Content Marketing Interview with Author Newt Barrett

Newt Barrett is the co-author of Get Content, Get Customers, a great book about content marketing.  (Btw, here's a free 3-chapter excerpt from Newt's book that he's offering exclusively to readers of my Publishing 2020 blog.)  This is rapidly becoming a critical subject for all types of websites, not just ones related to publishing.  Newt graciously agreed to answer a few questions related to content marketing.  Here's what he had to say:

JW: What's the best way to summarize the phrase "content marketing"? Some readers might feel it sounds like an oxymoron and I'd like to get your view of it.

NB: Actually, content marketing is the best antidote to what Seth Godin calls "interruption marketing." Content marketing is the art of understanding exactly what buyers need to know and delivering it to them in a relevant and compelling way. By delivering intrinsically valuable content to your customers, you become a trusted source, first of information, and then of products and services.

The accelerating importance of content marketing has everything to do with fundamental changes in buyer behavior over the last decade. Buyers are busy on the internet becoming more knowledgeable about everything they want to buy. They aren't wandering around aimlessly hoping to be influenced by marketing messages that arrive out of the blue. In short, buyers don't want to be sold.

This is actually great news if you take an enlightened approach to these newly empowered buyers. The even better news is that companies are empowered, too–thanks to seamless and integrated technology that enables them to talk with consumers in more and different ways than ever before.

The best analogy to help understand content marketing is that marketers need to think of themselves as the new publishers.

Here's what I mean: When creating a magazine, a publisher first defines a group of readers with a shared set of common interests and concerns. He then develops a magazine that contains editorial—or content—that matches what is most important to those readers. In this way, a publication becomes a trusted source of information to people who are in a position to buy products and services from advertisers. In the world of content marketing, businesses are bypassing media companies to become the new publishers.

JW: Whether it's via e-mail, RSS feeds or any one of a number of other sources, we all seem to be sinking in a sea of content. How can even more of it, via content marketing, be a good thing and how can content marketers rise above the noise?

NB: Well, we probably are sinking in a sea of websites, blogs, flash images, intrusive banner ads, and Google ad words. But, that doesn’t mean that buyers have stopped looking for information that will help them solve professional and personal problems.

Buyers may well ignore irritating drop-down ad banners which block the text we are trying to read. But, buyers won’t ignore content that makes them smarter about what they would like to buy. It's easier than you might suppose to establish a credible online presence by providing focused content, delivered consistently, and with a modicum of promotion.

I'll try not to sound too self-promotional, but in roughly 10 months of blogging, my site, ContentMarketingToday.com, has become the #1 site on Google when you search for the phrase, "content marketing." Apart from a very modest amount of StumbleUpon advertising and a weekly eNewsletter, the content itself has pulled in marketers who want to learn more about content marketing—and given the site enough credibility to gain Google recognition.

I think the same applies to your two blogs, which I read regularly: Publishing 2020, because I am intensely interested in the future of publishing and Kindleville because I am fascinated by the Amazon Kindle, both as a potential buyer and as a publisher. You have lots to say. You say it in an interesting way. And, I come away knowing a lot more about both topics because of your content, which is relevant and valuable to me—and, of course, to thousands of others.

JW: How does your ContentMarketingToday website tie into the book and what resources can marketers expect to find there?

NB: My website is really only conceptually connected to the book. ContentMarketingToday.com is a combination company website and blog. It provides basic information about content marketing, about what we do, and about why prospects should trust me to do it. However, that really takes a back seat to the blog component of the site. That's where I dig even more into content marketing and related topics, including business blogging, good and bad websites, good and bad advertising, technology and marketing trends, successful case studies, and occasional rants about egregious corporate behavior.

Of course, we do link to the book website that my co-author, Joe Pulizzi,and I created, GetContentGetCustomers.com, That’s where you can learn about the topic, get a free excerpt, find out more about us, and actually buy the book.

JW: What are some of the better examples of where you're currently seeing content marketing working effectively?

NB: Here are two, perhaps surprising, examples:

A large UK-based law firm, Pinsent Masons, has a website and a print magazine called, Out-Law.com. As you might suspect, this is a law firm with a personality. Unlike many law firms, they understand that the people deciding to hire them are business executives, not lawyers. Therefore they have created highly informative online and print products which are designed in the best tradition of business-to-business publishing.

Not only do they have more than 150,000 monthly visitors to their website, but they have 15,000 business executives who subscribe to their print publication. Their content marketing has been so effective that they have been able to completely abandon all traditional marketing. They do no advertising or direct mail. In addition, Pinsent Masons can track millions of dollars in revenue to their content marketing efforts.

Another great example on a much smaller scale is the Coffee and Smoothies blog, created by solopreneur, Mitch York. As a franchisee of Maui Wowi, Mitch targets corporate, educational and nonprofit organizations for whom he provides themed events and drinks. His blog is very visual and serves primarily to illustrate actual events among his target customers. This gives him instant credibility for all prospective customers who wonder if he's for real.

JW: Are there any newer technologies you've found to help leverage a content marketing initiative? I'm thinking in particular about the iPhone and all the cool apps that are constantly being developed for it -- can an iPhone app be a content marketing tool?

NB: My answer here might seem a little boring because I think much more about what small and medium-size business marketers are using effectively and inexpensively. I do love the iPod and have written about some of its cool applications, including the New York Times iPod implementation. Of course, the Safari browser on the iPhone lets users view websites as they appear on a PC screen. So, that's useful.

But, for most marketers, getting the content marketing concept right is the most important element to success. Next, and almost as important, is finding affordable technology which enables you to reach out to your customers and prospects with compelling content.

So, in that vein, I would flag two favorite technology products. First, I believe that WordPress, which began life as a blogging tool, can now serve as the foundation for a rich website that can include a wide variety of content including audio and video. WordPress is free, easy to use, and easy to enhance with help from professionals. You can build out a prototype WordPress site in a few hours—and have a full-fledged, professional site completed in a few days. Of course, then it's all about filling that site with relevant and valuable content. As a great example of a giant media company using WordPress, take a look at All Things Digital from the Wall Street Journal.

Second, I believe that e-mail marketing software such as ConstantContact and MailChimp enable even technology Luddites, with minimal design skills to design and deliver professional eNewsletters to a target audience. In each case, the software itself is essentially free and you pay only based on the size of your list and the frequency of your e-mails.

Why do I believe these are so important? Because they enable even solopreneurs to create and share content just as professionally as their billion-dollar big brothers.

And, here’s a final note: successful content marketing has to do primarily with the mindset, not with the money. Because it is so easy to develop a professional web presence, even small companies can do it. The hard part is making sure that the content you create and distribute is truly relevant, valuable, and compelling to your target customers.

Comments

[Kevin D. Washburn]

Joe, thanks for drawing attention to this resource and for making the sample portion available. We're rethinking our websites right now, and this looks like it will be a valuable help in that process.

[mitch york]

Hi joe, the link to the smoothie site is missing an 's' after 'coffee' so it now links to a similar blog inspired by my blog but not mine. Correct link is coffeesandsmoothies.blogspot.com

[Joe Wikert]

Hi Kevin. Newt obviously knows a great deal about content marketing so I'm glad you're able to use this info for your website.

Mitch, you're absolutely right. Thanks for catching my mistake. I just fixed it so it should work now.