Content marketing is over. Or at least content marketing as we know it. Worn out. Used up. Over. Don’t blame the audience for this, blame yourself; blame marketers. Blame marketing. We did this to ourselves when we learned about content marketing – like a favourite old toy, a trusty pair of shoes; we latched on, we overdid it and this is why we can’t have nice things.

1. 30 January, 2015
How content marketing ruined content marketing
(And what you can do to fix it…)
Rob Hurst

2. Or at least content marketing as we know it.
Worn out. Used up. Over.
Don’t blame the audience for this, blame
yourself; blame marketers. Blame marketing.
We did this to ourselves when we learned
about content marketing – like a favourite old
toy, a trusty pair of shoes; we latched on, we
overdid it and this is why we can’t have nice
things.
Content marketing is over.

3. So what went wrong?

4. I think we’ve all been guilty of this one at some stage in the
past few years – most of us will have sent something to join
the ever growing content landfill in the sky, and it’s now
overflowing.
We’re all so used to seeing superfluous ‘content’ that could
just as easily be copy on a website that we’ve started to
ignore it.
We assume it’s going to be crap unless it comes with a
recommendation from someone whose opinion we value; a
friend, Stephen Fry, some distant local radio station’s meme-
laden Facebook page…
Our ‘marketing filters’ are set back to maximum and, by
default, we’re going to miss out on some of the good stuff in
our quest to ignore the bad.
Too much crap content

5. For years we’ve been told that we should try to
maximise the reach and usage of our content. To
squeeze every last penny out of the investment,
without an afterthought for the resulting dilution of the
message to the end audience.
Reaching the widest possible audience frequently
means targeting the lowest common denominator and
your brand has a clearly defined target audience, right?
So why the sudden need for those 10 million YouTube
views?
One size never really fits all

6. But more than anything
else, it’s hard to keep
up…

7. “Content fatigue”
(When exponentially increasing volumes of
marketing content intersect our limited human
capacity – and desire - to consume it).

8. Check out this advert from 2009.
That’s right, 2009.
Before we had “Content Fatigue”
there was, well, content fatigue. It’s
just that most of us didn’t have it
yet.
But the clever people at Harper’s
saw what was to come. And in
2015, content fatigue is going to go
viral.
Enough is enough

9. We may have started it, but it was the social networks that
dealt the final blow for what we currently know as content
marketing. And you can’t blame them.
The more content we produced, the more content that users
were faced with, the more crap that ended up on the online
content landfill, the more it needed organising.
This led to algorithms, algorithms to help users digest the
never ending stream of things they agreed to receive when
they ‘liked’ or ‘followed’ a brand online.
But it’s not entirely our fault…

10. Eventually it also led to paid content.
But what is paid content? And is it a bad thing?
But it’s not entirely our fault…

11. Shut up and take my money!
Paid content is fundamentally two things…
A ‘workaround’
Those algorithms I just mentioned, the ones that sorted content for
the end user? They meant that some content got left out. So when
Facebook and LinkedIn presented the opportunity to get posts and
content back in front of their users for a few dollars – many were so
relieved that they did. Likewise, as people followed more and more
Twitter accounts, more and more was missed. Twitter’s response
was to launch promoted and ‘pinned’ tweets for paid accounts,
allowing key content to stick out.
‘Monetisation’
Remember a few years ago when everybody questioned how the
businesses behind the social behemoths were ever going to make
money for their shareholders from a free-to-access platform? This

12. Why pay for something that’s free?
There is plenty of evidence supporting the benefits of
paid content, particularly when used to build campaign
reach, but also to improve targeting and audience
growth, providing the extra attention for high quality,
but only marginally successful campaigns to snowball.
After all, no matter how good, or how sharable your
content, if not enough people are seeing it to start with,
how successful can you really expect it to be?
Whilst Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the others are free
to use, to make the most of any other platform with the kind
of potential reach and impact you would expect to pay for
the privilege. So what’s different here? As social media and
other earned channels evolve, so too will the ways we use
them.

