An Analytics-Driven Approach to Becoming an Effective Brand Publisher - Long Form(CaaS)

An
Analy'cs-‐Driven
Approach
to
Becoming
an
Effec've
Brand
Publisher
2014
Michael
Brito
Head
of
Social
Strategy
WCG,
a
W2O
Company

INTRODUCTION
There’s
been
a
lot
of
conversa'on
over
the
last
several
years
that
brands
need
to
think
and
operate
like
publishers.
It
couldn’t
be
even
more
cri'cal
today,
and
the
reasons
are
in
plain
sight.
Content
Surplus:
Content
and
media
is
omnipresent
and
demands
our
aQen'on.
There
are
no
shortages
of
mobile
devices
either.
Everyone
with
a
device
is
a
content
creator,
which
adds
to
the
surplus
of
content
generated
each
day.
As
consumers
of
content
and
media,
we
are
subjected
to
3,000
adver'sing
messages
per
day.
This
doesn’t
include
other
forms
of
content
such
as
blog
posts,
status
updates,
tweets,
videos,
emails,
text
messages,
etc.
A5en6on
Deficit:
Most
of
us
can
barely
consume—much
less
comprehend—
285
pieces
of
content
in
a
given
day.
It’s
the
same
reason
why
the
average
Facebook
user
has
less
than
200
friends.
Our
brains
are
wired
so
that
we
can
only
consume
a
finite
amount
of
informa'on.
The
same
is
true
with
maintaining
online
rela'onships.
Mul'tasking
and
having
mul'ple
devices
is
a
cultural
norm,
and
it’s
not
uncommon
to
find
a
family
having
dinner
together
in
a
restaurant
with
each
person
looking
down
at
a
device.
Tunnel
Vision
Is
a
Requirement:
There
is
a
significant
delta
between
the
amount
of
content
in
front
of
us
and
our
ability
to
understand
and
interact
with
it.
This
is
why
we
have
tunnel
vision.
It’s
a
natural
defense
mechanism
so
that
we
don’t
get
too
overwhelmed
with
everything
going
on
around
us.
It
allows
us
to
consume
content
that
is
relevant
to
us
at
a
very
specific
moment
in
'me,
and
oen
'mes,
our
relevancy
filter
changes
each
moment.
If
you
have
ever
been
in
the
market
to
purchase
a
new
car,
you
might
have
experienced
this
for
yourself.
For
example,
the
minute
you
decide
to
buy
a
car,
you
may
suddenly
begin
to
no'ce
Audi
or
BMW
adver'sements,
status
updates
and
conversa'ons
in
the
hallway
about
others
buying
or
selling
new
cars.
Once
you
sign
on
the
doQed
line
and
drive
off
the
lot,
all
those
car
2

conversa'ons
are
gone.
But
the
reality
is
that
they
aren’t
really
gone,
you
just
tune
them
out
because
it’s
not
relevant
anymore.
It’s
tunnel
vision.
The
Customer
Journey
Is
Unpredictable:
When
it
comes
to
purchasing
products,
there
is
no
clear
method
to
our
madness.
We
may
do
research
online,
ask
a
trusted
friend
or
conduct
a
poll
on
our
Facebook
page;
e.g.,
thinking
about
an
Android
or
iPhone.
What
do
you
all
recommend?
And
the
very
next
day,
we
may
do
the
complete
opposite.
But
one
thing
is
for
certain:
our
purchase
path
is
open-‐ended
and
dynamic
based
on
the
types
of
products
and
services
that
we
buy
each
day.
What
is
predictable
though
is
that
our
consump'on
paQerns
when
we
buy,
research
or
just
read
content
online
is
in
fact
unpredictable.
Internally,
brands
have
different
challenges.
A
2013
report
from
the
Content
Marke'ng
Ins'tute
highlighted
that
78%
of
B2B
marketers
have
a
hard
'me
crea'ng
original
content,
and
44%
of
them
do
not
have
a
documented
content
strategy.
Other
challenges
include
the
inability
to
produce
enough
content
(content
that
engages,
various
types
of
content)
as
well
as
having
a
lack
of
budget,
execu've
support
and
training.
Producing Enough Content 64%
Producing Content That Engages 52%
Producing a Variety of Content 45%
Lack of Budget 39%
Inability to Measure Content 33%
Lack of Knowledge, Training 26%
Lack of Integration 25%
Lack of Buy-in, Vision 22%
Finding Trained Content Marketers 14%
3

