Watch this quick video to hear Stephen talk about his vision for enterprise content management, ideas around how to measure content marketing initiatives and also how his team and other groups at Microsoft leverage Content Cloud to programmatically deliver amazing customer experiences.

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Google has a unique perspective on what practically everyone is doing online. Recently, they analyzed their search data and compiled some information that is very useful for content marketers. Combining observations from search data with industry research, the team at Think with Google predicted three basic trends and content opportunities to watch out for in 2015:

• Connected life platforms are emerging. In other words, the Internet of Things (IoT) is here.
• Mobile shapes the “Internet of Me.” Mobile devices are where consumers are getting their experiences, and they are fast becoming the hub of the connected life.
• The speed of life gets even faster. Consumers want information, entertainment, and services at the moment they want them.

These trends mean that content marketers have to bring their A game…and have the right content in the right place at the right time.

IoT, Mobile and Real-time: 3 Content Opportunities you Can’t Ignore in 2015

Internet of Things
As the technology improves, the network of smart physical products able to connect and take in and share information is growing. According to Gartner, in 2015 consumers globally will be using 2.9 billion connected things, with 4.9 billion connected things in use in all markets, consumer, business, and industry. That is a 30% increase over the number of smart, connected objects in 2014.

For marketers who market smart, connected products there are ample content opportunities by creating useful and relevant customer info. For one thing, these types of products are relatively new to mainstream consumers. So consumers need a lot of education about these types of products. Marketers need to create content that answers questions such as: How does it work? How easy is it to set up? How do users interact with this product? How will it really benefit a user?

Hue lighting by Philips is a perfect example. If you never imagined there could be value in a smart, connected light bulb, take a look at Hue. The primary content explains how to use the light for a variety of purposes, such as security and health and wellbeing. This is content marketing 101—provide your audience with basic education about how the product benefits them, and help them see the product in their own homes and lives.

Like all good content marketers, the folks at Philips know that a lot of the value of good content comes with engagement. They have a strong social media presence, drawing in the audience with interesting, fun, and timely posts, such as a how to use hue lighting to create the flicker of candlelight for Valentine’s Day. With more than 17,000 Twitter followers and 53,000 likes on Facebook, they’ve done a good job of piquing the interest of consumers.

In terms of engagement, they do not discount the power of fun. The Apps & more page links readers to other smartphone applications that connect with hue lighting. Take a look at Hue Disco, which enables Android users to turn a room into a dance floor. Or Ambify, which let iPhone users set their hue lights to react to the music they play. Just reading this page sparks the imagination. And a quick review of their social media sites or the rest of the website leaves the audience wanting smart lighting in their own home.

Smart products create a higher level of engagement between consumers and manufacturers. The company can capture data from consumers, about how they are using the products and what is working and what can be improved. This is another great opportunity for identifying useful content. In addition, the fact that smart products share information with the manufacturer, apps, or other products, opens up the conversation to security concerns, something marketers would do well to address through educational content.

Mobile
According to Millward Brown’s AdReaction 2014, Americans spend 151 minutes on their smartphone every day, more than they look at the screens of their televisions or laptops. Read: content opportunity.

This makes it all the more important that marketers understand how their audience is consuming their content. Do they view the content on laptops, smartphones, or tablets? Is there a lot of cross-platform viewing? For example, do consumers start looking at your website or app on a smartphone and then switch to a laptop for other parts of the experience? If so, are the platforms connected—if a consumer changes platforms, does he or she appear as a brand new user?

The trend toward consuming more and more content on mobile devices means that marketers have to think mobile first. Think about how your content is viewed on a small screen, in small bits and pieces. Can you shorten long content? Can you create a way to view longer content that is compatible with the mobile experience? This holds true for dedicated applications, as well as your web presence—is your site responsive to enable easy viewing on a mobile device?

My favorite mobile experience with a brand is the Zappos app for iPhone. It has all the content of the full website, with a very easy to navigate menu and interface. In fact, I find the content so much easier to navigate on the app that I deliberately start searching there to identify products that interest me and read user reviews. Then I go to the full website on my laptop for larger views of the products and to watch videos.

Real time
In this hyper-connected world, consumers want what they want when the want it. According to Google’s data, searches for the phrase same day delivery doubled between February 2010 and February 2014. Of course, not every brand can offer same day delivery or wants to. And most brands that offer it aren’t able to do so in every market. For example, both Nordstrom and Barnes and Noble have same day delivery options, but in very narrow geographic areas.

However, if it is in the realm of possibility, it’s a fabulous way for a company to take advantage of this strong desire among some types of consumers. Because same day delivery is typically quite expensive compared to regular delivery options, this is a chance to use content to highlight the benefits and help consumers feel comfortable paying more. Think of content such as videos of satisfied customers or of how the process works, user-generated content like reviews and videos, or social media and blog posts with testimonials.

