Digital Marketing & Content Marketing

Digital Marketing is a huge opportunity. But how huge you can leverage is dependent on your digital strategy. Either you build a phenomenal brand or you just use it to generate leads. Google ad words, FB ad words, PPC, SEO, and various other similar means adopted by most of the companies indicate, they are missing the big opportunity. Continue Reading.

Why Content Marketing is a big opportunity for banks

All of us are fed up with endless telemarketing calls and spam email from banks. Imagine the number of banks and BFSI companies in the country. Imagine the daily one call from each one of them.

As per the survey on debate.org, 94% responded opined that telemarketing should be banned. Companies and good brands can’t remain good by disturbing and irritating potential customers. Banks need to understand telemarketing is an irritation and interruptions.

The good news is there is an alternative and valuable, brand-boosting alternative. This is Content Marketing. More than mere marketing the Content Marketing is about helping customers. Past, present and future.

Someone asked me what do you really mean by Content Marketing? 

Content Marketing is a part of inbound marketing designed for specifically targeted people, based on customer personas and stage of their buyer’s journey. This buyer’s journey is different from buyer’s journey we consider in designing customer experiences. 

Here journey means the stages of the buying process i.e. awareness, consideration, and decision.

“Pushing out content you want to publish is a lot different than executing a successful content marketing program that connects with customers by delivering meaningful experiences that are contextually relevant.” Ardath Albee, CEO & B2B Marketing Strategist, Marketing Interactions

Content marketing is not merely content creation. It is smart, deliberate content creation and distribution. Today with so many BFSI service providers, customers are most confused.

Confusion about the safety of the money, options for better returns, liquidity, risk cover, financial planning, and the list is endless. Financial literacy is the major concern in India.

As reported in the Mint newspaper in June 2017, “According to its literal definition, financial literacy is the ability to use skills and knowledge to take effective and informed money-management decisions. For a country like India, this plays a bigger role as it is considered an important adjunct to the promotion of financial inclusion and ultimately financial stability. 

As per a global survey by Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, (S&P) less than 25% of adults are financially literate in South Asian countries. For an average Indian, financial literacy is yet to become a priority. India is home to 17.5% of the world’s population, but nearly 76% of its adult population does not understand even the basic financial concepts.”

Isn’t the above fact is a goldmine for the banks? Content Marketing is the way to bridge this huge gap of illiteracy.

Educating customers through consistent and deliberate content creation is what the banks should do. 

We have about 50 plus Indian banks in India (excluding cooperative and foreign banks) and 76% financial illiteracy means banks are missing this mega financial literacy opportunity. Which means the banks are only focussed on sales. Which means the banks are facing cut-throat competition and red ocean margins.

This must change. 

The Social media specialist Michael Stelzner writes in his book Launch,

” Don’t think about people as targets of the sale. The question isn’t who can you land, it’s who can you help? ”

He further writes which is very important,” If you are only focused on the sale, you are missing a mega opportunity.”

Content Marketing has the power to change the scenario quickly. We have JAM based Mobile penetration. Jio lead internet penetration. What we need is the relevant content creation and methodical content marketing strategy.

What banks can do with CM is not only Ebooks, videos, infographics, articles, true stories, calculators but an entire TV Channel. 

Content Marketing Institute reports, “Jyske Bank has created one of the most high-tech, in-house television production studios in Denmark. In fact, the company refers to itself as both a bank and a media company. Jyskebank.tv produces amazing financial programming, as well as compelling stories that the bank believes, are relevant to its core audience of younger consumers and small enterprises.“

This is the scale of opportunity. Many new tech banks are coming up in India, existing banks should look at the Content Marketing opportunity closely and seriously.

“Great marketers have immense empathy for their audience. They can put themselves in their shoes, live their lives, feel what they feel, go where they go, and respond how they'd respond. That empathy comes out in content that resonates with your audience.” Rand Fishkin, Wizard of Moz, Moz.

You may be interested to read:

1.     Before Content Marketing Begins

2.     When Content Marketing Fails

3.     New Skills Every Content Marketer Needs

9 ways to check whether you are in Obsolete Business

To continue from my previous blog Are you in the business of selling obsolete products & services?  , Usually obsolete products and services are not in demand or enjoy lesser demand. 

