Everyone needs to jump in; those who find their voice will win big.
The world wants a side of stories with their products.
Let's talk about the hoopla surrounding content marketing. Studies show that 84% of people expect brands to provide them with content that entertains them, tells stories, provides solutions and creates an experience.
Content marketing, defined by The Content Marketing Institute, is "a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action."
In laymen's terms, it means providing something edgy, cool and engaging that doesn't directly ram a product down a consumer's throat. It's not enough to simply blast a product out into the world anymore. A little craftiness goes a long way. Let's take a look at some of today's leaders in content marketing.
Coca-Cola
When it comes to content marketing strategies, Coca-Cola is testing new waters. They provide innovative content that adheres to their mission statement "to refresh the world in mind, body and spirit. To inspire moments of optimism and happiness through our brands and actions."
Recently, Coca-cola has been using storytelling to reach people on an emotional level. They rarely focus on their products in content marketing. Rather, they concentrate on building a brand that reflects their mission statement. How?
They build communities for causes
They educate consumers on important issues
They offer recipes, work place advice and opinions
Apple
Everyone remember Apple's animated holiday commercial with the absurdly catchy Billie Ellish song called "come out and play"? Its colorful, visual, engaging, beautifully constructed and encourages everyone to share their uniquely special gifts with the world. Until the half-bitten apple logo appears over a black screen, one would have no indication this was a commercial for Apple. That's the beauty of content marketing.
Apple wants you to express yourself. They depict this through a cute, animated story of a girl who creates artistic work but stores all her pieces in a box away from the world. It takes a gust of winter wind that blows open her window and scatters her pieces across the city for her to appreciate herself.
Now the underlying message might be: buy an Apple Macbook or iPad, the perfect tool to express oneself creatively. But they don't state it directly or annoy you. Its subtlety and cute vibe are what keep the viewer interested and wanting to watch till the end.
Red Bull
It's Red Bull, bro, obviously!
Red Bull took up the idea of content marketing and literally ran with it to the moon. The company has built a brand personality that extends far beyond the soft drink industry. They are continuously developing streams of content and have tapped into nearly every type of content marketing. This includes the Red Bull magazine, unbelievable online video hits, incredible photographs and fascinating articles.
All the success Red Bull has reaped by investing in content marketing has stemmed from their strategy not to market a drink, but a lifestyle. It's the wildly reckless, push-it-to-the-limit and then some, danger and thrill seeking personality that Red Bull embodies, not merely a pick-me-up drink. By incorporating their company with extreme sports and edgy pop culture figures, the Red Bull marketing team has won over the views and attention of millions.
The key to content marketing is to put meaningful stories ahead of the product being sold. Seek to entertain and engage, not inform and explain your product. By adhering to a well-written mission statement and creating content substantial content, real, authentic attention will shift to your brand and the profits will follow.
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