Strategic content Archives - The Rubicon Agency

The Rubicon Agency In Insights, M4 in action, Miscellaneous, Our industry, Strategic content, The Message Elevator

Writers block: The great AI content conundrum

According to the Content Marketing Institute, 61% of technology marketers say creating the right content for their audience is challenging.

This is hardly surprising given the sprawl of decision makers, budget holders and influencer groups over the years. In yesteryear things were much simpler, the balance of power sat in the IT tower. Decisions on technology purchases were sat firmly with the CTO or CIO so producing content that pushed their buttons was fairly straight forward.

Fast-forward to the present, the technology space is awash with products, services, solutions and architectures that are designed specifically for certain lines of business. In May of this year CMSwire reported that the MarTech space alone had swelled to over 14,100 solutions [hyperlink], so it’s no surprise that tech marketers are finding it difficult to create differentiated, relevant and valuable content that their prospects want to engage with, given the competition for eyeballs.

Is AI the answer to our content prayers?

With the explosion of AI into every tech application known to man, it’s no wonder that marketing has embraced generative AI like a returning relative from an overseas trip. Let’s face it, AI has been pitched to remove manual, repetitive and human centric tasks- content creation is no exception to this. The Content Marketing Institute continue in their benchmarking report that 79% of technology marketers use generative AI for content tasks and 48% use AI to write full first drafts. But this begs the question, is AI the golden goose we have all been searching for?

Well, if used correctly it can certainly remove a lot of the grunt work out of the process which is a huge plus given that 66% of tech marketers are faced with a lack of resources. However, in order to remain in control, marketing departments must adopt some form of guiderails around the use of AI in content production. These include but are not limited to:

Ethical use of AI: Organisations should be transparent about AI-generated content in order to avoid bias and not to mislead audiences.
Quality control: Human involvement should be applied to all AI generated content to ensure that brand tone of voice and quality standards are adhered to.
Content authenticity: Ensure content feels like it’s been created by a human, making sure it’s authentic and adds value to the audience.
Content validation: Check to make sure that references, statistics and sources are relevant, up to date and correct.
Data privacy, security and compliance: Make sure that all content complies with copyright law, data protection and compliance regulations.

Content should be human-centric.

No doubt about it, AI has aided content creation and has certainly streamlined the process, although to be truly authentic, marketers still need to apply the human touch. Consumers often challenge and question the information they are presented with, so structuring arguments that support these and applying empathy, elevation and context to these points can promote authenticity.

People buy people, so if your content comes across as synthetic your audience may not only switch off but, on a deeper level, possibly question your products or even worse, your brand.

At The Rubicon Agency we craft human-centric strategic content that informs, educates and inspires. With over 25 years of B2B marketing agency experience working within the tech sector, we know what it takes to cut through the competition.

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The Rubicon Agency In Our industry, Proposition development, Strategic content, Thought leadership, Video content

Video focus – a guide for technology marketers

Edited around 9 chapters on producing best practice content, 'Video focus - A guide for Technology Marketers' is a new free guide published by The Rubicon Agency.

Based on years of writing and producing influential B2B video content, the guide is aimed at any technology marketer who suspects or already knows that video can be a uniquely effective medium for strategic and tactical purposes.

Video marketing – an increasingly influential and integrated channel

With the rapid growth and acceptance of video in all marketing, senior tech marketers are increasing their investment in corporate, industry and open channels that broadcast this content – accelerated by the growing commitment to the medium from publishers and social platforms.

Marketing teams are expected to demonstrate the flare, innovation and communications clarity that they apply to other marketing assets, without necessarily having the training and skills development required to deliver a quality product.

Distilling over a decade of expertise in video production

The guide distils over 10 years of experience, insights, practices and pragmatism from a marketing agency dedicated exclusively to the technology sector. It’s not a comprehensive DIY guide or a geek’s guide to video technology – nor is it a budget-busting view from a creative ivory tower.

Written in a no-nonsense, plain English style, the guide provides a broad overview of the key principles and considerations for various types and formats of video.

What types of video are covered in this guide?

Check out the chapters contained within the guide:

Take 1: About this guide
Take 2: Video types
Take 3: Three considerations for a teaser video
Take 4: Why make a trailer video?
Take 5: The explainer video in three acts
Take 6: Show and tell with a demo video
Take 7: When it’s showcase time
Take 8: Keeping it real with a documentary video
Take 9: What makes a good vision video?
Take 10: Specialist agency or production company?
Take 11: The closing shot

At The Rubicon Agency, we are enthusiastic and experienced advocates of video as a technology marketing asset. From launch trailers to aspirational vision videos, they have a unique ability to stimulate interest, accelerate understanding and influence decision makers – three key goals for any tech marketer.

Download your copy of the guide today, or check out our video gallery if you need some inspiration.

The Rubicon Agency In Digital lead generation, Our industry, Strategic content, Video content

Video focus #7: What makes a good explainer video?

