How do you measure the value of your content? Can you even measure it? Because if it has value, someone will give you something for it.
In media (both old-school and online), that exchange might mean getting money or attention – and the attention feeds ad-funded models, of which there are several.
In the world of content marketing, the exchange can be good content for a prospect’s email address and other details.
We all know this equation. But too often it translates as an interesting-sounding white paper or webinar that doesn’t quite deliver, followed rapidly by a telemarketing call. That’s not good.
It’s not just that we’re allergic to disappointing content at Collective Towers. These days we wonder about the future of that kind of value exchange.
At this week’s Kingpin ‘B2B Technology Sales and Marketing Masterclass Forum’ event, several panellists – whether buyers or sellers of technology – talked about relying less on formats such as white papers.
They mentioned a range of snackable content, including podcasts – not because podcasts are bite-sized but because they’re easy to consume (while driving to work, for example).
Goodbye leads?
Where does this leave the old equation – the exchange of your personal and company details for useful content? Good question. And it reminds me of what happened in SEO.
The world of SEO (search engine optimisation) has lots of issues but relevant here is that it has moved from gaming search engines with simple tricks to longer-term, more natural practices such as building up a mixture of good, varied content over time, content that’s truly of use to humans (radical though that sounds to some in SEO).
For tech marketers, the equation has shifted from the one that lasted a good 20 years. Now tactics such as podcasting, short-form video, social posts (gifographics, anyone?) and longform online content (rather than PDFs) all come together – sometimes with mainstay formats such as white papers – to create a useful suite of resources. This takes time.
The problem for tech marketers is that, compared to the era we’re emerging from, this new approach is even harder to explain to colleagues in sales or on the board. But it has to be the right approach, because it’s customer-centric. Put it this way: your prospects are going to listen to podcasts whether you produce them or not. But if they come to your podcast content, few are going to tell you their details for access (maybe they’ll tell Apple or Soundcloud or Spotify or YouTube/Google – the platforms). The deep engagement with your brand and other experts, on a regular basis, should be more valuable than a chance to make a phone call.
As one tech marketer speaking at this week’s event said: “Gone are the days of long syndicated papers.”
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