13. It’s all coming to a head in 2015
Back in November Facebook warned us that they were going to
make a big change to the way that users’ News Feed displayed
content in the new year. These changes, in many ways, level
the playing field for brands – it’s not about the star-power, or
number of fans, but the quality and targeting of content.
Facebook’s research showed that users react negatively to
(lazy) promotional content – contests with no context, posts
driving users straight to download an app or make a purchase,
etc. The solution, won’t just punish bad content marketers, it’ll
affect us all. And what about LinkedIn? Since we all now have
the ability to publish blog posts, how long until we can spend a
couple of bucks to increase their reach amongst our
connections?
As it seems to always happen, some lazy marketers turned
social media into a push channel and so began its decline.

14. Let’s summarise…

15. Crap overload
Too much crap content has led audiences to engage their marketing defence
defence systems once more.
Content overload
Too much content full stop. There are only so many hours in the day, no
matter how engaging something might be, you need time to consume it.
Content fatigue
Not only do we not have the time to consume everything, our patience is
wearing thin.
Pay to play
Channels are moving to favour paid over organic content.

16. The list goes on. It’s a tough
world for a content
marketer.
So what can you do to
yours is the content that
through the noise and
your target audience?

17. #1. Know your s**t.
And stick to it.
(Write a good content strategy – and use it)

18. Before you can create good content, you need
a good content strategy. A *really* good
content strategy doesn’t need to be
complicated either – why not take the elevator
pitch approach and write your strategy on a
single slide and ask yourself if you’re following
it before you create every piece of content.
One slide per target audience would also work
– just remember to KISS (Keep It Simple,
Stupid!).
Perhaps consider a checklist approach, as
shown on the right with GE’s brand strategy
checklist – if you can tick two or more
points off the list for a piece of content, if
not, back to the drawing board!
Write a content strategy, before you write any content
Does the content represent one of GE’s brand
guidelines? Select at least 2 that apply:
 Shares a fascinating but little known fact.
 Celebrates science/engineering ingenuity.
 Insider engineering humour.
 Explains societal impact of GE
products/R&D.
 Encouragement to keep innovating.
 Beauty of engineering design.

19. #2. Understand your target
audience
(And target them relentlessly)

20. There’s no sense in spending money on content creation without giving a
thought to those that you hope will engage with it. Think hard about your
target audiences and what they need from you in order to be able to better
do their job – think about the assets you can produce in order to facilitate
this and close that gap.
Study both your analytics and try asking them the kinds of content they
want to see and the channels they want to use – customer surveys are a
great way to do this and feed this into your planning. Free tools like
Buzzsumo are another great way to find opportunities to engage your
audience, look at the top content for your key words and messages, the
type of content and why it’s succeeding and follow the top sharers to see
what else you can learn.
Digital, more than ever, presents the perfect opportunity to reach and
engage niche target audiences, so make sure you know who you’re
talking to, and where they hang out. Great creative means nothing if it
You can’t plan what to say if you don’t know who you’re
talking to.

21. #3. It’s all about what you
say. Not how you say it.
(Yes, that old chestnut…)

22. Yes, it is obvious. It’s also the single most important thing a content
marketer should recognise – the format/wrapper/whatever you
want to call your finished ‘asset’ is not the most important part of
your campaign. It’s the message that matters – if the messaging is
good, and it appeals to the right target audience then getting it in
front of them is certainly very important, yes. However, putting the
wrong message in front of the wrong audience, but with a slick
video is often-times what we end up doing. You might as well seal
your polished video in a bottle and throw it out to sea – it’ll probably
be about as effective.
To produce your single slide content strategy (see point #1.)
you need a clear, concise message, that speaks to your target
audience(s) before you produce a single piece of content.
Spend time researching your audience, speak to them, study
the analytics and look at what’s worked before, don’t just
create a video about your new big thing, think about the video
people want to see.
Messaging is king, not content.

23. #4. Invest in your content.
(It’s supposed to be important, right?)

