Content alone isn’t enough. “If you build it, they will come” worked in the film Field of Dreams, but it doesn’t play out in real-time. People will not show up to view your content unless you let them know about it first.
How did those baseball players know Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) had built that baseball field? Well, it’s a mystical movie, so they just knew. (They’re ghosts, after all.)
For the rest of us, we have to build something compelling and valuable, with targeted outreach, that prompts our audiences to show up.
There are variations on how to accomplish this. Here’s a taste of what we’ve learned:
STEP 1. Get Focused On The Marketing Goal
Many video campaigns start out with a cool idea, instead of creating a cool idea around a marketing objective.
The right order is: Objective first, creative second. Figure out what you want to accomplish. What are your goals for the campaign?
For Trek Bikes, About Face Media created a series of online videos, called “Document Unscripted” which chronicled the behind-the-scenes journey of Lance Armstrong, the Trek Bicycle 2009 Tour De France Team and their fans.
The goal was simple: to illustrate how the brand weaves into the lives of the Trek customer.
And how did we know they would want to watch? We knew that the biking fan base in enthusiastic, and that they would follow the entire team, which included Lance Armstrong. We knew that Trek customers would like to ride along with the team.
So it was simply a question of asking: What would the Trek customer find useful and entertaining?
Marketers are used to carefully identifying the goals and scope of potential projects. Content marketing strategies require the same. The creative content will be more successful if the strategy and goals behind your social media campaign are targeted first.
STEP 2. The Audience (a.k.a. Identify Who You Want To Reach)
What is the primary target audience?
For instance, “Ask Quill” was produced for Quill.com, the business to business e-commerce division of Staples Corp.
The project is aimed at the twenty-something office managers who are being asked by their bosses to become ‘tech savvy’ in a new media age.
What questions are these managers asking? What sites are they visiting? What blogs are they reading? What search terms are they using? Where are they going to learn how to integrate new software and hardware within their offices? What questions do they need answering?
By drilling into these questions, we identified a very specific target, and a precise focus for the campaign.
Content marketing strategies must be planned in advance. They are different than broadcast strategies: Social media strategies are narrow, not broad. The content must be of use or entertaining to your audience.
One broad video won’t cut it. One size does not fit all.
This brings us to messaging and the brand experience.
STEP 3. Desired Results/Goals (aka Quantifiable Bang For Your Buck)
What is the ‘brand’ experience you want the media to convey? And once you identify the experience you want conveyed, how will you convey it?
Every time you reach out and communicate to a customer, you affect your brand. Keep this in mind as you create your strategy. Here’s an example from KmartDesign:
At the same time, remember that what you communicate has to be useful and entertaining to your targeted audience. Avoid confusing what is useful for you, the marketer, with what is useful to your audience. Be hard on yourself.
For instance, with our KmartDesign initiative, we wanted to create curious disbelief about Kmart Design and use that to get across our message that Kmart has changed for the better. Every communication we put out there – from our videos to each little Tweet—is wrapped in that brand experience, in that message. The exchange below, between @shopsmartgirl and @kmartdesign is one example:
In Kmart’s kids series, there are two “how-to” episodes that highlight an activity parents and their children can enjoy together—how to customize jeans, sweatshirts and other apparel.
The viewers watch the episodes because they are entertaining and offer useful information. At the same time, they learn more about the Kmart brand.
How is your media useful or entertaining to your audience?
Are you looking for a measurable action on the part of your customers in addition to an overall branding experience?
Both are valid objectives, for which video is perfect.
We did this series of videos for Florida Tourism (Agency: BVK) — a great example of “entertaining” as well as useful to the target audience of people considering a visit to the St. Pete/Clearwater area.
“Eli’s BBQ” is one of our favorites in the series:
Now it’s time you think about how to get it out there.
STEP 4. Delivery (aka Get It Out There In The Right Way)
Where will the media be placed?
Video hub at VisitStPeteClearwater.com.
Your corporate web site?
A customized mini-site to supplement the main site?
Do you have affiliate partners, strategic partners or other “friends” who will help you get exposure for the media?
Make an inventory of any resources you might have that can help get the word out.
