Razorfish Participation Marketing Series: Creating Breakthrough Content

Razorfish Participation Marketing Series: Creating Breakthrough Content

02 Creating Breakthrough Content Creating Breakthrough Content The perfect piece of content can ignite a reaction from potential customers. The Trend Instagram posts. Tweets. BuzzFeed articles. These are just a few of the thousands of pieces of content consumers are devouring each day for entertainment or to become more informed before purchases. The perfect piece of content can ignite a reaction from potential customers. But marketers struggle to systematically create breakthrough content that is contextually relevant, captivating and that inspires others to participate with the brand. In this point-of-view piece from Razorfish, we outline how CMOs can succeed in content marketing, including: 01. Building a Great Content Team 02. Examples of Content That Drives Participation 03. Recommended Strategies for Creating Breakthrough Content

03 Building a Great Content Team Building a Great Content Team The right talent makes all the difference in generating breakthrough ideas and then seeing them through execution. The following insights about content teams can apply to teams that are in house, outsourced to an agency or a hybrid of the two. Know the end goal Content teams often work alongside event marketing, social media and product marketing teams as well as many other business areas. It is important to know which stakeholders the team is ultimately reporting to and how effectiveness will be measured. A defined goal helps ensure a more structured process for content planning, which leads to team success. For example, prior to a product launch event for one client, we pinpoint the launch and event goals, then use them to define what content we want to capture; which channels we will use; and what formats will be ideal. We then assign the right mix of photographers, videographers and writers to the event. Create channel-specific teams with a big picture vision Many companies have distinct teams for web, digital, ecommerce, loyalty and other marketing channels. Content doesn t stop in one place it can be used across many screens, platforms and locations. To ensure content is really effectively leveraged, we recommend creating dedicated resources for each channel in which you plan to deploy content. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms should each be considered a separate channel. On one of our client teams, we have dedicated channel managers for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, which allows for a deep-dive understanding of the community and the expertise to respond uniquely within the channel. Each of those leads also needs to be fully aware of how the content fits within the larger strategy. Use integrated team spaces for more integrated solutions The nimbleness and collaboration required for content-heavy marketing make an integrated team space incredibly effective. For a smaller team, just having everyone in the same room will help. For a larger team, consider arranging seating by channel area. For example, a content strategist, designer and channel owner for Instagram sit next to one another, as opposed to having all designers sit in one corner. Hire hybrid roles The most basic roles we typically employ on a content team include the channel managers, who serve as strategists and community managers, and designers who create

Building a Great Content Team the content. But the most valuable channel managers are analytical, understand trends and data, write and edit posts in real time, are experts on the brand voice, and are willing to have a point of view on their channels. Great designers should have strong copywriting skills and be knowledgeable about social channels. Another primary role within our team is a content planner who analyzes content consumption to discover what content is taking off. This, in turn, informs content extensions, which can result in new content pillars. It is helpful to integrate paid media within the content team. At the very least, digital content should be amplified in the moment as it is trending. For longer-term media, we hold stand-up meetings each week with our media partners to report on opportunities to take content into traditional advertising channels. Build teams with different response times Planned content calendars are great for predictable content, but there will always be opportunities to create real-time content. We recommend having Establish a direct line to dedicated resources that are responsible channels beyond just for monitoring social discussion and trends, social media then producing real-time content when Breakthrough content created by the brand appropriate. These resources can support planned content when they have or by customers is often used far beyond bandwidth but otherwise will ensure that social channels. For example, an image other teams are not constantly in reacfrom social influencers might be used for an out-of-home billboard, and video assets tionary mode and pulled away from planned produced for a content campaign may end activities. We also recommend a dediup being used for traditional advertising. To cated trend spotter to monitor and alert the content planners and designers on the identify these opportunities early, have a direct line of communication to leaders who team. Our proprietary marketing product, called WAVE, uses predictive listening tools manage PR, out-of-home, broadcast and other channels that might be able to further with content creation to respond quickly to a trending opportunity. utilize great content. 04 Breakthrough content created by the brand or by customers is often used far beyond social channels.

05 Examples of Content That Drives Participation Examples of Content That Drives Participation Editorial content that taps into deeper emotions The most basic way to plan a content strategy is via an editorial calendar that aligns with the monthly marketing calendar and things like major product launches. While brands could just take a print ad and repurpose it for Instagram or a Twitter post, that kind of strategy is unlikely to drive much of a response. Ways to tap into deeper emotions with standard calendar content include:. Find the anchor feeling the product evokes, and capture it in the content. Is the product about excitement, joy, sophistication or something else?. Make the content about more than just the product it is about the lifestyle enabled by the product or the feelings the prodect evokes. For example, a company that sells a packaged food product can create emotionally evocative content by tying the food to great family moments at the dinner table or a young kid helping cook in the kitchen. This is how you connect static planned content to what might be relevant to the audience today.. Break the rules in how you execute. Doing the same thing every product launch won t continually engage audiences. Doing something different causes excitement. Example: Mercedes-Benz A Scroll Through Time on Instagram Mercedes-Benz is a major sponsor of the Pebble Beach Concours d Elegance car show. To build excitement for this pre planned event sponsorship, and to attract the attention of younger audiences, Mercedes Source: @mbusa_a_scroll_through_ Time Instagram Account

