Since the target group is so clearly defined it’s easy for companies to form an opinion on Pinterest. Every company in the fashion and design industry is in a hurry to discover Pinterest. Women compile a wishlist and influence each other’s consumer behavior. The instant Pinterest adds an e-commerce option to their user interface all bets will be off. Companies from other sectors that are not (stereo)typically feminine will have nothing to do with Pinterest.

I have a different opinion and my point of view is pretty extreme.

I think every company can benefit from discovering Pinterest. My core argument doesn’t involve the platform as such; I find the visual aspect of the site more important. Pinterest is a lovely site. Pinterest is all about great design. I think it would be useful for any company to use Pinterest in order to learn how to think visually. Pinterest forces you to present matters in a visually attractive manner. The design of your content is more than half the battle. If good content is presented in a visually appealing way then your site will be successful. Pinterest forces you to do just that. For this reason alone it is extremely interesting to go down this path.

It is also interesting to boost your online ecosystem. Too many companies view the adoption of new social media channels as an additional cost. This is because most companies manage those channels as silos instead of as an integrated system. Every company incorporates pictures and images in their implementation of content marketing. You need to make use of these images somewhere so you may as well start a collection on Pinterest instead of simply storing them on your server. Consider Pinterest as a kind of ‘free software’ enabling you to park your images in a convenient place. This will make your own site/blog much more visual which, in turn, will heighten its impact. The fact that you’re building an attractive visual profile on a trendy new site is an added bonus.

This is the unique combination Pinterest offers:  it forces you to think visually and it helps you build a strong visual archive on a trendy site. A must for all companies across all sectors.

In the online world, the answer is simple: it is about both quality AND quantity.

The current state of your content marketing falls under one of four possible categories:

1. Non-existing: you don’t have a content marketing approach and as a result you’re in danger of fading from the memory of your market.
2. Degenerating: you’re risking your reputation by frequently posting low-quality content. This is the fast track to destroying your corporate reputation and credibility.
3. Untapped potential: this is the case when fantastic content fails to reach its target audience due to the low frequency with which that content is developed.
4. High impact: this is the case when a lot of high-quality content is produced.

The rise of micro-content

In order to succeed on both a quality and a quantity level, it is important to create large chunks of content in combination with micro-content. Especially micro-content is on the rise. Companies and private individuals use small bits of content in a smart way to boost interaction and the number of views.

Back in the day we would put out one large piece of content, for instance a 15-minute movie, a 30-page white paper or a virtual product demo. Today, we still need these large chunks but it is also interesting to derive smaller variations from them.

Imagine, for instance, that you’ve created a 15-minute video. Why not derive two or three 30-second excerpts with key quotes or the catchiest remarks?

Another example: when you make a large PowerPoint deck, why not create three of four key visuals as well? These can be shared on Flickr or Pinterest, whereas the slides can be posted on SlideShare. In other words, you can create additional micro-content and spread it through various online channels. This approach allows you to communicate with different audiences.

Your key target group, the people that really love your work, may receive more content from you than in the past but since they like you, that’s not really an issue. Besides, they’re probably glad to hear more from you anyway. What the additional micro-content will do is increase the number of opportunities to communicate with those on the fringes of your target group, which will enable you to reach a larger target audience.

Why “selling without selling” and not just… Content Marketing?

Every company states to be investing in content marketing. Often content marketing is seen as publishing a Facebook update every day to gather a bunch of likes. In many cases, content marketing is not linked to business objectives.

The term selling without selling reminds companies that in the end, there is always a sales objective. The content should be linked to business objectives and to data gathering.

For more background, please check one of my previous posts.

Snagging consumers will become more and more difficult. Today, consumers go looking for interaction with no more than five brands. Technology is making it increasingly easy for consumers to shield themselves from commercial messages. Being extremely relevant is the only way of keeping the consumer’s attention going.