From launch trailers to the presentation of an aspirational vision, videos have a unique ability to stimulate interest, accelerate understanding and influence decision makers – three key goals for any tech marketer.

Establishing the format for a video is the first step that makes the rest of the process easier to manage by setting expectations about purpose, content and budget. Broadly speaking, there are seven formats which can accommodate most tech marketing objectives. Here’s how the explainer video should work:

The explainer video is one of the more commonly used formats for tech marketing. It’s usually aimed at an audience that has influence or a decision-making role in a business or technical capacity. While not as detailed as a demo video, it can alternate between ‘lite’ explanation of a technology solution (for example) and the translation of features into business benefits and advantages.

The explainer video in three acts

With a typical running time of 1.5 to 3.5 minutes, an explainer video works best with a script that has a clear ‘arc’. Just as mainstream movies have a tried and tested formula, the explainer video can move through three ‘acts’.

The first act is the establishment of a ‘current state’. This could be a quick summary of current technology options and their limitations or challenges.

The second act is longer than the first and third and introduces an alternative solution that challenges the norm. The solution is explained in a reasonable amount of detail and usually compared to alternatives.

The third act presents a resolution; explaining how the audience can move from their existing technology with a reiteration of the benefits and advantages to be gained.

Finally, a clear call-to-action is offered. This can take the form of a consultative workshop, a white paper, a market briefing or possibly a customised app that can assist decision making.

Explaining technology can be a challenge when you’re using the highly visual medium of video to articulate intangible solutions. That’s why animated infographics, on-screen text, interviews and moving footage (to show context) offer a video toolkit that can educate an audience while identifying with their world and their needs.

The Rubicon Agency is an experienced advocate of video for technology marketing. We’ve categorised examples of our work into the seven most common formats, covering a range of subjects. What they share in common is the advantage of our tech sector expertise and market insight combined with our creative but pragmatic approach to production. Each of these videos has created measurable impact and return on marketing investment for our clients.

Watch an explainer video from The Rubicon agency Video Gallery now

The Rubicon Agency In Account based marketing, Enterprise demand generation, Miscellaneous, Our industry, Strategic content

How smart Account Based Marketing can work with ‘off the peg’

Like Account Based Marketing (ABM) programmes, not all ABM content can be created equal in terms of audience resonance.

While the precision of any programme depends on time, effort and budget, the effectiveness of its content payload depends on how much customer context can be threaded into a campaign.

ABM can fall into one of four execution strategies. Basic ‘volume and automation’ strategies tend to rely on using existing ‘one size fits all’ messaging and collateral while more sophisticated Key Account Based Marketing with Sales Enablement will tailor content to a bespoke level – using sales intelligence to create the best possible fit for customer, sector and even lifecycle stage.

In an earlier blog we spoke about the need for ABM content to be curated, created and compelling.

By curating existing content for an ABM campaign, you not only create greater relevance to the customer situation but can also accelerate interest and decision making. It’s also worth thinking about how much of that content could be easily adjusted to support the vision/proposition/messaging of an ABM campaign. A key tip for this exercise is to be ruthless – could that generic white paper actually undermine the customer’s perception that you really do know about their specific challenges?

Being creative and compelling can seem easier when you have the resources for a bespoke campaign or programme.

However, in the middle ground of execution strategies, personalisation and ‘off the peg’ content can be combined with small adjustments and alterations to create a highly effective campaign. Close co-operation with the account team can yield valuable insights into functional challenges, embedded competitors and corporate aspirations that can be reflected in a highly personalised manner. For example:

The ‘off the peg’ portfolio proposition may be ‘Flexible, integrated solutions’ but a better fit for an influencer or decision maker in a Public Sector organisation may be ‘Achieve more for less.’
An existing market briefing or white paper can be adjusted to place greater emphasis on the aspects of a product or solution that achieve more for less.
The call to action could include the offer of a dedicated ‘achieve more for less’ workshop.
Ultimately, the cut of an ABM strategy may be determined by cost, amongst other factors, but between ‘off the peg’ and haute couture’ there are ways to be smart and effective with customer programmes.

To explore how ABM can work ‘off the peg’ for your organisation, contact The Rubicon Agency

The Rubicon Agency In Programme planning, Proposition development, Strategic content

Avoiding the technology vision vacuum

Here’s an apocryphal story about ‘vision’. During the space race of the 1960s, a NASA employed road-sweeper was tending the rail path for the Apollo 11 rocket to reach its launch pad. He was asked what he was doing. ‘I’m putting men on the moon’, he replied.

Fast forward to 1984 and Steve Jobs is proclaiming that ‘the world will never be the same’ with the introduction of the iMac personal computer.

The importance of vision and thought leadership

Vision can be a powerful marketing asset when it’s developed and applied properly. On the other hand, an apparent lack of corporate vision and brand positioning can create a vacuum for competitors to fill with their own thought leadership. But vision is not necessarily about establishing a thought leadership position that few have seen before. It’s about painting a picture of an aspirational and positive future.

