September 11, 2013

Content Marketing: Run Your Strategy Like Your Favorite Newspaper

Do you have a newsroom within your organization – a team of editors, designers and reporters who convene regularly to “break the news?” If you are not a publication or media provider, the answer is most likely no. But, according to leading executives at PTC—a technology provider that is reinventing blog strategy—the newsroom is an integral part of your marketing campaign.

“The market is ripe for brand journalism,” Nancy Pardo, editor and journalist at PTC, explained at Content Marketing World this morning. “We are in the middle of a revolution right now, between the Internet and mobile devices and the rise of self publishing platforms. We can tell our own story. We can report our own news from anywhere at any time.”

“Be a journalist to your own brand,” she advised.

According to Pardo, PTC was hugely inspired to revamp its blogging efforts after taking a look at what Boeing was doing on its homepage. The aerospace and defense titan spends a great deal of its homepage real estate space on feature-telling and story sharing. By sharing videos, populating blog copy and disseminating industry news, Boeing has revamped its website—telling its story in an organic way.

Marketers should do the same, urged Pardo, by asking themselves two very critical questions: How do you tell a great story around your brand and how do you insert your brand into a great story? It all starts and ends with your own internal newsroom.

A newsroom is the key to generating “sustainable content,” explained Pardo. So where do you begin? By finding a managing editor who can oversee your entire content strategy. Find someone with a journalism background, someone who has experience in other news rooms and someone who has been at your organization for at least six months so that they understand your product.

Then, support your managing editor by stocking your room with in-house editors, freelance journalists or both. Here are some of PTC’s quick tips for stocking your newsroom with the right journalists and keeping your makeshift news organization running smoothly:

  • Find seasoned writers. “You need someone who can pitch a great story,” Pardo said.
  • Remember to have a sense of humor, no matter how serious your content is.
  • “Writing about your customers is almost a non-lose proposition if you do it well,” Vice President, Creative Director of PTC Bill Heggie explained. Doing so allows you to keep your content close to your core competencies without tooting your own horn.
  • Consider getting the non-likely members of your team to write. As Pardo explained, since your sales and technical support teams tend to interact daily with your customers and key stakeholders, they are the ideal writers for your blog. In addition, it is beneficial to introduce product managers to your blog, as they often have the most cordial of relationships with your customers.
  • Search the Web for relevant industry news from other companies and industry analysts to share on your blog – a process called content curation. “Curation is a force multiplier,” Heggie said.
  • Hold weekly editorial meetings to touch base with your corporate communications team and to better steer your content strategy.

With so many great blogging tactics to employ, never lose site of the overarching message: Think like a journalist and execute your marketing strategy like a well-oiled newspaper company.




Edited by Allison Boccamazzo




Comments powered by Disqus


Related News