Our office often resembles a newsroom, with the writers tapping furiously on their keyboards, the account management team manning the phones and the SEO experts quietly plotting a way to outsmart Google.
It might sound a bit like managed chaos, but it is in fact a well-oiled machine – one which enables content to be created in a matter of hours, meaning our clients have the most up-to-date and relevant articles at their disposal to put under the gaze of their audience.
The question is, are brands replicating this dedicated approach to content marketing, or are they accepting that they simply don´t have the resources to do so?
Well, it appears that more brands are indeed coming around to this newsroom-style setup, which is prompting not only a welcome change in productivity – and thus engagement – but in culture, too.
As The Drum reports, Barclays’ interactive marketing director, Mark Brayton, spoke this week about how the bank is taking content more seriously than ever. And when a financial institution like Barclays suggests that content delivery is the future, you´re inclined to listen, as one would assume they´ve done the figures.
Talking at The Drum’s Digital Convergence conference in London, Brayton explained that over the past couple of months Barclays has started to hold “editorial” meetings, giving representatives from all areas of the business to come and share their thoughts and put forward ideas for content.
“Rather than planning campaigns six weeks in advance, we meet on a Tuesday morning to agree on some principle areas. We have all the right stakeholders and channel heads in that room to deliver content within at least 72 hours of that session,” he revealed.
Three days might sound like a long time to turn around a piece of content, but Barclays is working quicker than most, with some brands taking weeks to get a piece live.
There aren’t only speed advantages to building a team which is devoted to content – a change of ethos and philosophy also tend to ensue, as Brayton explains:
“The challenge was to change from [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][focusing on] Barclays interests to consumer interests,” he continued. “It´s been a big culture shock but we´ve learnt how to listen. But we can´t just listen, we´ve then got to act quickly.”
He expressed the transformation process as moving from a “microphone” mindset – where it was often going ignored – to a strategy based on listening and reacting (a more bespoke offering, if you will).
Barclays seems to think it is worth the effort, however, announcing that it is to roll out the strategy to other departments in Personal and Corporate banking, whilst also investing in creating content for other channels in order to resonate with a younger audience.
We understand that not all firms have the capacity to form such sub-departments, which is why agencies like ours prove such good value. We take care of our clients´ content campaigns from strategy through to distribution, so if you´re struggling to find the resources to dedicate as much time to content as you feel you should be, please get in touch.
For the marketers out there: do you think digital marketing teams will soon resemble newsrooms? How much of the marketing budget should we now be dedicating to content?
Useful Resources
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