Digital Enterprise. White Paper. Making a difference with a multichannel Content Marketing strategy

Transcription

1 Digital Eterprise White Paper Makig a differece with a multichael Cotet Marketig strategy

2 About the Author Medha Shrivastava Medha Shrivastava has over 10 years of experiece i digital cotet productio ad publishig across idustries i various roles icludig cotet developer, commuicatio lead, traier ad aalyst. Curretly, she maages digital customer egagemet assets for the Digital Eterprise Solutios ad Services (DESS) uit at Tata Cosultacy Services (TCS). She has executed ad maaged digital cotet programs for Fortue 500 compaies i the UK ad US. Her work ivolves creatio, dissemiatio, ad optimizatio of B2B ad B2C cotet for improved customer egagemet across chaels such as the itraet ad public websites, , IVR, ad direct mail. She has a degree i Electroics Egieerig from the Uiversity of Pue, Idia ad is a certified PRINCE2 (project i cotrolled eviromet) practitioer as well as Scrum Master.

3 Abstract Cosumers today are flooded with marketig messages from multiple chaels. With digital commuicatio becomig ubiquitous, marketers are uder pressure to produce a steady stream of targeted ad compellig olie cotet to get the desired customer attetio. This requires ulearig traditioal cotet marketig techiques that focus predomiatly o brad messagig. I the digital era, cotet marketig starts with the audiece. The cotet must form part of a social egagemet, eable search egie optimizatio, ad drive broader multichael iitiatives. The itetio should be to ispire, delight, iform, ad egage cosumers while keepig a careful eye o costs. A robust multichael cotet marketig strategy helps busiesses establish their expertise, gai trust, as well as build a positive reputatio ad rapport with the target audiece. Irrelevat cotet is similar to spammig ad ca have a egative impact o customer experiece. This paper outlies the importace of cotet marketig i drivig seamless multichael egagemet. It discusses the critical compoets of a robust cotet marketig strategy ad arrates how a leadig isurer i the UK was able to trasform their olie portal to ehace user experiece.

4 Cotets Craftig coversatios through cotet: Redefiig egagemet i the digital era 6 Optimizig the cotet marketig strategy 7 Selectig the right cotet marketig platform 7 Trasformig the web portal for better user experiece: A case study 10 Wiig the digital race with the right cotet strategy 10

5 Craftig coversatios through cotet: Redefiig egagemet i the digital era Sice the world of cotet marketig is relatively ew ad costatly evolvig, it is iterestig to kow some of the leadig brad strategies i this area that are drivig the chage. Here are some of the most successful cotet marketig examples that have redefied customer egagemet i today's digital era. Microsoft the power of stories Microsoft lauched the Microsoft Stories platform to give a iside look at people, places ad ideas that move their compay. The stories are ot about software but the humas behid it, ad the blog has maaged to coect with the audiece. McDoald's chagig egative perceptio through digital McDoald's Caada lauched a platform 'Our food. Your questios.' that allows cosumers to ask ay kid of questio about the food. Each respose focuses o displacig the egative iformatio regardig McDoald's food see olie. We see from these examples that i cotrast to traditioal advertisig techiques that are more pull-based ad ivolve media buyig, cotet marketig uses a push-based approach where cotet resides o owed or eared media. Accordig to the Cotet Marketig Istitute, Cotet marketig is a strategic marketig approach focused o creatig ad distributig valuable, relevat, ad cosistet cotet to attract ad retai a clearly-defied audiece ad, ultimately, to drive profitable customer actio.² Today, give the evolvig demads of digitally savvy customers, cosumer-cetric cotet forms the foudatio of a successful multichael B2B ad B2C marketig strategy. Ideally, every form of marketig o digital chaels should be closely liked to the overall cotet strategy of the orgaizatio. This icludes social media ad pay-per-click marketig, Search Egie Optimizatio (SEO), public relatios strategies, as well as iboud marketig for geeratig more traffic ad leads. Marketig executives are icreasig their commitmet to cotet marketig ad ivestig i it, as show i figure 1. Budget 25% of total marketig budget is allocated to Cotet Marketig Creatio 70% are producig more cotet tha they did a year ago. Typical B2B Customer Icrease Spedig 55% are likely to icrease spedig i the comig year Strategy 35% have documeted Cotet Marketig strategy Budget 25% of total marketig budget is allocated to Cotet Marketig Creatio 69% are producig more cotet tha they did a year ago. Typical B2C Customer Icrease Spedig 55% are likely to icrease spedig i the comig year Strategy 27% have documeted Cotet Marketig strategy Figure 1: Icreased focus o B2B ad B2C cotet marketig³ [1] Cotet Marketig Istitute, 8 Absolutely Brilliat Cotet Marketig Iovatios from the World's Best Brads, March 2015, October 8, 2015, [2] Cotet Marketig Istitute, What Is Cotet Marketig?, May 2010, 2d September 2015, [3] Cotet Marketig Istitute, B2B CONTENT MARKETING:2015 Bechmarks, Budgets, ad Treds North America, Published: October 2014, Retrieved: October 8, 2015,URL: 6

