There is no one-size-fits-all message. Consumers expect personalization and we as marketers must deliver. In episode 5, Elizabeth and Steve dive into how to align your content and channels. Listen or watch now to learn why this is an effective marketing tactic.
Episode Show Notes
Podcast Introduction and the Definition of Content and Channels
(0:00 – 2:37) Introduction To Iterative Marketing Podcast: In this episode of the Iterative Marketing Podcast, the hosts, Steve and Elizabeth, introduce themselves and their locations – Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. They discuss the beauty of their respective cities and share a light-hearted conversation about the local attractions.
The main topic of the podcast is aligning content and channels in marketing. The hosts aim to provide actionable ideas, techniques, and examples to help marketers and entrepreneurs improve their marketing results. They emphasize the importance of understanding content and channels for a successful marketing approach. The podcast also offers resources, such as a blog and a LinkedIn community, for listeners to engage and share ideas with fellow marketers.
(2:37 – 3:21) Definition: Content and Channels: Content refers to any material created for public consumption, such as signage, advertising, and blog posts. Channels refer to the various means of distributing this content, including traditional media like print and radio, as well as digital media like social media and banner ads. It is important to carefully consider which channels are best suited to particular types of content.
(3:21 – 6:07) The Importance Of Aligning Content And Channels In Marketing: One of the main reasons for aligning content and channels in marketing is to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time, which is necessary in a world where people expect on-demand access to what they need. Personalization is crucial to creating more effective communication. Effective communication requires personalization that goes beyond simply using a person’s name in an email. Personalization should speak to an immediate need, delivering messages that are meaningful to the individual.
It is important to personalize not only the content but also the channel to ensure that the right message is delivered to the right person. This requires setting up channels to deliver different messages to different people. To effectively align content and channels, it is essential to do the groundwork first, which includes developing personas and mapping customer journeys.
Aligning with Personas and the Customer Journey
(6:07 – 7:27) The Role Of Persona And Customer Journey In Personalizing Content And Channel: Persona provides insights into an individual’s internal fears, motivations, needs, and desires, allowing marketers to craft messages that resonate with them. Meanwhile, the customer journey map helps to identify the different stages of a customer’s relationship with a brand and the questions and concerns they may have at each stage. By combining the insights from the persona and the customer journey, marketers can deliver targeted messages that are relevant to the individual at the right time and place. Persona gives us the “who,” while the customer journey map gives us the context of “what” is happening with the person over time as their relationship with the brand evolves.
(7:27 – 10:50) The Importance Of Aligning Content With Persona And Emotional Resonance: Effective content should speak to an individual’s internal and external needs and evoke emotions that drive them to react to and remember the brand. The format is also an essential consideration when aligning content with persona. Content should be tailored to different personas, such as a mother looking for a minivan versus a college student. Even when two individuals share similar demographics and life stages, their concerns and motivations may differ. Persona development helps define these differences and ensure that content is tailored to each persona’s specific needs and desires.
(10:50 – 16:39) The See-Think-Do (and Care) Framework: The See, Think, Do (and Care) framework is used to understand how a customer’s relationship with a brand changes over time. “See” refers to those who are aware of the brand but not considering it at the moment. “Think” refers to those who are starting to think about a new purchase but have not yet committed. “Do” refers to those who are actively shopping for a product or service. Content should be aligned with each stage of the framework, focusing on entertainment and informative content for the “See” stage and gradually moving towards more specific and relevant information as the customer moves through the “Think and Do” stages. The customer journey should always be designed with the persona in mind.
Charity Outreach
(16:39 – 17:33) Charity Break: Solutions For Change
Choosing the Right Channels
(17:33 -20:59) Choosing Between Direct Channels and Ad Space Based on the Customer Journey: There are two ways to purchase advertising and acquire channels: buying ad space or buying an audience. Digital advertising allows for buying direct channels of communication with an audience, and there are two options: third-party data and first-party data. It is important to know when to use each option and how to personalize content for each direction. Traditional ad space and when it’s appropriate to use it to address a specific stage in the customer journey.
(20:59 – 22:06) Personalizing Traditional Ad Space: In traditional ad space, we can personalize at the persona level by matching a persona with a publication. By focusing on one primary persona for both content development and delivery, we can determine which publications best suit that persona. However, we don’t know where they are in the buyer’s journey (see, think, or do). To address this, we need to use a mix of content to reach consumers at different stages.
Choosing the Right Content Based on Customer Journey States
(22:06 – 22:50) Effective Content Strategy for See and Think States: Using a mix of “See and Think” content on the same channel is important because it allows marketers to reach a wider audience at different stages of their buyer’s journey. “See” content creates brand impressions and builds trust, while “Think” content targets the audience in the consideration phase. Avoid using Do content in this mix, as the Do stage audience is smaller and better reached through digital or personalized channels for cost-effectiveness.
(22:50 – 24:35) Using Interruptive Advertising to Capture Attention and Build Brand Awareness at the See Stage: In the car dealership example, some examples of See advertising we could use might include television advertising and radio ads. These are considered interruptive media because they effectively interrupt our target audience’s experience, forcing them to pay attention to the ad even if they had no intention of learning about our product or service. This works well for getting in front of someone who isn’t necessarily thinking about our brand yet. Interruptive ads, like TV commercials or pop-ups on websites, are effective for See stage content as they capture the attention of consumers who otherwise may not have sought out information about our product or service.
(24:35 – 28:07) Tailoring See, Think, and Do Content Based on the Buyer’s Journey: With digital advertising, we can get more targeted by buying audiences instead of just the publication. We can use a combination of See, Think, and Do content and tailor it based on signals we’ve identified to make sure people see the right advertising for their stage in the buyer’s journey.
- In the car dealership example, for “See” stage content, we want mass appeal and broad reach across different audiences while still being tailored to specific personas. Our goal is to reach as many people as possible in a cost-effective manner.
- For the “Think” stage, we can identify people based on their activity, either through third-party data providers or other vendors. Here, we can talk about features and benefits and what they need to consider when purchasing a car. This is where we start getting more specific about the type of car they’re looking at.
- The “Do” stage is where we try to hook them and get them to act now with our brand. We introduce timely and urgent content, like financing offers and incentives. We can most effectively reach this audience through first-party data, such as who’s visited our store or website.
Interruptive media works best for the “See” stage, while engagement platforms are better suited for the “Think” stage. For example, a mom looking for a minivan would be interested in features and benefits like seat configurations at the “Think” stage.
(28:07 – 29:05) Summary: To sum up, the key is to deliver messages to potential customers that are relevant to their needs, emotions, and where they are in their relationship with your brand or their customer journey. By using personas and customer journeys as tools, marketers can make educated guesses about which content will resonate with their audience. Experimentation, which we will discuss next week, helps to fine-tune campaigns and make them as effective as possible by analyzing the results and making necessary adjustments.
Join Us Next Time
(29:05 – 30:01) Conclusion: Next week, we’ll be discussing optimization, focusing on experiments, and ensuring we’re delivering the right message to the right person at the right time. Until then, have a great week, and we’ll see you next time. This concludes this week’s episode. For notes and links to resources discussed on the show, sign up to get them emailed to you each week at brilliantmetrics.com.
Iterative Marketing is a part of the Brilliant Metrics organization. If you would like more information on the marketing services provided by the expert team at Brilliant Metrics, reach out today for a free discovery call.
The Iterative Marketing Podcast, a production of Brilliant Metrics, ran from February 2016 to September 2017. Music by SeaStock Audio.
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