Content Marketing Requires Authenticity
By Ian Alexander / April 28, 2008
“People working together by combining their knowledge in a web of hypertext (online) documents.”
This was Tim Berners-Lee’s vision for the web when he created it 19 years ago. (No, Al Gore did not invent the World Wide Web.) Recently, the world has gone giddy over social media and Berners-Lee’s vision has come full circle—empowering people by sharing information in Web 2.0 and 3.0 applications.
Successful Web 2.0 and 3.0 (and whatever 4.0 turns out to be) initiatives have to focus on gathering people and knowledge through trust and authenticity, because only from that place will sales and market share increase. I recently interviewed Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone and he spoke brilliantly about the powers and pitfalls of networking. Many of the concepts he talks about in his book revolve around conferences and in-person meetings, but they can easily be transferred to content marketing (CM). Here’s my adaptation on how Ferrazzi’s “Don’t Be This Person” networking tips can be applied to a content marketing strategy.
THE WALLFLOWER:
In-person this is the guy with the limp handshake.
CM equivalent—Online this is the company that is doing nothing to ensure Google knows who they are. Their website and content does nothing to differentiate them from the crowd.
Wallflower Action Item—Hire an outside firm to critique your site. Some charge as little as $250 to assess your content and SEO. Play Boggle with your competitor’s collateral—if they have a phrase in their messaging, cross it off your list. Narrow your message down to the terms and phrases unique to your company then start re-writing your copy or hire a content marketer to help you create a content strategy and execute that strategy.
THE ANKLE HUGGER:
In-person this is the codependent BFF (best friend forever) you just met at the conference an hour ago.
CM equivalent—Online this is the company that won’t stop contacting you. Emails, newsletters, pop-ups and “important updates” fill your inbox and browser daily. And the worst part is, it’s the same information over and over again.
Ankle Hugger Action Item—Abusing a customer’s opt-in is the fastest way to rack up opt-outs. Short-term, screaming for eyeballs may get you some attention. Long-term it will get you a one-way ticket to the junk mail filter. Give your potential customers relevant, REASONABLY consistent content and they will come back more often and better prepared to buy.
THE CELEBRITY HOUND:
In-person you can find him expending all of his energy trying to meet the most important person at the conference.
CM equivalent—Online this is the organization that aligns themselves with every new widget and technology in town, in hopes that they generate new business by being on top of the newest trend.
Celebrity Hound Action Item—Maybe I’m beating a dead horse on this issue, but if organizations spent as much time on their content strategy as they do trolling social networks, accounts receivable would thank them.
THE SMARMY EYE DARTER:
In-person she is looking for an exit out of your conversation because she sees someone else she wants to talk to, and when she’s talking to him or her, the cycle repeats.
CM equivalent—Online this is the organization that changes focus too often and never lets its customer wrap their head around the message. Usually, you leave these sites thinking, “What do they do?”
Smarmy Eye Darter Action Item—Changing things up is great but don’t be so clever that you forget to tell people what you do in a non-marketing, non-uber technical, non non-linear manner.
THE CARD DISPENSER/AMASSER:
In-person he passes his card out like it was a cure for cancer.
CM equivalent—Online this person prides himself on his 500+ contacts he never contacts. Or it could be the company with thousands of emails in their database who never reach out to their customers except to say, “Pay up.” There are no shortcuts to building relationships, it must be real, your contact must not be self-serving and (if it’s content related) it must be spell-checked.
Card Dispenser/Amasser Action Item—If you start a relationship with a customer, partner or associate, foster that relationship. Ping them semi-regularly just to say hello and make your contact personal when possible. I recently signed up at Creative Good and got a personal letter from the founder (not auto-generated). He asked what I did, why I signed up and we ended up exchanging a few emails afterwards. In this case, one focused piece of content (email) returned one elated soon-to-be customer. The sloppy shotgun approach content marketing and customer contact will never beat a strategy that includes accuracy, relevant content and authenticity.
Tim Berners-Lee is still fighting to keep the web as close to the vision he had for it in 1988. Do your part with authentic content.