How to Run a Branded Content Shop

Takeaways from our #CMworld Workshop

I got back late via the indirect route of CLE > PHX > PDX. We held an oversold workshop where I got to work with my old team at Intel — Luke Kintigh, Deb Landau and the data-inclined Chuck Hemann.

Our workshop covered the essentials of "Running a Content Marketing Shop" and offered practical insights from the Global Marketing team at Intel, which brought us the award-winning Intel iQ magazine. Or as the official title stated, "Technology Lab - Content Marketing Jigsaw: How to pull all the pieces together to reinvent your strategy.

Step 1 - Build the right foundations

Intel iQ's chief strategist, Luke Kintigh, kicked off the workshop by defining the need for the proper foundations for a branded content capability.

• Mission & Purpose — Why are you creating content in the first place? What need or service are you providing? The target audience needs to be your "North star." What's the core value you are providing to that audience? Keep that front-and-center, even when your fellow marketers are pressuring you to blog about that product launch.
• Team & Culture - Install the right motivation and supportive process to avoid burnout. Give your team license to do their best work. Recognition, Trust, Transparency and Empathy are key elements toward success in any team, especially content teams. Clear Roles & Process — support your people by defining where they fit into the process.
• Research & Differentiation - "Premium content comes down to one thing in today’s on-demand world... It’s content you can’t find anywhere else" - Shane Smith, Co-founder of VICE Media. Understand your audience, the user's intent, what the competition is up to, etc. Don't forget about curiosity.
• Activation & Planning - I love this quote: "“If Content is king, then distribution is queen, and she wears the pants.” ― Jonathan Perelman, VP of Strategy, BuzzFeed. So, so true! Don't build another content cul-de-sac. Every time you click "publish" your content should be optimized for distribution across as many sites, partners and social media channels as possible.
• Business Alignment - The business ultimately pays the bills. Integrate products and services in an authentic manner that complements the "human connection" without alienated the trust you're building.

Step 2: A non-self-obsessed content strategy

How often are you turned off after meeting someone new who only talks about themselves? Normally, you politely listen, nod your head a few times, throw in the occasional "right" or "umm-hmms," etc. Don't be that person... but more importantly, don't be that brand!

For People: No one listens when you only talk about yourself. For Brands: Same thing. - Deb Landau - Managing Editor, Intel iQ

Building trust was a central theme in Deb Landau's session on Brand Storytelling. In a world inundated with content, trust is critical to building audiences and creating impactful content.

10 Traits that will instill Trust:

1. Authentic
2. Consistent
3. Of Integrity
4. Compassionate
5. Empathetic
6. Kind
7. Resourceful
8. Respectful
9. Vulnerable
10. Humble

Step 3: Measurement Framework

Chuck Hemann from W20 Group literally wrote the book on Digital Marketing Analytics. Here are his key takeaways:

Measurement Frameworks act as an organizing principle that…

• Defines and clarifies overall marketing success KPIs and how they will be measured across the audience journey, and align to business objectives
• Organizes and aligns Audience, Narrative, and Activation efforts with measurement
• Provides a point-of-reference and focus for Activation planning
• Acts as the structure for the more detailed Measurement Strategy

Chuck then asked the workshop audience basic questions that they need to ask about their content.

1. Was it effective? Was the marketing object achieved?
2. Was it efficient? Was the marketing objective achieved at a reasonable cost per result?
3. Was it impactful? Was the marketing objective achieved across a significant portion of the target audience? Were the business and financial objectives met?
4. And finally - How can we make it better? Did the results exceed or miss the benchmark? What can we learn from high-performers to optimize low performers? How can channels work more productively together?

Step 4: Process & Practices

My portion of our workshop was literally the last session of the show. So naturally I had to begin by congratulating the attendees for making it to the final and last session of CMWorld 2018.

A strong process & shared practices are critical to high-performing marketing teams. Collaborative teams are successful teams. Bryan Rhoads - Dir. of Content Marketing, Opal

Practices are the “how” of your marketing process. They are the modules you can switch-out or the dials you can use to tweak your process.

Marketing practices are the basic atomic unit of your marketing process. They are your deliverables, your routines and behaviors. They are your next-level down of process definition, the next layer of your marketing process. The things you can individually focus on to affect change in your overall process.

To add some context, here’s a quick list of what some exceptional brands have put into practice:

• Intel has a weekly content ‘War Room’ that coordinates content, channels, and campaigns across audiences.
• Starbucks leverages a six-week work back plan across their social channels. Everything from the Pumpkin Spice Latte to the Red Cup campaigns go through this standard process.
• The New York Times has the famous “Page One” meeting twice daily to orchestrate a 24/7 news cycle.
• Wendy’s has an impressive weekly governance process that reviews everything from the table top merch to the video that comprises its drive-thru menu content.

So what’s next for content marketers? We're building a Marketing Practices Library here at Opal. Our goal is to inform and educate marketers on basic-to-advanced practices that some of the best brand teams in the world have put in place.

See you next year Cleveland!