2016 PRSA International Conference Presentation

1. Building Content That Has
Value Beyond Likes,
Comments, and Clicks
2016 PRSA International Conference
Indianapolis, IN

2. 2
“Content marketing 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.”
- Content Marketing Institute

3. 3
Here’s the problem

4. 4
We’ve all shared a
post like this

5. 5
And gotten this kind
of reaction

6. 6
And so you start
doing things like this
You won’t believe what this excavator can do!

7. 7
Which quickly turns
to this
I swear the new guy spends more time
sleeping than actually working!

8. Is this really why we got into this business?
8
http://digiday.com/agencies/confessions-social-media-strategist/

9. 9
“Companies need to come down from their
Ivory Towers and talk to the people with
whom they hope to create relationships.”
- The Cluetrain Manifesto, in 1999

10. But instead, marketing got their hands on it
and did what they always do – get as many
impressions as possible as cheaply as
possible
10

11. 11
Which has brought
us here

12. We’re letting numbers dictate our content
strategy
12

13. 13
“As soon as managers pick a numerical metric as a way to
measure whether they’re achieving their desired outcome,
everybody starts maximizing that metric rather than doing
the rest of their job – just as Campbell’s law predicts.”
- “Numbed by Numbers: Why Quants Don’t Know Everything” by Felix Salmon in WIRED

14. This creates cheap, commoditized content
that serves the algorithm, not the customer
14

15. Take back control
1. Change your strategy
2. Change your source
3. Change your team
4. Change your metrics
15

16. Change your strategy

17. 17
Before you can have a “content marketing
strategy” you have to first have a “content
strategy”

18. Don’t create content for marketing, create it
for your customers
18
From ‘Why I hate funnels’ essay by Mailchimp founder Ben Chestnut.

19. 19
Identify your customer’s journey, not the
journey you wish your customer would take

20. What does your audience actually want from
you and what can you uniquely provide?
20

21. Change your source

22. The best content doesn’t
come from Photoshop or
Giphy or MemeGenerator
22

23. 23
Do more than tell a story, tell your story

24. You have to get out
from behind your desk
24

25. 25
You are already creating the content your
customers want most – you’re just not
using it
• Your history
• Ideas that didn’t make the cut
• The “why” behind business decisions
• Challenges
• Your culture
• New product uses
• Requests for feedback
• Your causes
• Your POV

26. Change your team

27. 27
If you use the same people who are creating
your ads to create your content, you’re going
to get…more ads.

28. 28
Untangle content from marketing

29. 29
You’ve already hired most of your content
creators
• Subject matter experts
• Customer service
• R&D
• Product leaders
• Sales leaders
• Brand managers

30. 30
“Brand beat reporters” dig up the content
you have and package it for the public
• Beat reporters build up a base of knowledge on and gain familiarity
with a topic, allowing them to provide insight and commentary in
addition to reporting straight facts.
• Beat reporters become invested in the beats they are reporting for,
and become passionate about mastering that beat.
• Beat reporters routinely call, visit, and e-mail sources to obtain any
new information for articles. When reporters have experience on a
specific beat, they are able to gain both knowledge and sources to
lead them to new stories relating to that beat.

31. 31
• Beat reporters build up a base of knowledge on and gain familiarity
with your brand, allowing them to provide insight and commentary in
addition to reporting straight facts.
• Beat reporters become invested in the brands and categories they
are reporting for, and become passionate about mastering that beat.
• Beat reporters routinely call, visit, and e-mail sources to obtain any
new information for articles. When reporters have experience on a
specific brand, they are able to gain both knowledge and sources to
lead them to new stories relating to that brand.
“Brand beat reporters” dig up the content
you have and package it for the public

32. Brand beat reporters are
• Passionate
• Curious
• Versatile
• Driven
• Trustworthy
• Engaging
• Resourceful
32

33. Change your metrics

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Shouldn’t your content do more
than feed some algorithm?

35. This approach has
worked out great for the
social networks
35

36. Unless you’re this guy, this isn’t a real
sustainable approach
36

37. 37

38. 38
Cheap metrics lead to cheap content
• Likes
• Comments
• Shares
• Clicks
• Impressions
• Leads
• Conversions
• Customer satisfaction
• Brand awareness
• Brand loyalty
• Content re-use
• Employee morale
• Customer service
• Customer retention
Marketing Metrics Content Metrics

39. Don’t let the value of your content be
determined solely by your marketing team
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40. Thank you
40
Steve Radick
• VP, Director of Public Relations and
Content Integration
• www.steveradick.com
• www.twitter.com/sradick
• www.brunnerworks.com