The place There’s a Objective, There’s a Manner: 4 Technique-Led Content material Packages

This much-repeated mantra bears repeating: You may’t succeed at content material advertising except you already know what targets you’re making an attempt to realize.

It’s not straightforward to distill the potential advantages of content material advertising into one laser-focused aim. But, nailing down your driving function makes it simpler to discover new potentialities to realize it.

Nailing down your #content material’s function makes it simpler to discover the probabilities to realize it, says @joderama by way of @CMIContent. Click on To Tweet

Need proof? Look no additional than the accomplishments of the 2022 Content material Advertising Awards technique class winners and finalists.

These examples illustrate how strategy-led campaigns can amplify a model’s persuasive energy, excite its viewers, and obtain targets at each stage of the client’s journey. Although their industries, audiences, funding ranges, and inventive approaches differ, every affords a lesson to information your content material advertising efforts.

Objective: Model consciousness

Model: Glenfiddich

Media accomplice: Forbes

Strategy: Distill knowledge, storytelling, and multiplatform distribution right into a content material cocktail that shifts viewers perceptions.

Single-malt Scotch whisky is a robust drink strongly related to highly effective popular culture characters like Mad Males’s Don Draper, Anchorman’s Ron Burgundy, and Parks and Recreation’s Ron Swanson.

However does the liquor’s power give it the ability to win the preferential consideration of high-net-worth people and discerning spirit connoisseurs? That was the aim Glenfiddich, a luxurious whisky distiller, aimed to realize with an built-in multimedia marketing campaign constructed across the fortieth anniversary of the Forbes 400 listing.

The compelling pitch for his or her novel premise? It’s time to redefine what it means to be rich and profitable.

Glenfiddich kicked off the marketing campaign with an authentic analysis examine, Skilled Success in America: Private Priorities and Social Misunderstanding. It probed U.S. attitudes on the traits that outline success. The model created its inaugural #Richest25 Record, profiling influential achievers who embody these traits.

@GlenfiddichSMW performed an authentic analysis examine as a part of its #ContentMarketing plan to seize a rich and profitable viewers, says @joderama by way of @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click on To Tweet

The ensuing tales have been revealed and promoted throughout media accomplice Forbes’ ecosystem. Belongings ranged from premium branded content material and editorial tales on the Forbes web site to social media advertisements and a print sponsorship of the Forbes 400 problem. That included advertisements that raised thought-provoking questions, with an overlay of Glenfiddich’s stag emblem as illustrated within the picture beneath with the phrase, “Title or respect? Ask your self, what’s subsequent?”

The important thing ideas and associated imagery have been included into Glenfiddich’s web site content material and product pages to tie all the pieces again to the model’s Scotch whisky.

Outcomes: In keeping with Forbes, the built-in program garnered over 20 million cross-platform impressions. It additionally modified perceptions: Glenfiddich noticed a elevate in model consciousness (18%), identification as a luxurious model (60%), and affiliation with the stag emblem (25%).

The content material options acquired practically 300,000 views – over 2,700 got here by natural search. Additional, the journal Fortune 400 problem reached over 3.8 million readers, with 77% taking motion after seeing the advert artistic.

This challenge gained the Most Progressive Content material Distribution Technique class.

Objective: Enhance attain

Model: McCain Meals

Media/company companions: Food24, New Media

Strategy: Mix print and digital expertise to forge a private, long-lasting reference to shoppers.

Whereas manufacturers generally scale their attain and have interaction new audiences within the digital house, don’t overlook the ability and attraction of old-school strategies like print. They will help you forge a extra private and tangible reference to shoppers.

Then once more, why not mix the storytelling benefits of each mediums? That’s the concept behind the creation of McCain Household Cookbook Delivered to You by Food24 – a first-of-its-kind direct-to-consumer cookbook delivered by a print-on-demand platform.

Frozen meals model McCain approached South African foodie web site Food24 to drive attain amongst household meal decision-makers. Food24 (with assist from its content material advertising company, New Media) answered the decision by creating a personalised cookbook creation device. Shared with the Food24 viewers on its web site, the device was promoted by social media, newsletters, and extra articles and video content material.

As defined within the marketing campaign video above, the Cookbook Creator device lets customers add six favourite household recipes, together with notes and photographs. Then, they selected a recipe class and named their ebook. High recipes from Food24 and McCain have been added to spherical out every assortment. Every ebook was printed and delivered to the buyer who created it.
Meals model @mccainfoods let shoppers create customized cookbooks, importing six of their household recipes and including ones from the model and @food24, says @joderama by way of @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click on To Tweet

The trouble helped place McCain as a mealtime thought chief whereas offering Food24’s viewers with an modern and thrilling interactive function. Additional, the printed cookbooks introduced the McCain model into individuals’s houses, creating an enduring bodily touchpoint.

