Marketing with Substance

marketing with substance P.E. ACOCK

complete

unabridged

ÂŁ1

marketing with substance First Published 2012 Edited by Mags Walker Written by the fabl Designed by Martin Pownall Proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Whizz-Kidz, a charity all about giving disabled children the chance to lead a more independent life.

Visit www.whizz-kidz.org.uk for more information.

Printed & bound in Yorkshire, England.

contents introduction 1 strategy & planning 3 content creation 5 web design & build 7 social media marketing 9 search engine marketing 11 multimedia production 13 design for print 15 public relations 17 event management 19 who are we?

21 why use us?

23 how to get in touch 25 the fabl 27

intro It’s a customer’s world - it doesn’t matter if you are b2b or b2c, your customers are King. They decide if they want to be reached, they can tell if you are trying to attract them and if you don’t entertain or educate them, they will ignore you.

To be effective, marketing needs substance and nothing provides more substance than Content Marketing.

Every business needs to consider the content - be that words, pictures, sounds or experiences - of each marketing activity it undertakes. Whether you are building a website, producing a consumer magazine or sending out a piece of direct mail you need content that is engaging, compelling and, probably most important of all, relevant to your audience.

Over the next few pages we will introduce each of the individual disciplines, which make up a complete content marketing approach to your communications.

1

compelling content, not coronation chicken

strategy & planning

Understanding your audience, its trigger points and the messages it reacts to best is an essential part of any marketing activity. Knowing what your audience thinks about you and what it expects from you is equally important. Frankly, if your audience doesn’t think you have a good brand - you don’t!

Having a clearly defined content strategy is an essential part of the planning process. Strategy makes sure your target audience is kept in mind from the start and that clear goals are set.

Content objectives could include an increase in page views on your website, uptake of a particular offer, audience growth, or an increase in engagement and customer loyalty. Things to consider include the communication channel to be used, publishing frequency, topic emphasis and post type.

Of course no two situations are the same and accordingly no two strategies will be made up of the same tactics.

3

without planning, marketing is at best a gut instinct and at worst a waste of time

content creation

Conceiving and creating user experiences which direct and encourage interaction between brands and customers is an essential element of content marketing.

And making the content of a website, magazine or advertisement easily found is as important as making sure it is engaging. Search engine optimised content ensures engagement can happen - it’s science and art working together.

For your marketing to have substance you need engaging, relevant, timely and bespoke content for your customers, produced by appropriate experts – journalists, copywriters, film makers, animators, bloggers...

And you need more than the written word – you need to offer a full sensory experience.

5

one size does not fit all!

web

design & build Technology marches on and you need to keep pace.

Be it simple web development, ecommerce, mobile applications or email communication, you need development that is grounded, intuitive and innovative – and you need to make sure your content hits the mark.

Content marketing provides a perfect marriage of technology and user experience. Open source technology allows you to truly own your own website – you don’t need a nasty surprise when you realise you are tied to your web development team.

Use mobile and tablet delivery and be as innovative in your site as your customers are in their outlook. There is no need to simply force your customers to strain their eyes viewing your beautiful website on a small screen. Geo-locating technology allows you to deliver a truly local and personal experience.

7

style over substance makes for a hollow experience, everytime

social

media marketing Sharing content and exploring social networks are key ways to interact with your target audience.

Social networks allow your customers to go from being simply an entry in a database to an advocate of your brand. Often the ability and flexibility to allow user-generated content can make the difference between a dialogue with your customers and simply shouting at them and hoping they listen. New networks are constantly emerging to challenge the perceived dominance of facebook and Twitter, with Pinterest coming up fast on the rails garnering 10 million US users in a matter of months.

The proliferation of these social networks means it is more important than ever to adopt a strategy of substance for social media to avoid becoming just an online bore.

Short, sharp, relevant messages on a regular basis weave your brand into the very fabric of your customers’ everyday life.

9

and you thought it was just facebook and Twitter?

Keep up!

search

engine marketing With every online search returning over a million responses and website options, it is critical that your content is found easily.

Unlike the days when broadcast advertising was King and ‘interruption’ was an acceptable method of introduction we now need to be relevant and then responsive. And not forgetting timely – available whenever your customer is in a buying frame of mind and then making it easy for them to purchase.

Google is the new Force and understanding how it works is often the first step to getting your customers to engage with you online.

But learning the art of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a skill in itself and often best left to the Jedi - or in our case, the fabl.

11

get ahead of your competitors, regardless of your scale, location or budget

multi -media production

Human nature dictates that we all want to be entertained as well as informed.