The speed of life is getting faster. Consumers are spending more time on their mobile devices, managing their lives and checking in with their connected devices. All of this strongly impacts the type of content consumers want, how they want to interact with it and amazing content opportunities for brands. Marketers who find a way to ride these trends will create a strong brand experience, entertain and inform their audiences, and reap the benefits with engaged and loyal customers.

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As a Bears fan, watching the Super Bowl was a fairly emotionless experience – at least until the ads air. While my uncle taught me to root for ‘injuries’ when the Bears aren’t playing, this year, I felt it would be more honorable to root for great ads. At $4.5 million a pop for one 30 second slot, advertisers have a very small window to light a firework and “make ‘em go, Aah, aah, aah”, to quote the halftime entertainment. This year, advertisers didn’t disappoint and neither did their strategies as more brands delivered integrated marketing campaigns rather than just an ad.

If you look at the pregame, game day and postgame strategies this year, it’s clear that the Super Bowl is just the climax in wider, integrated marketing campaigns. Exposure and brand awareness are guaranteed when you reach over 150 million viewers, so many brands are going a step further, aiming to spark anticipation, conversation and follow up actions. If it’s any indication, 50 percent of brands included a hashtag in their commercial and 44.6 percent gave a URL, According to Marketing Land. Both were levers to immerse people in social media conversations and content marketing.

How are brands approaching the integrated marketing model?

Pregame 

This year, many brands either released teasers or their full Super Bowl ads before the big game. Budweiser, Dove, Victoria’s Secret and GoDaddy were among this crowd. It is a simple and effective way to get people talking.

People who see a Super Bowl ad before the game are going to behave like people who see a movie premiere at Sundance Film Festival. Feeling like members of an exclusive group, they want to ‘break the news’ and be the first to make a public judgment on the experience. Once the ad runs during the Super Bowl, everyone has seen it – you’re reduced to a member of the pack. Being the early adopter to share it on social networks generates a payback in social currency.

Some brands did a good job of weaving the ad teaser into other content. Budweiser, for instance, posted pictures and videos of horse and puppy on social media, and as a “Lost Dog Reward”, they ran a sweepstakes to win Super Bowl tickets. They made social media followers feel invested in the narrative long before the game.

Game Time

In terms of content, Super Bowl ads don’t change drastically year to year. Advertisers are pulling the same emotional strings with humor, inspiration, a dramatic story or several hooks at once. However, a few brands stood above the pack for using their 30 second slot to promote a social cause.

Case in point: P&G’s Always scored the most social buzz of any brand, according to TechCrunch, by using its 30 seconds to transform #LikeAGirl from an insult into a statement of pride. Mind you, #LikeAGirl dates back to at least June 2014 when Always appears to have first used it. They managed to give this relatively under-the-radar campaign serious rocket fuel on Twitter, and the brand is featuring its favorite fan tweets on a microsite.

When a brand’s goal is to spark real conversation – not just shares and re-tweets – blending cause marketing with a content strategy makes a ton of sense. It gives people a moral motivation to participate in the campaign, and it builds true respect for the brand. I would take the most respected commercial over the funniest commercial any day (still, major props to Fiat for giving us all a good laugh).

Postgame

Post Super Bowl is where a lot of brands seemed to fumble the ball. They built up anticipation, they ran great ads and generated social engagement during the game…and then it ended abruptly. A few brands stand out because they created detailed websites or microsites to carry on the conversation.

Nationwide, despite running the most depressing Super Bowl ad in recent history and upsetting many viewers, had an impressive content marketing site waiting to carry on the message about preventable childhood accidents. MakeSafeHappen.com is full of safety tips categorized by age, location and risk category for the concerned parent. They had the right postgame strategy – unfortunately, the conversation centered on the appropriateness of their ad instead of its message.

Reebok, which ran an ad during the Super Bowl pregame TV coverage, had a big postgame ready too. Their commercial, featuring Crossfitters and obstacle racers doing their thing, makes the case that we flip tires and take on freakish challenges to be “be more human.” The accompanying website – Be More Human Experience – has a trove of good content on the relationship between brain health and fitness.

The Next Super Bowl 

Super Bowl XIX – which will, fingers crossed, feature the Chicago Bears – will closely resemble what we saw this year. Brands will pre-release ads and pump up the conversation and anticipation on social media. During the game, ads will aim to drive action by integrating multimillion-dollar commercials with well-planned campaigns. Postgame, I think we will see more brands trying to convert Super Bowl ad momentum into a content marketing opportunity with dedicated websites or microsites. Purpose and cause marketing will become even more popular.

In a world of content overload and short attention spans, integrated campaigns help make the message stick. Thinking back across the five Super Bowls prior to 2015, how many ads can you really remember and describe? The brand exposure is fleeting, and Super Bowl ads are wildly expensive. Combining Super Bowl ads with integrated marketing strategies will continue to make that 30-second spot more and more worthwhile for big budget advertisers.

