TheWayoftheWeb

Content and Digital Marketing Specialists

strategy

December – an opportunity for great work?

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Dominated by Christmas, the month of December often seems like a chance to relax a little, and churn out some blog posts looking either back at the past year, or making a few predictions for the next. And while I’m probably going to end up writing some variations on those themes, I also have a much better plan for December this year.

I’m going to be working harder than ever to take advantage of the fact some people will be easing off. Whilst I know a lot of great companies and individuals will be working as hard as they do for the rest of the year, if even 5% of the rest take a bit of a break, I need to be making the most of that opportunity!

TheWayoftheWeb:

In terms of freelancing and consultancy, I’ve got a small and growing number of clients, which is great news. But to make it truly sustainable I need to increase that number, so the fact that many companies will be looking to improve their content and digital marketing for 2011 is a great opportunity.

On that note, this blog will be more focused going forwards. I’ve had some very nice offers to contribute to some very good sites, and I’ve struggled to find topics which I didn’t already cover. But with my concentration on content creation and marketing for my own business, it makes sense to funnel some of my writing on the media, journalism and publishing onto some more relevant sites…

Personal Projects:

  • OnlineRaceDriver.com: In under 12 months, the site has done really well with sustained growth in terms of content contributors and traffic. But the difference between a nice little blog and a publishing business comes down to the business model, which is something I want to prove can work for smaller sites.
  • 140Char: I started 140Char almost 3 years ago now, and although it’s been great fun, the time and effort to run it hasn’t evolved into something which makes a good enough return. For the last month or two it’s been mainly dormant while I look at whether it continues with some big changes, transfers to new ownership, or the content gets archived on a free host for the time being.
  • DPiP: The first two Peterborough meet-ups have gone well, and I’ve been talking to a couple of people about how we can involve DPiP into something which offers more educational and business opportunities alongside the social side of meeting local digital people for drinks. Most of that should be in place for the next meetup in January.
  • 1-2 new projects: At the moment, I’ve probably got just enough time and space for one, possibly two, of the new projects and ideas I’m been discussing with a couple of people. In the next week or so it should be clear which is the best business proposition, and I should be able to start talking about what is going on.

So a pretty busy time. As ever, client projects come first, with OnlineRaceDriver remaining as an example of building a site and business with great content and some of the digital and social marketing techniques available for very little financial investment (time is another matter!). DPiP is very much something which will grow with the involvement of everyone that has expressed an interest, and I’m pretty confident one of the new projects will soon evolve into a productive business interest.

Of course, I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t make time for friends and family over the holiday period – especially as someone with a young family to indulge and spoil this year. But all the time I can be building a future for my family, that’s what I’ll be putting first this year!!!

Content Marketing continues to grow

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The use of content marketing and branded content publishing will continue to grow, particularly as new research suggests it is more effective than other forms of digital marketing.

Research by the Association of Online Publishers (AOP), reveals 60% of regular web users surveyed trust brands’ content sites, 43% on portals and 39% on social networks. Just under a third (32%) feel more positive towards a brand on a content site, 17% on portals and 14% on social networks. The study also showed advertising around content to be more effective than on other types of website and social network.

Obviously an organisation whose members are publishers, broadcasters and online media agencies might like those figures – but it’s also important to remember that content sites don’t have to mean ‘just’ traditional publishers. Developing content for your business should encompass your own website or blog through to what is being written, or supplied to, other websites.

And marketing campaigns in the U.S are certainly supporting the use of content in marketing:

Traditional content creators obviously have an advantage here, and it’s an area bloggers have been utilising for the last ten years.

But how does your business start using content marketing?

There is a huge amount of potential in content marketing, and the best method for your business depends on your industry, company size, areas of expertise. The solution can range from training your existing staff to hiring external content experts from the journalism and blogging worlds, but in my opinion, the key element of content marketing is a focus on how it actually benefits your business. And that includes deciding the key metrics and analytics that make sense from day one, whether you’re looking to drive direct sales, leads, or brand awareness.

And if you’re stuck, obviously I’m always happy to help with a range of content creation and marketing services!

Technology is rarely the answer

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I’m obviously a huge fan of technology, but when I’ve been explaining what interests me most, the key aspect of it is how technology has an effect on the people and business that use it. And that effect is always about the interaction with other humans as much as with the technology itself.

Technology is stuff that doesn't work yet
Technology is stuff that doesn’t work yet by Andrea Bandelli on Flickr

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently, as I’ve found myself running a freelance business, and three+ websites all on a six-year-old computer running the free open-source Ubuntu operating system (and an older version at that), and a smartphone which isn’t the latest or coolest on the market (although it’s one I really like).

And while I wouldn’t turn down the latest technology if anyone wants to send me some to test or keep, and I certainly wouldn’t mind more people hiring me so I can pay to upgrade – none of it is an excuse for not getting on with things, particularly now that my output is directly related to the amount of money I earn.

