working for you now? I personally end up on more email lists than most people because I'm a social media junkie. Hi, my name is John and yes I have a social media problem. I admit it but I also have a best friend, his name is safe unsubscribe. Damn I love that guy.  Marketers have very little chance of sending me an email and getting any positive result. It is a brutal fact. Delete is also a daily part of my morning workout. Thanks iOS8 for making that swipe more powerful. Statistics back me on this one. A whopping 72% of people reach for their smartphone right after waking. Some turn off the alarm they had set but all then proceed to check social media and or email. This email check is to delete the junk, period. Not surprising since more than 70% of email is considered spam. (see Mashable) Important emails are left to be dealt with once your feet are on the floor. In addition, if an email does not display correctly, 71.2% will delete it immediately. BlueHornet “Consumer Views of Email Marketing” (2014). OK enough about email. I'm really not trying to bash it in any way but as a tool to mass market I suspect that it is not the most desirable method anymore.

So what is? I bet you want to know and I wish I could tell you but I'm really not sure. I'm also not certain that "mass marketing" is effective and personally would focus on more targeted tactics. What I am certain about is that in order to be successful in any marketing channel you must understand that CONTENT is first. Without it, no marketing message has a chance. Content development and the organization of the content is what every business must do in order to embark on any form of message delivery. Once this is done, content can be pushed into any channel and even some that don't exist yet. Content development is a continual process because in the real world relevant content needs to be available at any time, in any format and in any place. Being able to quickly, accurately, creatively, intelligently and consistently serve up marketing content is the ingredients for success. So, let’s all agree on this, developing and managing content is critical. Funny thing is even though we all know and acknowledge this fact, very few of us are even close to doing A+ work. We may have bits and pieces in place. We probably already have a great deal of content strewn about like a hoarder’s hallway. The only difference is that a hoarder knows where all their stuff is. It is in the hallway. Does your sales team have access to your stuff? Do your clients gain access to your stuff whenever and where ever they are looking for your product or service? I bet there are few who can respond yes to either one of these questions. So if content is so important and we don't have it access to it when we need it, what do we need to do? We not only need to continually create and evaluate content but we need a system to manage the content. We need a Content Management System (CMS). 

A CMS provides a central repository for content deployed across print, web, social media, mobile and the next big thing. With a user-friendly interface and automated workflow, the CMS provides a collaborative environment for creation, editing, approval, publishing and storage of all of your company's digital assets. Most importantly, your content/assets/stuff is in a secure place and you know where each piece is, how to get it and that it can be deployed in a relevant and meaningful way essentially on-demand. 

It may be simple but if your Content Stuff is Managed and you interact relevantly with an over saturated Customer Stuff, GOOD STUFF HAPPENS. 

We are in a digital world and with that comes a great deal of clutter and noise. At the same time, technology provides us with the tools and ability to effectively manage our content so that when and where it is needed it is available. We have better and faster ways to deliver more relevance to a customer than ever before. We are not limited by anything other than our own lack of preparedness. So that is the task, we need to take control and organize our content and always be ready to deliver it in a format that our customers ask for and when they ask for it. Just as a sales rep will never succeed if they utilize the "Show up and throw up" approach, we cannot expect our marketing to succeed with un-targeted, unwanted and an over saturated spray and pray approach. We must create intrigue and the ability for perspective clients to interact with us. We must nurture with care and planning our prospects and turn them into qualified leads and eventually customers. We must communicate in a way that is relevant. All of this requires our commitment to organized and relevant content. Hey you could get lucky and have a viral sensation like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge but is that really a marketing plan? I suggest that the more relevant and organized stuff you have ready to be deployed is a much better plan than waiting around to win the lottery.

Using Creativity is a Key but what about Collaboration? It's Time We PUMP YOU UP!

