The document discusses content marketing and maturity levels of content strategies. It defines content as the essence of brand conversations and relationships with customers. It outlines five levels of content maturity organizations progress through: 1) Awareness of the role of content 2) Analysis of customer touchpoints 3) Articulation of customer journeys 4) Organization of content planning and distribution 5) Optimization of content as an organizational asset beyond just marketing. The key takeaways are that content is more than just copy or messaging, customer understanding is most important, and there are steps organizations can take to advance their content strategies.

1. Content matters
& why you should care.
Open Dialogue’s
Content Marketing Conference
Baron Manett
Ariad Communications
@bstat
4.24.13

2. 2000 – 2012
Blind faith in technology.
PROMISE:
1. A definition of content
2. The real marketing equation
3. Getting to Content Maturity
4. What to do next

3. “ Traditional marketing
communications just aren’t relevant…
- Harvard Business Review, 2012

4. “ To truly engage customers
for whom ‘push’ advertising is increasingly
irrelevant, companies must do more outside
the confines of the traditional marketing
organization
- McKinsey&Company, 2011

8. 2000 – 2012
Blind faith in technology.
The real marketing equation:
= +
RELATIONSHIPS CONVERSATIONS CONTENT

9. 2000 – 2012
Blind faith in technology.
What does content do?
ü Facilitates brand-customer conversations.
ü Helps establish and nurture brand-customer
relationships.
ü Empower internal teams to innovate.
ü An expert source of information, for customers looking
to address questions.

10. 2000 – 2012
Blind faith in technology.
CONTENT ≠ COPY

11. 2000 – 2012
Blind faith in technology.
CONTENT ≠ MESSAGING

12. 2000 – 2012
Blind faith in technology.
CONTENT ≠ DEVICE

13. 2000 – 2012
Blind faith in technology.
Content:
The essence and substance of
your brand’s conversations.

14. HUH?!

15. 2000 – 2012
Blind faith in technology.
CONTENT MATURITY

16. 2000 – 2012
Blind faith in technology.
#1 AWARENESS
Technology is not working. You’ve identified
content playing a role. And you are
beginning to see that the answer lies within
your conversations with them – the content.

17. 2000 – 2012
Blind faith in technology.
2000 – 2012
#2 ANALYSIS
Content is being used on an ad-hoc basis,
seen largely as a tactic. Testing reveals
there are real linkages between customer
touch points.

18. 2000 – 2012
Blind faith in technology.
2000 – 2012
#3 ARTICULATION
Customer journey mapping is a core part of
the marketing toolkit. Opportunities for
brand-customer relationships are emerging.
Thinking about content from a strategic lens.

19. 2000 – 2012
#4 ORGANIZATION
Create the necessary infrastructure for
integrated content planning, creation,
distribution and measurement.

20. 2000 – 2012
#5 OPTIMIZATION
Content is an organizational issue, not just
marketing. More robust resource allocation
leads to even better outcomes. Content is
valuable, consumed, shared and measured.

22. 2000 – 2012
Blind faith in technology.
What you need to know:
1. Customer understanding is tops.
2. Content is more than copy.
3. The are different levels of maturity.
4. Content is a business asset.

23. 2000 – 2012
Blind faith in technology.
What now:
1. Start reading. Online or offline read everything related to
the subject of content strategy.
2. Start sharing. On Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn,
wherever. Share thinking about content.
3. Start talking. Use the information you acquire to have
more informed and richer conversations. Lets elevate the
content conversation.
4. Start asking. Don’t be afraid to ask your teams tough
questions. It adds value.

24. Blind faith in technology.
Download the full
report and share with
your teams.
contentmaturity.com
Ariad Communications
ariad.ca
@ariadcomm
@bstat