6 There has bee a icrease i digital cotet productio over the last year ad customers are sharig olie cotet with a average 100 users⁴. Relevat marketig cotet is shared o at least 14 social media platforms. Moreover, i the B2B domai, olie cotet is playig a major role i vedor selectio. Busiess decisio makers prefer to glea compay iformatio from vedors' olie sources as opposed to advertisemets, as these sources provide them with more facts ad details. However, marketers eed to realize that simply improvig search egie rakigs or beig preset o social media is ot eough. A successful cotet strategy costatly evolves ad helps marketers tell a covicig story, as well as create ad sustai impressios while buildig brad reputatio. TCS' global tred study, which covered 650 cosumer compaies worldwide,⁵ shows that maximum gais from social media are realized whe it is used to hold meaigful coversatios, evagelize products, ad liste to the customer's voice. Optimizig the cotet marketig strategy The chages made by Google to its algorithm⁶ over the past few moths emphasize the fact that a optimized cotet marketig strategy is importat for improvig orgaic search rakigs ad stayig relevat i social media. A optimized cotet marketig strategy etails the followig: Developig ad distributig high quality ad timely cotet that is relevat, cosistet ad well-writte i a uiform brad voice across all chaels Buildig back-liks by producig ad distributig relevat, fresh cotet such as optimized press releases ad blog posts Distributig optimized cotet across social etworks, ad givig website visitors ad cotet cosumers the opportuity to amplify cotet Optimizig cotet for search egies through keywords that prospects are most likely to use Selectig the right cotet marketig platform A robust framework to create ad distribute cotet should esure three critical aspects: Scheduled cotet delivery, drive by editorial caledars Relevat, cosumer-cetric cotet, based o the cosumer jourey ad cotet cosumptio format Real-time developmet ad publishig, combiig social listeig with rapid-respose publishig It is importat for busiesses to select the right cotet marketig platform, ideally a sigle, comprehesive suite that caters to multiple marketig eeds. Accordig to the Forrester Research for Eterprise Marketig Suite, released i Q4 2014, The eterprise marketig software market is chagig fast, as CI (Customer Isight) pros eed to [4] Cotet Marketig Istitute, 2015 Bechmarks, B2C CONTENT [5] MARKETING: Budgets, ad Treds North America, Published: October 2014, Retrieved: October 8, 2015,URL: [6] Forbes, How To Leverage Recet Algorithm Updates To Gai Visibility I Google Search Results, December 2014, October , 7

