The figures from a recent piece of research* about the importance of content are quite surprising. Two numbers stick out in particular: first, a total of US$118 billion will be spent on content marketing in the next year and second, 27 million pieces of content are shared every day.
Other numbers of note include the fact that Coca-Cola now spends more money on content than on TV advertising and 77 per cent of marketers are planning to increase their content production this year.
What are we talking about exactly? And what does this mean for business events? According to the Content Marketing Institute: “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing elevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience”. Essentially, content marketing helps open consumers’ eyes to products they may have never even considered, by demonstrating a brand’s expertise and building trust. Maximising the visual impact at events, such as at product launches, is also key.
“Maximise the visual impact and messaging at events”
Content marketing turns the traditional sales cycle on its head: potential clients discover content and hopefully find value in it. They then become convinced of a brand’s abilities, and are already ‘sold’ by the time they contact them. And it works—B2B marketers have found a 67 per cent increase in leads per month when they create content, while most B2C businesses are ramping up their content creation.
This process begins with a solid content marketing strategy. Knowing your audience, establishing your brand as a thought leader, maximising the messaging at business events and making the right match to achieve your goal are good places to begin. If your business isn’t already on board with content marketing for your events, you need to be.
*‘From Promotion to Emotion – Connecting B2B Customers to Brands’ report conducted by CEB Marketing Leadership Group, in partnership with Google in October 2013.