If
you
look
at
the
four
external
factors
and
couple
that
with
the
internal
challenges
that
face
many
marketers
today,
it
starts
to
become
clear
that
brands
struggle
trying
to
reach
their
audiences
online.
Brands
Need
to
Get
Content
Right.
It’s
Either
Now
or
Never.
Content
is
how
we
reach
a
specific
audience
online
in
order
to
change
a
behavior.
It’s
the
gateway
into
the
social
ecosystem.
But
the
reality
is
that
the
external
landscape
will
not
change
just
because
your
engagement
numbers
are
low.
In
fact,
it’s
only
going
to
get
worse.
So,
in
order
to
adapt,
you’ll
need
to
evolve
the
way
you
think,
operate
and
communicate
with
your
customers
and
prospects.
This
means
that
you’ll
have
to
change
your
content
approach
or
adopt
one.
The
reason
why
many
of
us
struggle
with
content,
storytelling
and
being
able
to
scale
our
opera'ons
is
because
we
don’t
take
content
serious
enough.
Many
'mes
it’s
an
aerthought.
Content
isn’t
a
box
you
check,
a
bubble
you
fill
in
or
a
bullet
point
on
a
presenta'on.
It’s
more
than
search,
more
than
real-‐'me
content
and
so
much
more
than
building
a
content
marke'ng
strategy
in
a
silo.
And
you
can
only
learn
so
much
about
content
from
clever
blog
'tles
like
“10
Proven
Tips
to
Do
This”
or
“5
Smart
Tricks
to
Do
That.”
Content
must
be
considered
a
strategic
impera've
for
your
brand.
You
must
become
a
content
organiza'on
if
you
want
to
take
your
business
to
the
next
level
and
stand
out
from
your
compe'tors.
Just
as
there
is
an
art
to
storytelling,
there
also
needs
to
be
a
strategic
and
opera'onal
plan
that
can
help
you
create
and
distribute
content,
integrate
it
across
paid,
earned,
shared
and
owned
media,
and
measure
it
effec'vely.
As
a
marketer
or
a
brand
manager,
you
must
move
beyond
the
content
marke'ng
buzzword
and
commit
to
becoming
a
brand
publisher.
4

Introducing
Content
as
a
Service
(CaaS)
The
CaaS
model
is
meant
to
address
and
solve
for
both
the
external
challenges
of
reaching
your
target
audience
and
also
the
barriers
you
face
internally.
The
goal
of
CaaS
is
to
ensure
that
content
is
considered
a
strategic
impera've
for
business
today
and
making
it
core
to
business
and
marke'ng
objec'ves.
The
model
is
broken
down
by
four
separate
work
streams—grounded
in
analy'cs—and
supported
by
an
opera'onal
framework
that’s
meant
to
facilitate
integra'on
at
key
touch
points.
Social Narrative
Development
ANALYTICS & RESEARCH
Social Channel
Strategy
Content
Performance &
Analysis
Participatory
Storytelling
Content Operational Framework
SOCIAL
NARRATIVE
DEVELOPMENT
Both
a
quan'ta've
and
qualita've
analysis
are
needed
to
cra
a
story
that
can
break
through
the
cluQer,
reach
new
audiences
and
to
tell
a
beQer
story
than
your
compe'tors.
We
use
four
analy'cs
approaches
to
achieve
this:
Social
Graphics:
Your
audience,
categorized.
By
looking
at
what
your
audience
members
follow,
share
and
discuss,
we
group
them
by
interest
and
passion.
5