Inbound marketing is increasing in importance

In order to prepare to a more selective consumer, it makes sense to look into our content marketing approach. The questions are: what will the percentage be of inbound versus outbound marketing. In the ‘old’ world, we found clients through outbound sales and marketing efforts. In the future, inbound marketing will increase in importance if you look at the trends described in the introduction.

ING recently reported that 95% of customer interactions originate with the customer. The rise of inbound marketing is going fast in the last few years. In other words: the pull model has already replaced the push model. Data are absolutely invaluable in order to be relevant. Your company will need to create the perfect personalized message on the basis of data if it is to earn the consumer’s attention.

It’s quite funny, really: the foundation of the marketing of the future was described in the 80s, back when CRM and direct marketing were hot. Today we can finally execute what was described back then. The philosophy is sound and modern technology makes it possible.

Selling without selling is about offering relevant content in an extreme way. Content tells a story and gives people something of value. It’s less and less about your own product and more and more about what consumers can do with that product. The new sites for Kraft and Coca Cola already carry out that message. In both cases, the product itself has been pushed to the background and both sites look more like a digizine than a website. This is selling without selling.

Why content marketing is not sufficient?

Every company states to be investing in content marketing. Often content marketing is seen as publishing a Facebook update every day to gather a bunch of likes. In many cases, content marketing is not linked to business objectives.

The term selling without selling reminds companies that in the end, there is always a sales objective. The content should be linked to business objectives and to data gathering.

The four foundations of selling without selling

Four principles are essential to success:

• Invest in your own media: link your content to your own media instead of letting it float around on the internet. Try to lure consumers to your own platforms to consume content.
• Content as bait for data: content is a bit like baiting the hook when going fishing. Many companies are simply throwing worms into the water: a fish comes along, swallows the worm whole and it’s gone. By attaching that bait to a hook, customers get hooked in when trying to take a bite out of the worm. Use this metaphor in your content marketing and capture data through your content.
• A mix of big and small stories: sharing stories on a day-to-day basis is part of the 2020 marketing philosophy, but take care to alternate between big and small stories. Red Bull are the undisputed masters in this respect. They come up with amazing stunts from time to time, but they also maintain a content flow that suits the brand. Both aspects are important.
• Design, design, design: content should be relevant but, more than anything, it should be well-designed.  There’s a phenomenal difference in impact between a classic story and an engaging story. Designers will become increasingly important in the years to come.

What are your ideas about selling without selling. Do you see other criteria that are really important to create impact. Please let me know via your comments.

This blog post summarizes the main elements of the presentation.

The 2020 Consumer

To develop the marketing philosophy of the future we also need to understand the 2020 consumer. Three factors will continue to influence consumer behavior:

1. Full adoption of new technologies: by the year 2020 some 2.5 billion smartphones will be in use. Much more than is the case today, the internet and digitization will be the most natural thing in the world.
2. Transparency: the continued adoption of technology will make the world even more transparent. Consumers will be perfectly aware of which companies are doing well and which aren’t. As a result, consumers will demand better service. Instead of simply comparing companies with the competition, they will compare them with class-leading companies. This will raise the bar considerably.
3. Selectivity: technology will become even more effective at shielding consumers from commercial messages. New media will enable consumers to be very selective about which companies he or she is linked with. Gaining access to the 2020 consumer will prove extremely difficult.

The video below describes the 2020 consumer:

Extreme customer centricity as the central philosophy

A score of 7.3 out of 10 will not be enough to win the heart of the 2020 consumer. Only extreme customer centricity will guarantee success. Extremism may not be a good thing where politics and religion are concerned, but in marketing 2020 it is an absolute necessity.

