“Content is King.”  That’s a phrase media experts have used for decades to describe how media outlets – from cable television to social media – need to differentiate themselves.  It’s also a phrase that has taken on special meaning in the current marketing environment where organizations have become their own media channels and publishers of blogs, ebooks, white papers, abstracts, podcasts and videos to drive lead generation.

Creating relevant content is hard; creating relevant, engaging content is even harder.  And since creating mediocre content can actually be bad for a brand, a growing number of companies are focusing more aggressively on content management strategies.  As a result, marketing budgets are allocating more funds to find talented people who can tell a good story across a full gamut of traditional and social media formats.

Look at Coca-Cola.  They have launched “Content 2020” to rely on content marketing and brand stories as a means to achieve long-term strategic goals.  Kelly Services is reportedly putting 60% of their 2012 marketing budget into content creation to more effectively communicate with both client companies and the individuals they place.  And in the B2B arena, where thought leadership strategies are used to promote expertise, it is approximated that 26% of marketing budgets are already directed at content creation with that number expected to rise.

Since content is indeed king, companies need to make sure their content is fit for royalty and not the providence of court jesters. 

I attended a recent marketing event focused on key strategies to create meaningful content.  Here are five takeaways – some strategies, some tactics – to move the business needle.

1. Stay away from the sales pitch, focus on expertise and address customer need.  Great content is not about pushing a product or service, or communicating brand strengths.  It’s about demonstrating expertise and connecting with the reader on issues that are germane to them. Content should first address the context in which a customer operates and the challenges they face, and then get very focused on addressing specific “pain points” with solutions that are readily implementable and drive clear benefit. 
   
   
2. Create new markets by talking about something new.  One of the oldest laws of marketing is for companies to be “first to market” since that’s a position no one else can claim, or as Peter Thiel, the founder of PayPal recommends, companies should seek to be “creative monopolists” creating new markets to dominate.  This philosophy translates directly into content creation.  By researching social business sites, content specialists can identify emerging trends within their industries, and become resident experts and visionaries on a particular issue.  This is the purest definition of thought leadership.
   
   
3. Appoint a Chief Content Officer.  Great content starts with mining the gems that exist within an organization.  An increasing number of companies are hiring Chief Content Officers (CCOs) to do just that. CCOs are responsible for reaching across organizations, breaking down historical silos and mining business data to develop stories.  They are also charged with overseeing the entire content management process from idea creation, to content development, to professional edit, and finally, to evaluating channel selections.    
   
   
4. Active blogging can drive the new business pipeline.  Creating ongoing content – and in particular active blogging – has the cumulative effect of creating a content platform to position an organization as expert on a particular business issue.  Since buyers of products and services increasingly seek to get informed about a company’s expertise before agreeing to a sales call, content platforms are proving to dramatically reduce the sales cycle.  In fact, several sales and marketing professionals who work in the technology industry reported that by the time they scheduled an actual meeting with a potential customer, 99% of them were ready to buy. 
   
   
5. Build Relationships with top bloggers to influence and refer traffic to your website.  Driving traffic to a company’s website remains a top goal for lead generation purposes.  But as marketers point out, reliance on Google for SEO may be an approach with diminishing returns.  Google’s sheer size and the mass of original content it publishes through its ownership of YouTube, is predicted to make it that much more difficult to achieve top search listings.  Instead, building relationships with top bloggers is an effective way to refer traffic to a company’s site.  Top bloggers not only have wide followings and influence opinion, but they tend to reference content from other sources and often include links to that material. 

The crisis in Japan has caught the attention of the entire world.  As the Japanese search for survivors, struggle to control nuclear plants, and face the daunting challenge of reconstruction, governments around the world are trying to determine the potential impact of radiation on their own shores while corporations address manufacturing supply chain concerns. The global capital markets have also been on a roller-coaster ride since the earthquake and tsunami struck, creating worries that the global economic recovery could be further stalled.

But what has also been most striking is the humanitarian response — and how it has differed vastly from other recent tragedies.

As the third largest economy in the world, Japan has benefited from its critical role in the global economy. The business community, with an increasing emphasis on social responsibility programs, has been quick to react. Data compiled by the Foundation Center reports that U.S. Foundations and corporate giving programs have already committed more than $150 million in the form of both major grants and employee matching gifts.  American companies including Coca Cola, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, General Electric and Wal-Mart are among the biggest donors, each committing to multi-million dollar contributions.    

Conversely, Japan’s economic prowess has seemingly worked against it in terms of individual donations.  According to an early tally by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, donations to nonprofit Japanese relief organizations reached about $25 million within the first four days post the crisis, a total far below the more than $150 million raised to assist Haiti for the same period last year.

As a result, a number of efforts have been developed to motivate individual giving.  First, there’s the ever-present celebrity factor.  In addition to actors who have publicly pledged financial support, the performer Lady Gaga has designed “Pray for Japan” bracelets with all proceeds going to relief efforts. 

There are “sister communities” in the US that have been mobilized to raise money and supplies for their Japanese counterparts.  According to The New York Times, under the auspices of Sister Cities International, some 600 American cities have 2,000 such partnerships with communities in 136 countries, including 188 sister city relationships with Japan.

Restaurant communities around the country are also playing their part.  From San Francisco to New York, restauranteurs are participating in “Dine for Japan Relief” where on select dates, proceeds are donated to organizations caring for the earthquake and tsunami victims.

But perhaps most encouragingly, a number of corporations have created cause-marketing programs to encourage their customers to donate.  Here are just a few examples: 

— United Airlines and American Airlines have each offered their frequent flier customers the opportunity to donate $100 in exchange for 500 free miles (as a UAL mileage plus customer, I typically receive 1 mile for every $1 spent so this is a significant multiple). 

— The gaming company Direct2Drive, along with its partners, is donating $1 for every game sold to support emergency relief efforts, during a select period of time.

— Similarly, Real Software is giving 5% of all sales of their web development tools to the American Red Cross’s Japan fund, also during a select period of time.

— The Oakland A’s announced they will donate $1 for every ticket sold to their Sunday, April 3rd game against the Seattle Mariners.  The game will feature two of baseball’s biggest Japanese stars, Oakland’s Hideki Matsui and Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki, with proceeds going to the Red Cross. 

— And there is Brookstone, which in addition to matching employee gifts, is matching $1, $5, and $10 customer donations made at its retail locations.

It would be great if everyone could just reach into their pockets and give a little.  But these are hard times and Americans have long been among the most generous people on the planet.  It’s great to see how individuals, groups, and especially corporate players have upped the ante in creating incentives to get people to give. 

What do you think?   

Recently, one of my colleagues was telling me about a client satisfaction survey she  spearheaded for a professional services firm with a well-heeled reputation and strong management team.  The assignment used traditional outreach methods, focusing on the development of an incisive questionnaire and conducting confidential in-depth interviews of new and long-standing clients.  

Turns out, the survey proved exceptionally valuable gleaning several insights that came as a total surprise to the firm’s managers!!  It confirmed the firm’s considerable strengths but also identified several unexpected capabilities weaknesses and personnel problems that presented potential hits to both short- and long-term revenues. 

For example, while the capabilities issues did not harm current assignments, they did prevent the firm from expanding those engagements or getting hired for additional projects.  On the contrary, the personnel problems were of great immediacy, posing a threat to current mandates.  As a result, the firm needed to engage HR on the employee matters and looked to recruit additional talent or make an acquisition to shore up needed skills.

It’s easy to extrapolate why the survey was so eye-opening for the powers-that-be.  All of us can get myopic, particularly when we produce good work and offer considerable market expertise.  We also tend to believe that the soundness of a client relationship will translate into open dialogue, when in fact, it often does not.  The reality is that few people like to be confrontational and while email and social media sites offer forums for negative commentary, that’s a business no-no in a litigious world.

