Content marketing is the buzzword of the moment. Just hype? Not at all. According to our research, there is a fundamental reorientation in marketing communication: the content turn. This refers to the shift of companies towards an increasingly content-driven communication approach that focuses on informative, advisory or even entertaining, but in any case journalistic content for the target groups.

Indications of the content turnaround

The latest FCP Barometer, which we conducted together with Forum Corporate Publishing, the association of service providers for CP and content marketing in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, provides indications of such a content turnaround. The in-depth survey of more than 50 marketing decision-makers from leading companies in the three countries makes it clear that more and more managers see journalistic, regular communication with consumers, business customers or employees as an important key to success. The vast majority are convinced that a brand is nothing without content: In the barometer, 96 percent of managers (fully) agree that you need to use stories to get people excited about your brand and to build loyalty. In fact, more and more companies seem to be turning to a content-driven strategy. For 2017, 81% of study participants expect their company to pursue a (more) content-driven communication approach. Only a small minority of 4% expect a (more) advertising-oriented communication strategy in the future.

The driving force behind this reorientation is the limitations of advertising. Consumers and other target groups often no longer perceive traditional advertising messages, are tired of them or only have limited trust in them. According to Nielsen's Global Survey of Trust in Advertising, only 62% of global consumers trust TV advertising and 61% trust newspaper advertising, while 57% of consumers trust outdoor and radio advertising respectively. Online video advertising and advertising on social media (48% each) are trusted even less. In contrast, significantly more trust is placed in content-focused, company-owned media such as brand websites (69%) and editorial content (67%). This trust bonus is significant; after all, various studies clearly show that the attitudes that target groups have towards the media are a decisive factor in the impact of communication.

Challenges of a content-driven strategy

But what are the challenges for companies that are committed to a content-driven communication approach? A key challenge is content creation, i.e. the creation of suitable target group-relevant content. In the barometer, 45% of marketing managers rate the creation of content as fairly challenging and a further 13% as very challenging (see Fig. 1). It is also clear that it is primarily about the quality and less about the quantity of content: 87% of study participants (fully) agree that creating and using really good content will be crucial to success in the future. The structured, target group-oriented distribution of this content via the appropriate media and channels was rated by 36% of decision-makers as fairly challenging and 6% as very challenging. From the point of view of marketing managers, a cross-media approach is important here, which includes print media such as customer magazines as well as brand websites, company blogs or content apps. In the barometer, 79% of respondents are convinced that stories need to be told across all media.

Defining a suitable content strategy, i.e. setting communication goals, planning content and stories, deciding on suitable journalistic formats and choosing the right channels, is seen as an even greater challenge than content creation and distribution. 53% of those responsible consider the development of a suitable content strategy to be quite challenging, 13% even consider it to be very challenging. It is therefore not surprising that there is a clear strategy gap in practice: According to the barometer, only 19 percent of companies currently have a clearly defined content strategy.

However, the greatest challenge lies in the systematic, regular measurement of communication success and the subsequent optimization of activities. Seven out of ten respondents to the barometer consider this to be fairly (51%) or very challenging (21%). This assessment is also reflected in the fact that so far only a small proportion of companies regularly measure the success of content-driven communication measures. For example, only four out of ten of those companies that use their own magazines to communicate with their customers examine the impact of these magazines.

Support for content-driven communication

Anyone who wants to successfully master these challenges needs a broad portfolio of skills. Examples include precise knowledge of the media needs of the target groups, content expertise, profound journalistic skills and cross-media know-how. As a rule, additional skills and experience are also required, e.g. in editorial and web design, app and software development or in measuring the success of corporate media. Only a few companies can provide these special skills themselves. It is therefore usually a good idea to work with partners. Our research shows that nine out of ten companies that use customer or employee magazines and eight out of ten companies that use digital corporate media rely on the support of external partners. To find out which external service providers can best support companies, we asked the managers surveyed in the barometer for their assessment. According to the survey, specialized corporate publishing and content marketing agencies and publishers offer the best competence profile - they are seen by 83 percent of the survey participants as the ideal partners for the conception and implementation of a content-driven communication approach (see Fig. 2). A clear vote: Potential other service providers such as PR (40%), online (19%) or advertising agencies (6%) are seen as having significantly less expertise.

