Ways: On Content Experiential Marketing

Experiential marketing has been around since the days of the traveling salesman. But with a strong assist from technology, it now it is re-emerging as the backbone of many branding plans.

If social media is to be believed, people living in major cities can't leave their homes without bumping into a prank featuring a vomiting baby or an elaborate interactive installation involving celebrities or artists

Content marketers are taking it to the streets – and to stadiums, subways, and bus stops.

With the vast majority of marketers using content to build their brands, it’s no wonder marketers are spending more on experiential even though return on investment measures are murky and expanding the ways their messaging/content gets delivered, i.e. Digital Activation (Experiential Content Marketing)

Ways to actionable experiential content marketing tips

Courtesy: ContentLaunch

Show customers you care Go the extra mile to make your customers happy; Facebook New Year’s initiative of video messaging captures the user’s experiences posted on their wall, in a video which goes viral and feeling is good Create(d) a talk-worthy experiences Let your customers do the talking for you. This Facebook experience went so viral that everyone started talking about it. Record the experience. Don’t leave it to chance that your customers will share their images of your events where, when and how you want to represent you’re offering. Give your best content away with your blessings, Agent driven Businesses such as Finance, Insurance, Auto, Hospitality, Hi-end luxury products, etc. use this tool very effectively for them to help them openup with their business conversations. Ask for recommendations, seeking knowledge is no harm and especially from the ones who is the reason of your existence, hence asking recommendations/feedback are healthy and also creates a room for new conversation with Positive note. We should make it easy for customers to socialize our content.

Red Bull really isn't experiential marketing. It's content marketing. Because it created content, which is the bit that people, gathered round to watch alongwith experiencing the Thrill

Experiential marketing can be expensive to execute, so showing ROI is crucial, The additional earned media on social channels can contribute to bringing down the CPM cost

We can demonstrate it better on a CPM basis.

What’s more valuable: You talking about your brand, or having your customer talking about your brand favorably?

CONTENT CREATORS AND NET NEUTRALITY

What is Net Neutrality?

Protect your right to access what you want and how you want it on the Internet

The Internet has become so much a part of the lives of most of us that it is easy to imagine that it will always remain the free and open medium it is now. We'd like to believe it will remain a place where you can always access any lawful content you want, and where the folks delivering that content can't play favorites because they disagree with the message being delivered or want to charge more money for faster delivery.

But there are no such guarantees.

Why is Net Neutrality important for businesses?

Net Neutrality is crucial for small business owners, startups and entrepreneurs, who rely on the open Internet to launch their businesses, create a market, advertise their products and services, and distribute products to customers. We need the open Internet to foster job growth, competition and innovation.

Net Neutrality lowers the barriers of entry for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses by ensuring the Web is a fair and level playing field. It’s because of Net Neutrality that small businesses and entrepreneurs have been able to thrive on the Internet. They use the Internet to reach new customers and showcase their goods, applications and services.

No company should be able to interfere with this open marketplace. ISPs are by definition the gatekeepers to the Internet, and without Net Neutrality, they would seize every possible opportunity to profit from that gatekeeper control.

Without Net Neutrality, the next Google would never get off the ground.

What’s at Stake for Content Creators in the Net Neutrality

Source: digitalinformationworld

Luckily for big and small content providers alike, the open and unfettered internet--where all data is theoretically treated equally and neutrally and consumers can access content quickly without fear of a site being deliberately blocked or choked off by broadband providers

Hence, As for businesses it is, the same is for the Content providers, Net Neutrality is a boon, providing freedom of speech to all the Content Creators.

We as Content providers rely on two forms of monetization to subsidize content: advertising and subscriptions.

Consider a world without Net Neutrality, where internet speed zones are allowed to collect tolls.

Content companies with money to burn could command an unfair advantage over small-fry competitors who can't afford the extra charges and whose users won't tolerate the extra costs being passed on to them.

Remaining in the slow lane, you run the risk of passengers departing your vehicle in droves and hopping aboard faster content vessels-whether it is your rival's blog, online magazine, video channel, or otherwise.

Prediction on how the Net Neutrality issue will shake out in the coming years and decades, ‘Widespread public indifference to the issue is a big hurdle--the fact that most people don't know or care what Net Neutrality is, Even if the current battle is won, the war will be far from over, and the telecom industry isn't likely to give up without a fight. I believe it's only a matter of time before lobbyist money triumph over fairness and equality’

Content Strategy for the Internet of Things (IoT)

It’s Monday morning in the year 2020, and everything in our inbox is strangely…relevant. The maker of our oven sent over another list of recipes that we would actually make. Our gym emailed a report of our weekly workouts – it turns out that our strength is 20 percent higher over the previous month, but our upper back and chest muscles are out of balance. The email offers links to back exercises you can use to correct this.