7 simplify their marketig techology portfolios, itegrate customer data to drive better marketig programs, ad egage with customers i their momet of eed. ⁷ Give the wide rage of eterprise marketig suites available from differet vedors, it is extremely importat to assess whether a give product is capable of meetig specific busiess requiremets. While orgaizatios may choose to buy a suite or parter with a specialized vedor, these are basic parameters that should be cosidered whe selectig a cotet marketig platform: Ease of use: Durig the selectio process, more weightage should be assiged to ituitiveess ad ease of use. The solutio must miimize IT depedecy to eable marketig teams, irrespective of their techical backgroud, to access ad track marketig plas ad resources quickly ad easily. The platform should also offer a drag-ad-drop layout, simplified test editig, quick referecig, asset maagemet, ad cofigurable role assigatio. Itegrated framework: The cotet techology platform should segmet marketig disciplies ad strategies while allowig cross-fuctioal teams to share data ad cotet. There should also be a clear distictio betwee areas such as social media, automatio, editorials, cotet maagemet, marketig, lead geeratio, ad customer relatioship maagemet. This is importat to allow trackig of metrics i a uified as well as segregated maer for each disciplie. Data-drive processes: The marketig platform should offer the ability to measure ad provide isights o the effectiveess of cotet, campaigs, ad strategies. Marketers must be able to gai a uderstadig of various elemets such as what will work with customers ad what ca create roadblocks, the customer jourey, sales fuel, as well as factors that ca improve lead coversio. Data mergig: The selected platform should have the ability to merge offlie data (usually from a data warehouse or a CRM system) with the real-time, olie data (received through aalytics). This helps create a sigle view of the customer. Itegratio with other software: Adaptability is importat to stay agile. The orgaizatio should be able to itegrate the selected platform with specialized vedor products, whe eeded. A marketig suite with the ability to easily itegrate with smaller vedors (ad app developers i some cases) has eve greater appeal. Editorial workflow maagemet: The platform should offer robust editorial workflow maagemet with features such as a editorial caledar, project maagemet tools, author idetificatio, simple formattig, edit trackig, versio cotrol, ad post taggig. Desig resposiveess: The ability to desig resposively is a key criterio for selectio ad is crucial to providig a seamless presetatio layer across various chaels ad devices. Brad moitorig capabilities: The platform should eable marketers to liste to what the target audiece is sayig about the brad. Social media moitorig ad trackig brad sigals helps marketers idetify importat coversatios, ad offer timely resposes. Real time collaboratio: A good cotet marketig techology platform makes real time collaboratio easy. Key collaboratio features iclude trackig actios, tasks ad campaig assigmet, asset sharig, ad cofigurable role assigmet for teams. [7] Forrester Research, The Forrester Wave : Eterprise Marketig Software Suites, Q4 2014, October 2014, October , 8

8 I additio to the above criteria, costs such as setup ad licese, traiig, cotet migratio, custom developmet, ad so o should be cosidered to get a clear uderstadig of the expected ROI. Also, successful deploymets by other compaies should be cosidered before choosig a cotet marketig platform. Usig the right metrics to measure impact While it is importat to create good quality cotet, measurig its impact is equally crucial. At a strategic level, B2B marketers seek to ehace brad awareess⁸. B2C orgaizatios, o the other had, focus primarily o customer retetio ad loyalty⁹. These goals are highlighted by the metrics showcased i figure 2. Cotet Marketig Metrics Deployed Website Traffic Time Spet o website SEO Rakig Higher Coversio rate Sales 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% B2C Compaies usig the metrics B2B Compaies usig the metrics Figure 2: Cotet marketig metrics10 [8] Cotet Marketig Istitute, B2B CONTENT MARKETING:2015 Bechmarks, Budgets, ad Treds North America, Published: October 2014, Retrieved: October 8, 2015,URL: [9] Cotet Marketig Istitute, 2015 Bechmarks, B2C CONTENT MARKETING: Budgets, ad Treds North America, Published: October 2014, Retrieved: October 8, 2015,URL: [10] Cotet Marketig Istitute, 2015 Bechmarks, B2C CONTENT MARKETING: Budgets, ad Treds North America, Published: October 2014, Retrieved: October 8, 2015,URL: Cotet Marketig Istitute, B2B CONTENT MARKETING:2015 Bechmarks, Budgets, ad Treds North America, Published: October 2014, Retrieved: October 8, 2015,URL: 9