The bigger lesson here is that client satisfaction can never be taken for granted.  Even well-managed firms have something to learn regardless of their firm or industry type.  And while online and social media tools are increasingly important in capturing market “buzz”, the use of a confidential client satisfaction survey conducted by a third-party remains an ideal solution.

For starters, it provides an opportunity for a client to offer uncensored commentary without upsetting an important relationship.  And for the firm sponsoring the survey, it takes the sting out of hearing about weaknesses and problems.  The information reported becomes more objectified and can mitigate negative reactions. 

The keys to assessing client satisfaction should include: well-crafted surveys, targeted questions, and probing interviews.  It is in “between the lines” of questions and answers where real truths are discovered, and recommendations for business improvement typically gestate.  At the end of the day, there is nothing better than a great conversation between two people. 

Happy New Year everyone!  As I canvas the marketplace now that 2011 is well underway, I am happy to see the emergence of corporate responsibility and sustainability as a critical piece of the business lexicon. 

Ironically though, there appears to be some confusion about the connection between these two terms.  Nomenclature issues and old definitions continue to confuse people – even some professionals working in the space.  Let me connect these dots.

Sustainability has historically been an environmental term. Green technology innovations, programs to stem pollution, and efforts to beautify planet Earth, are all commonly referred to as “sustainable efforts”.  The “sustainable development” movement was actually born in the late ‘80s following a series of chemical disasters and became a bigger part of the American dialogue post the Exxon Valdez spill.

Today, the definition of sustainability is now being used to reflect so much more.  Following the near crash of the financial system and a crippling recession, business leaders now define sustainability as strategically working to ensure an economically, operationally and environmentally secure future.  A survey issued by the UN Global Compact and Accenture in June 2010 and the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2010 address the need for Sustainability in these terms. 

So what’s the connection to corporate responsibility?  Corporate responsibility is how a company operates on a sustainable basis — economically, socially and environmentally.  In effect, CR and sustainability are the same things.  And today’s consumers and investors are increasingly supporting companies that make corporate responsibility and sustainability intrinsic to their business and future plans.

This means companies engaging in corporate responsibility and sustainability efforts must embrace a wide spectrum of business issues.  This includes: committing to ethically sound corporate governance procedures that center on greater transparency and long-term profitability as opposed to short-term gain; researching, developing, and offering safe, healthy and environmentally friendly products at cost-efficient prices from organic foods to alternative energy sources; and utilizing operational practices, including strict supply-chain management, to ensure safe manufacturing and adherence to environmental standards.

Corporate responsibility also includes the commitment to strategic philanthropy – the historical essence of most CR programs –- in addressing critical educational, healthcare and social welfare concerns.  This translates into creating public affairs programs that drive social consciousness; launching cause-marketing campaigns that deliver support through product sales; or funding nonprofit institutions that make, on the ground, real changes in communities around our world. 

And lest we forget, a responsible, sustainable company is committed to people –- both home and abroad.  This means supporting human rights in every corner of the world while offering a litany of HR programs for a company’s workforce to encourage diversity, professional development, mentoring, volunteerism, and life/balance and wellness initiatives. 

Corporate responsibility and sustainability now exist on the same business axis.  A decade into the new millennium, it’s encouraging to see how these two issues have merged to form new business strategies with a 360 focus.

Hi Everyone – this is my first entry on Lilly’s Pod.  I’m long overdue in setting up this blog.

Back in June, I distributed two e-marketing insights on Social Media Marketing – the first focused on justifying social media as part of an overall marketing program, while the second discussed strategies and tools to make social media efficient, effective and measurable. 

I recently attended a Social Media Strategies Summit in San Francisco sponsored by the Global Strategic Management Institute (GSMI).  It was a solid event – good speakers and an intelligent audience –facilitating dialogue among attendees.  Here are a few takeaways that build on my earlier missives:

The Relevance of Social Media:  Ken Pulverman of Oracle gave a very “cerebral” presentation.  He correlated the highly networked cells of the human brain that power sensory response and cognitive thinking to the core networks created by social networks and their influence on decision-making.  I can’t think of a better argument for justifying the relevance of social media than comparing it to how people viscerally think and act!