Look at erstwhile cinema houses and multi-screen multiplexes , look at Udipi South Indian hotels & fast food/pizza/burger chains, look at housing societies built 10/15 years back and present day housing societies,  look everywhere hospitals, retailing , banking - everything has changed and is changing. Everything is moving from being product & services to experience. 

It is the need of today. This shift happens with every new generation of consumers. With new generation of consumers comes new generation of entrepreneurs. They break the old way of thinking and create blue ocean for themselves. 

Therefore issue is to check whether you are in the business of selling obsolete products & services. Here obsolete doesn't means typewriter vs computer. Here it means old way of thinking about business. 

Yes , 

1) If CUSTOMER is not at the center of all your thinking and action , you are in obsolete business.

2) If EMPLOYEES are not considered most important asset of the business , you are in obsolete business.

3) If CRM is the only thing that is happening as far as customer services is concerned ,  you are in obsolete business.

4) If OFFLINE is the only mode of your doing business ,  you are in obsolete business.

5) If SOCIAL MEDIA and CONTENT MARKETING is not a part of your marketing plan, you are in obsolete business.

6) If your enterprise is not measuring customer experience and employee happiness along with ROI and ROCE, you are in obsolete business.

7) If your enterprise is only thinking about single bottom-line and not about social and environmental impact of your business, you are in obsolete business.

8) If your branding and advertising is not matching with actual customer experience,  

you are in obsolete business.

9) If your board is not comprising of professionals from diverse fields & Corporate Governance is only limited to compliance , you are in obsolete business.

If you escape all the above IFs , YES, you can congratulate your self , your business & its products & services are NOT obsolete. 

Even if your are selling TEA and not using any advance technology to produce  , all the above pointers will keep you out of OBSOLATION. 

Before Content Marketing Begins ............

There is lot of talk these days about power of content and digital marketing. Every business has sleeved up to delve into this new medium to lure customers.  Content and digital marketers busy in strategy making. Lots of buzz and all new excitement and hope. 

However in a hurry to get customers most businesses have forgotten to take first step in content/digital marketing.

Yes fundamental rule of content and digital marketing is one need to have product and service which is offering delightful customer experiences. Without first focusing on making experience delightful and impeccable , focusing merely on content/digital market can and will misfire. 

Going viral applies equally to great things as well as to not so great & rotten things. In a hurry to sale quickly and to take first mover advantage,  companies will damage its reputation miserably by jumping into content/digital marketing unplanned and without taking first step. 

Like any other marketing initiatives this new medium also requires great product and services capability to talk about. However not able to do so severely damages the brand and reputation unlike any other traditional medium. 

Even in his best selling book Platform author Michael Hyatt talks about creating compelling product/service in the first 7 chapters before he talks about Platform for the products in rest of the 53 chapters. 

Beware and become aware about this most important FIRST STEP.  

7 Ways to Promote BLOG ( Anything on the Internet )

Customers are readers too on Internet so 

Readers Experience Management 

is the KEY to get success. 

1) Write Gr8 Content. Make it gr8 with real life stories. (language, words and flow also matters) 

2) Write Interesting Content. Well some time controversial - mouth watering but thought provoking.

3) Write Content Regularly i.e. Once a week to 5 days a week but certainly not once a month.

4) Write with Insight on the Subject. Most people have GK, they want to know more. 

5) Write tirelessly. It will take some time to get people to know abt yr blog (If u have gr8 content). Therefore have passion and patience both.   

6) Write abt yr Niche Subject. How else U will stand out from millions of blogs ??. 

7) Only THEN submit to all Social Media Sites like  FB, Linked In, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, participate & contribute in group discussions and leave yr blog address at the bottom, have blog address with yr email signature, on yr visiting card, in yr office and everywhere u can think of. 

7th initiative will only work if first six are complied with.  ( It applies to every websites ). I cant resist but to relate this with my ( niche ) subject of customer experience. First have gr8 experience DESIGNED & READY and then go out in the market to promote.  Be it yr Blog or website , yr product or service.