What I want to talk about is the content marketing perspective. Because in many ways, one of the things that hold us back from creating a strategic function of content marketing-- not only just the collateral that we're creating to support direct marketing with a little less logo-- but quite frankly,
we start with, what is it we are trying to say. And guess how much the customer values what we are trying to say? Not at all.
They don't care what we have to say. They care what they care about. They care what values to them. And so if we can fundamentally shift the pattern of marketing, and content marketing specifically, to look at what valuable customer experience are we trying to create with our content and what value are we trying to deliver to the customer, and then figure out, working backward, if we're the ones that should be delivering that to them and how we might deliver it. We can always decide that we are not the right ones. That it doesn't match our brand alignment.
That it doesn't match our product. That it doesn't match what we're trying to say to the world. But we can't start from, what are we trying to say to the world and figure out how to retrofit that into a message that customers will resonate with. That is a fundamental change in the way that we create content and the way that we think about content. So I'm hoping you'll take that forward as we start to think about it. Because I know we feel the pressure. Just like Steve felt the pressure.
Just like we all feel the pressure and the frustration of where it is we are with marketing and where we are with trying to deliver content. Content marketing can break that pattern, just even the beginning stages of it. We are not creating a content strategy for business. We are creating a business strategy for content. The subtle difference there is very important.
We are creating a media platform. We are creating a product, something that will provide multiple lines of value to the business. Some of them will be direct marketing, campaign-related value. Many of them, quite frankly, will be business values that supersede or transcend marketing.
So where shall we begin? How should we even begin to start to think about this, this function, this strategic approach to content marketing? Well, as I like to say, one of the best places to start is our sales process and where does it hurt the most. Where does it hurt the most in our business right now? Or for this particular line of business or for this particular product or this brand that we're trying to create? What is it that actually hurts the most?
One of the favorite things I like to do is I'll draw the funnel-- the idealized funnel, that is-- with awareness and consideration and customer, and then upsell, cross-sell, loyalty, and advocate at the bottom. It's like, where does it hurt the most right now? Are we really trying to get the awareness of this new business or this new product?
Are we really needing to arm our sales guys with better leads and better content so that they can actually nurture those leads because many of them are falling out? Are we actually trying to develop more loyalty or cross seller or upsell?
Or are we trying to get people to advocate on behalf of our brand? Where does it hurt the most? And then ask ourselves, and take an honest assessment, our we actually starting from scratch, or are we actually trying to improve something that's already working? In many cases, we are already doing something. We have an email newsletter. We have a social program.
We have a thought leadership thing. We're trying to develop better collateral for direct marketing. But quite frankly, it's kind of content in marketing, not really content marketing. It prints out on white paper when we print out that white paper, but it's not really very thought- leader if we were completely honest. It has a little less logo, but it's not really developing that emotional story. So is it content in marketing? Or is it actually good, because we may be producing some wonderful stuff?
And we just need to figure out how to thematically align it so that it starts building toward a subscribed audience. Are we starting from scratch? Or are we actually doing something and look for that weakest point as an area of priority that we're trying to look at. That's the place to start. And then from there, establish a vision, not an entry campaign.
We're not talking about marketing campaigns, anymore. We're establishing an entry vision for the thing that we want to build that will solve that part of the customer's journey, add value to their lives, and add value to the business. And the key thing to remember here is facts don't change beliefs. You can go to Content Marketing World. You can attend one of our masterclasses.
You can view all of the classes in this particular online university. And you'll come away with the same thing. All these facts, if you put them into a PowerPoint presentation, are not going to change the beliefs of your boss. They're not going to change the beliefs. You have to go appeal to their emotions. You are going to have to appeal to their beliefs that this is going to actually work. How do we do that?
Maybe it's a pilot program. Maybe you beg forgiveness rather than permission. There are multiple ways to get there, but you're building a vision for the future, not an entry campaign, not a marketing campaign. And the business case is really only one of two questions we're going to have to answer here.
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