Going extreme means facing several challenges:

• Extreme in the basic aspects: extreme customer centricity is often associated with exotic ideas but such ideas only work when the foundations are solid. Step one consists in compiling an inventory of all the annoying little customer frustrations and dealing with them one by one. A top-notch basic experience is the cornerstone of extreme customer centricity.
• It’s all about ‘influence’, not ‘influencers’: Every customer exerts influence. The illusion that a few select influencers determine the perception of an entire industry belongs to the classical school of thought. Treating all customers the same is exactly what brings about structural positive conversations. Focusing solely on ‘influencers’ may even have the opposite effect. Remember what happened with Yoep Van ‘t Hek and T-Mobile.
• Symbols of extremism: once a company exceeds expectations with regard to basic service levels, that company needs symbols of extremism. They are ideal conversation starters because they give satisfied customers something concrete to use when recommending your product. Zappos’s 365-day return policy, e-retailer Coolblue’s offline stores and KLM’s 30-minute reply policy to tweets are examples of such symbols.

Developing this philosophy amounts primarily to reevaluating customer processes. It boils down to optimizing the functional relationship. The additional challenge in this regard consists in adding a personal touch. Even the most expertly executed process feels impersonal without a smile. Friendly people can give a personal touch, and so can smooth communication and the occasional ‘random act of kindness’. It’s not hard to come up with but all the more difficult to implement properly.

And finally, extreme customer centricity is not about online presence or online customer service, although this is obviously part of the package. In the meantime, it is clear that 80 to 90% of your online success depends on your offline behavior. In 2020, a successful company will no longer differentiate between online and offline channels.

Technology integrated in marketing & service

Extreme customer centricity is a conscious investment on behalf of a company and technology can be of help on three different levels:

• Further improving the customer experience: new technology can enhance the customer experience. Technology can bring stunning innovations. For instance, Disneyworld is currently testing new Mickey suits. The suits are interactive and the guests can talk to Mickey. The suits create a new customer experience for the young and old.
• Increasing efficiency: technology can streamline certain processes. For instance, technology can help service evolve towards a self-service environment where the customers themselves can solve problems more quickly and efficiently. As a result, customer satisfaction goes up and costs go down. Ordering hamburgers at McDonald’s via the interactive screens is another example: waiting times are shorter and McDonald’s needs fewer staff.
• Generating more profit: Amazon adjusts its prices several times a day and this process is fully automatic. This perfect price strategy adds turnover and customers know that Amazon offers the sharpest prices 24 hours a day.

‘Data’ will obviously be one of the buzz words for marketing 2020. Compiling customer data will help companies achieve each of the three goals described above. Data will become the new oil, as it were.  The richest company will be the one with the best data and the ability to use that data to maximum effect.

The future of selling will be selling without actually selling

Snagging consumers will become more and more difficult. Today, consumers go looking for interaction with no more than five brands. Technology is making it increasingly easy for consumers to shield themselves from commercial messages. Being extremely relevant is the only way of keeping the consumer’s attention going. There are two dimensions to support this philosophy.

The first dimension is the rise of inbound marketing. ING bank recently reported that 95% of customer interactions originate with the customer. In other words: the pull model has already replaced the push model. Data are absolutely invaluable in order to be relevant. Your company will need to create the perfect personalized message on the basis of data if it is to earn the consumer’s attention.

It’s quite funny, really: the foundation of marketing 2020 was described in the 80s, back when CRM and direct marketing were hot. Today we can finally execute what was described back then. The philosophy is sound and modern technology makes it possible.

A second dimension consists in offering relevant content. Content tells a story and gives people something of value. It’s less and less about your own product and more and more about what consumers can do with that product. The new sites for Kraft and Coca Cola already carry out that message. In both cases, the product itself has been pushed to the background and both sites look more like a digizine than a website. This is selling without selling.

