Melissa Byers

Jan 21 2019

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Kate Moeller, Global Head of Friesland Campina, joined Krista for an interview about creating great content and how testing can really drive the results you need. Her message is simple but one so many digital marketers don’t focus on.

What makes good content?

If we were to ask 100 digital marketers what makes good content, they’re likely to give you answers surrounding images, video, or the message. They’re missing the point, though. Truly great content is marriage between what your brand wants to communicate and what people are interested in hearing. It zeros in on what motivates them to take action on what it is you want them to do.

But wait. People on the internet like cats. They love emotional videos with babies getting glasses for the first time or military family reunions. Your brand should do more of that, right?

Maybe. If you’re selling cat-, glasses-, or military family-related products or services.

Unfortunately and typically, “buy my stuff” posts don’t seem to do well, either. Yet still, many digital marketers believe that content can be meaningful to a human OR advertising. That’s where they go wrong.

Great content is about hitting that sweet spot between the two. Emotional or humorous are great, if they’re what your audience wants from your brand and it serves it.

How to Hit the Sweet Spot of Great Content

1. Research, research, research. Look at what happens in different social channels for brands or categories that are similar to yours. See what the brands are posting and how people are reacting.
2. Start with a consumer objective on one end and brand objective on the other, then work to push them to the middle. Krista talked about a “Wine Wednesday” client she had. It was restaurant who, every week, wanted to post something like, “It’s Wine Wednesday! Come in with your girlfriends and have a glass!” Well what’s interesting about that? Literally nothing,. Yet wine and Wednesdays are not inherently bad topics. So what would marry the two? Maybe a post about a limited-quantity brand available on special that day, just in time for Wine Wednesday. Maybe an emotional video about friendship that features wine. Maybe a video about how wine is made with a post like, “They do all of this work so you don’t have to. You have enough to do. Get 50% off your second glass on Wine Wednesday, so bring a friend.” Marriage of brand and consumer value.
3. Test. Start from a place of “If I saw this, they will do this.” That hypothesis of clear objective and intended result are key in determining if what you do worked, or not. And surprisingly, one of the very best time to test is in the beginning when brands are considering multiple strategy concepts. That way, when you’re ready to put the full effort behind an objective, you’ll have outstanding insight on how to reach it.

Don’t reinvent the wheel

Kate’s last words of advice were to not overlook what already works. “if you look at certain politicians who are getting a lot of attention in the news, for example, it’s always the same message. It is, however, being communicated in different ways over and over again that resonate with different audiences.” You don’t always have to change the message to get a bigger impact. Maybe just the approach in presenting it.

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