Content, Marketing, and Social articles worth a read

+ Here are a few things worth reading (most of them are quick), that I've been reading today.

How to Tell the User's Story looks at how a user's knowledge bridges the gap between client's expertise and our expertise. The article talks through ways to capture the user's knowledge and incorporate it into the overall process.

The most key thing in How to Do Brand Publishing Right is probably this:

Publishers, on the other hand, begin with an editorial mission. Think of any great publication, whether it be The Economist, Cosmopolitan or anything in between, and the mission is clear. They stand for something.The mission doesn’t change at the end of the quarter or when success is attained, but only deepens and becomes more salient...So, the first step to successful brand publishing is to stop thinking about content and start thinking about what you have to offer the world.

Why Marketing Has Changed Forever ends with a question that needs answering, "If marketing practice has changed so fundamentally, why do our marketing organizations look so much the same?"

Brand Engagement and Value Exchange is a good read for understanding how to get to engagement by creating value beyond the basic transaction of payment for a product or service.

Real Time Marketing vs. Ready For Anything Marketing slices and dices the differences and points to RFA as much better than RTM.

Don’t be myopic in your strategy. Migrate to where it makes sense. Tide could have killed on The Walking Dead last night (pun intended). Considering how many adults with kids watch that show, knowing that Tide can get out blood stains would have been a helpful, valuable, contextually relevant addition to the conversation.
(I know I am picking on Tide here a lot… and only because I think they have the chops and potential to be better.)
The reality is, we are viewing social channels the same way we do traditional channels. The online conversation is fluid. There is overlap and we must look at the full spectrum of opportunity vs. thinking that 3 hours dedicated to one program is a wise investment. I’d much rather see a brand like Tide latch onto a show like The Walking Dead and be there every week. Engaging with fans, understanding the story line, and being an actual fan.
Why can’t brands be fans of the shows they watch?

The point of really finding out what your target audience likes and creating a conversation around that is key. True, it's also a bit borrowed interest, but less so than jumping on the Oscar bandwagon, where every brand out there is doing the same thing.

Content, Measure For Measure provides some tips around helping make your content pay off.

How Capturing Consumer Intent Creates Better Advertising can be summed up with this:

The future of advertising will not only rely on matching content based on search and share behavior but will go much deeper by understanding the mindset and intent of the consumer. Advertisers will make strides by creating engaging customer experiences that pair with what consumers are looking for in real time. Intent targeting might just be the most powerful weapon in an advertiser's arsenal for increasing engagement and conversions. And, when deployed correctly, it can dramatically improve the path-to-purchase dynamic going forward.