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"You Lie!" Is Valuable To Your Marketing
So, if you haven't heard, there's alot of buzzabout South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's joint congressional speech. But any publicity is good publicity – right? Maybe not so much.
So, just in case last week's re-emergence of Punxsutawney Jobs had your complete focus, on Wednesday President Obama delivered a speech on healthcare reform to a joint session of congress. During the speech, he reiterated a point about illegal immigrants not being covered by the reform bill currently under consideration. At that point Joe Wilson shouted "You Lie!".
The congressman apologized for the incident and Obama quickly accepted the apology. So, all over – and everyone back to business as usual?
Well, again, not so much.
The blogosphere is still abuzz with the incident, and a search on "You Lie" in Google comes back with advertising for Joe Wilson's campaign as well as a site that seems to be asking for donations to his rival Rob Miller's campaign.
In fact, the opposition group that supports Miller claims it has raised $780,000 from more than 21,000 supporters. Talk about content marketing working in unexpected ways.
Popularity of the search term is starting to die down – but for a time last week "Joe Wilson" was Google's top trending term and "Rob Miller for Congress" – which was at 75 the day of the speech – rose as high as 58.
The lesson here is that while we marketers often think about content and content marketing strategies as that which we publish – it's not always that way.
Leveraging content, and content marketing can come from anywhere that a conversation can be struck. This, as the "You Lie" example points out, can work both for you and against you.
I've personally watched this happen with clients that have published content or white papers overtly criticizing their competitor – and then found themselves on the receiving end of a fire storm of negative conversation among the blogosphere. Or, more notably Ev Williams was called out by Gawker when in a tweet he called a woman he overheard disparaging Twitter a "bitch". More recently, Google has been forced to reveal the name of a blogger who referred to a Vogue Model as "skanky". All of these are things that, when they happen to us, ruin a perfectly good work day.
As you work through content strategies for your web marketing, remember that today you're not only a publisher – you are a facilitator of conversation. And, that this facilitation is both content you produce – and the content others produce. This includes your competitor's content.
A Few Tips:
1. Be careful of linkbait – you never know what you'll catch…
Linkbait is generally a perjorative term (well now anyway) about content on your web site or on your blog – specifically linked from a suggestive, often misleading, headline. Copyblogger, one of my absolute favorite blogs, has some excellent thoughts and some history on this.
I don't have a particular feeling on it – as I can certainly see the positive and negative side of it (e.g. creative, engaging content vs. misleading crap). But, as you determine your content strategy – just make sure that the content you're publishing is content that you'll stand by, and that matches the brand strategy. If you have multiple people publishing from your organization and contributing to the conversation, think through your content workflow and approval process. It's an important piece of this puzzle.
2. So, enough about me – what do you think about me…..
When engaging in conversation beyond your web site, take off your marketing hat – and just engage. It's okay if you're a fan. This engagement is what develops the trust in the unique "You" that you bring to the table. And, that's what's important. Chris Brogan, of course, has excellent advice - especially in his book Trust Agents.
3. Definitely speak up but not when you are angry – or you'll write the best post you'll ever regret.
Okay, I definitely stole the basis of that quote. But remember, you're not the only one with content and a content marketing strategy. If you disagree with your competitor's take on a particular topic – don't be afraid to stand up for yourself and disagree. But remember #1 above and make sure that your responses matche your content and brand strategy. Remember, it's ALL your content now.
But also don't be afraid to agree with your competitor. In fact, I find myself agreeing with my biggest competitor much more than I disagree. There's a reason you're both in the same business right? Remember, it's not just your content that puts you in a key part of the discussion – it's that which is happening all around you as well.
4. Be ready with advertising strategies that come out of content
One of the biggest benefits to content marketing strategies – is the ability to learn what resonates with your prospective customers. Clearly, Rob Miller's supporters were primed for something to use against Joe Wilson. Wilson's content "mistake" may turn into an advertising and marketing strategy that Miller can utilize effectively to engage a new set of constituents. Or, as Wilson is attempting, it can be a rallying cry for his point of view. In other words, it can work for you or against you.
For example, one of the most common trends here is to see a particular white paper, or topic in a community really soar in popularity. Watch this behavior. How can it start to affect your overall messaging – and how can you wrap an SEM or other campaign into that message? You may find tremendous value in that learning.
Remember, as marketers, we really are more than just publishers – we're entire media companies (Forrester sez so too). This means that we not only publish our own agenda-based content – but we also have our eyes AND ears – our "reporters out in the field".
Marketers do much more than just produce content – we also have to listen, react and participate in the conversation. And, that may be one of the biggest leverage points we have in our marketing toolbox.
