The opportunity to attract, engage and persuade buyers through useful content extends to markets on a global scale. But the same rules about content that work at home may not work abroad. Nor the processes and team structures that many content marketing departments are used to.
That’s why resources around content marketing from a global perspective are essential for international companies. Luckily, I know of just such a resource to point you in the right direction.
I first met Pam Didner when liveblogging one her presentations at Content Marketing World. She was at Intel and I had just given a presentation at Intel’s first internal Social Media conference.
Since then, Pam and I have presented at West Virginia University for their Masters of IMC program, collaborated on a B2B content marketing workshop for Content Marketing Institute and several marketing conference eBooks. I know firsthand, that Pam is a brilliant content marketer and her new book, Global Content Marketing is a must-read for any business that expects to create demand through content internationally.
Here is an overview of what you can expect:
There are nine meaty chapters (10 is an epilogue) starting with “Why” globalize your content which leads into creating a team, creating a plan, content production, content promotion, performance optimization, team skills and thoughts about the future.
All of this is packaged in the Four P’s of the Global Content Marketing Cycle (Plan, Produce, Promote, Perfect) including two case studies in just about every chapter.
Pam covers a lot of ground in this book and whether you’re a small business with small budget trying to reach international markets or a global digital marketing leader looking for ways to optimize your content marketing processes, this book is a no brainer. The examples she gives are specific but the takeaways, like the topic of the book, are global. Pam provides context for this, urging the reader to extrapolate for your own purposes.
The Why Before you Try of Global Content Marketing – As many marketers have found with global content, you can’t simply translate and localize your brand content for different countries and expect results. There are external challenges beyond language including cultural, religious, and legal differences to consider. There are also operational considerations within your own company in terms of the relationship between brand HQ and regional operations, overall and regional marketing goals, processes and tools.
The good news is that Pam addresses each of these issues right off the bat.
One of the big questions I had when picking up this book had to do with creating global content marketing team. We work with a number of international companies and organizational structures can really vary between divisions within the U.S. let alone those that function in other countries where operations might be guided autonomously or by HQ.
Building a Global Content Marketing Team – Pam’s advice about building a global team is organized into three phases: Coming together, Working together, Staying together. She explains this through a series of sequences I’ll outline below:
First – align on the objectives for the brand, for marketing and for those involved. Assemble the team with these clear goals in mind and act according to clear roles and responsibilities.
Second – working together as a team means collaborating using agreed upon tools and processes, communicating regularly and making sure things are synched between HQ and the regions and most importantly, being able to make compromises when necessary. This is the nature of working in large, complex organizations and not everyone can get their way so getting things done often means a bit of give and take.
Who might be involved as part of your global content marketing team? Pam suggests:
- Editor in Chief
- Content Strategist
- Content Manager
- Product Marketing Manager
- Brand Manager
- Media Manager
- Legal
- Social Media Manager / Community Manager
- Webmaster
- Sales Operations / Marketing Operations Managers
- Public Relations
- Copywriter
- Graphic Designer
- Region or Country Marketing Manager
- SEO Manager
- SEM Manager
- Direct Marketing Manager
- IT Support
- Outside Agency
There are multiple case studies and I was happy to see our client LinkedIn and Jason Miller discussed in the content production section where the notion of “Big Rock” content is discussed.
After many of the chapters there are takeaways directed specifically for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners, for Enterprise Marketing Managers and for Agencies and Marketing Consultants. Pam specifically personalizes takeaways for each of these groups – her target audience for the book. Brilliant!
What does the future of global content marketing look like? Pam talks about the impact of technology and changing consumer preferences as well as the application of big data to personalization and user experience complete with a reference to the movie Minority Report.
In summary, Global Content Marketing satisfies an essential need for any international business that seeks to establish content marketing operations on a global scale. From planning to production to perfecting the whole process – Pam’s experience and insights in this book deliver a practical roadmap for content marketing success.
You can read more about @PamDidner and her book Global Content Marketing here and get a copy on Amazon.
Globe image: Shutterstock