Four principles are essential to success:

• Invest in your own media: link your content to your own media instead of letting it float around on the internet. Try to lure consumers to your own platforms to consume content.
• Content as bait for data: content is a bit like baiting the hook when going fishing. Many companies are simply throwing worms into the water: a fish comes along, swallows the worm whole and it’s gone. By attaching that bait to a hook, customers get hooked in when trying to take a bite out of the worm. Use this metaphor in your content marketing and capture data through your content.
• A mix of big and small stories: sharing stories on a day-to-day basis is part of the 2020 marketing philosophy, but take care to alternate between big and small stories. Red Bull are the undisputed masters in this respect. They come up with amazing stunts from time to time, but they also maintain a content flow that suits the brand. Both aspects are important.
• Design, design, design: content should be relevant but, more than anything, it should be well-designed.  There’s a phenomenal difference in impact between a classic story and an engaging story. Designers will become increasingly important in the years to come.

Three dimensions to benefit a ‘bigger’ cause

Even a company that excels in each of these three dimensions (extreme customer centricity, technology and selling without selling) has no guarantees of success in 2020. First of all, you need a personal touch (see above), but you should also identify a common goal for the consumer and your company.  Pampers has chosen to tackle a few nasty diseases with the consumer’s help: for every Pamper sold, a child in a developing country is inoculated, thus creating a common objective for consumer and company to work towards. As for Triodos bank, the company leaves its customers with no doubt what their money is invested in. Triodos only invests in projects promoting durability.

This kind of ‘bigger cause’ appeals to consumers. A global study by InSites Consulting about CSR clearly showed that consumers expect three things from a company: 1. Do good for your own customers, 2. Make a profit and thereby do good for your own staff and 3. Do good for society.

How does your marketing department rate on these three dimensions?

I sometimes get comments along the lines of ‘Steven, it all sounds so simple that I don’t understand why so few companies are able to properly implement this’. The same is also true of the 2020 marketing story. (I hope) it sounds very logical and easy, but putting it all into practice has proven far from evident.

Ask yourself the following question: How does my own marketing department rate on these 2020 dimensions? How many companies do I know today that do well on each of these three dimensions?

And then, of course, there’s also the key question: how do I rate on these three dimensions?

Hope you enjoyed the post, please let me know how you see the future of marketing. Tell me how you see Marketing 2020.

Many managers wonder how Facebook likes bring in additional business. It is a valid concern to question the impact of likes on business results. Digital objectives should always be linked to business objectives. To build a bridge between a digital strategy and a business strategy, there are five dimensions to include in your digital infrastructure:

1. Own interactive platform (used to be called a website)
2. Smart usage of social networks
3. Content long tail
4. Ability for real time marketing
5. Data strategy

The heart of your digital strategy? Your own interactive platform (aka website).

The best place to achieve your business objectives is probably your own interactive platform. Let’s not use the word ‘site’ too much anymore. Most companies still see a site as something you invest in every three years without any need for in between content refreshment. Looking at the latest trends, a sites should not be static, but should evolve towards a digital magazine.

To link digital and business goals, there is a need for a platform where content can be shared, conversations can be started and data can be captured. Recent research on Emarketer showed the important role of a site in influencing the consumer their buying behavior. A brand and retail site have more influence than Facebook content.

Smart usage of different social networks

Once you have an interactive platform, you still need visitors. Social networks can help to drive traffic to your platform. Use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to engage large audiences and guide people to your site. Only posting content on social networks is like fishing without a hook attached to your bait.

Social networks like Slideshare, Pinterest, Flickr and YouTube are perfect to store your presentations, video’s and pictures. Users of those sites can find your content there. Next to that, embed this content on your own site and share the link of the site on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It increases the impact of this content. To read more about increasing the effectiveness of social media channels, check out this white paper I shared earlier.

Create a content long tail

By placing content on your own platform, you have the possibility to create a content long tail. Content on Facebook and Twitter disappears after a while or is very hard to find back.

Content on your own platform helps with search engine optimization. People that don’t know your company, by searching the topics you are producing content in future clients may find you on Google.

Further, you can use hyperlinks to link your content. Relate back to previous content to guide users to your strong stories from the past. Embed content from YouTube, Pinterest and Slideshare in different content pieces. By re-using this content, the reach and the impact of your content investments increases.

