by Dan Lawitzke | June 1, 2020
Disruptive advertising is becoming a strategy of the past. As consumers move away from traditional forms of content consumption (television, radio, newspapers) and move to subscription-based content providers (Netflix, YouTube, Hulu) there are fewer opportunities for marketers to advertise.
This new problem is compounded further by the exceptional cost of advertising on a subscription platform where supply is low and demand is high, as well as the fact that consumers can opt out of advertisements by simply upgrading their subscription.
However, there is a new way to reach customers, and many times it is more cost-effective. Content marketing is a long-term marketing strategy targeting a very specific audience by creating and promoting engaging, sharable, content (video, or written) to increase brand recognition, customer retention, and ultimately conversion.
The main idea of content marketing is to allocate marketing assets (time and budgets) to create destination pieces where people are more likely and willing to seek out and share that content. One of the best examples of content marketing is the [Hoonigan] Ken Block Gymkhana series, sponsored by Ford. They have managed to create an amazing series of videos that are exciting to watch and highly sharable. If you are looking closely enough, throughout that series the Ford logo is EVERYWHERE directly and subliminally pushing the Ford brand to a captive audience. It is truly a brilliant example of content marketing.
A solid content marketing strategy will incorporate every avenue of marketing available to the company. We must start with a content strategy and then filter that through social media, email marketing, promotional marketing, paid advertising, and even internal and external corporate culture.
But hasn’t disruptive marketing just moved to social media? Well, kind of. It is true that there has been a massive uptick in disruptive advertising on social media. However, as marketers, we are disincentivized to create truly disruptive social media posts and promotions as our followers can easily unfollow or “report” posts that are not relevant to them. The best social media promotions are interactive, relevant, and sharable, which by definition is content marketing.
Content marketing is the present and the future of marketing. It also massively levels the playing field with larger competitors as we can compete solely on digital reach, creativity, ideas, and execution. A well-executed content strategy will increase brand awareness, decrease attrition, increase conversions and should filter through every avenue we have to speak to our customers. Content marketing should be at the top of the list for all companies moving forward. If you are stuck and don’t know how to get started, I know a team of experts that can point you in the right direction.