With Art Chicago we used The Merchandise Mart’s broader resources like their email database, and their general website to promote the launch of ArtChicago.TV. But even more importantly, they used partner and affiliate groups (such as the Art Institute of Chicago) to send promotional emails out on their behalf.
You’ve just thought through what assets you have at your fingertips to aid your campaign. You may have realized you have a ton of low hanging fruit to pick, or you may have come to the harrowing conclusion that the shelves are bare as far as assets go.
If you’re in the latter camp, don’t Tweet “This is the end” just yet. There are ways to get the message out whether your assets are an embarrassment of riches or not.
You’ve just thought through what assets you have at your fingertips to aid your campaign. You may have realized you have a ton of low hanging fruit to pick, or you may have come to the harrowing conclusion that the shelves are bare as far as assets go.
If you’re in the latter camp, don’t Tweet “This is the end” just yet. There are ways to get the message out whether your assets are an embarrassment of riches or not.
STEP 5. Syndication/Viral (aka Even More Getting It Out There In The Right Way)
One reason KmartDesign has been successful is that we’ve used a number of methods to drive video plays, website visitors, and social media impressions. These methods include video syndication, e-mail blasts, and blogger outreach, amongst others.
How else will/could the media be syndicated or released?
Brightcove? TubeMogul? YouTube?
Paid or unpaid video sharing sites? There are lots of options available on any budget. It is your task to map out which options you will take advantage of.
V-Blast for QuinnStories, a "behind the scenes" video series for IL Governor Pat Quinn
Will you use e-mail blasts? Blog outreach? Offline distribution, such as screenings at meetings or DVD’s?
Do you have current e-mail lists?
How robust are your lists? How targeted are they? Video can be very effective when sent to a robust, targeted list of people who will find value in what you have to say.
Now you know your distribution options and your plan. Some more thought will help maximize your impact in the end.
STEP 6. Your Website (aka Your Website)
Social Media "Side Bar" at KmartDesign.com
What is the strategy behind the placement of the content on your website?
You’ll need to have a strong strategy behind how you are presenting your media and by extension your message.
Does your media site encourage interactivity?
Do you have a solid strategy behind tying together your site, your media, and any additional social media outreach in which you are engaged?
KmartDesign.com was built to be a hub—a place to put our best foot forward while being a part of the overall, integrated campaign. Our strategy was to give a visitor a strong impression at a glance while enticing them to dig in deeper by offering them useful content.
STEP 7. PR/Advertising (a.k.a. Yes, Non-Online Exposure And Outreach Is Still A Valuable Tool)
How did all those baseball fans find out about the ghost-filled “Field of Dreams” ballpark? Who knows, but, depending on your budget, doing paid advertising or paid PR can draw attention to this media.
Consider print, TV, banner ads, PPC ads, or press releases. Keep “targeted,” rather than “broad,” in mind as you develop these.
Remember: Generic e-release blasts miss their marks. Be prepared to segment your target audience, and hone in on fine-tuned interests.
STEP 8. Data Collection And Metrics (a.k.a. Cold-Hard Stats)
Are there metrics that you would like to track?
Make sure that your social media strategy will get you the kind of data and metrics that you can use in your next social media campaign. Tools like Google Analytics, TubeMogul and Radian6, can often get you what you want to know. If you’re having great success with one type of video, genre, or length, it follows that you should increase your focus on that type moving forward.
Conclusion
Marketers are finding that putting a traditional corporate video or television commercial up on YouTube or a company’s website often provides little return on their investment.
You don’t necessarily have the magic of Hollywood to fill in any shortage in planning the way The Field of Dreams did—so, yes, build it, and make sure it is something your audience will want, and then make sure you know how to get it out there in front of as many eyeballs as possible.
Keep producing great videos, and exploring other ways to use them in the future. A quick example? Kmart’s shoppable videos. Pretty cool stuff—you can watch a video, and click on the items within the video and drop them in your shopping cart.
You name it. Whatever you want to accomplish with your content marketing project, it’s hard to imagine that there isn’t an opportunity to connect the dots between the video and your call to action.