Jonah Bloom, former Ad Age editor and a current director of content strategy, listed his seven principles to successful content marketing. His key points are spot on, including seeing “content as a proxy for, not an alternative to, utility” and incorporating a good mix of paid, owned and earned media into any campaign. While nothing is too startling here, all of his points are audience-focused. Trying to deliver value begins with an understanding of what the consumer is after. What need are you meeting? What pain point do you solve?
While Jonah addresses content strategy, we incorporate this audience-driven approach in the Lab when we consider the most engaging ways to reach consumers. While the Lab is exploring new forms of media and technology that might not have widespread adoption at the moment, we are always considering the value they can bring to consumers. This involves testing these emerging platforms ourselves and experiencing them as consumers first, not marketers.
We actually use the tablets on display. We have a very active Instagram account and love its clean interface and easy shareability. We are all tracking our steps and sleep via Jawbone UP and sharing that information within a Lab network (provided the battery life holds up). This approach certainly makes our jobs fun–Kinect parties become media trials and an afternoon shooting with the Sony 3D Bloggie is considered research. But in all seriousness, in a time when tech developments often surpass demand, it’s important to consider the consumer first.