Be smart with real time marketing to boost traffic and conversation value

Follow the news and search for stories that can be linked to your business. Release content about the news that is happening in the world. The goal of this real time content marketing is to increase the reach on your different digital channels. The first three dimensions are all about creating your own stories and building reach/impact with them. This dimension is about hijacking other people’s stories to get the attention to your brand. However, choose your battles in this field. Don’t try to be present in every news story. Choose news stories that match the DNA of your brand.

Capture data and achieve business objectives

If you bring good content, people will want to hear more from you. Give them the opportunity to share their data with you. The moment a consumers gives you data, you received permission to send them stories. When a consumer shares his personal data, see it as a precious gift. It is not something to take advantage of.  Use this data as a precision weapon and not as a weapon of mass destruction. Only by using the data in a hyper relevant way, you will have impact. The data allows you to manage the relationship with the client in a direct and personal way.

From first steps in co-creation to bold idea

In the past twelve months, Center Parcs has made several small inroads into co-creation. One of the first ideas was the search for the name for a new slide at De Vossemeren. Based on a series of pictures, Facebook fans were asked to come up with a name for the new slide. The request resulted in some 1,500 suggestions, which were then whittled down to a shortlist of six finalists. Following a final vote, the name ‘Monkey Splash’ came out the winner. No matter how “small” a step this may seem, a slight change in mentality among marketeers was still necessary. Keep in mind that the name was actually chosen by a consumer, regardless of any other alternatives the marketing team might have preferred.

Consumers make the new brochure: the need for a new procedure

Earlier this year, the suggestion was made to involve the guests in the making of the new brochure. This meant a departure from the traditional and successful recipe. The people from Center Parcs and their agency, Duval Guillaume Modem, decided to go for it and create a brochure together with the Center Parcs guests.

The first step consisted in selecting the guest families. On Facebook and in Close-Up magazine, families were invited to put themselves forward. Over 600 families answered the call and completed a form detailing their motivation. From these forms, Center Parcs selected a number of families that suit the atmosphere and the target group of each park. For example, Erperheide welcomed a family with very young children, whereas Park Zandvoort selected a senior couple.

Next, the families were invited to come to the parks, where they were briefed by the people from Duval Guillaume Modem as well as by the Center Parcs team. The families were told that they could make the new brochure, but they had to keep in mind that the brochure would be read by more than 2 million people. In other words, the guests were asked to look beyond their own personal opinion and preferences. Incidentally, they fully understood what was expected of them.

Work on the brochure began the following day. The guests were asked to describe the unique aspects of the park and they selected those pictures which they felt were representative of the park’s atmosphere. In retrospect, Paul Geraeds, Marketing Director Center Parcs Europe, claimed that 80% of the end result was different from what the Center Parcs marketing team would have come up with; this means the consumers had a great deal of input. According to Paul, “the brochure is a bit less ‘polished’ and perhaps somewhat more cluttered, but that also makes it more personal. In return, the new brochure is more relevant and more credible”.  No final editing was undertaken to modify or correct the brochure compiled by the guests. The actual brochure is based entirely on the input received from the consumer.

A novelty: individual covers per country

The final step was the choice of the cover. The guest families made some suggestions but the actual covers were chosen by the Facebook fans and all guests, with the Center Parcs employees acting as a kind of second opinion. This approach revealed major differences between the various countries and for the first time, Center Parcs decided to adjust the cover to the culture of the individual countries. There used to be just one cover but now the consumers’ input decided which cover was used.

Next year: rely even more on user-generated content

Now that all initial doubts regarding this project have been dispelled, Center Parcs has decided to go with this approach next year as well. A number of ideas have been put forward to take it one step further next year:

• Participants will be better briefed beforehand, so they can prepare even better. In turn, this will leave more time for the brainstorming sessions when they visit the parks.
• This time the pictures were selected from a database of existing photos. Next year, Center Parcs is hoping to have consumers choose from all user-generated photos that have been posted on Flickr, for instance. Center Parcs is hoping to exploit the enormous amount of content available on the parks.

