Global Content Marketing summary

We all know that success and teamwork go hand in hand, and this nugget of wisdom holds especially true when it comes to content marketing. Of course, working together is sometimes easier said than done. Luckily, there are some simple guidelines that will get your content marketing off to a fine start.

To come successfully together as a team, follow the three As: align, assemble and act.

After establishing tight bonds between your team members, it’s time to create a personal connection between your business and your potential customers. How? With your content, of course! But with so many competitors out there already, how can you make sure your content hits home?

The four Ps will help you create content marketing that resonates. It starts with planning your content strategy. This means working together with stakeholders and regional offices to define your target audience and your most popular editorial topics, all of which should be in alignment with the objective of your business.

Whether it’s our daily to-do list or our New Year’s resolutions, we’ve always got things to plan out. If we’re well organized, our daily tasks may even align with our life goals and dreams. And that’s precisely how global content marketing functions: small steps toward major achievement.

If you’re not willing to waste money while getting your content marketing strategy off the ground, then you’d best be sure that your content is clearly aligned with your broader business objectives. Producing a big-budget YouTube campaign might be entertaining for internet users – but if your potential buyers don’t even use YouTube, then that’s money wasted.

Who do you want to sell to? At first glance, this seems like a simple question – one that you may think you could easily answer. But content marketing demands a deeper understanding of this marketing than other forms of advertising, so it’s worth looking a little closer at what it really means to know your audience.

First, ask yourself a few questions. Do you want to aim your content at the groups that buy the most? Or do you want to expand your customer base, and produce content that draws them in?

Thanks to social media, just about anyone, anywhere in the world, can produce content that’s easy to view, like and share. Today, the internet is home to a mind-blowing amount of content. So if you want your marketing strategy to be visible, you’ve got to promote with purpose.

But first, keep in mind that although there are many ways to promote your content, none of them is free. If, like Proctor & Gamble, you have the opportunity to share your content during a special event such as the Olympics, then you can look forward to a powerful sales boost. But, you’ll also be looking at some fairly daunting advertising fees.

After distributing your content, you’re going to have one pressing question: Did it work? Great marketing strategies are more than just a campaign, and you’ll need to do a follow-up evaluation to ensure continued success. So how can you learn from and improve upon your first forays into content marketing?

Well, there are three ways to measure your content’s success. The first is, naturally, sales. Did your business experience a boost after your campaign? Or was there little discernable change?

Good marketers know that customers are fickle. As consumer behaviors and expectations shift and evolve, the marketer must develop her skills to adapt. Some marketing approaches are timeless; others fade quickly. So the key to good marketing is an ability to shift between approaches.

Marketing strategies that always work touch us on a personal level. The human need for love, attention and belonging never changes. So, if told right, stories that tap into these needs usually guarantee a powerful emotional response.

It’s never been so easy to stay connected. Communication technology has advanced exponentially over the past decade and shows no sign of slowing down. Information is constantly at our fingertips, and exciting inventions such as Google Glass may soon revolutionize the way we engage with the internet. All of which means that the future's looking bright for content marketing!

Technological developments such as the smartphone, public wireless internet and voice-control interfaces allow us to share and consume information faster and more frequently. And this has actually shaped the way that information is shared on the internet. Most news sources, for example, offer bite-sized updates for online users rather than full-length editorial pieces.