Content marketing

Content Marketing has become one of the hottest terms in marketing. It seems that almost every SEO agency, PR company or contract publisher is now a content marketer. Don’t be fooled. Content Marketing is a specialised field requiring a combination of expertise in media, marketing, technology and analytics – precisely the skills that thinkmob has developed as a specialist content marketing network. Our approach consists of 5 key steps:

1. Content Strategy
2. Content Creation
3. Content Curation
4. Content Distribution
5. Content Optimisation

Content Strategy

We pride ourselves on our ability to not only help brands use content to connect with their customers, but to convert their community into commerce. We do this across multiple digital and social channels – including television. Unlike advertising agencies, we understand that to be successful at content marketing you need to think and act like a media company. That means:

• You’re always-on – there’s no such thing as a six-week campaign
• Repackaging your content to meet the specific technical and demographic requirements of each media channel
• Publishing according to a regular content schedule
• Combining curated content with your tentpole original programming
• Using paid media to boost your owned media
• Diligently optimizing your content based on analytics

The thinkmob team has over two decades of experience in television, print and digital publishing at some of South Africa’s most well known media brands.

CONTENT CREATION

Thinkmob believes that effective content marketing requires content to be created and packaged specifically for each separate media channel – and that a multi-channel approach is essential. That’s why we’ve become experts at creating, packaging and distributing content for blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest – and television. Editorial Whether it’s a short listicle, an engaging blog post, a carefully researched article feature, or a clickable e-newsletter, thinkmob will ensure it’s packaged and produced to reach your target audience.  This content will give you a space and resource to reveal your brand to customers, shape the conversations people are having around it and your products, and educate and inform them with relevant information. Video No matter what your budget, thinkmob will work with its network of production partners to create branded entertainment video that is optimised for its intended distribution channel – whether that is YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Snapchat or even TV. Audio Podcasts are an underutilised content format that offer engaging opportunities for content marketing. With our close relationships with digital radio producers like CliffCentral and Ballz, we can assist brands in creating cost-effective branded audio entertainment that is compelling and informative. Interactive Thanks to Buzzfeed, social quizzes have taken the Internet by storm. The personality-style quizzes and trivia quizzes that thinkmob has created for its clients have been some of our most successful content marketing initiatives. Graphics The power of infographics is undisputed amongst content marketers that know what they’re doing. We continue to be surprised by how well the effort of putting a few statistics into stunning visuals pays off. Photography As Instagram continues its growth as the social network of choice for Millennials, so does using the power of photography to engage with them through professionally produced or user generated content.

CONTENT CURATION

Unless you have very deep pockets, it’s very difficult to build the above based on original content alone. That’s why thinkmob believes that Content Curation is a key content marketing strategy that, combined with Content Creation, can massively amplify your reach. We’re not alone in our belief. New media companies like Upworthy and Buzzfeed are leading the way in using content curation to build media empires for the 21st century. Whether you publish listicles, summaries or reviews, thinkmob will help you maximise the effectiveness of your content marketing by integrating curated content with your tentpole originally created content.

CONTENT DISTRIBUTION

Of all the dimensions of a successful content marketing strategy, we believe that Content Distribution is possibly the most important – yet it’s also often the most overlooked. Far too often all the budget is allocated to Content Creation, and not enough to Content Distribution. As a result, much powerful and compelling content only gets seen by a fraction of its potential audience. Thinkmob believes in distributing content across multiple platforms, because – while there are overlaps – each platform has a different audience and context. Cross-platform content distribution not only involves repackaging the content for each channel, it also means boosting the content with paid media for each channel. Whether it’s a blog post that is amplified through a content distribution network like Outbrain, or a video that needs YouTube pre-rolls to ensure it gets traction, or a quiz that needs a Facebook newsfeed boost – thinkmob are experts in the specific creative requirements and tricks of each channel. We’re also big believers in using the power of television to amplify Owned Media campaigns and, as a DStv partner on native advertising initiatives like Brands On Demand, we’re perfectly positioned to combine TV-based branded entertainment with digital channels to offer through-the-line content marketing solutions.

CONTENT OPTIMISATION

The beauty of content marketing in the digital age is that everything can be measured – and what can be measured can be optimised. Brands need not waste budget on customer magazines that are thrown in the bin when they arrive in the post. Nor do we need to have endless arguments about creative executions. Now both Option A and Option B can be tested, and the best option used. Thinkmob uses a number of powerful tools to measure, analyse and optimise content marketing plans. We strongly believe that content that isn’t moving visitors along the sales funnel, ultimately converting them into customers, isn’t doing its job. If you’re tired of not knowing which half of your advertising budget is being wasted, contact us to develop and execute a world-class, cross-platform content marketing strategy that helps turn content into customers?