There’s plenty of other examples around me. The gamers I regularly meet on Xbox Live are planning to get together in-person, despite chatting online every night (and that’s something which happened with the last two groups of gamers which I’ve hung out with).

I still regularly use a handful of forums – they’re some of the best places for the interaction and information I need, regardless of the fact I’ve been using forums for the last decade.

And my experience of applications and mobiles/tablets suggest that if people weren’t happy paying a fixed amount every month for your content in print (for example), or online on the fixed internet, that the current rush to replicate the print experience pretty closely on a new device isn’t going to be sustainable for long.

The things that really matter are connecting, creating, sharing, and all the other things which technology allows us to do more easily, but which we were all able to do before it existed.

Need an example? In 1911, The Times sent a telegram around the world, with the message travelling 28,000 miles and being relayed by 16 operators. Total time: 16.5 minutes. So what’s the excuse as we’re about to start 2011?

Mixing marketing, technology and more…

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There’s an interesting presentation, post and comment thread on Mashable at the moment regarding the idea of a new job role within companies – Chief Marketing Technologist.

Scott Brinker, president and CTO of ion interactive, presented the idea at the Pivot Conference, and although I often think there are far too many titles and buzzwords already in existence, there may well be a compelling enough case for this one…

The three missions Brinker outlines for the CMT are:

  • Translating Strategy into Technology
  • Choreographing Data and Technology across Marketing
  • Infusing Tech into the DNA of Marketing

There are already people doing these jobs, and plenty of comments to that effect on the Mashable post. It’s similar in some ways to the roles I’ve had, except this example places much more emphasis on the technical and engineering skills of the CMT – I’ve tended to learn as much as I can, and do as much as I can manage without breaking things, but ultimately leave the heavy lifting to people far more talented on the technical side. Plus in my case, there’s probably the need for an additional letter, becoming CMCT – Chief Marketing and Content Technologist, to include my skills and experience in creating content in a way which hopefully engages people, but also works for SEO etc.

Plus I don’t think choreographing data and infusing technology should be limited to just the Marketing Dept unless you’re in one of the biggest global companies. You need to be able to work with all departments, and infuse the value of data, technology and integration throughout the company for it to work effectively. Otherwise you’ll have powerful marketing with no backbone…

But I do think there should be a recognition of the need for digital and technical skills in marketing which bridge the gap between traditional marketing, social media/co-creation, data and analytics, and internal collaboration. Certainly more than being seen as ‘the geeky one’ by the rest of the marketing team.

The other argument would be to do away with traditional titles altogether, and either just learn what everyone does (As practised by Gore), or just letting people call themselves whatever is simplest and most descriptive. In my case, the best I’ve come up with so far is Digital Content Creation and Distribution Specialist, which isn’t ideal, but at least encapsulates some of the fact I can go from sourcing and creating content to ensuring it’s published on the right type of platform, appears on the right screens, and is given the best chance of popularity via social media, search, advertising etc. CMT might be a better alternative than the world’s largest business card.

Upcoming events and a bit of mobile

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At the moment it’s hard to know which events I’m guaranteed to attend – there’s a lot happening and my diary is subject to massive change at the last minute.

But I’ll definitely be at two upcoming conferences, as I’ve been kindly asked to host roundtables at both of them.

The first is the Specialist Media Conference on May 25th, which takes place in the delightful surroundings of Peterborough, about 5 minutes walk from one of my former employers. And the table I’m on will be all about mobile, hopefully discussing what lays beyond the iPhone, developing a mobile strategy and application development etc. What’s interesting is that the Specialist Media name brings to mind niche targeted magazines, but obviously websites, blogs, radio etc which have a defined belief and purpose are all specialist media outlets.

And then on June 1st, I’ll be on another round table at the M-Publishing event. This is going to be really interested as it’s part of a full schedule of mobile knowledge and insight. And in the midst of it all, each of five roundtables will be given the task of creating a mobile strategy for fictional publishers. And the other tables are being hosted by some very intelligent people: Nick Lane from MobileSQUARED, Belinda Parmer from LadyGeek, and my friends Jonathan MacDonald (JME.net) and Ilicco Elia (Reuters).

So it’s a bit handy I was able to share some news about one of Absolute Radio’s mobile apps (Cos that’s where I work). The Absolute Radio Player for Nokia phones has now been downloaded over 100,000 times by people who are not only lovely Absolute Radio listeners, but also happen to own a 3rd or 5th edition S60 handset. And considering it’s only been out for about 2.5 months, that’s not bad going. And it also goes someway to counteracting some of the oft-quoted figures on mobile which are using a U.S. audience, rather than European or global. Which will make Tomi Ahonen happy.

So hopefully I might see you at an upcoming event, and if not, just go and download the Absolute Radio iAmp for iPhone/Android or Absolute Radio Player for Nokia/BlackBerry.

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