9 Trasformig the web portal for better user experiece: A case study A leadig isurace provider i the UK wated to trasform their busiess websites to improve the maagemet of user experiece (employees ad cosumers). They leveraged a eterprise-wide web cotet maagemet solutio to eable stadardized cotet delivery across web, mobile, ad social media. Busiess Challege Processes eeded to be supported by the right techology platform for cotet marketig Portals had to be desiged ad developed for desktop, mobile ad tablets Curret systems were uable to support timely executio of marketig strategies Busiess teams had icreased depedece o the iteral IT team There was o cosistecy across systems Solutio Eterprise-wide web cotet maagemet solutio with itegrated aalytics Stadardized cotet delivery across web, mobile, ad social media Commuicatio ad collaboratio across crossfuctioal teams i the orgaizatio ad with cosumers Ability for cotet authors to set up busiess rules ad publish cotet to the live portal Beefits Icreased user peetratio through improved multichael support ad chael-specific strategies Promotio of cotet marketig programs through the website to gai ad retai customers Quick respose to cosumer feedback ad complaits Cosistet web user experiece ad uiform brad messagig Ability to publish cotet ad build a website without IT support. Wiig the digital race with the right cotet strategy It is easy for cotet to get lost i today's cluttered ad oisy digital world. Moreover, cosumers oly respod to cotet that is the most relevat ad egagig. Cotet marketig therefore plays a crucial role i a orgaizatio's ability to stad out amog competitors across chaels. Implemetig a robust cotet strategy with the right techology model provides the much eeded competitive edge. Cosistet productio of high quality cotet ca positio orgaizatios as thought leaders i the idustry. It ca also help marketers succeed o ay social etwork that may emerge i the future. More importatly, cotet marketig is a measurable fuctio. There are tools ad techologies that ca help busiesses uderstad how cotet has a impact o ehacig orgaic search rakigs, visitor footprit, coversios, back-liks ad social presece. There is little doubt that goig forward, cotet marketig is goig to form a crucial compoet of multichael marketig strategies, ot just for creatig demad but also for buildig the brad ad urturig relatioships with customers. 10

10 About TCS' Digital Eterprise Uit The TCS Digital Eterprise uit applies the Digital Five Forces Mobility ad Pervasive Computig, Big Data ad Aalytics, Social Media, Cloud, ad Artificial Itelligece & Robotics to meet the uique eeds ad opportuities of each idustry. We help cliets reimagie their busiess models, products ad services, customer segmets, chaels, busiess processes, ad workplaces by leveragig a combiatio of the Digital Five Forces to gai sustaied competitive advatage. Our experieced global team icludes busiess strategy cosultats, busiess aalysts, digital marketers, user experiece desigers, data scietists, ad egieers who are passioate about today's digital techologies ad their impact o busiesses. Backed by our techology vedor parterships, pre-built customizable products ad reusable assets, ad deep idustry expertise, we offer everythig a eterprise eeds for complete Digital Reimagiatio. Cotact For more iformatio about the TCS Digital Eterprise uit, visit: digital.eterprise@tcs.com Subscribe to TCS White Papers TCS.com RSS: Feedburer: About Tata Cosultacy Services (TCS) Tata Cosultacy Services is a IT services, cosultig ad busiess solutios orgaizatio that delivers real results to global busiess, esurig a level of certaity o other firm ca match. TCS offers a cosultig-led, itegrated portfolio of IT ad IT-eabled ifrastructure, egieerig ad TM assurace services. This is delivered through its uique Global Network Delivery Model, recogized as the bechmark of excellece i software developmet. A part of the Tata Group, Idia s largest idustrial coglomerate, TCS has a global footprit ad is listed o the Natioal Stock Exchage ad Bombay Stock Exchage i Idia. For more iformatio, visit us at IT Services Busiess Solutios Cosultig All cotet / iformatio preset here is the exclusive property of Tata Cosultacy Services Limited (TCS). The cotet / iformatio cotaied here is correct at the time of publishig. No material from here may be copied, modified, reproduced, republished, uploaded, trasmitted, posted or distributed i ay form without prior writte permissio from TCS. Uauthorized use of the cotet / iformatio appearig here may violate copyright, trademark ad other applicable laws, ad could result i crimial or civil pealties. Copyright 2015 Tata Cosultacy Services Limited TCS Desig Services I M I 10 I 15