Four steps to increase social media effectiveness

In order to boost social media effectiveness, brands and companies should discuss four steps:

1. Channel & content strategy: define the content-conversion point
2. Build online reach: create a community to increase the return on content creation
3. Create engagement through fantastic content & interaction
4. From likes to ambassadors: change a group of silent people into an active group of brand ambassadors.

Each of these phases are described in an earlier post.

KPIs, Media type & Content type

I am convinced that most companies could use their social channels more effectively. The problem is that most companies only focus on steps 2 and/or 3 of this plan. Most brainstorms start with the question ‘what should we share on Facebook?’. By taking that discussion to a higher level, you will change the way you look at social media touch points.

When using the approach outlined in this paper, it becomes obvious that the KPIs, the media types and the content types differ in each of the steps.

Use this table to plan your social media success. Most companies start without a plan and without knowing what the next step is. This leads to disappointment and low return. It is clear that each of the four steps are not completely separate. There is a lot of overlap between them. By putting them apart, it helps to make a more comprehensive plan. Working with different KPIs in each of the phases, helps to set the right mindset in your organization.

Read the full paper

Check out the entire paper to learn more about this philosophy

From stand-alone social silo’s to an integrated approach

Most managers think of social media channels as stand-alone silos. Content is spread through each of these channels without a clear plan on how to reach business objectives. The truth is that all online channels are interrelated. Consumers can even be routed from channel A to channel B. The challenge is to design a plan to optimize the impact of your social media investments.

A content-conversion plan includes every touch point where a (potential) customer can come into contact with your content. Then you need to determine at which of these touch points conversion to your objectives (reputation management, community building, lead generation…) is likely to occur. All other social channels support traffic generation towards these conversion points. Instead of having a set of silo channels, this creates a set of interrelated online channels.

For example, the converting touch point might be the corporate website or blog. A corporate blog can be the touch point that leads people from the content area to the sales area. Your other social media accounts ensure that sufficient traffic is channeled to the blog every day.

For companies working in the knowledge sector, SlideShare can serve as a useful converting touch point. SlideShare is a social network site where people can share presentations (PowerPoint, etc.). This is the ideal place to showcase what you can do and what you have to offer. On this platform, it is easy to directly convert a reader into a sales lead. In case your key objective is community building, your Facebook page may be the best content-conversion point. When mapping out your conversion touch-point plan, define the trigger for each touch point that makes it possible to move on to the next. Furthermore, try to keep the lines as short as possible. The more steps are necessary in order to reach the touch point where your business goals are realized, the harder it is to achieve high conversion rates.

Questions to ask in building your content-conversion plan:

1. What is the key objective of our content marketing?

Some companies focus on creating brand awareness and others on becoming an expert or on creating business leads. Depending on your objective, there are several content-conversion points to choose from.

2. Which online touch point provides the best odds of reaching this objective?

Define the best place on the web to reach your objectives. Below you will find several examples of content-conversion points. Since so much depends on the context, the contents of this table should be viewed as examples and not as the only possible outcome of the discussion.

3. Which channels can create traffic to the content conversion point?

Once you’ve determined your content conversion point, the challenge is to bring people there. All social media channels can be helpful in reaching this goal. In this phase, the tough part is being able to use your content intelligently. For instance, suppose you’ve launched a great YouTube video and you want to share it with your followers. If you have chosen your blog as the content conversion point, you should embed the video in the blog and share the link to the blog post that includes the video. Mention your blog and the URL in the description on YouTube. Also, don’t forget to mention the name and URL of your blog. Every time someone embeds your video on their blog, this helps increase the traffic to your blog. If one of your employees gives a presentation outside your company, put the name and URL on the last slide: “For more info about our company/subject of presentation check out our blog at …” Create relevant cross links to your conversion point e.g. in your Twitter profile background. The more roads lead to the conversion point, the better.

