Inbound Marketing's Content Crisis

Today, business managers are realizing that in order to obtain more marketing-qualified leads they need to adopt an Inbound Marketing strategy and rely less on Outbound Marketing strategies and tactics. Therefore, companies are turning to SaaS Marketing Automation Systems like HubSpot, Marketo, Shopify, etc... Inbound Marketers use these systems to publish blogs, eBooks, white-papers, and other digital content, which they offer to visitors in exchange for their name and email address—a voluntary opt-in for future newsletters, emails, etc...

These systems do automate many marketing functions, but the creation of engaging, high-quality content isn't part of the programmed features. No, there is not a "magic button" that marketers can push and have a computer spit out truly engaging, high-quality content. Such content must be produced by talented creative people. And content creation is hard work and it takes people years to develop the skills and abilities to do it well.

Regardless, there exists a pervasive do-it-yourself attitude in the industry and I think it is causing many Inbound Marketing attempts to fall short of their true potential. How pervasive is it? It's interesting to note that HubSpot offers a "freemium" eBook called, Design It Yourself: The Marketer's Crash Course In Visual Content Creation, written by Shannon Johnson and Keith Frankel. In the book, they give advice like, "Although designers definitely know design best and they're great to have around, perhaps it's time for you and your marketing team to take visual content creation into your own hands." Yeah...stunning advice...as if it's just that easy.

Just Hire A Jack-Of-All-Trades?

The trouble seems to start in the hiring process. A large part of a website's content is written word, so the job requirements strongly favor people with skills in writing, journalism, or English. However, it's not uncommon to read job descriptions that feature a lengthy list of skills like, editing, writing, digital analytics, SEO, social media, graphic design, illustration, photography, video production, and the list goes on and on. But is it realistic to expect someone to have all of these skills? Today's hiring managers seem to think so.

But how do such hiring practices affect the quality of the content? Well, it's a fact that many Content Marketers are frustrated daily with their inability to create engaging, high-quality content on a consistent basis. In fact, the Content Marketing Institute recently published a report called, B2B Content Marketing: 2015 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America. In the report, 54% of the respondents indicated that producing engaging content was their greatest challenge. In addition, 50% sited producing content consistently was their second greatest challenge.

We're All Publishers Now!

Perhaps it's time for business managers to rethink their approach to Inbound Marketing? Maybe they need to consider the idea that their marketing department has now become the core publishing house of their business? As such, they need to take the strategic steps required to ensure that they are creating better publications than their competitors. Frankly, I'd suggest that they learn from the publishers of newspapers, magazines, and books. After all, these publishers have been competing for the attention of readers for decades, so it seems to me that they might know a thing or two about how to create engaging, high-quality content.

So what's the publisher's secret formula? Well, most publishers typically hire a staff of full-time, seasoned editors, copywriters, art directors, graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, etc... In fact, publishers compete against each other to find the very best talent they can so that their publications contain the most engaging, high-quality content possible. They don't hire one Jack-of-all-trades Content Marketer and expect them to do everything because, frankly, that would be a strategy for failure.

Yes, perhaps it's time for managers to take their online publishing seriously. Those who think Inbound Marketing is a great new way to cut their marketing budget need to rethink their strategy. Because if they don't take their digital content creation seriously, I guarantee that their competitors certainly will.

© Jan Baughman, 2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Winner's Cup 3D Illustration

Winner's Cup (below) is a recent 3D illustration that I created.

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For my 3D work, I tend to use free and open source programs. Why? Because they are free and they work pretty darn well. Yeah, they have their limits and quirks but overall I've been pleased with the results I've been getting.

Thus far, I've been using Blender 3D, Sketchup, and Daz StudioPro. Blender 3D is a feature-rich open source program available for free download. Daz Studio Pro is not open source but it is currently available for free from Daz 3D. And finally, Sketchup is also a free program available for download, but to get all the goodies you need to buy the Pro version.

My Creation Process

I created the "WINNER" text using CorelDraw and exported it as a .svg and then imported it into Blender 3D. I extruded the text and positioned it on the base.

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I created the base and cup using Blender 3D. I started with primitive base meshs (cube, plane, torus) and through a process of subdivision and extrusion I modeled each of the components.

 

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After assigning textures in Blender 3D, I exported the model as an .obj and imported it into Daz Studio Pro. Once in Daz Studio, I applied textures to the model, set up the camera and lighting, and rendered the model. (Yes, I could have used Blender 3D for every step, but I sometimes like to use Daz Studio Pro for rendering because I like the results I get.)
 

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I then opened the finished rendering into Adobe Photoshop Elements and adjusted levels, enhanced colors and added some light flares for a finishing touch. While I do like the full version of Adobe Photoshop CC 2015, I find that just using Elements is sometimes more productive for me. It's certainly less resource intensive.
 

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And there you have it, the complete Winner's Cup. If you're interested in seeing more of my graphic design, illustration, and photography please check out my Online portfolio.

© Jan James Baughman, 2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Integrated Marketing Communications: A Value-Adding Approach

Let me begin by making one thing perfectly clear: adding economic value to a company is the fiduciary duty of the company's managers and other employees. If the company's management and employees fail to add economic value to the company, it will stop growing, begin shrinking, and eventually fail. And, when company's fail all of its stakeholders are negatively impacted.

When the subject of adding economic value comes up, most managers think of operational efficiency. Popular methods of improving operational efficiency include ideas such as implementing just-in-time inventory systems, out-sourcing, lean manufacturing, etc... Indeed, many modern managerial theories center around the idea that business operations function as a dynamic system. And as such, a "system dynamics" approach to organizing and managing operations has been implemented in many companies. This has resulted in significant economic value being added to these companies.

With so much success in the area of improving operational efficiency it seems logical to conclude that managers would seek to expand this approach to all areas of the business. But many times the one area that managers overlook is their company's branding effort. When a system dynamics approach is expanded to include all areas of a company then the company's branding effort must be viewed as a crucial component to the total value of the firm. Unfortunately, this is often not the case.

In truth, a brand is an intangible asset for a firm. This means that it's not something physical that managers can touch or hold and because of this fact, some managers believe their company's branding effort is not really that important. This is especially true when the economy enters a time of recession and managers react by cutting out expenses that they deem as "unnecessary" costs. For some, this may mean slashing the advertising budget or perhaps letting go of some of the "creative" staff.

Such choices, however, carry with them an unseen opportunity cost that must be considered. The opportunity costs include the brilliant marketing campaign that was not conceived and the new customers that were not reached and the resulting sales that did not happen. It's true, the unseen cost is often not accounted for—but it is all too real and results in a loss of economic value. And, this is why it is important for managers to adopt a systems dynamic approach to their marketing and branding effort.

Integrated marketing communications is the concept of designing marketing communications programs that coordinate all promotional activities in order to provide a consistent brand message across all audiences. It is about considering what the customer experiences when they come in contact with the company. And, it is about giving the customer a pleasant experience at each contact point.

The core feature of an integrated marketing communications approach is the concept of brand consistency. This means developing a consistent branding message across the company's functional areas: Outbound Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Sales, and Public Relations.

Communicating a consistent branding message strengthens the brand. A strong brand attracts new customers who may then turn into loyal repeat customers. And a growing base of loyal repeat customers adds economic value.

 

© Jan James Baughman, 2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED