In this interview, Claire Oliverson, Director, Social Media & Content Strategy at America’s Test Kitchen discusses employing different combinations of data to establish the right metrics, using existing customer knowledge to find a balance to develop a solid strategy and putting your content marketing ‘on steroids’ 1. Being able to show that difference is how we establish our membership as beneficial. But whilst the opportunity presented by these instantaneous marketing strategies was incredible there are definitely some key pitfalls to avoid. Of course, there is plenty of opportunity to establish some really effective marketing tactics using these technologies but you need to take the knowledge that you have to find a decent balance, a middle ground, to develop a really solid strategy It is crucial to understand what your goal is - brand awareness, sentiment or traffic? If you identify your key metrics and define which data is important to you it becomes way easier to sift through. Should social media be restricted only to brand awareness strategies? Is there a difference in how the ROI is perceived for content that gets shared through social vis-a-vis one that goes towards branding activities? However, America’s Test Kitchen is a published content brand – creating our own digital content is second nature as we have so much at our disposal and are able to put our content marketing ‘on steroids’. Do you see competition, opportunities to partner and/or integrate? I will be bringing my broad spectrum of knowledge to the Digital Marketing Innovation Summit in New York this March, I will be joining a panel session and discussing social media brand development, content production and marketing and the developments within mobile marketing – I look forward to taking part.
In this interview, Claire Oliverson, Director, Social Media & Content Strategy at America’s Test Kitchen discusses employing different combinations of data to establish the right metrics, using existing customer knowledge to find a balance to develop a solid strategy and putting your content marketing ‘on steroids’
1. Please share some suggestions that can add an edge to marketing campaigns – viral videos, using SEO strategies, getting buzzy on social, any other? How can publishers ensure their Search and Social activities are in sync for their content to be discovered or do you see the two being totally unrelated to each other?
At America’s Test Kitchen we really do all of the above. Over the last couple of years we have transitioned our social and content marketing from more of a ‘hobby’ for our family of brands, which admittedly lacked a ‘backbone of strategy’ to adapting our tone, SEO strategy and content for the digital world. We have undertaken a company-wide evolution to adopt a digital and social-first mentality making these platforms integral to our everyday marketing strategy.
2. Is the subscription / paid membership model the only option for publishers wishing to move away from the native advertising model of monetizing their digital platforms?
Having an audience of paying members really changes the way you put your message out there. Rather than talking about how beautiful and interesting a recipe is to entice consumers in, America’s Test Kitchen really focuses on distinguishing what we are doing as different. Our product is testing – we eliminate variables and make the recipe the tastiest and the easiest for our home cooks – we don’t have the same luxury as our competitors who can pull hugely varying recipes. Being able to show that difference is how we establish our membership as beneficial.
3. With the rise of social media and increasing data sources for consumer profiles how can marketers sift through the noise and stand out to deliver hyper-personalized, relevant customer experiences to ensure brand loyalty? What are some common pitfalls that marketers must avoid when it comes to personalization?
Love this question!
I previously worked in mobile marketing where we were experimenting with hyperlocal and hyper-targeted campaigns. But whilst the opportunity presented by these instantaneous marketing strategies was incredible there are definitely some key pitfalls to avoid. For example, Target has recently announced that they are winding down efforts in this area as…
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