Influencer
Meme
&
Muse:
A
meme
is
a
ranked
list
of
the
top
50
people
who
are
driving
the
conversa'on
about
a
given
topic,
industry
or
brand.
This
is
the
digital
1%
of
the
popula'on
that
is
driving
the
conversa'on
about
a
given
topic
or
industry.
The
Muse
tells
us
where
they
get
their
inspira'on.
Content
Gap
Analysis:
We
examine
influen'al
conversa'on
about
a
topic
or
brand
and
compare
it
to
what
a
brand
is
sharing
online.
The
gaps
that
emerge
are
the
brand’s
new
areas
of
focus.
Search
Insights:
A
broad
analysis
that
examines
the
search
volume
and
frequency
of
certain
topics,
keywords
and
industries.
Qualita've
data
is
studying
the
various
percep'ons
and
general
conversa'ons
about
your
brand
from
various
stakeholders
(media,
analysts,
influencers,
the
community,
etc.)
purely
from
a
contextual
perspec've.
When
the
community
talks
about
the
brand
or
when
the
media
men'ons
you
in
an
ar'cle,
what
is
the
actual
context?
Are
they
valida'ng
your
narra've
or
giving
you
insights
on
how
you
might
want
to
talk
about
yourself
differently?
The
output
of
this
exercise
is
to
establish
an
architecture
that
takes
insights
from
the
data,
developing
a
strategic
and/or
crea've
framework
and
puong
it
into
an
editorial
framework
from
which
all
future
content
is
created.
While
there
are
several
ways
to
do
this,
the
best
way
to
think
about
storytelling
is
through
three
different
lenses,
whereby
the
brand:
• ...
is
the
story
(events,
campaigns,
product/brand-‐focused)
• ...
is
a
character
in
a
story
(customer
stories,
third-‐party
ar'cles)
• …
comments
on
a
story
(lifestyle,
real-‐'me/agile
content)
From
there,
you
can
begin
to
map
out
content
for
your
editorial
calendar
and
align
content
to
specific
social
and
digital
channels
with
some
strategic
thinking.
6

At
WCG,
we
ensure
that
all
content
follows
some
very
basic
fundamentals
and
delivers
on
the
following:
• U'lity
-‐-‐-‐-‐>
helps
me
“do”
something
• Educa'on
-‐-‐-‐-‐>
makes
me
smarter
• Entertainment
-‐-‐-‐-‐>
makes
me
laugh,
inspires
me
• Access
-‐-‐-‐-‐>
connects
me
to
others
• Altruism
-‐-‐-‐-‐>
facilitates
my
sense
of
purpose
• Emo'on
-‐-‐-‐-‐>
elicits
a
visceral
reac'on
• Exclusivity
-‐-‐-‐-‐>
makes
me
feel
special
• Informa'on
-‐-‐-‐-‐>
delivers
me
news
• Financial
-‐-‐-‐-‐>
provides
me
with
a
sale,
rebate
or
coupons
SOCIAL
CHANNEL
STRATEGY
Brands
struggle
with
social
media
because
they
are
using
it
just
to
amplify
and
distribute
all
content
in
an
effort
to
tell
several
disjointed
stories
in
every
channel.
This
approach
dilutes
the
message
and
contributes
to
the
content
surplus
that
many
people
ignore.
A
social
channel
strategy
consists
of
two
very
important
steps.
The
first
requires
an
in-‐depth
analysis
of
exis'ng
communi'es/social
channels,
a
compe''ve
content
analysis
and
examining
internal
resources
that
manage
the
content
process.
This
determines
what’s
working
and
what’s
not
working
from
a
content
perspec've,
and
the
analysis
will
deliver
insight
as
to
what
needs
to
change,
which
channels
need
consolida'ng
(e.g.,
mul'ple
TwiQer
accounts,
etc.),
or
it
may
even
uncover
the
opportunity
of
crea'ng
new
channels.
The
second
step
involves
strategically
aligning
content
to
specific
social/
digital
channels
based
on
the
audience
segmenta'on,
plarorm
behavior
and
documented
brand
goals.
7

