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Driving growth and engagement with content marketing

Natalie Roper January 2016

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One of the greatest challenges of the 21st century is understanding the balance of your financial value versus the value you bring to your customers and the wider society.

Only then can you really understand the role of your brand within the new digital space, where control has been lost and authenticity and trust matters.

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A changed world (and a bad one in which to be a newspaper)

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…there has been 5 refreshes of the paper in nearly 200 years

1821 1959 1988 1993 2005

From 1821

1996 1999 2003 2013 2014

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…there has been 6 refreshes of the paper in 18 years

From 2010

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"Content marketing is the only marketing left." Seth Godin• Audiences are switched off from traditional marketing, they skip ads and ignore banners

• Ad blockers mean that display is being seen less

• People don’t want to be sold to – they want relevant, useful content or they’re not interested

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Objectives of content marketingConversion or consideration

Influence to drive

change

Brand awareness and buzz

Changing perceptions, driving brand affinity

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The rules of content creation (or, often selection in our case)

platforms and formats

authenticity

audience

KPIs££

optimisation

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May 2015 Elections – the challengeThe Guardian’s UK 17 – 24 target audience comprises 3.4 million young adults – we currently reach just over half of them.

TRUSTED SOURCES

JUST FOR FUN

FAMILIAR

UNFAMILIAR

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Young people do not see the Guardian as relevant and often struggle to see themselves reflected in the brand  When I look at the Guardian

I see a flamboyant, artsy, older gentleman who has something to say… or an architect, the Guardian would be kind of a funky

professional.Non-reader,17-24

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General election 2015 - what our target audience told usWe want news to come to us, generally through their social media feeds

We want quick hits of video, pictures, facts and stats (with an option to click through)

Big personalities are powerful influencers for us

We want help to feel informed - Guardian should provide clear, simple guidance about the election parties and issues

We do not want to feel as though we are getting a different treatment to “adults”

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General election 2015 – our approachnd 

Identifying relevant content and tailoring it so that the messaging and aesthetics appeal to younger audiences

Bringing the news to young people on the social channels that they are familiar with

Influencing editorial to ensure subject areas of interest were being addressed

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General election– our results 

• 28m impressions• 1.9m engagements vs planned 444,000

engagements • Average CPE of £0.05 vs planned

average of £0.22• 4,655 mobile app installs• From April to May Comscore reported

that our volume of 18 - 24 mobile users grew by 18%

• After 3 months, the new visitors brought in by the campaign had an average of 8 visits per visitor (vs. 4.4 site average)

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General election 2015 – our results 

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Driving growth and engagement with content marketing - what we’ve learnt

1.Don’t assume you know what your audience like or need Get insights on what they want from you and research their technographics

2.Be you, don’t embarrass yourselfAuthenticity is key to gaining respect, and only play on the platforms that suit you

3.Moment marketing could be your best friendTiming could be everything, both reactive and planned

4.Remember you’re in a world of scarcity vs abundanceLess is more – be succinct and consistent

5.You don’t need loads of £££, you just need to be great at dataWatch where and how your conversions are happening. Optimise, never stop learning