For a technology marketer, vision has to be more than a strapline or a cut and paste copy block from brand guidelines. With extended influencing and decision making groups amongst customers and prospects, the vision for a technology proposition has to pass through several lenses. It can’t be blurred or so distant it can’t be seen. And it has to be focussed on customer needs and aspirations. An effective vision or thought leading view of a tech marketing future has the power create a positive glow around a product or service.

Making thought leadership work harder

Once the vision or thought leadership notion is articulated it should permeate all content assets – from product sheets to high-level presentations – and everything else between. So instead of leaving the vision itself in a vacuum, it becomes credible, useable and attainable. In short, it becomes the glue that holds technology, service and brand propositions together.

The most successful examples of thought leadership promotion not only stimulate brand enthusiasm but can also create expectation and anticipation in the customer’s mind. Think of the zeal of early-adopters queueing overnight outside Apple stores.

If it’s a disruptive vision or thought leading position it needs careful articulation. People don’t buy disruption, they buy what’s best or better.

A message elevator can help to establish a vision or thought leadership that’s credible and supported by a portfolio of technology propositions capable of helping customers to achieve that vision. The vision itself can be elevated or grounded. It can be universal, or tailored to a vertical market. And if the idea of communicating a vision sounds awkward or even pretentious, you only have to remember that successful technology either begins with a vision, or aligns with a vision as market success grows.

Take a look at our quick guide to discover how content can be more ‘killer’ and less ‘filler’.

The Rubicon Agency In Programme planning, Sales enablement, Strategic content, Thought leadership

When content goes bad – the business case for auditing your collateral

Producing content is an expensive exercise - in terms of time, resource and ultimately marketing budget.

So, how can you be sure your investment is delivering long term benefits? Not just initial enquiries, but much further and deeper than contact acquisition. An effective content strategy extends and strengthens customer relationships.

There can be no argument about the role content has within the technology sector, and how it makes up a critical part of the marketing mix. As early adopters of content marketing, the technology industry now faces new challenges as the late majority realise the value of content and joining the increasingly noisy party.

Content creation, if left unchecked, is in danger of losing its lustre. Coined back in 1997, CNet’s notion that ‘Everyone’s a publisher’ has definitely rung true. Content is no longer produced by niche teams, instead publishing sprawl has bled into other functions within the organisation. Now social departments, comms teams, product experts and business leaders all contribute to corporate content. This has resulted in variable levels of quality – in addition to moving us closer to saturation point where killer material is lost in the sheer noise of advertised ‘premium’ content.

So what are the essentials qualities for successful content?

What are the magic ingredients that make up killer content? Is it the promise of industry insight, best practice techniques, cutting edge research or inspiring thought leadership material that entice our target audience? Well, yes and no. These are all tried and tested methods, but how many times have you felt ‘suckered in’ after you’ve handed over your contact details?

Dangling the proverbial carrot of premium content often fails to deliver once we digest it; Regurgitated opinions, stale executions or uninspiring content leave the consumer feeling short changed and disenfranchised with your brand.

Too often, content is utilised as a contact acquisition tool, however if planned and executed from a 360° perspective the value can be increased exponentially. Applying more rigour outside the initial purchasing phase helps enable other functions within the organisation, including channel teams, field marketers, sales and account management. Providing progressively influential arguments accelerates the purchase cycle and even exploits customer relationships post acquisition.

How can those qualities be measured?

Making sure your message inspires interest and then maintains it is critical to how we measure the value of each asset. Ultimately, engagement, not just social metrics including likes, comments and shares, but more tangible measures (as stated in the introduction) are the benchmark here. Yes, Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL’s) are important but they shouldn’t be considered the only yardstick to measure success (or failure). Content should be part of the marketing mix for the long-haul and should go much deeper than a data acquisition tactic. In reality, it’s not just a numbers game.

Prospects may have felt duped after the first wave of activity could, on the face of it, be considered a warm lead when in reality they aren’t. The key, is to ensure that you have a campaign structure that contains equally engaging, entertaining and useful content that builds brand trust, engagement and ultimately advocacy.

Producing ‘deceitful’ content may yield an initial response, but value to the business may be minimal. Being too populist could result in droves of unqualified leads, too niche and the number of relevant leads could be reduced to a trickle.

How can they be improved?

The answer is to look at the bigger picture not just individual assets. Just as you would with an outreach campaign, each stage should be evaluated. Who am I talking to? What is the message we want to get across? Is it pitched correctly? Is it engaging? Does it align with the business strategy? What do we want them to do next? Looking at your content holistically may add an extra stage to the process but in the long run it makes good business sense.

Failure to properly audit your content inventory could prove costlier in the long-run with outreach budgets and potential customers being lost.

To make sure your content isn’t in danger of turning bad, register for our unique M4 content audit.