Social
Channel
Strategy
also
involves
building
converged
media
models
that
integrate
brand
storytelling
across
PESO
(paid,
earned,
shared
and
owned
media).
It
starts
with
a
sharable
idea
(campaign,
agile
content,
etc.)
and
then
strategically
ac'va'ng
each
channel
around
engagement
(earned),
content
(shared)
and
customer
experience
(owned).
From
there,
it’s
using
paid
media
to
amplify
the
idea
using
search,
a
content
syndica'on
plarorm
like
OutBrain
or
OneSpot
and
na've
paid
media
on
Facebook
and
TwiQer.
EARNED
MEDIA
Media
rela'ons
Influencer
engagement
Word-‐of-‐mouth
SHARED
MEDIA
Social
media
channel
strategy
Community
management
Social
content
crea'on
Engagement
Content
Experiences
SHARABLE
STORIES
PAID
MEDIA
AMPLIFICATION
Content
syndica'on
Na've
adver'sing
Search
Social
paid
OWNED
MEDIA
Brand
website/newsroom
Campaign
micr-‐osite
Mobile
apps
From
a
real-‐'me
marke'ng
perspec've,
we
approach
it
a
liQle
differently
than
most
other
agencies.
Instead
of
building
real-‐'me
crea've
based
on
what’s
trending
on
the
broader
Internet,
we
build
custom
search
engines
of
very
targeted
audiences
(healthcare
professionals,
ITDMs,
millennials.)
We
then
ac'vate
a
content
engine
team
to
find
what’s
trending
within
this
group
and
then
deploy
the
crea've
and
distribu'on.
PARTICIPATORY
STORYTELLING
Data
from
the
Boston
Consul'ng
Group
tell
us
that
when
it
comes
to
trust
and
credibility,
“people
they
know”,
“consumer
opinions
online”
and
“colleagues
and
friends”
rank
the
highest
when
people
are
seeking
informa'on
about
a
brand
and
its
products.
8

Brand
storytelling
is
more
than
just
distribu'ng
branded
content,
na've
adver'sing
or
crea've
campaigns
on
Facebook.
It
also
involves
mobilizing
employees
to
par'cipate
and
feed
the
content
engine.
And
it's
not
just
employees
twee'ng
or
sharing
company
news
in
social
media.
It’s
about
finding
good
stories
about
the
brand,
its
products
or
employees
and
using
long-‐form
content
to
tell
everyone
about
it.
Employees
aren’t
the
only
ones
that
are
influen'al
either.
Brand
advocates
and
influencers
can
also
move
messages
rather
quickly
across
the
social
ecosystem,
and
their
content
is
equally
as
trustworthy.
We
look
at
influencers
through
the
lens
of
the
1-‐9-‐90
model:
The
“1%”
are
bloggers,
forum
posters
(think
Reddit),
video
reviewers
and
journalists
who
create
content.
They
focus
on
telling
a
story
and
are
seen
as
the
experts
on
a
given
topic.
At
WCG,
our
algorithms
show
that
there
are
never
more
than
50
people
who
drive
the
majority
of
share
of
conversa'on
for
a
brand,
topic
or
industry
in
a
given
country
or
language.
The
“9%”
are
highly
ac've
online.
These
are
your
brand
advocates,
and
their
behavior
probably
aligns
with
what
we
do
online
every
day.
We
recommend,
share,
sign
up,
download,
comment
and
other
ac'ons
that
let
our
communi'es
and
our
peers
know
what
we
think
about
certain
topics
and
brands.
In
many
respects,
this
group
serves
as
the
“trust
filter”
for
the
broader
marketplace.
The
“90%”
is
the
mass
market.
They
lurk
and
learn.
This
rather
large
group
is
sa'sfied
with
using
search
or
consuming
the
content
of
their
peers.
They
decide
how
compelling
the
1%
and
the
9%
really
are
in
telling
your
brand’s
story.
9