The post Huddle Up! Super Bowl Ads Prove Integrated Marketing is the Best Play appeared first on Thismoment Content Marketing Blog.

The other day I did something I have never done before—I visited the BuzzFeed website. Crazy, right? I’ve read their LOL, WTF, and occasional news articles a thousand times, but I’ve always read them off of their site, usually on Twitter or Facebook. But that’s the point—and one of the secrets of success behind the fastest growing site on the Internet. My visit, combined with a recent presentation from BuzzFeed founder, Jonah Peretti, brought to life six “aha” content tips from which all content marketers can learn.

6 BuzzFeed Content Tips for Marketers

BuzzFeed Content Tip 1: No click-bait headlines

Sure, BuzzFeed headlines get your attention and usually they’re straightforward. “23 Things Only Eurasians Understand” gets the point across but also has that high-volume sharing probability with the readers that relate.

“We don’t make money on click bait, and it’s deceptive,” Peretti says. BuzzFeed cares more that you see a sampling of their best content —such as the funny #5 on one of their quizzes that you can share with a click or the most compelling paragraph of an article.

“We optimize articles to share, not to click through and lead to nowhere,” he said. That doesn’t mean that BuzzFeed doesn’t care about metrics though, far from it.

BuzzFeed Content Tip 2: Use sharing metrics to connect the dots

Clearly, BuzzFeed is focused on getting its content spread across multiple platforms and people, and sharing data is their most important metric. But, it’s not that simple.

“The sharing nature of BuzzFeed drives growth, and we think it’s the quality signal embedded in sharing, not to mention your own reputation when you do this. It’s a nice combination of quality and growth,” Peretti says.

That’s why BuzzFeed is so open to sharing its content with other platforms. Make no mistake, though—the more open the network is with data, the more likely it is that you’ll find BuzzFeed’s content. Peretti cited Facebook, which is very open, versus Netflix, which doesn’t offer up data.

BuzzFeed Content Tip 3: Let the magic happen with the human connection

Peretti says if you zoom out, social content is all about how people use it.

For example, take one of their many viral articles, “Weird Things Every Couple Fights About.” For Peretti, “it’s about the conversations it spurs, the joking comments online, the recognition of yourself.”

Another example he pointed out: “Sharing a recipe from BuzzFeed, seeing the photos of the recipe on Instagram with comments on how it tastes. These all lead to that human interaction.”

He points out that social is exploding because content is going to people where they are, versus the other way around. “The structure of media, now with social, mobile, and video content for all these different target groups, is making for interconnected and diverse audiences. It finds them.”

BuzzFeed Content Tip 4: Content and ads should be separate but equal

The reason BuzzFeed is a sponsored content trailblazer is because Peretti hated banner ads and refused to use them on the site.

For example, he sold HBO on the idea that writing sharable, compelling Game of Thrones quizzes is a far better use of their money than a “Watch HBO” ad. “We also realize the interdependencies of content and ads, and make better ads because of it,” he says.

Even so, just last week BuzzFeed adopted strict guidelines on the separation of church and state, especially with its journalistic ethics in hot water recently in its growing news division. Admittedly, Peretti said BuzzFeed has a reputation for most as pure entertainment versus covering hard news but aims to change that perception over time. “Working with reporters is the most rewarding part of my job,” he said.

BuzzFeed Content Tip 5: Don’t worry about the competition and imitators (at not least publicly)

“Copycats don’t scare us. They might get surges, but they can’t game the system if they’re doing click-bait, as an example, and people will realize this.”

Legacy media companies, like Time or Newsweek, try to co-opt some of the success of the BuzzFeed formula. However, they carry a lot of baggage from their print days and have a difficult time adopting nimble media publishing models like BuzzFeed.

Peretti acknowledges and admires companies like Snapchat that are experimenting with content, such as its new Discover platform, which seamlessly pulls in various media content to the Snapchat app. Asked if it’s a threat to BuzzFeed, however, he says that he welcomes “experiments.”

BuzzFeed Content Tip 6: Be a living lab

Peretti is adamant that BuzzFeed carry on as a place for trying new content formats, seeing what works, and building on it if it’s a hit with audiences. “We do what’s best for the consumer, not always business logic,” he says. Unlike technology or product companies, BuzzFeed can focus solely on content, organizing its employees in small groups, and working with a high degree of autonomy.

He admits it’s getting more difficult due to BuzzFeed’s increasing size. The cost of growing larger means that other groups create similar content. Does he care? “I’d rather have freedom at the cost of redundancy than consistency at the cost of freedom.” With all the sprouting groups at BuzzFeed, from their news division to new motion pictures group, he wants to stay focused on embracing innovation, and simply let people build things. “Media has more opportunities than ever,” he said.

For a company that’s valued at almost a $1B, he’s not kidding.

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