Multimedia content allows us to interact with our eyes, our ears and touch and has the added bonus of assisting with SEO. Google ranks multimedia sites high in the organic rankings.

And multimedia is no longer limited to a simple video or a sound bite. You can use augmented reality and even fully interactive videos to hammer those messages home. Multimedia content is immersive, it lingers longer and engages more fully - missing this opportunity is like watching TV with the sound turned off bearable, but not necessarily satisfying.

For your marketing to have substance you need to produce engaging and entertaining content that will excite the maximum number of senses at any one time. You need to think like a customer and understand that a life in black and white isn’t all it could be.

13

we have 5 senses, why tickle just one?

design

less desperate dan, more dostoevsky

for print

Human beings will never fall out of love with a beautiful piece of design.

Evocative, seductive, patient and above all tactile; printed communications such as magazines endure and are often shared. You can relax with them and fall deeper into their content than any other form of media.

Despite the march of technology we still like to read a printed copy of a magazine or brochure. They wait patiently for us to engage at a time that suits us, rather than demanding attention immediately, like so many other forms of communication.

And customer magazines have been shown to offer the longest opportunity for engagement, with an average time spent reading them of 25mins - significantly more than other media. You need to make sure you include quality editorial content from journalists who understand how to sell, without selling. There are plenty of comics on the newsstands - make sure your magazine isn’t one of them. fabl are Yorkshire’s only member of The prestigious CMA (Content Marketing Association)

15

public relations

Public Relations (PR) is about the management of your reputation - whether that is in print, online or in person - encouraging friendship, trust and honour and equally able to defend and fight your corner when necessary.

By building your brand in the eyes of the world you can increase both consumer interaction with your products and your standing in the eyes of Google.

Much of what we perceive as news is in fact PR, with the content placed deliberately to cause the maximum impact and reach the optimum number of potential customers.

Good public relations will bring your public to you and make you and your products loved and desired. It will get you on trend by taking advantage of timings, piggy backing events and generally managing the flow of news to your target audience.

For your PR to have real substance you need to create attentiongrabbing events and stories – you need to hit the headlines!

17

make the news, be the news and own the news – the opportunity exists if you are brave enough

event

management Live events are a world-class way of engaging with your core target audience groups.

People who venture to your events are committed, eager and prepared to go out of their way to engage with your brand.

Understanding this, and more importantly how people interact in person, is what makes events such a powerful form of content.

What you say and do and how you act and interact is the key to engaging your audience, but successful events take a huge amount of organisation to get right. Events need great content without content an event doesn’t really exist.

Get your event right however and that great content can be shared through almost every other media channel.

an event is just a crowd without great content 19

who are we?

An eclectic bunch with diverse backgrounds ranging from award winning journalism to big 4 chartered accountancy through to user experience specialists, web developers, social media experts, graphic designers, pr professionals and event planners and managers.

We dig deep into business strategy and the actions we implement have a direct and positive impact on your bottom line.

We are not trying to be all things to all people - just the best content marketing agency we can be.

Working with us will be a good investment of both your time and money. We don’t operate in a vacuum - we need you and your input – but together we will get your messages right, deliver them brilliantly, on time and to the right people.

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simply the best... according to our recent office poll

why use us?

Because despite the fact that there are a plethora of tactics we can employ, we always adopt the same approach - the right one. Would you want it any other way?

Because our reputation means everything - we don’t just paper over the cracks.

We approach from the top down (and then the bottom up).

It’s about understanding where you are now and where you want to be. Knowing how we can help you to get there and, of course, getting you there.

We conceive strategies, create innovative tactics and plan campaigns - which we implement on time, on budget and on target. We monitor success, understand further, then refine and always try to exceed your expectations.

Your success is the only measure of ours.

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we are a content marketing agency with substance

Have a natter t. 01756 636 777 e. meetup@thefabl.com

thefabl.com

pop in Nesfield House Broughton Hall Skipton Yorkshire BD23 3AE

25

we won’t blow smoke...

the

fabl.

27

Editors Note: Despite appearances to the contrary, that is in fact coffee (albeit Irish).

“I don’t know where I’d have been without this book!”

Irwin Allen – Author of ‘Lost in Space’

“A life changer” W. Kidz – Expert in Wheeling Dealing

“The best £1 I’ve ever spent!”

T. Crapper – Author of “One Hundred Ways to Spend a Penny”

“Cram packed....!”

Pi Filler – Author

“Don’t waste time reading anything else!”

P. Crastinator – Author of “Mañana” (To be published shortly)