Regardless
of
what
group
you
are
going
to
go
aer,
there
are
several
considera'ons
for
making
par'cipatory
storytelling
successful:
Content
Strategy
Alignment:
Before
you
decide
what
you
want
your
advocates
to
say,
you
must
know
exactly
what
the
story
is
that
you
want
to
tell.
A
comprehensive
content
strategy
should
help
you
establish:
• What
you
want
to
say
(storytelling
principles,
narra've)
• How
you
want
to
say
it
(tone
of
voice)
• Where
you
want
to
say
it
(aligning
stories
to
digital
channels)
• Who
you
want
to
par'cipate
(employees,
customers,
etc.)
A
solid
editorial
framework
will
determine
content
and
plarorm
priori'es
and
the
content
supply
chain
(workflows
that
facilitate
content
idea'on,
crea'on,
submission,
approval
and
distribu'on).
Smart
Technology
Deployment:
It’s
difficult
to
manage
an
advocate
program
using
email
or
a
private
Facebook
or
LinkedIn
group.
There
are
several
technology
vendors
in
the
market
place
that
can
help
streamline
the
process
and
make
it
convenient
for
your
advocates
and
influencers
to
share
content:
• Dynamic
Signal
(community-‐based)
• Social
Chorus
(community-‐based)
• Addvocate
(plarorm)
• Everyone
Social
(plarorm)
Strategic
Content
Ac6va6ons:
As
much
as
your
program
must
include
cura'ng
and
distribu'ng
content
from
your
advocates
to
help
tell
your
brand
story,
you
must
also
have
a
content
plan
for
engaging
directly
with
them.
10

Unfortunately,
many
teams
that
manage
these
programs
oen
overlook
a
content
plan
and
then
struggle
to
keep
the
conversa'ons
alive
and
fresh
with
advocates;
more
so
with
customers
than
employees.
Your
content
should
be
planned
weekly,
monthly
and
even
quarterly,
and
take
into
considera'on
several
factors
like
the
following:
• Upcoming
events
or
industry
trade
shows
• Upcoming
product
launches
or
new
releases
of
an
exis'ng
product
• Fun
things
like
contests,
polls
and
research
ques'ons
• Asking
for
user-‐generated
content
(uploading
and
sharing
photos
on
Facebook/TwiQer)
You
must
also
document
the
opera'onal
plan
by
answering
the
following
ques'ons:
• Will
you
focus
on
employees,
customers
or
both?
• What’s
the
criteria
for
selec'ng
advocates
(invita'on,
open)?
• How
long
is
the
program
and
will
you
rotate
in/out
new
members?
• What
do
you
want
to
call
your
program?
• What
technology
plarorm
will
you
use?
• How
are
you
going
to
measure?
CONTENT
PERFORMANCE
AND
ANALYSIS
In
April
2014,
Contently,
a
content
marke'ng
plarorm,
surveyed
302
marketers
split
evenly
across
B2B
and
B2C
businesses
about
their
content
goals
and
measurement
prac'ces
and
unearthed
some
key
findings.
The
State
of
Content
Marke'ng
Measurement
report
found
that
90%
of
marketers
expressed
uncertainty
that
their
key
content
metrics
are
effec've
in
measuring
business
results.
11

Rather
than
measuring
content
(status
update,
press
release,
blog
post,
tweet)
at
the
“social
network”
level,
there
is
more
value
measuring
content
at
the
actual
content
level.
At
WCG,
we
use
what
we
call
the
Branded
Scoring
Content
Approach,
where
we
score
each
piece
of
content
that
gets
published
online
on
a
1–100
scale.
High
performing
content
ranks
higher
on
the
scale,
low
performing
content
ranks
lower.
The
algorithm
uses
two
variables
to
determine
the
score:
1)
where
that
content
was
published
(how
many
distribu'on
channels)
and
2)
the
engagement
level
in
each
plarorm
it
was
published.
It’s
a
fairly
simple
algorithm
that
provides
maximum
insight
if
done
correctly.
Here’s
the
process:
Content
Gathering:
We
collect
all
your
content
from
its
mul'ple
plarorms,
even
content
shared
across
mul'ple
plarorms.
Content
Processing:
All
content
is
loaded
into
a
custom
database
and
scored.
All
possible
variables
(likes,
shares,
comments,
clicks)
are
taken
into
considera'on.
Primary
and
secondary
channels
are
weighted
appropriately
to
their
importance.
12