06 Examples of Content That Drives Participation and Razorfish created the A Scroll Through Time experience on Instagram. The @mbusa_a_scroll_through_time Instagram handle shows a timeline of the cars featured at the Pebble Beach event since 1952. This shows the history, legacy and mystique of the Mercedes brand in a new way that had not been done before on the Instagram platform. Real-time content that captures an immediate feeling To be relevant to the things that are happening in the world every day, brands have to have the ability to create content on the fly and in response to whatever may come their way. Steps to identify and act on real-time opportunities include:. Have dedicated resources monitoring trending discussions related to your product categories, industry or even global events that somehow relate to your brand. Once they see a connection to the brand, the team flags it. The channel lead and design lead create copy and image options, then send them for review. Select the content that best balances being relevant, timely and creative Example: Mercedes-Benz Comet Landing on Twitter When the spacecraft Rosetta landed on a comet in 2014, the Mercedes team monitoring popular social chatter noticed the growing popularity of space travel themes. Mercedes then reacted quickly and became one of the first brands to create social posts with the #cometlanding tag. One of the posts was favorited 15,000 times on Twitter. Source: @MBUSA Twitter Account

07 Examples of Content That Drives Participation Influencer and partner-driven content that stands out Even highly relevant content generated by a brand can feel salesy or inauthentic. The right partnerships with a third-party influencer can bring a halo effect to the brand, where anything that influencer touches feels real and authentic. Here are a few things to consider when identifying partners to generate content on your brand s behalf:. Does the partner align with the brand as a whole (not just one product or campaign)?. Does the partner give you the exposure to the right audience that you need to meet your goals?. Is there any risk or potential backlash in using the partner?. Are there clear ways to amplify the content created by this partner over various channels and over time?. Can the partnership effort extend into a larger program in the long term? Or is this a one-off, short-term effort? Example: Mercedes-Benz PhotoPass In the highly publicized Take the Wheel campaign on Instagram, Mercedes handed over the keys of a new Mercedes CLA to five influential Instagram photographers for a week. While driving around the country, each photographer took control of the Mercedes Instagram account and shared photos from his or her journey around the country. Eventually, one photographer won the car by driving the most engagement with his content. Since then, Mercedes has extended the campaign by letting social influencers, journalists and team members temporarily curate content for the Instagram account while using the hashtag #MBPhotoPass. This keeps the content fresh and generates new fans through each new influencer. Source: @mbusa Instagram Account

08 Recommended Strategies for Creating Breakthrough Content Recommended Strategies for Creating Breakthrough Content Inspire If you sell cars, people who see your content need to picture themselves in that car driving with the top down. There is no need to be gimmicky or too quirky to get attention tap into the emotions that will inspire your audience instead. Push the brand Content marketing is a testing ground for evolving the perception customers and prospects have of your brand. Use social and other content channels to engage with new customer types, change the tone, be more human and see, in real time, how people react. With a smart strategy and well-trained channel managers, you can reduce the risk of any long-term failures. Have a plan for just-in-time content Even if a brand has resources managing the monthly content calendar, as well as resources to help with real-time content, there are likely to be additional, unexpected requests from the marketing organization. For example, perhaps the business makes an acquisition that you have to generate content about. We recommend having a couple people ready to receive those things and act on them quickly. Get true experts of the subculture on your team Channel managers who are true experts in their categories are able to bring the level of channel engagement up a notch and will drive deeper participation from other customers. Use tools that enable content optimization Tools like Sprinklr allow content marketers to tag each content piece and measure how well that content drove specific actions (e.g., drive traffic to a YouTube video or to the site). This level of tagging allows managers to look at like-minded posts and see trends in performance, as opposed to looking at all posts in an agnostic way. Also consider tools like Opal, which organizes content in a shared environment. This allows the entire content team to collaborate in a centralized content workspace that includes content libraries, shared visual calendaring and workflow approvals prior to publishing.

09 Contact Us Contact Us Motivated and inspired by what s next, Razorfish helps its clients navigate the unknown, drive change and transform business. This content series is designed to help brands achieve customer-obsessed business transformation, with a special focus on the core pillars of Customer Experience Innovation, Participation Marketing, Ubiquitous Commerce and Intelligent Platforms. For more content, visit Razorfish.com. With specific questions about Razorfish s Participation Marketing solutions, contact either: Chris Bowler GVP, Social Media Christopher.Bowler@Razorfish.com Paige Johnson Senior Director, Social Media Paige.Johnson@Razorfish.com