Have you resolved to do a better job of content marketing in 2010? We have.
As with most resolutions, we realize we should have started a year or two ago. Seth Godin reminds us in Joe Pulizzi’s blog post “100 Social Media & Content Marketing Predictions for 2010”:
“In about six months, the economy is going to be noticeably better, and folks that put in the time and energy to build a foundation over the last two years online will be rewarded, while the latecomers will merely whine.”
A foundation. Like a huge construction site with pillars and beams of all different sizes, shapes, and positions? It looks that way. How many different market segments do you have? How many repeat customers in each segment? How much attrition? What motivates each group? How do they feel about your organization?
The more you know about your constituents, the more fine-grained your understanding of their decision process. And that’s the basis of Seth Godin’s foundation. Knowing your constituents’ decision processes – in all their complexity – is the underpinning of your organization’s decision process.
Of course, knowing is not achieving. Ever tried to quit smoking? But the path to achieving might found by making another resolution: tell more stories. As Evan Scott put it, also on the Junta42 blog:
“B2B brand marketers have to become much better storytellers. No more bullets in collateral materials and on Web sites. Content has to be about customer successes and, more so, about customer stories — which sometimes include failures on the way to success.
“Stories are drama – point A to point B – where something happens in between: lesson learned, challenge overcome, triumph over struggle. In B2B brand marketing, the stories that demonstrate the value of relationships always win the day. Think about it – people do business with friends, not products. So, the content has to include a new understanding of what the brand is that you’re selling – it’s not just the product or service. You’re selling your product or service’s ability to help customers write and tell their own next story. If we’re doing our job well, we’ll be included in the story because we’ll write ourselves in and have our customers tell it.”
Make storytelling the foundation of your 2010 marketing efforts and you’ll develop stronger, more personal connections with your clients and customers by 2011.