And if this doesn’t sufficiently justify social media, check out “Social Media Revolution” on YouTube by Erik Qualman.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8.  It’s compelling.

Social Networks — Facebook and more Facebook??:  Back in June, Facebook surpassed Yahoo as the number two most visited web destination.  It’s now nipping at Google’s heels and will probably assume the top spot by year-end.   While nearly every speaker mentioned Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and MySpace, social media marketing right now means effectively using Facebook.  Regardless, the social networking world will undoubtedly continue to change.  One speaker indicated that in getting a behind-the-scenes look at what LinkedIn is doing, the marketing conversation may shift to that site by next year.

Multiple Social Network Accounts:  Don’t think one Twitter account.  Don’t think one Facebook page.  Think in multiples.  Cisco – “the human network”– reported they have more than 100 Twitter accounts, 300 YouTube channels, 26 Facebook pages and 36 blogs. 

Converting the “Lurkers”:  One argument often made against social media marketing is that the majority of participants or “lurkers” are not customers but passive observers (translation: marketing to them is a waste).  But as in traditional marketing, a wide audience is important.  Robin Spencer, a researcher and former Pfizer executive, provided scientific analysis on how lurkers are important in driving scale, input and brand awareness, while Zachary Long of Scottrade, demonstrated how the firm’s online community works to convert lurkers into becoming active customers.

Distribution and Metric Tools:  Maximizing and measuring social media was a major conference topic and it’s still an evolving issue.  In fact, Hewlett Packard has reportedly developed a formula to measure social media influence but the software to apply it has yet to be created.  We are all now waiting!

For the time being, several speakers advocated a mix of free and paid tools to ensure blanket coverage.  For monitoring and measurement, Radian6 (a subscription service) was the choice of several speakers.  Dave Peck, a social media strategist for meshin, is a big advocate of free tools and recommended Tweetmeme that searches for the hottest topics to retweet; Digg that determines the hot topics discussed across all social media; and Twittercounter, a service of Twitter that provides statistics on twitter account usage.  Ken Pulverman recommended paper.li that organizes links shared on Twitter into an easy to read newspaper-style format. Newspapers can be created for any Twitter user,listor #tag.

On the distribution front, Dave Peck is a fan of Ping.fm, (a free service), which updates all social networks simultaneously.   Jake Wengroff, my friend and Chair of the conference (who did a great job I might add), recommended SlideShare (a subscription service) that allows users to post PowerPoint presentations and benefit from baked-in analytics.  This is a great way to promote an issue or thought leadership platform – a valuable B2B tool!

Social Media and Corporate Responsibility:  Corporate Responsibility is one of my focus areas and social media is essential in promoting CR efforts.  Matthew Broder of Pitney Bowes demonstrated how social media has helped to expand the company’s Holiday Mail for Heroes (http://www.redcross.org/holidaymail) program.

So what’s the next big trend?  In talking with Myles Bristowe, CMO of COMMCreative, he believes we’re arriving at a point where marketing will no longer be driven by what a company tells its customers but by what customers tell a company.  I think he’s right.  Since we all have “core networks” that are central to our lives and all of our decision making, it stands to reason that companies  will develop marketing strategies by communicating with, and learning from, “core networks.”

As a result, I think social network targeting will become an important approach.  In effect, companies will develop “core networks” strategies by building followings on select sites, chosen from the more than 300 social networks already available, whose members fit their customer profiles.   Since many marketers have yet to take this approach, I’m convinced the early adopters will benefit the most.

This reminds me that social media is still in its infancy and the equivalent to what television was in the 1950s.  What CBS was to television in the 1950s, Facebook is to today’s social networks.  And just as companies now develop advertising strategies that cut across network and cable TV, companies will undoubtedly apply this same approach to social media networks as the medium evolves.   The only difference is that evolution in social media is very quick…in fact, change is only a click away.

What do you think? 

MJ Lilly Associates LLC Office: 718-855-1853 Cell: 917-774-2369 www.mjlilly.com