Clemens Koob

Content marketing is the buzzword of the moment. Just hype? Not at all. According to our research, there is a fundamental reorientation in marketing communication: the content turn. This refers to the shift of companies towards an increasingly content-driven communication approach that focuses on informative, advisory or even entertaining, but in any case journalistic content for the target groups.

Indications of the content turnaround

The latest FCP Barometer, which we conducted together with Forum Corporate Publishing, the association of service providers for CP and content marketing in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, provides indications of such a content turnaround. The in-depth survey of more than 50 marketing decision-makers from leading companies in the three countries makes it clear that more and more managers see journalistic, regular communication with consumers, business customers or employees as an important key to success. The vast majority are convinced that a brand is nothing without content: In the barometer, 96 percent of managers (fully) agree that you need to use stories to get people excited about your brand and to build loyalty. In fact, more and more companies seem to be turning to a content-driven strategy. For 2017, 81% of study participants expect their company to pursue a (more) content-driven communication approach. Only a small minority of 4% expect a (more) advertising-oriented communication strategy in the future.

The driving force behind this reorientation is the limitations of advertising. Consumers and other target groups often no longer perceive traditional advertising messages, are tired of them or only have limited trust in them. According to Nielsen's Global Survey of Trust in Advertising, only 62% of global consumers trust TV advertising and 61% trust newspaper advertising, while 57% of consumers trust outdoor and radio advertising respectively. Online video advertising and advertising on social media (48 % each) are trusted even less. In contrast, significantly more trust is placed in content-focused, company-owned media such as brand websites (69 %) and editorial content (67%). This trust bonus is significant; after all, various studies clearly show that the attitudes that target groups have towards the media are a decisive factor in the impact of communication.

Challenges of a content-driven strategy

But what are the challenges for companies that are committed to a content-driven communication approach? A key challenge is content creation, i.e. the creation of suitable target group-relevant content. In the barometer, 45% of marketing managers rate the creation of content as fairly challenging and a further 13% as very challenging (see Fig. 1). It is also clear that it is primarily about the quality and less about the quantity of content: 87% of study participants (fully) agree that creating and using really good content will be crucial to success in the future. The structured, target group-oriented distribution of this content via the appropriate media and channels was rated by 36% of decision-makers as fairly challenging and 6% as very challenging. From the point of view of marketing managers, a cross-media approach is important here, which includes print media such as customer magazines as well as brand websites, company blogs or content apps. In the barometer, 79% of respondents are convinced that stories need to be told across all media.

Defining a suitable content strategy, i.e. setting communication goals, planning content and stories, deciding on suitable journalistic formats and choosing the right channels, is seen as an even greater challenge than content creation and distribution. 53% of those responsible consider the development of a suitable content strategy to be quite challenging, 13% even consider it to be very challenging. It is therefore not surprising that there is a clear strategy gap in practice: According to the barometer, only 19 percent of companies currently have a clearly defined content strategy.

The greatest challenge, however, lies in the systematic, regular measurement of communication success and the subsequent optimization of activities. Seven out of ten respondents to the barometer consider this to be fairly (51 %) or very challenging (21 %). This assessment is also reflected in the fact that so far only a small proportion of companies regularly measure the success of content-driven communication measures. For example, only four out of ten of those companies that use their own magazines to communicate with their customers examine the impact of these magazines.

Support for content-driven communication

Anyone who wants to successfully master these challenges needs a broad portfolio of skills. Examples include precise knowledge of the media needs of the target groups, content expertise, profound journalistic skills and cross-media know-how. As a rule, additional skills and experience are also required, e.g. in editorial and web design, app and software development or in measuring the success of corporate media. Only a few companies can provide these special skills themselves. It is therefore usually a good idea to work with partners. Our research shows that nine out of ten companies that use customer or employee magazines and eight out of ten companies that use digital corporate media rely on the support of external partners. In order to find out which external service providers can best support companies, we asked the managers surveyed in the barometer for their assessment. According to the survey, specialized corporate publishing and content marketing agencies and publishers offer the best competence profile - they are seen by 83 percent of the survey participants as the ideal partners for the conception and implementation of a content-driven communication approach (see Fig. 2). A clear vote: other possible service providers such as PR (40 %), online (19 %) or advertising agencies (6 %) are considered to have significantly less expertise.

Clemens Koob