Download the full paper

This post zooms in on one aspect of the paper ‘increase the effectiveness of your social media channels in four steps’. If you would like to read the entire paper, you can download it here.

The paper is based upon a series of research projects conducted over the last two years, the experience gained from numerous workshops with our clients and an in-depth discussions with social media experts Erik Van Roekel (@evr) and Matthijs Van Den Broeck (@mgvandenbroek).

4 steps to effective social channel use

Evolving from a checklist approach to social media towards an effective social channel use requires a different mindset. To build this mindset you need to go through 4 distinct phases:

1. Channel & content strategy
The first step consists in formulating a clear vision on the role of each of the online touch points. Apart from defining the goals and content of each of the individual channels, this phase is also about deciding how those channels interrelate. In this phase, you define which touch points are most likely to reach the social media (and broader business) objectives. Instead of creating social silos you are going for an integrated approach where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Most managers think of social media channels as stand-alone silos. Content is spread through each of these channels without a clear plan on how to reach business objectives. The truth is that all online channels are interrelated. Consumers can even be routed from channel A to channel B. In this phase, companies should create a ‘content-conversion’ plan.

A content-conversion plan includes every touch point where a (potential) customer can come into contact with your content. Then you need to determine at which of these touch points conversion to your objectives (reputation management, community building, lead generation…) is likely to occur. All other social channels support traffic generation towards these conversion points. Instead of having a set of silo channels, this creates a set of interrelated online channels.

For example, the converting touch point might be the corporate website or blog. A corporate blog can be the touch point that leads people from the content area to the sales area. Your other social media accounts ensure that sufficient traffic is channeled to the blog every day.

For companies working in the knowledge sector, SlideShare can serve as a useful converting touch point. SlideShare is a social network site where people can share presentations (PowerPoint, etc.). This is the ideal place to showcase what you can do and what you have to offer. On this platform, it is easy to directly convert a reader into a sales lead. In case your key objective is community building, your Facebook page may be the best content-conversion point. When mapping out your conversion touch-point plan, define the trigger for each touch point that makes it possible to move on to the next. Furthermore, try to keep the lines as short as possible. The more steps are necessary in order to reach the touch point where your business goals are realized, the harder it is to achieve high conversion rates.

2. Build reach

To increase the return on content creation, it is advisable to build reach in the early phase of your online plan. In this phase, the hard part is maintaining a balance between relevant content on the one hand and being able to attract a large set of likes & followers on the other hand.

There are two ways to build reach: the slow approach and the fast approach. The slow approach builds reach over time by investing in quality content that spreads naturally. To succeed in the slow approach, you need three things: good content, a fixed rhythm and a lot of patience. Big brands usually lack the last ingredient, which is why we recommend choosing the fast approach. Our research has shown the following seven approaches to be successful reach builders:

• Conversation worthy campaigns: invest in social campaigns to boost the reach of your social channel activities
• Rhythm: a one-time campaign won’t do it. You need a certain rhythm to share great content
• Contests & free stuff: giving away some of your products is still an effective way to build reach in the short run (although there’s no guarantee of quality). Many companies are afraid to attract ‘low quality’ followers with this strategy. This is indeed a risk: once they are on board, the challenge consists in convincing such followers to stay with your content (step 3)
• Social advertising: to grab the attention of your audience, you need to advertise your campaigns and content on social channels.
• Employee activation: a company should always have more fans than employees. If your own employees don’t follow your content, how can you expect your customers to be interested? Train and facilitate employees to become active ambassadors of your social channel activities.
• Offline communication channels: building reach goes beyond online channels. Try to mention online channels in all your communications: TV commercials, print advertising, banners, point of sales material…
• Partner up with other major brands: if you have a good relationship with brands that have a large social reach, you can always ask them to share your brand content (or a competition) with their fan base.

