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Brand or Publisher? Walking the Authenticity Tightrope Jenn Eldin Digital Innovation & Content Strategy American Express OPEN @ JennEldin Jennifer.C.Eldin1@aexp.com. An example of groundbreaking content… Can brands really do this?.
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Brand or Publisher? Walking the Authenticity Tightrope Jenn Eldin Digital Innovation & Content Strategy American Express OPEN @JennEldin Jennifer.C.Eldin1@aexp.com
An example of groundbreaking content… Can brands really do this? “Snow Fall” is now a verb. Everyone wants to snowfall now, every day, all desks. To “snowfall” means to tell a story with fantastic content that is absolutely organic to the storytelling itself. The story originated from the sports desk – and took months and months and months of time – but Snow Fall-type projects can come from anywhere Pulitzer Prize 3.5 million page views in 6 days Jill Abramson, Executive Editor The New York Times
Witness: A Red Bull Explosion vs. 3.5 million page views in 6 days 50 million page views in 4 days Branded content generated 15x the engagement in 2/3 the time!
The Problem OPEN Forum is Solving Nearly 60% of small businesses fail within four years.
OPEN Forum’s Mission Power the success of small business owners
A Snapshot of Forum Today • 50+ pieces of content weekly • Millions of page views annually • 200+ expert contributors • Topics laser focused on SBO needs & interests • 195K+ Twitter Followers RELEVANCE REACH • Thousands of • Community Members • Videos, infographics, articles, slideshows • Forum users are 83% • more likely to recommend American Express • Dozens of Awards 6
OPEN Forum Homepage OPEN Forum Community 7
Keys to Brand Authenticity Drop the hard sellFigure out what your customer actually wants - and give it to themBe true to your strengths Don’t outsource everythingContent is NOT a campaign #1 #2 #4 #5 #3
Drop the hard sell: Set and reinforce clear guidelines Guidelines for Powerful Branded Content • Practical, actionable advice • Spark curiosity • Written by experts • Conversational • Avoid excessive brand and product mentions
NEW: Marked branded placements Drop the hard sell: Set and reinforce clear guidelines Description of Branded Content & OPEN Voice OPEN Voice
Figure out what your customer actually wants – and deliver it to them Amex Brand Fit To determine customer needs, we evaluated topics with these lenses. We continue to evolve the topics we cover based on real-time data. SBO Needs Research Analytics (Web & Forum) Editorial Expertise
Content is NOT a Campaign… Respond real-time and invest in the long haul Shares/PV Pick a core benchmark, and monitor it consistently. Set a range of success. 50 Analytics Editorial Team Range of success * 25 100 *Illustrative
TRUE TO THEIR STRENGHTS Authenticity the Warby Parker way “60% of consumers are under age 40 consult social media when making purchase decisions and care about causes”-Nielsen CUSTOMERCENTRIC SOFT SELL
Authenticity the General Electric way TRUE TO THEIR STRENGHTS SURPRISE AND DELIGHT ONGOING COMMITMENT TO CONTENT EXCELLENCE