Whoever says content marketing, says Joe Pulizzi. The content marketing guru came to our country last month for the B.A.M. Marketing Congress and we sent our project manager Dieter to the two-day event at Brussels Gate to see him at work. The godfather of content marketing brought with him 5 tips to bring a breath of fresh air to your content marketing plan. A report by Dieter Boeykens.
The B.A.M. Marketing Congress is your annual appointment with marketing professionals who come to present their knowledge, tips, and cases at a two-day event. This year's congress took place on December 8 and 9 at Brussels Gate. It was the 41st edition and its major theme was embracing uncertainty and how to use this as an opportunity to grow from it as a marketer, communications professional, or company.
Standing still and suffering uncertainty is a no go. At the B.A.M. Marketing Congress, it became clear that reacting and anticipating is your key to success.
Too much is never good. Start with an analysis of your content pieces. What is doing well? Where is there room for growth? What is same, same? Based on that, select the formats and maybe even platforms you want to build. You are better off excelling in three things instead of doing 10 things that are only mediocre.
Do not do what everyone does. Differentiate yourself from the rest and find out what makes your brand unique. Take a look at your company philosophy and your goals, make a list of what makes you different and what problems you can offer a possible solution to. Give yourself a chance to adjust and focus on what works and what you should drop.
Mark Zuckerberg (Meta) playing with his algorithms, Elon Musk bending Twitter to his will, and America not liking Chinese TikTok. These decisions are out of your control as a marketer or communications professional. "Don't be owned, own yourself," preaches Pulizzi. Go for a rent-to-own strategy and choose to grow your email subscribers. You can bring email subscribers in yourself and serve them directly with your content without interference from an algorithm that is also constantly changing. Create a varied, stand-out newsletter in which you bring interesting know-how in a consistent way that you can then deliver, via email, directly to your target audience.
Think about your follower growth and create a concrete plan to reach more followers. Provide a budget for this growth in your marketing plan, because this does not happen automatically. How fast do you want to see your audience grow? Will you spend this budget on creating content assets, buying followers, or partnering with a content creator who also focuses on your intended audience? The possibilities are endless depending on the time you have in mind.
Work on a strategic plan to gain from your success stories and expand their reach. Partner with content creators such as bloggers, podcasters, or well-known newsletters whose audiences may also be interested in your content. Test a collaboration and get a piece of the pie from others' content success.
In addition to Pulizzi's inspiring session, there were plenty of other marcom professionals in attendance who came to share their insights. Sustainability, diversity, and ownership mainly left their mark on the 41st edition of the event.
Do not hesitate to send an email to fabio.gilio@propaganda-group.be.