This is the potential of content marketing in a world where billions of devices are assigned IP addresses and interconnected in an “Internet of Things” (IoT). 

While the interconnection of more than 25 billion devices has raised security and privacy concerns that need to be addressed, the Internet of Things is collecting an enormous volume of data that content marketers like us can use to improve our craft.

It is essential for businesses wishing to tap into the Internet of Things era build a content strategy that attracts the right partners, investors, buyers, advocates and existing customers who may play a role in this shift.

Defining a content strategy for the Internet of Things

Your content strategy must include curating and distributing content that engages advocates, browsing trends for the industry and aligns with your enterprise’s brand story.

Considerations for an IoT content strategy

• Co-creation of content with existing partners will enable maximize the exposure, authority and lift of the content.
• Creating search-accessible content on brand’s website that directly spells out the capabilities with IoT
• Creating a sales-focused product roadmap outlining future plans with the Internet of Things to help our potential customers feel comfortable with our support of the evolving realm of needs
• Content built upon industry tradeshows or upcoming events
• Upcoming product launches for our company that relate to IoT
• Conducting a contest or poll of our existing social followers and release the results in a beautifully packaged report.
• Crafting a campaign to existing customers outlining our company’s capability with the Internet of Things and it’s opportunities in the marketplace.

 Core assets to consider in defining a content strategy

• Search accessible website content (more pages)
• Product demos or tours using video or photo slideshows (use of social sharing essential)
• Landing pages or microsites dedicated to IoT solutions
• Videos (informational, viral or promotional)
• Whitepapers
• Datasheets and Case studies
• Research and reports
• Product specifications and definition
• Pricing guides for specific solutions
• Catalogs
• Instructional or training material for existing clients
• Advertising
• eBooks and other forms of gated content for lead generation
• Webinars for existing customers or leads – nurturing and educational content
• Online and digital interactive content (apps, interactive graphics and calendars)
• Blog content
• Social media publishing (defining a full-range of communications via social media for IoT)
• Automated messages and emails
• Email support for customers: tips, resources, updates (at least quarterly)
• Phone, email and outreach scripts
• Interactive content and examples

IoT data will help marketers deliver better content in three main areas:

• 1.    Recommendations: Internet of Things, combined with a little data science, will turn devices into powerful recommendation engines.
• 2.    Insight: In many cases, IoT will be able to go beyond preference-based recommendations and provide information on how your usage is changing.
• 3.    Value: An Internet of Things oven, an interconnected gym and dozens of other Internet of Things scenarios will be able to provide proof of value and achievement. While recommendations and insights focus on existing customers, this value content would focus on potential customers

It is up to us as content marketers to create the perception that the Internet of Things offers value and new possibilities for our users. 

People want marketing content to be more relevant to their lives, and Internet of Things will help us achieve that – hopefully long before 2020.

Engage with Music: Label a Need or Myth

Its true !!! there has never been a better time than now to be an independent artist. 

More easily and efficiently than ever one can build digital recording studio at a convenient venue, connect with fans via social media and distribute your wares around the world via artiste friendly companies. 

Is it a DIY world ?

Thanks to powerful, affordable technology, you can cover the bases — from creation to marketing to distribution to retail — without anyone’s permission, entirely on your own.

So who needs a record label?

The short answer is that nobody needs a record label.

The long answer depends on your goals as an artist. 

You'd be surprised, what exactly do we need record companies for again, If there is no music industry, how we as musicians supposed to earn a living from their work? selling direct to the public. It's true the internet has been brilliant for artists in many ways, giving them an alternative route to make contact with and sell directly to fans, but record labels do much more than distribute to retailers.

Without a record company and the label to be on one own, there will be a point when we as artists will need help and support and finance, for getting us to more people and being able to pull the strings when needed to get us on a TV show – those moves are harder to do when we're a bit more independent

We may have understand how across market music scenes work, but we know little about the industry in mainland world. Though there are established musicians/ singers/bands who has decided to sign with labels for the across the world, because they had people all over world who could work the record in individual territories. Judging by their success in world, i think they made the right decision.