ROI, ROI, ROI – Today, that is pretty much all you hear when it comes to a Marketing Spend. It’s kind of amusing in many ways. When did marketers become the red headed step child in their organizations? Sure it’s very important to have goals and measure against them but at the same time how do you measure the value of your Brand being recognized by a potential customer or even a future advocate. Why is it that today organizations lose site of the importance of brand equity? It’s naïve to think that you don’t need to be aggressive in your marketing and in reality this means spending money. I like to simplify it this way, would you ever knowingly try to bench press more weight than you can realistically lift without a spotter? What would the results be if you did? It probably wouldn’t be very pretty thing. Building Brand Awareness  or Equity is the same as Building Muscle. You can do an adequate job all by yourself but to really see results it takes more than you can do alone. Another gym analogy that is easy to draw on is to remember that your Brand is being crowded out. The same is true at certain times of the year for gym goers. New Year’s Resolution time and Back to School Time. Here they come, all the good intentioned people in search of a new start. They flood the space and disrupt your well-oiled workout routine. You need to be focused and spend more time in order to accomplish the same goals. You also need to get creative. BOOM, there it is, get creative! Can’t get on a treadmill?... Go for a run after dinner. You do what you have to make it work. The same has to be true for your marketing initiatives. Email not working?... Try some targeted direct mail. Your Brand is stale?... Freshen in up with Augmented Reality, a Mobile APP or both. You need to get creative in order to continually elevate your Brand message in an overcrowded world of information. So is your marketing ROI really about spending less money or is it about reaching your goals? I’m fairly certain that most will answer that question by saying that money is not an issue if the program goals are met. So what do you think? Is it time to get creative?

Creativity is the Holy Grail for success in marketing. Creativity is what makes you stand out. Creativity is the key to your success. Creativity is the road that takes you through the traffic to your destination or goal. Creativity does NOT mean doing the same old thing becauase that is what we do. Creativity means doing what it takes to reach a goal. So why do marketers often limit their options when it comes to marketing channels? Why do marketers run disjointed programs across multiple channels that don’t support each other? Why are marketers often times akin to the flood of seasonal gym goers who ultimately do not achieve their goal? The answer is simple. Marketers are often times so worried about the spend part of ROI that they are forgetting that you need to plant and water a seed to grow something.  They end up pulling back when in reality they need to engage more fully to attain the original goals.

So what can marketers do? My single biggest suggestion is to build a Collaboration Team. To utilize the vast network that is available to you, not to shop jobs, but to develop plans that will meet your goals and objectives. It’s nearly impossible to do it yourself and by yourself I mean with your internal team. Collaboration teams are the only way to insure you are safely on track to attaining your goal and ultimately on target to achieving that elusive ROI. So who should be on your collaboration team? Look at your vendor pool. Who among them are the go to organizations when you need it done right? These are the people/organizations you want to enlist during the brainstorming phase of your program development. Who among your vendor pool has shown creativity in the past that has made a difference for your organization? These are the organizations that excel at their craft. They understand how to deliver a message through a specific marketing channel and have a huge amount of knowledge through their past experiences, their trusted partners, and their own R & D programs. Be careful not to relinquish control of this collaboration team to any single partner. You may think that agencies have your best interest at heart but I can assure you that this is not always the case. Make it known that the organizations involved on your team are critical to your marketing success and that you will commit to them as a result of their contribution and time commitment to the process. When done right, ALL team members gain something and you WILL have a successful and measurable marketing program.

Collaboration Teams are nothing new. You do it internally all the time. Your brainstorming sessions are a form of a Collaboration Team. They are, however, missing the outside influences and the real world experiences from the vendor members knowledge tool chests.  This knowledge always will span across multiple goals and/or objectives. Information your team can use to better craft a successful marketing strategy, plan, program or event.  So when we think about ROI it’s not a measure of what we spend but rather a measure of what we get. To put it another way, it’s our level of success as measured against a goal. It’s a mindset that must start at the beginning to achieve optimum results. It’s CREATIVITY put to use with clearly define objectives that focuses on a result. It’s an understanding that the unmeasurable intangibles of team insights are far more valuable than a lower price and that the mystical result of building brand equity is part of the bottom line. It’s jumping in with your whole being and knowing that the support you need is right there with you at every step, in every moment, from beginning to end.

For me this is not some high level rocket science. It's not voodoo or magic. It is a degree of common sense that is unfortunately overlooked everyday by the marketing community and business community as a whole. There are resources at your finger tips waiting for a chance to provide value and receive a return. Expertise that has very little cost but comes with a high value proposition. So what do you say? If it were me, I would certainly give it a try! Start small with a simple short term project. Begin to evaluate who your Collaboration Team Members should be. The key is to start and in the end, everyone should come out ahead of the game.