24. The less effective your content gets, the more you feel you have to make to
try and break through, but it’s unlikely that your budgets are going up if your
content is not performing. So the cost to produce these assets has to come
down.
But that in itself causes further problems as the quality is likely to suffer too.
It’s a vicious cycle.
While the web offers your brand an opportunity to reach an audience far
larger than mainstream TV, much of the best content out there is still being
made for TV and used online as something of an afterthought.
We’re not saying you should take a Superbowl spot next year, if you want to
compete, but the most exciting content marketing brands are starting to
spend online, where the impact can be so much higher.
Unless you can afford the price of entry for TV marketing, why not think
of YouTube as your opportunity to play with the big boys…
The best things in life aren’t free

25. #5. Invest in the visibility
of your content.
(If you’re investing in the asset, best make sure it’s seen, eh?)

26. Organic and paid are converging, each
becoming more dependent upon the other in
the on-going struggle to be noticed. Naturally
you still need great organic content, otherwise
your audience are never going to care and the
end result will be more of the same. So while
we’re not suggesting you throw money at
everything, dedicate a portion of your budget to
paid content, spend wisely and learn from your
experiences.
Aim high and let paid tip you over the edge
– pick the assets that are performing best
and spend reactively to give them a boost
and you could find views, shares and likes
snowballing.
If the shoe fits, buy it.

27. #6. Get your user journeys in
order. Before you start.
(Just in case you end up with some successful content on your hands)

28. If you’re lucky, (and perhaps if you follow some of these tips
you will be) your content might lead to your target audience
engaging with your brand online, which is the goal in all of
this, right?
So why, then, is the user experience so often ignored as part
of the campaign planning process? If we get it right and
create an influx of visitors to our website, would those visitors
be expecting too much in their desire to receive a considered
and consistent experience? Perhaps even one that leads on
from the content they’ve just encountered?
Getting the user journey right is as important as getting
the message and content right – why let yourself fall at
the last hurdle – consider the campaign entry points to
your website, how people will find them and what you
want them to do on the site, and make damn sure the site
helps make it happen.
User experience is not just for designers.

29. #7. Understand the
channels you’re using.
(And recognise the ones you shouldn’t be!)

30. How do you know it’s right if you don’t know what it is?
It’s all too easy to read about a Snapchat and/or any number
of other ‘niche’ platforms, and panic – ‘Why aren’t we on
“Image/ non-traditional video sharing platform of the
month”?!’.
If you’ve ever seen how a teenager actually uses Snapchat,
for example, you’ll realise that you probably not only don’t
want your brand to engage so intensively, but also that you’d
be hard-pushed to sustain and resource such activity unless
it was really paying off. And with a reported $750K/day price
tag to advertise, paying is clearly not the answer in this
instance…
However, the brands that *can* use Snapchat (and do so in
a way that their audience can relate to) are reaping the
benefits.
We’re not saying you need to be on Snapchat, instead

31. #8. Measure the
right things.
(100 > 100,000 – when they’re the right 100)

32. Some 70% of B2B marketers claim their team has a gap in
the digital skills they need, with almost half saying that gap is
in analytics and reporting. This is not really a surprise as the
most valuable things to measure have always been the
hardest (or most expensive) to get right.
But that shouldn’t be an excuse to not measure – nor should it
be an excuse to just follow the simple metrics. Think about
what you need to know, what will truly indicate your content is
cutting through and delivering on your business goals.
Think about what combination of simple metrics will help
you understand what you need to know, or what the
missing link is in finding out and work to understand that,
not just how many clicks you get on your emails and
tweets.
Think what you need to know, not what can you easily find
out.

33. #9. Make great content.
(Because crap content got us into this mess)

34. Easier said than done, I suppose, but instead of
plucking creative out of thin air, think about what
you’ve learned from every campaign you’ve ever
run. Think about your target audiences and the
messaging and content you know works to reach
them. Hell, hire an agency *ahem* but, whatever
you do, don’t launch into content creation without
putting the foundations in place to succeed.
Consider the three pillars for great content
and try to tick off at least two with every asset
you produce and make sure all three are
covered as part of each campaign.
If you know the audience, channel and message, you’re nearly
there.
Emotional gratification
Identity
Information
“This speaks to me”
I *get* it…
“I feel something” Happy/sad/amused…
“I learned something” Good/scary/useful…

35. And there you have it…

36. Still losing the battle for attention?
If you’re struggling to cut through the noise, don’t
make another asset until you’ve spoken to Omobono.
info@omobono.com

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