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SAS on Results-Driven Blogging for B2B Brands #cmworld
The B2B Track during day one of Content Marketing World in the “Gold Room” was jam packed for each session. That includes this session about Corporate Blogging and Globalizing your Editorial with two speakers from SAS and Intel. Since the topics were so different, I decided to split the liveblog post into two. This is part one. Speaker: Alison Bolen @alisonbolen Content Editor SAS Alison’s presentation focused on corporate blogging and the blog program at SAS (a $2 billion business analytics company). The history of SAS and social media started in 1976 with the first SAS Global Forum, 2004 internal blog program, 2006 SAS communities launched, 2007 the first external blog launched and in 2011 the transition to the WordPress platform. You can find SAS blogs here: blogs.sas.com Alison works in the Public Relations organization at SAS along with 8 other corporate journalists. How to Grow a Corporate Blogging Program Develop a strategy: Find out where the current corporate strategies are and find a hook into them. For the SAS blogging program, there were 3 main goals: to align with PR, Marketing and Customer Support. Blogging supports each stage of the funnel:
SAS blog efforts are meta data enabled: by persona, by category, by industry. For content to be relevant and valuable it must be persona based and aligned with steps in the buying process. The next step in corporate blogging strategy development is to find the right content. Ask these important questions: Where do stories live? (Word Docs, PPTs, Videos, Live Events) Where does knowledge live? (Sharepoint, White papers) Now it’s time to find the right people. Alison gave the example of two SAS bloggers that write for distinct audiences. Blog Planning with Monthly Assignments. All posts are due on a specific date each month. The most timely posts are published first. Breaking news and fillers are published as relevant. A schedule ensures there is content to work with each month. Another planning option is to focus on one specific topic. For example, each Quarter, focus on a specific topic for each blogging contributing to that particular blog. Another angle on corporate blog planning involves themes every week. Example: Monday (Getting Started Articles) Wednesdays (Topics the Blogger is Trying to Learn & Documenting that Process) Friday (Posts in reaction to a particular topic from other blogs) Tap Internal Subject Matter Experts: If the organizational structure supports it, you can divide blogging assignments by areas of specialization. Example: 16 Think Tank team members for healthcare at SAS that includes authors who specialize in specific areas. They are assigned to blog on their area of expertise at least once a month. Have a blog that new bloggers can contribute to in order to show their commitment. SAS also has an internal blog network of 700+ bloggers that also acts as a testing ground. If you have a group blog, you must have an editor. No assignments and nobody in charge = NO CONTENT. A blog editor is a content chaser, people watcher and project manager – not necessarily a corporate communications person. For events, plan across blogs as needed. Map topics and aspects of the events to be covered by the different blogs in your organization to ensure coverage. If blogs don’t work out, retire them. Coach and advise, don’t micromanage. Be patient with different learning styles. Don’t pre-judge and expect too much. Results: Customer Support – Positive comments and links to your blogs. I think Alison gave some really useful ideas for blog content and planning. One of the most common objections I hear from companies that really should be blogging (and not all companies should) is that they have difficulty with creating content on an ongoing basis. It’s a big mind shift and kudos to SAS for having 8 Corporate Journalists on staff.
© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. | SAS on Results-Driven Blogging for B2B Brands #cmworld | http://www.toprankblog.com  Intel Inside Out: How to Globalize Your Editorial Planning #cmworld
Speaker: Pam Didner @pdidner Global Integrated Marketing Manager, Intel Pam’s presentation covered her journey over the past year and a half to “try” and globalize Intel’s editorial planning. Intel’s 2011 Marketing Objectives and Strategy: The challenge is engagement, because Intel is an ingredient brand. Consumers cannot touch or feel their product directly, so how is Intel supposed to engage? Intel promotes with new product launches but afterwards, their promotion machine “goes dark” – no engagement. Social and Search are rewriting the rules of audience engagement. A Scalable Editorial Planning Process The Holy Grail: Tight collaboration between HQ (Corporate Marketing) and the Geo (Geo is how Intel defines areas of business in other parts of the world) 1. Prioritize countries and topics (HQ w/geo feedback) Once you develop a list of topics, you can consolidate, especially at a higher level. Global Editorial Calendar: Real-time marketing is great, but planning is also very important. At Intel, the Global Editorial Calendar is established 6 months in advance. Who owns content, Headquarters or Geographies? The answer is, “it depends”. For a small company, it might make more sense for the Geo to control content. For a big company like Intel, HQ needs to drive content, but with Geo collaboration. Topic Maketing Kit The kit is pretty comprehensive for the Geo it’s created for. HQ creates the top level content but the Geos are responsible for localizing and marketing execution. Topic Marketing Kit is the Hub, surrounded by engagement tactics: Search Optimization, Targeted Ads, Public Realtions, Landing Pages, Local Marketing, Direct Marketing, Co-Marketing Key Learnings from Intel: The Geo’s job is to create an implementation plan and to execute, measure results. Challenges: These were some great Global or International Content Marketing insights from Pam. I think this is a huge area of growth as content marketing becomes a bigger part of mainstream online marketing in international markets. Pam showed her quick wit and sense of humor when the projector showed double images, her reaction was that this was a 3D presentation and that we should have brought our 3D glasses. :) Great job Pam!
© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. | Intel Inside Out: How to Globalize Your Editorial Planning #cmworld | http://www.toprankblog.com More Recent Articles | | ||
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Day one of Content Marketing World was a great mix of catching up with old friends, making new ones and of course, great content. On the BtoB track I sat in on a session including speakers with two different presentations from SAS and Intel. Since they were so different, I split them into 2 posts. This is part two of that session.
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