Ep 114: Content marketing... Is it worth it?

Subtitle:

Content marketing… one of the more controversial topics in the business world. What is it and is it worth doing? The list of questions goes on. On today’s episode, we talk about the role content marketing plays in branding as well as PR firms, organic leads, social media, results, moats, and more on this week’s episode.

 

Summary:

On today’s episode we discuss content marketing and its role in branding. Some of the best leads come from organic leads through organic rankings. A way to get organic rankings is through content marketing. Though content marketing won’t get you leads overnight, if you can hang in there for the long haul, it can strengthen your brand, get organic leads over time, and provide a long lasting foundation for your online reputation. It’s crucial to find a way to measure the success of your content marketing efforts, otherwise the situation is like having a financial advisor who doesn’t know which of your investments succeeded. In the end, content marketing isn’t all about leads, it’s about building a brand that can withstand the trials of time. 

 

Top 3 Curtain Pulls in this episode: 

 

• Branding and content marketing work together; don’t try to separate them. Content marketing is the conversation that goes along with the relationship with targeted audience. Branding is building trust and creating an emotional connection with your targeted audience. Both of these tools, if used together, can create a lasting impact on your target audience, setting you apart from the competition. “I think I believe that good branding must include good content marketing, I don't think you can separate the two.”

• Be in it for the long haul. Content marketing, like many things, will not work overnight or bring immediate results. Often, clients’ efforts are directed towards making money today to stay alive for the future. In order to stick with your content marketing and allow it to do what it’s supposed to over time, you need to get out of the survival mindset and be patient. Build a brand, via content marketing, that’s worth more over time. “The majority of your efforts are to make dollars today, not tomorrow.”

• Make your results measurable. One of the issues with the way some PR firms and agencies do content marketing is that they do an excellent job creating it but then have no way to measure the results of their efforts. This is frustrating for clients and makes it challenging to understand what’s working and what’s not. Set clear expectations for what the content marketing should do and then find a way to measure the results to provide insight for your clients. “The value of really good agencies in 2022 and what's going to set you apart from other agencies is complex and accurate attribution.”

 

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About The Guys: 

Bob Hutchins: Founder of BuzzPlant, a digital agency that he ran from from 2000 -2017. He is also the author of 3 books. More on Bob: 

• Bob on LinkedIn
• twitter.com/BobHutchins
• instagram.com/bwhutchins
• Bob on Facebook

Brad Ayres: Founder of Anthem Republic, an award-winning ad agency. Brad’s knowledge has led some of the biggest brands in the world. Originally from Detroit, Brad is an OG in the ad agency world and has the wisdom and scars to prove it. Currently that knowledge is being applied to his boutique agency. More on Brad:

• Brad on LinkedIn
• Anthem Republic
• twitter.com/bradayres
• instagram.com/therealbradayres
• facebook.com/Bradayres

Ken Ott: Co-Founder and Chief Growth Rebel of Metacake, an Ecommerce Growth Team for some of the world’s most influential brands with a mission to Grow Brands That Matter. Ken is also an author, speaker, and was nominated for an Emmy for his acting on the Metacake Youtube Channel (not really). More on Ken: 

• Ken on LinkedIn
• Metacake - An Ecommerce Growth Team
• Growth Rebel TV
• twitter.com/iamKenOtt
• instagram.com/iamKenOtt
• facebook.com/iamKenOtt

 

Show Notes:

[0:31] Bob opens this week’s episode with a chat about the guys’ vacations.

[7:33] Brad begins a discussion about the topic for this week’s episode, content marketing. 

[10:19] Bob talks about the difference between social media and content marketing which starts a discussion about different ways to do content marketing. “Because there's content marketing. And then there's social media. And sometimes they're the same. And sometimes they're not even close to the same.”  

[11:03] Bob discusses the important connection between content marketing and branding. “I think I believe that good branding must include good content marketing, I don't think you can separate the two. And in today's age, branding, part of branding is about building trust in your brand, and creating that emotional connection… In today's world, everybody's online, and if you don't have any type of content to connect with, you're not really doing branding, if you're not doing content marketing today.”

[13:49] Bob talks about how content can help you get organic leads via organic rankings.

[14:38] Brad discusses some of the challenges he deals with when dealing with clients, PR firms, and their content marketing. “I think modern marketing companies are like financial advisors to their clients.”

[20:49] Ken talks about how he is, “trying to figure out, is the time I put into content worth it?” [24:04]  Ken creates an analogy about how he sees content and its role in marketing. 

[30:00] Brad talks about how many companies focus on making money today versus making money tomorrow and how that impacts their content marketing. “The majority of your efforts are to make dollars today, not tomorrow.”

[33:14] Ken says, “a good brand is the only moat you have.” and content marketing is one of the shovels you can use to dig that moat.

[43:04] Bob wraps up with a story that shows the importance of content marketing. “In 2022 It's all about content marketing.”