THE ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE SLOVENIAN CONTENT MARKETING CHAPTER OF THE CANNUAL REPORT 2017
It is evident that content marketing – in other words, the creation and transmission of valuable content to attract and convert prospects into costumers and then costumers into regular customers – is not a new concept in Slovenia. And of course, with the increase of communication on social media, the demand for relevant, punctual and appropriate content has become even greater. The goal to transmit the desired content to target groups remains the same, but the tools that enable more efficient content advertising are changing rapidly. Slovenian companies and organizations are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that in addition to products and services, the transfer and distribution of relevant content is of great importance. They help customers and other stakeholders make a choice, decide which products and services they want to use, or at least generate a sense of a connection with them. Most Important Trends, Formats and Platforms The concept of content marketing in Slovenia could be divided into two subclasses: classical content marketing and digital content marketing, which is connected to more modern digital media and communication channels. A content marketing strategy can be a blend of classical and digital content marketing. The trend in content consumption to move from traditional platforms (radio, TV, OOH) to more modern ones (Internet and social media) is not a novelty, but the process is unfortunately very slow. As expected, the younger generations – generations below 35- 40 – switch to more modern platforms much quicker. As a result, companies are riveting their focus as well: from advertising on radio, OOH and TV to online.
Smaller companies that act on intuition, are proven to have a bigger success. They write blogs, post recipes, advice, they comment on other blogs, send news; in other words, they establish relationships. In addition, they also boost online sales.
These transitions are slower in larger companies. The problem in Slovenia lies in rigid company management(s), which accept non-progressive ideas, rely on old viewpoints and stick with old concepts, which have nothing to do with modern communication. I have reason to believe that the root of the problem is hidden in the fear of the unknown and the unpredictable outcome. The concerns derive from the fact that content marketing is still impossible to measure: let’s consider the underlying risk in the ratio between media investment and final reach, views and comments, etc. and the increase in sales. As long as traditional media produces good sales results, content marketing and social media will only sit in the back seat.
Agency-client Relationship
It is getting clearer and clearer that the effectiveness of content marketing is closely related to a strategic approach that originates from the core principles of content marketing. (It is very important that different – e.g. research and sales – departments take their part in the elaboration of the content marketing strategy, not just the marketing and the PR departments!) These principles connect them from the production to the distribution of content, via monitoring reactions and effects. Establishing a relationship with the target group is of the utmost importance. An active relationship does not only make them vendors, but they also become communication partners to the users.