To see this branded content marketing piece by GoPayment, click on the image.

A theme of several recent articles regarding how to create a great content marketing strategy all have one thing in common. They center around using digital platforms like social media to incorporate brand marketing initiatives utilizing video content to create engagement, all of which require both creativity and risk. The overall message to executives and online marketers via multiple sources, is to not be afraid to try something new. A recent ReelSEO Tweet from a post written over a year ago still had some very valuable information worth sharing. The main points were:

1. Educate Yourself
2. Embrace Online Video and Social Media Marketing
3. Commit Budget to Promote Video and Social Media Initiatives
4. Develop Creative that is Relevant and Shareable
5. Establish Clear Expectations and Goals – Learn to Predict ROI
6. Integrate Video and Social Media into Traditional Marketing Initiatives
7. Allow and Encourage Experimentation
8. Be Responsive
9. Don’t Play Follow the Leader
10. Don’t Assume Video and Social are B2C Only
11. Be Prepared to Fall on Your Butt Now and Then

All of the points above are important but perhaps the one that is needed to get the creative juices flowing is allowing and encouraging experimentation. This reminds me of the infamous 20% rule which Google applies internally in order to keep innovation alive and well within the organization.  The philosophy is simple. One day a week engineers are allowed to work on a project that isn’t necessarily related to their job descriptions. The idea being that creativity and innovation can’t be forced. Only by loosening the reigns and encouraging freedom of thought can new ideas come to the surface.

Experimenting with video can be daunting, especially for those who haven’t the faintest clue how to get started. That’s where the network and education comes in, which another post labeled ‘Why CMOs Need to Experiment‘ indicates is highly relevant (Source: Digiday). Attending conferences, reading up on the topic, reaching out to colleagues and most importantly securing some budget to play with is critical to get started. According to Steven Cook, the hunt for ROI in social is besides the point. Brands that worry about this too much don’t get social, which is a risky route to take. If you need some reasons why social is here to stay, check out this previous Preview post.

Not assuming that video and social is only for B2C companies is another good piece of advice mentioned in the first article above. GoPayment, a B2B mobile payment service recently released a series of great content marketing videos about their clients (Source: ReelSEO). The focus of the video series was centered around their customer’s stories and how the use of pop-up store initiatives in various cities in the US allowed them to reach their audience and provide a convenient service. This in the end created engaging and entertaining content, while subtly allowing GoPayment’s brand and value proposition to come through. The moral of the story and message of this blog? Never underestimate the power of creativity and collaboration.

About Preview Networks

Preview Networks is a content marketing platform for brands and content aggregation and syndication platform for publishers. We provide the tools for brands to centrally distribute and manage marketing and PR content across media destinations, devices, and commerce platforms; allowing media partners to automate content acquisition delivering audience and advertising revenue growth.