Outcomes: In keeping with the company New Media, the hassle acquired 1.4 million banner impressions (far exceeding its goal KPI of 400,000), reached 4.3 million shoppers on social media, and achieved a 13% conversion fee.

This challenge gained the Greatest Use of Know-how as A part of a Content material Advertising Program class.

Objective: Lead nurturing

Model: Epcon Communities Franchising

Strategy: Ship a focused, print-based pitch – with a personalized digital twist.

B2B model Epcon Communities Franchising gives designs, experience, and gross sales help. It allows actual property builders to capitalize on an underserved demographic – patrons 55 and older seeking to downsize their houses and revel in life amongst a neighborhood of their friends.

Franchised grownup communities are a fast-growing business sector, however they’re a comparatively new enterprise mannequin for builders and development firms. A lot of Epcon’s prospects could have little expertise with these initiatives. That problem, when mixed with the event time and monetary funding concerned, makes overcoming buyer reluctance troublesome.

To determine credibility amongst this B2B goal, ship useful schooling, and speed up its path from certified result in transformed buyer, Epcon launched a novel video mailer marketing campaign.

Realizing shoppers usually throw away conventional print mailers with out studying them, Epcon gave the mailing an attention-grabbing digital improve. A 5-inch video display screen turned the common brochure right into a deeply immersive storytelling automobile, as proven on this picture:

Utilizing an account-based advertising technique, Epcon despatched the mailers to pick high-value prospects. It additionally personalized the audio and visible content material for every recipient.

Upon opening the brochure, prospects might click on play on the display screen to view 4 put in movies. They included crucial firm data, testimonials from franchise builders and residential patrons, and interviews with firm management.

Outcomes: Via this persuasive, immersive, and academic marketing campaign, Epcon put the precise content material in entrance of the precise prospects on the proper time. After its launch, the corporate achieved an 84% follow-up contact fee with prospects and exceeded its franchise builder gross sales projections by greater than double.

This challenge was a prime finalist within the Most Progressive Content material Distribution Technique and Greatest Use of Know-how as A part of a Content material Advertising Program classes.

Objective: Buyer satisfaction and loyalty

Model: ServiceNow

Strategy: Mix e-mail automation with behavioral modeling to ship one of the best post-purchase steering.

Good content material entrepreneurs deal with shoppers’ informational wants at every step of their purchaser’s journey – from preliminary consciousness by remaining buy. However nice entrepreneurs reinforce their model’s worth by delivering related, useful steering lengthy after the buying checks have cleared.

Enterprise software program supplier ServiceNow effectively fulfills that promise by its telemetry data-driven digital buyer journey (DCJ) program. The platform delivers the exact data and help every buyer account must implement their purchases extra shortly, optimize their utilization, and maximize their model satisfaction.

ServiceNow makes use of automated behavioral advertising to ship customized e-mail content material throughout a broad vary of finely focused audiences. These segments span the three phases of Service Now’s post-purchase lifecycle – preliminary onboarding, activation and deployment, and renewal and enlargement.

For instance, ServiceNow analyzes product utilization and applies telemetry knowledge and modeling to categorize mid-cycle buyer accounts into teams outlined by utilization degree: no use, low use, medium use, or excessive use. ServiceNow makes use of its advertising automation system to establish and deploy the suitable e-mail content material for that account. It additionally robotically pauses e-mail supply till the client completes the decision to motion from the earlier marketing campaign.

Outcomes: ServiceNow experiences glorious e-mail efficiency metrics, with world open charges of 53% to 61% and click-through charges of 10%-16% throughout all digital buyer journey campaigns in 2021. Extra importantly, these focused accounts use their merchandise 70% greater than ServiceNow’s baseline (non-targeted) accounts.

This challenge was a prime finalist within the Technique – Greatest Content material Advertising Program, Greatest Content material Advertising Program in Know-how, and Content material Advertising ROI/Measurement Program classes.

A transparent technique opens up limitless potentialities

These 4 manufacturers achieved exceptional outcomes by remaining targeted on a aim and utilizing a mix of creativity and tech ingenuity to satisfy it. Don’t have a documented content material advertising technique readily available to information your model’s efforts? Take a look at our technique hub for all of the insights, suggestions, and instruments you want to create one.

Cowl picture by Joseph Kalinowski/Content material Advertising Institute