Content
Scoring:
Total
post
scores
are
the
average
of
all
possible
channel
variables
(e.g.,
likes,
shares,
comments,
clicks
for
Facebook).
Each
post’s
score
is
a
func'on
of
all
content
for
the
brand,
rather
than
an
isolated
quan'fica'on.
As
such,
engagement
is
a
realis'c
reflec'on
of
your
brand’s
content.
We
use
this
scoring
system
to
op'mize
future
content,
to
determine
where
it’s
shared
and
whether
or
not
to
push
paid
dollars
behind
it
in
order
to
improve
reach/engagement.
CONTENT
OPERATIONAL
FRAMEWORK
This
is
an
opera'onal
step
that
spans
across
each
of
the
four
work
streams
above.
It’s
a
consulta've
approach
that
helps
our
clients
structure
their
team,
assign
roles
and
responsibili'es
with
internal
stakeholders
and
other
agency
partners,
invest
in
the
right
technology
and
build
a
content
supply
chain
(editorial
process
that
facilitates
the
movement
of
content
from
idea'on
to
distribu'on)
that
can
scale.
Essen'ally,
it's
helping
brands
build
a
newsroom
organiza'on.
It
starts
with
having
the
right
team
structure
that
can
help
streamline
content
through
what
we
call
the
“content
supply
chain.”
We
typically
recommend
building
a
centralized
editorial
team
that
supports
and
enables
mul'ple
business
units,
product
organiza'ons
or
geographies.
This
used
to
be
called
the
Social
Media
Center
of
Excellence.
This
also
involves
assigning
roles
and
responsibili'es,
much
like
a
newsroom
organiza'on.
You
have
to
decide
who
in
your
company
has
the
right
skillset
to
write
content,
approve
content
and
create
other
assets
(videos,
Infograms,
photos,
etc.)
13

Develop
Content
Strategy
Scale
Content
Globally
Source
Technology
Vendors
COE
B
C
This
may
require
you
to
reach
across
the
hall
and
collaborate
with
other
teams
if
you
don’t
have
all
the
resources
yourself.
Some
brands
will
a
create
centralized
“editorial”
center
of
excellence
to
help
augment
the
gaps.
These
cross-‐func'onal
teams
are
responsible
for
deploying
and
opera'onalizing
a
brand’s
content
strategy.
You
must
also
go
through
the
daun'ng
task
of
assigning
roles
and
responsibili'es
to
your
external
agency
partners
and
manda'ng
that
they
play
nice
together.
Editorial
workflows
are
essen'al
to
ensure
that
your
content
is
being
distributed
at
the
right
'me
and
in
the
right
channel.
Deploying
workflows
such
as
this
will
not
only
protect
the
brand
from
making
mistakes
(think
US
Airways,
Kitchen
Aid),
but
also
ensure
that
there
is
enough
content
in
the
pipeline
and
that
the
stories
are
consistent
once
distributed.
A
M
B
C
A
M
B
Brand,
Business
Unit,
Region
M
Media
Agency
Crea've/Ad
Agency
C
Content/PR
Agency
A
14
Content
Governance

An Analytics-Driven Approach to Becoming an Effective Brand Publisher - Long Form(CaaS)

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to An Analytics-Driven Approach to Becoming an Effective Brand Publisher - Long Form(CaaS)

More from W2O Group

Recently uploaded

An Analytics-Driven Approach to Becoming an Effective Brand Publisher - Long Form(CaaS)