By: Adnan Arnautlija
Content marketing is not just a passing trend, it’s a business philosophy, and as with every philosophy, or any field in life for that matter, there’s always something new to learn.
One of the best places for that learning in our region is the POMP Forum, one of the oldest, largest and most professional international conferences on Content Marketing, which is held in Slovenia.
Who better to ask about content marketing then but the speakers who shared their knowledge on this reputable conference? For that reason we decided to talk with some of the speakers that left great impression on participants in previous years, and our first collocutor is Ron Tite.
One of the top 10 creative Canadians according to Marketing Magazine, Ron Tite is an award-winning advertising expert who has creatively led campaigns for some of the world’s most respected brands, such as Air France, Evian, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Volvo to name just a few.
He is the Founder and CEO of Church+State agency from Toronto, which focuses on creating engaging and effective content marketing campaigns, and during his career his work has raked in a host of awards and a reputation that makes him a highly sought speaker at conferences across the globe.
MM: Last year you held a lecture at POMP Forum, with quite a provocative title “The Death of Content Marketing”. What did you mean by that and is content marketing still “dead”?
Ron Tite: Content Marketing always defined itself as using content to help marketers meet their business goals and it claimed to take on the characteristics of pure-play content providers. But the pure play content providers it tried to emulate are not so pure any more. Newspapers, magazines, TV broadcasters used to have a clear separation between editorial and advertising (church and state). Church and state have now been unified. Any ad can be a piece of content if it’s good enough. Any piece of content can be an ad if it’s responsible enough. There is no more content marketing, there is only marketing.
MM: What is the best way to achieve a “harmonious marriage” between advertising in general and content marketing?
Ron Tite: Treat them as one. Meet the needs of your customer. Sometimes, they need content to help them research and other times they need an ad to act as a stimulus. Most of the stuff we do as marketers is in the fuzzy middle so trying to establish the boundaries between our tactics when no such boundaries exist is short sighted.
MM: Over the last couple of years social networks have been tweaking their algorithms in a way that is making organic reach somewhat of a unicorn in marketing. How big is the potential of content marketing in catching this unicorn in comparison to other forms of marketing?
Ron Tite: Brands can try to catch the unicorn with whatever kind of net they want (like how I extended that metaphor?) but it’s pointless. Find out what helps meet the goals of your organization. Maybe it’ll be 20% organic and 80% amplified or maybe it’ll be the opposite. It’s unique to each category, brand, and consumer. Don’t be lazy and try to follow some industry standard. Do the work. Make your approach unique to your situation.
MM: What are the main characteristics of successful content marketing strategy? What should brands prioritize when they plan their campaigns in order to achieve the best results?
Ron Tite: The biggest (and most difficult) priority is having a strategically relevant brand belief that can act as a thread through all activities and content. If you that belief is thorough enough, compelling enough, and relevant enough, the content plan will (almost) write itself. Secondly, marketers have to have a desire to actually reinforce that brand belief with actions, behaviours, material, services, and content that adds value and doesn’t just check the boxes for completing the latest tactics.
MM: How is the rise of AI and machine learning influencing content marketing, both in sense of technical implementation and creativity, and what are the major trends that will shape the near future of content marketing?
Ron Tite: Well, it’ll make us smarter, faster, and more personalized that’s for sure. It’s going to surely change our process, too. But there are some negatives. Remember that AI works best with expected communication. It learns what should be done and it does it without fail. Still, every big, bold, and really interesting brand idea I’ve been involved with has abandoned the script, broken convention, and destroyed any rule in place. The unexpected is what captures consumers’ attention. AI reinforces convention and delivers the expected. There’s nothing compelling about that at all.
