“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”
It’s a line from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, but one we should all pay attention to in business and marketing. For any success to be possible, with our content marketing and beyond, we must first be clear on where we’re going, and why.
From there, the road to take should reveal itself, and everything we need to do to get from point A to point B will be clear.
Does your content marketing have direction? And do you know how to drive and track success?
As brands pivot their messaging, pause campaigns and rely on owned media like never before, some are struggling to hit their stride. It’s highly likely they misunderstand and undervalue its role in the marketing mix.
When we reach the end of 2020 — or even 2021 — and take the time to reflect on the effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on business and marketing, owned media will be in focus. …
I love how illuminating research can be, provided it has some scientific merit (whether you’re doing a simple pulse check for your brand, or you want to be published in an academic journal, you’ll need to think through things like sampling, methodology and data analysis).
On the flip side, though I have a deep understanding and appreciation of research frameworks that encourage both divergent and convergent thinking, I do get frustrated with how time consuming and costly the work can be.
There’s no doubt this love-hate tension is a common feeling shared by all content marketers. It often leads us…
It might seem odd to admit that in our first trend piece, we’re going to be shying away from predicting any trends. But after reviewing more than 20 reports from all around the world we felt there was very little that hasn’t already been covered. And it’s debatable whether these things are genuine trends anyway.
So instead, we’ve decided to share our observations on some consistent themes that we believe modern marketers need to consider as they approach the next decade — and we have tried to link these back to the actions that brands might take in response. …
Whether we’re aware of it or not, applied psychology is behind the world’s most memorable and effective campaign ideas, content and experiences. Strategists, planners and marketing scientists act as wizards of human behaviour, leveraging known cognitive and emotional quirks to capture attention, influence perception and drive action. Put simply, they are playing to cognitive biases, or systematic errors in human judgment; a concept I’d like to explore more deeply and demonstrate through some key tactics.
But before we go there, let’s cover off the basics.
The human brain is wired to minimise effort and conserve energy, a design that most…
They say you can’t manage what you can’t measure. While this is not strictly true (you can go a long way on gut instinct and observation) measuring the performance of your content marketing in a scientific way helps you determine whether you’re on track with your goals and objectives.
There are plenty of frameworks (NewsCred’s buyer’s journey is popular) and KPIs (SEMrush lists nine essentials) to choose from — but it’s most important that your approach aligns with your strategy and that you use reliable and valid measures.
For a savvy content marketing director, considered and dynamic measurement helps to…
Over recent years, marketing has become a critical lever to deliver long-term business growth. A lot of this positive change has been driven by an increase in our ability to access analytics and track performance, which also means we’re more accountable. And there’s been a massive rise in the variety of technology available to power organisations’ efforts.
Naturally, this means the role of a marketer now involves much more than knowing your customers and building strong brands — it’s crucial that all marketing professionals are skilled at operating and unlocking the power of digital technology: content marketers included.
At Hardie Grant, we’re experts at bringing stories to life in a way that captures and holds people’s attention. If you read my review on this year’s Content Marketing World conference however, you would know that this is more challenging than ever — the mobile revolution has shortened our attention span to just eight seconds!
To stand out there are ultimately two things we can all do: be more selective about the stories we tell, or rethink the way we tell them (or both). What I’ll explore in this article is the latter, with a particular focus on five things…
Recently Nick (our Managing Director) and I attended the 8th annual Content Marketing World conference. Recognised as the largest content marketing event in the world, 4,000 delegates gathered in Cleveland, Ohio where they could experience more than 150 keynote presentations, breakout sessions and workshops — as well as a jam-packed social calendar — across four days.
With an event of this scale, which curates many different perspectives from all corners of the globe, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But Content Marketing World is what you make it. If that’s rubbing shoulders with the industry’s sharpest thinkers over a cocktail or…
It’s about this time of year many marketers and business leaders begin documenting next financial year’s budget. There’s no doubt it’s challenging to forecast what lies ahead when you’re knee deep delivering on this year’s goals, so I thought I would share some tips to help you with your content marketing allocation.
The most critical piece of advice I can give is this: your business and marketing plan is key. It’s the strategic roadmap for the year ahead, because it includes key initiatives and tactics, a breakdown of resource and costs, and desired outcomes these activities are geared to effect…
Philomath and strategist fascinated by the intersect of psychology, technology and media. Strategy Director @HGMediaAU.