What a vicar can teach the data industry about content marketing
In this article, we're going to explore an example of how relying on 'branding and awareness' can stifle the growth of your data solutions business, and how a vicar shines a light on the model for blogging and content strategy success.
Casting a net in the breakout zone
If you've been to a data management conference (remember those?), you'll have experienced the breakout zone after each presentation.
Data vendor booths encircle the delegates as they consume their coffee, sticky danish buns and pastries, strategically placed in the centre to corral the attendees.
As delegates juggle their tepid coffee and calorie-busting treats, the data vendors try to make eye contact, like fairground stall owners pleading for passing custom.
I would often present and run a booth at these events. My goal was to generate sales, but not with delegates – from data vendors.
I would put out my shingle for anyone in need of our content marketing training, outsourcing and research offerings. I remember the look of confusion and disappointment when a data vendor CMO would give me their carefully crafted elevator pitch, only for me to reply with my own.
Which is how I stumbled upon a CMO who hadn't entirely understood the goal of their blogging strategy.
The CMO and the Sticky Danish
Loaded with sticky pastries and conference coffee (why are the cups so small?) I roamed the vendor booths, searching for someone senior.
Eventually, I found a CMO. We chatted, and I explained I was a former data quality / migration / analytics consultant, speaking and sponsoring at the event.
Then I gave him my pitch:
"We help data solution providers attract clients through content strategy, training, outsourcing and sponsorship solutions, but unlike other agencies, we operate our own data community platforms and websites").
The CMO didn't bite, unsurprisingly, because I was standing in the way of the far more eligible prospects behind me, so I stepped aside to let him pitch his data wares.
But later, I returned.
"I've been studying your blog. You've put out content for a long time, how's that working for you?".
At first, he deflected, chatted about the company, their solution, and how the marketing team were putting out sponsored content across multiple paid ad channels.
"Yes, I get all that – but what about the blog?" I persisted.
That's when he dropped a bombshell:
"Yes, we have a blog, but like all blogs, they're not for lead generation, they're simply for branding and awareness".
I was surprised at this, so probed deeper:
"Interesting, so how many registrations, subscribers or leads, did the blog create last year?".
They responded:
"None, we only track page views, that's our metric for awareness", they replied.
I was floored.
Here was a well-known data vendor, with a blog strategy that had no plans to generate direct leads. It was a glorified billboard.
And when I looked again at the blog, it was clear to see why.
The surprisingly common strategy of the struggling data vendor blog
Your blog's goal should be to build an engaged audience that aligns to your ideal client profile. And this audience should convert into customers.
For this to happen, your content must be insightful and valuable. Readers should want to subscribe and create a habit of coming back for more.
But sadly, this goal had not been heeded by this particular data firm.
Instead, their blog had become a dumping ground for repetitive award mentions, 'star hires' within the leadership team and product updates.
In other words, 'company news'.
Occasionally, they would put out educational content in the form 200-250 word entrées, instead of the 'meatier' data integration, quality and governance topics serious prospects would be looking for.
Shorter, high-level posts, may tickle the fancy of someone at the top of the sales funnel, perhaps those pondering 'I wonder what data governance is?', but these 'snackable posts' rarely provide insights for someone looking to build a team, buy a software solution, or launch a major program – i.e. the ideal audience for this particular vendor.
The desire for low-quality articles that do little to engage search engines or prospects is surprisingly common within the data industry. We find many vendor blogs don't even have a method for subscribing to content; it's almost like they don't want to build an audience.
And that's the fundamental lesson here: your blog's goal is to generate business, period.
Your blog needs to translate your deep industry expertise into insights your ideal client is desperate to consume. In doing so, they develop trust in your company and start to consume more of your content. They sign up for your guides and webinars, follow your live streams on LinkedIn, binge on your podcasts.
They value your insight, openly sharing it with their teams and peers.
When the time is right, and they need a data solution or service, you're front-of-mind.
This process is not some dreamlike nirvana. I've witnessed it countless times, both in my own business and with my content marketing clients. But you have to plan for it, make it part of your culture, and build systems that engineer it.
It's not complicated, but it does take effort.
In fact, even our vicar mastered it.
The tale of the conversion-focused clergyman
After my son's christening, I got chatting to our young vicar and noticed the churchwarden by his side diligently clicking a counter as each member of the congregation filed out of the service.
I asked the vicar: "Why the counter?".
He explained it was part of his grand plan to reverse the sliding trend of diminishing churchgoers. He wanted to substantially increase his congregation's size and build a stronger community in the village.
In addition to marketing, he was adept at sales.
By the end of our chat, he had signed me up as the latest member of his 'congregation growth task-force' and pencilled me in to speak at the first meeting. He had provided a sales and marketing masterclass before I'd even got out the church.
I was impressed.
At the 'task-force' meeting, the vicar laid out his marketing strategy to attract and convert new churchgoers.
"We need to understand what people want from a community church, that's why you're all here".
I looked around the room. We all represented different segments of the target audience. I was introduced as the 'younger demographic'.
(I was 37 years old so the vicar's comment said more about the average age in the village than my youthful appearance).
Some of us were casual believers or fairweather visitors; others had been going to church every Sunday since they could remember.
But as a content marketing strategist, I was fascinated.
Here was a vicar, with a shoestring budget, putting together the kind of team I rarely saw amongst my data vendor clientele. He had every 'client avatar' actively engaged in the focus group, giving him vital clues and tactics for achieving the growth he desired.
And he quizzed the group repeatedly:
"Which days and times work best for you to bring the kids to playgroup?"
"What information can we send to you that you're not getting already?"
"How should we segment the newsletter between young and old?"
"Would you like to contribute to the newsletter we put out?"
"We like to play bongos and guitar at service, is that ok?"
He had no formal training in marketing and conversion strategy, but he knew you have to 'give them what they want' to keep an audience coming back each week.
And it worked.
Most churches in England are experiencing a steady decline in attendance, but his church was soon crammed to the rafters.
But this kind of growth doesn't just happen; it's about developing a conversion-system underpinned by a passion and culture for serving your audience with great content and experiences.
Here endeth the sermon
Our vicar is leaving. The impact he's had on building a thriving community can't be overstated.
During Christmas lockdown, he put on a live stream multimedia performance, delivered via Facebook to hundreds of attendees. Of course, we got alerted across multiple media channels.
There was huge engagement, across every 'demographic', and obviously the content was crowdsourced. I counted at least ten different community members supplying their own material during the performance.
Hopefully, this tale demonstrates that lead generation is not about building Hubspot and Marketo back-ends, integrated with paid ad and influencer marketing campaigns.
It's about serving your audience with valuable information and experiences that they'll value and share. It's about really listening to your customers and involving them in the content and stories you put out.
Finally, as we've seen, a blog isn't about awareness and branding, news and awards.
It's about serving up great insights that resonate with your prospects' aspirations and challenges, underpinned with practical guidance that moves them forward, taking an action that benefits them, and ultimately, you.
What next?
If you need help attracting more clients to your data services, visit www.mydatabrand.com.
We deliver content marketing training, advisory and outsourced solutions that help you build a content strategy that gets clients.
Visit the website, or book a discovery call (with me) to find out more.