It's also simplistic to say majors are evil while indies are good. What is important is to be on a label that "gets you". "There is a really cliched view out there about record labels,". Over the past decade labels have realised they're not the only game in town and they have to justify their existence hence, they all have invested in young online promotion and social media departments, as the public sees the artist and hears the music, but what they don't see is the whole world of people doing things behind the scenes to help them.

We still need labels. We've got to remember they've got marketing teams, press teams, radio pluggers, accounts departments and when we get bigger we need help with that stuff. we need a good team around us. OK, maybe we could hire those people ourself and set up our own label, but there's something to be said for deciding that we want to make music and be creative, and we don't want the hassle. we can be really creative but not very good at business and marketing. 

We should appreciate about record companies is that they present and nurture artists, That doesn't exist on iTunes, it doesn't exist on Amazon. That's what a record company does, and that's why we as artiste like record companies. People look at record companies like they're obsolete, but there's a lot of soul in there – a lot of people who care about music, and that's very important.

Brands Turn to Music to Market Content, Reach Consumers

When for most bands in the slumping music industry, the day of big budget videos is a luxury of the past. But in todays era of the viral music video, has made us found a new avenue to make this art a reality: corporate sponsorship.

Brands Turn to Music to Market Content, Reach Consumers. Smart brands are now putting music to work as part of their social marketing strategy

 

CokeStudio, Necafe basement, The Dewarists, VFestival, etc. are many first examples of prominent corporate sponsorship of a major music video that has paid off handsomely – there are clips which has received close to a million views a day in the first week of launch.

This makes the Music a must content integration product amidst the corporates to leverage their brand story

Do you have watch worthy videos?

Celebrating creativity and excellence in content publishing

Over my last blog we discussed about owning media as a precedent and renting media will be aid as a media multiplier

In Today's blog we will highlight the importance of creativity enabling us to Own the media space

Across trade community of media and marketing, stakeholders talk about out of box but value for money thinking, which invariably highlights the importance of creative thinking and thereby resting the Idea of engagement through content

Content making is all about how creatively one shows the messaging, similar to the creative directors (CD) job in an ad agency, the difference therefore lies in the volumes of the content, more content more views and repeat views and thereby higher possibility of it being viral

A campaign being Viral is a factor of the messaging delivered in the process of being creative and thats what determines that do you have watch worthy videos ?

Steps to achieve those are:

1. Make it different:  Some examples of businesses that get it are: Quicksilver dynamite surfing | Designer Mark Ecko tags Air Force One
2. Make it short: 30 seconds is good. 2 minutes max. A lot longer is not a lot better. Shorter is fine.
3. Give it an attention-grabbing title like Dog drives car!! Think advertising. Give your video a headline that will draw attention.
4. Use the power of the thumbnail: YouTube gives you three options for thumbnails when uploading a video. Make sure that the thumbnail you choose is clear and intriguing.
5.  Get comments: Comment on your own video, and get other people to comment on it too. The more comments the better.
6. Tag, you’re it! YouTube allows you to tag videos. Use that. But don’t tag generically, tag creatively, specifically. Tag with SEO in mind. Be different.
7. Build buzz: This is where the rubber hits the road. Once you have a good video and have uploaded it to YouTube, the magic is in getting people to watch it. You start by using some good, old fashioned marketing.

Once you make it there, your views will skyrocket.

And remember, YouTube is not the only game in town: There are scores of video sharing sites: Funny or Die, MSN, AOL, Yahoo, TubeMogul, Metacafe, Blip.tv, CollegeHumor, DailyMotion, Crackle, and many more.

Owning Media, Not Renting it !!!

Content engagement is what we discussed last. And we agreed content now needs to be looked as engagement.

With the thought of engagement and to make it large in there, we are seeking a useful strategy. 

Strategy, which makes content engaging enough for brands to leverage their existence and indulgence with consumers is therefore the best strategy a brand can adopt 

With the current run of brands who wants to gallop on the consumer engagement track have started developing their niche by influencing a segment of people to make it a brand story. That's where content marketing takes it's precedent, as these brands are early adopters in the space, therefore would be strategically correct to say content marketing is all about Owning Media Not just Renting it 

Renting media shouts the presence makes people aware about you. therefore is considered as a best reminder strategy.

On he other side Owning media builds association of a brand while Renting it just creates noise. With current Pepsi-MTV and NDTV - Micromax alliance or Mahindra Blues as association towards Jazz music, Standard chartered Mumbai marathon is a movement, etc in the market proves it right that Owning media is the way forward. 

World brands have realised this and betting big on content association and thereby, Owning media space is a vital way forward !!!