Content marketing is “always on” and it’s putting new pressures on marketers. Last year 88% of B2B marketers said they were using content marketing, but only 30% said that they were effective at it. Marketers have to keep up with the content-hungry beast, and this means they have to be efficient with the time and resources at their disposal.
One of the scarcest (yet most valuable) resources is a strong narrative. A solid story isn’t a selling tool, it’s a method for building strong relationships with your customers. So how do you make the most of a good story? The trick is to scale your marketing so that you get the most from what you have.
We’re going to dive into the world of derivative content and walk you through how to squeeze every drop out of your tent-pole content. This strategy will not only save you time and resources but will also maximize your ROI.
Below, we’ve put together a short intro to derivative content so you can get a jump start on making the most of your content and maximizing ROI!
Turning tent-pole content into derivative content.
Derivative content is a cost-effective way to get the most out of a great narrative. But where do you find it? The key is to create really solid tent pole or anchor content. Tent pole content is longer-form content that drives deeper engagement. This might be a full-size infographic, eBook, whitepaper, webinar, guide, or original research piece. These pieces generally take longer to produce and consume, so it’s in your best interest to make sure it delivers a LOT of value.
To get this value, you need to create derivative content that gets a lot of mileage out of a single piece of content. This means taking an awesome guide, a webinar, or an original research paper and breaking it down into smaller micro content that can be distributed across your social channels.
This is a great way to perform a taste test – is your audience interested in learning more? The micro content naturally leads your visitors to the more substantial piece of tent pole content.
Derivative content is essential to getting the most out of every piece of content your team produces.
How to create derivative content.
Derivative content is easy to produce once you have a clear process in place. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when creating derivative content.
Scale down your anchor content:
Short form content helps you generate ROI on a smaller scale. A well-researched guide takes time and resources, so it needs to create a lot of interest to generate ROI. However, a single infographic optimized for social is a low-cost quick hit. It doesn’t need to generate huge views, just enough interest to pull people back to your site or sign up for your newsletter. Break down the research paper into digestible content so you can create smaller content to generate additional ROI.
Leverage influencers:
Partner with other people and companies in your space that have a broader reach to produce joint content. Co-producing content and sharing it across each other’s channels will help you leverage new networks.
Channel defines format:
The channel will have a big impact on the format of your content. Though the narrative is the same, the form and tone of the content will change depending on the channel you’re publishing to.
Know your audience:
Understand your audience and what type of content and channels are most appropriate for them. Who are you selling to? What channels are they using? What time of day are they most active?
Why does derivative content matter?
The average human attention span in 2000 was 12 seconds, and by 2013 it was 8 seconds. That puts us 1 second shorter than a goldfish. This is why derivative content is so important – you only have a few seconds to get your audience’s attention.
We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the demand for mobile-optimized and social-optimized content. Mobile and social are where you are most likely to first engage with your audience. This means that you need mobile-optimized content that gives them a compelling reason to make that first click and invest some time in your content. If your first interaction with a customer is a long eBook, you’re not going to get much traction. You need something that your audience can quickly consume, and short-form derivative content is ideal for this first engagement.
