Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
Photo: Igor Savič and Primož Inkret
Content marketing is something that a few years ago was just whispered about. Then, people started talking about it, and now it strongly resounds. Content marketing is the answer to the development of digital communication we have witnessed in the last ten years. It is also the necessary evil on which your brand depends. What is content marketing and how to tackle it? These questions were answered by the owners and executives of the only Slovenian content marketing agency, PM, Poslovni mediji, Igor Savič and Primož Inkret. They are also inviting you to the POMP Forum, an international content marketing conference that will host 14 international experts this year and present a wide range of latest communication trends.
At the recently finished festival of digital marketing, WEBSI Web Champions, agency PM (poslovni mediji) and the Slovenian Tourist Organization won the award Digital Campaign of the Year for their global campaign Slovenia. Make New Memories.
What is the current state of content marketing in Slovenia?
Primož Inkret: First of all, there’s a lot of talk about content marketing, which is generally very good. At the same time, the understanding of strategies, or activities behind this concept, is extremely diverse. This is understandable because content marketing is discussed by digital, PR, communication, advertising, and all other types of agencies we know, and each of them sees only a part of the whole story. It also proves that content marketing is a comprehensive paradigm and a conceptual change, and when you put all the parts into one whole, it means that marketing in general, ie communication activities, are being implemented differently than before. Simply put, we can say that the relationship between the investments in distribution and production of content is now changing from the classical 80:20 to 50:50. The reason for this is that – in the times of information overabundance – we can achieve the planned results with curated journalistic / editorial content.
Do we all understand it the same way? What does content marketing actually mean and envelop?
Igor Savič: Sometimes it happens that you look at the same interesting house from different angles, and each time you look it seems different. It’s the same with content marketing. It’s not that we simple understanding content marketing differently. But it is “different”, and depends on the focus and the angle you view it from, or to put it in a more professional language, it depends on what communication or marketing problems we are dealing with. However, there are certain foundations, some “pre-truths” that apply irrespective of the individual micro-communication goals we are pursuing or want to achieve. They are related to the real values that a well-prepared and appropriate content brings to people – whether helping them better understand certain things, or making their shopping decisions easier for example.
What is it that makes it so successful?
Primož Inkret: It can only be successful if we approach it strategically and comprehensively, and this is possible only with the support of management and with full involvement in all communication activities. Practically, each activity needs to be realized slightly differently, with uncompromising focus on the target audience and understanding of which content, in what form and in what time has value for that concrete activity.
Furthermore, content marketing is successful in the appropriate combination and relationship between the understanding of who we are communicating with, what are their needs and what are our goals, and the appropriate distribution in paid and owned media. At that, owned media – if built properly – have extraordinary power and cost efficiency. And, of course, all this needs to relate to sales and all other sales-communication activities.
Content marketing yields results, but we have to know how it’s actually implemented. What are the most often mistakes companies and organizations make in implementation of content marketing?
Igor Savič: First let me say that the mistakes we make should in fact be understood as a motivator for progress. If companies make mistakes in content marketing, it means they’re doing something. Many people think that they don’t make mistakes, by which they actually repeat old models. Anyway, it seems to me that we have several typical mistakes. I’ll mention three.
Too little investment of energy or funds in preparing really good content – the average is not good enough. “Secretary’s son will record a video and he will do it dirt cheap …,” is the stereotype that best explains it. The lack of understanding that content and its distribution are organically linked and that they need to be planned and treated as a whole, especially because today’s digital media are dynamic. The content preparation process doesn’t end with “launching” it in distribution – it continues all the time.
The next big mistake is the understanding of content marketing as a single communication activity, separate from all others (classic advertising, public relations, corporate communication…). The only solution for this “mistake” is creating a strategy, a comprehensive plan on what the purpose of content marketing is, and how we will implement it. Of course, there are as many mistakes as there are opportunities and areas, but the important thing is that we don’t get scared by them, but be encouraged to continue working.
What are your predictions on content marketing in the future??
Primož Inkret: Content marketing is steadily, persistently and powerfully penetrating all media or tools of communication, and that’s why it will become the main paradigm in communication. The only question is what will it be called? The questions we ask ourselves at the PM are, first and foremost: how to make a different advertising campaign with the principles of contemporary marketing; how much different is a website that relies on content marketing; how do we link more media in the umbrella content strategy that is run from the central monitoring center for development and production of content. We can call it a newsroom, a content factory, a content hub, or by a different name – the names are many but the logic is always the same.
Already today there are many interesting projects that represent exceptional examples of good practice in content marketing, but clients and agencies are completely unaware of that.
POMP FORUM is dedicated to current events and incoming trends, and this moth it will be held for the eight time. What are you preparing this year?
Igor Savič: As far as the number of lecturers is concerned, this year’s POMP FORUM will be the richest so far. Ljubljana will be the world’s center of knowledge about content marketing, at least for one day. I look forward to an excellent showcase of trends, examples, interesting topics and practical experiences from key European markets and from the USA where the most innovative solutions are being developed. As for the areas that it will cover, we will ‘walk’ from technology to new media, from strategy to practical examples of good practices.
For whom is this conference actually intended? To whom would you recommend it?
Primož Inkret: Principles are not limited to small or big, to specific industries or business types. I can only say for whom it is not suitable. It is not suitable for those who have never heard of it before, and who think that communication and marketing are a cost, and not one of the key supporting elements for successful business. Everyone else – if we consider the level of the speakers and the breadth of the content – will get a lot of answers and even more questions on how they can communicate better in the future.
Igor Savič: We all know that understanding communication and marketing is becoming one of the key tasks in companies and everywhere where the main managers are involved. I would recommend POMP Forum primarily to them, as well as to executives and operatives in marketing, public relations, sales, corporate communications, and even those in development and technology departments who have to understand the opportunities and chances offered by modern content marketing. The participants will surely leave with a mind full of great marketing and communication ideas.