3. Persuasion through content & interaction

Once you’ve attracted a significant number of followers and fans, you need engaging content to keep them interested. The threshold to follow a brand is very low but it takes a huge effort to keep your audience engaged.

Research conducted by InSites Consulting has shown that the average consumer actively interacts with no more than 5 brands on social media. This means your brand needs to be part of this select little group. Also, recent research has shown that fans won’t dislike your page if they don’t like the content; instead they will ‘hide’ your page. This means competing for the attention of your own followers with big love brands like Apple, Coca Cola and Disney. And let’s not forget, your toughest adversaries when competing for the attention of your followers comes are those followers’ friends and families.

The conclusion is obvious: this evolution is raising the bar for companies to be able to engage with consumers on social media.

Three elements are key in this particular phase:

• An editorial calendar: make sure you know what your content updates will look like at least three months in advance. Our previous research paper, ‘a six-step content marketing plan’, outlines how to set up an effective editorial calendar. In fact, content planning consists of three layers: big campaigns (very intense), projects (recurring thematic themes) and content updates (small content sparks).
• Creative content: drawing up the perfect content plan is probably the easiest part of the long road to success on social media channels. Coming up with creative and talked-about content is the real challenge. It’s not an exact science and there’s no such thing as a foolproof plan. It’s really quite simple: building content that conquers the hearts of your followers and friends requires highly creative people.
• Operational conversation management : in this phase, consumer engagement is one of your key objectives. To succeed, you need top operational conversation management. Have a person or a team ready to interact and engage with your audience. Be fast, empathic and listen to your fans so they will commit to your brand. Follow the conversations in real time and be ready to respond.

4. From likes to ambassadors

The final phase is the most difficult part. In this phase you are looking to create a small army of active ambassadors. The previous steps focused on winning people’s hearts through great content. In this phase, the challenge is to create ambassadors: people who promote your brand to their friends and family. Here the question is: ‘What do we want our fans to say about us and how can we facilitate this?’. Succeed in this challenge and you will be rewarded with positive and impactful conversation about your brand.

In this stage, you need to convert your likes into ambassadors. The following factors are essential:

• Broad consumer involvement: if you involve your customers in your decision-making flows, they will be more committed to your brand. People are more emotionally involved when they feel they are part of the team and that’s how you create ambassadors. So content planning is not just about sharing cool content or asking evident questions. It’s also about asking your customers for feedback on your performance. Ask people’s opinion on all things related to your company and remember to thank them for the input they provide.
• Consumer consultants: if you have in-depth questions concerning a new project or product, you should turn to your die-hard fans on social channels and invite them to join a closed community to discuss these topics. This makes them feel like they are really part of the team and essentially you’re hiring employees that are not actually on the payroll.
• Questions and answers: put meaningful questions to your audience as we explained in the first bullet point. Once your fans start giving you inspiring feedback, be sure to return the favor and keep them in the loop. Let them know what you did with the feedback and why certain remarks were used and others were not. Be open about what use you make of their feedback. Gain their trust be being honest.
• Branded utility: think of applications that bring added value to your fans. Look for content that is both highly relevant to your audience and in line with your business. Once again, you need top creative people to invent these applications. Once fans start using the utility apps, it is a great way for them to talk about your brand through the application.

From four steps to an everlasting loop

These four phases are obviously not entirely sequential; there is an overlap between phases 2, 3 and 4. In our strategy, it’s not that hard to define the necessary actions for the various steps. In real life, though, we need to be flexible enough to adapt to consumer needs in a moment’s notice. Once a certain stage is reached, phases 2, 3 and 4 become iterative steps in an eternal loop designed to build reach and create more ambassadors.

Download the full paper

To read all details about this philosophy, feel free to download the entire paper here:

And of course, I’m looking forward to reading your comments and your feedback in the comment section. Thanks!