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How to enhance corporate results with content marketing

To find out whether inbound marketing or content marketing is effective in capturing leads and improving a company's image, three marketing experts at the conference held at ESADE Madrid shared their opinions about this new strategy based on offering value in a non-intrusive way.

The Internet has revolutionized how we communicate, buy, sell and create customer loyalty. Traditional marketing is giving way to other more effective techniques, such as inbound marketing, which attract customers to companies without the companies having to bother them.

The conference held on June 22nd in Madrid by the ESADE Alumni Marketing Club gave an insight into how to catch the general public’s attention by means of eye-catching, useful and relevant content. The guest speakers were Antonio Gimeno, head of the content marketing consultant Hoyreka; Patricia Jiménez, director of marketing, communication and customer experience at MetLife; and Pablo Sanz, channel account executive at HubSpot.

The conference began by analyzing the figures in Hoyreka’s 2nd Report on Content Marketing in Spain, based on surveys of professionals in this sector. One of the noteworthy details is that 95% of respondents already carry out content marketing in their company.

''Fifteen years ago it was unusual to work in content marketing, but executives are now increasingly aware of its benefits and how it can boost corporate performance. Our report shows that there is a growing tendency to plan and automate marketing activities by means of good tools,'' explained Antonio Gimeno.

Generating leads

Gimeno explained that the reasons why companies choose this type of marketing are changing. ''When the first edition of our report (based on surveys carried out in 2015) was published, the main aim of content marketing was better web positioning. One year later, 23% of respondents said that they used content marketing to generate leads, i.e. solid business contacts for their company.''

Although some say that blogs are dead, Gimeno showed that they are still the mainstays of content marketing: ''Google loves blogs. If you create content in a blog about a subject that becomes fashionable but there is hardly any information about, you’ll appear in the top search results.''

According to this report, the most common media used for content marketing are video and streaming (real-time video broadcasts). Other media now gaining a foothold are tutorials and webinars, a type of content that offers great value added.

Patricia Jiménez, director of marketing, communication and customer experience at the MetLife insurance company explained that her company had always relied on content to stay close to its customers and make inroads into the market. ''We focus on business-oriented marketing which is why we have opted for content to create more value and more business, bearing in mind that content-based strategy is a medium- and long-term strategy that yields no results in the short term,'' she explained.

Stand out and generate engagement

Patricia explained how MetLife decided to be a benchmark for its clients by giving them information about on issues they are concerned about including particularly wellbeing, lifestyle, education and health. ''We have written articles about bullying, palm oil, etc, and in one year we chalked up more than 380,000 visits to our website, more than 30,000 fans on social media and an engagement rate of 2.4%, compared with an industry average of no more than 1%. We have also won several awards,'' she said.

The videos in the campaigns focused on the family and the values that matter to their customers, with the slogan ''Insurance for what matters'', revealed that relevant contents with a focus on emotions generates very high rates of engagement with users and customers. ''You have the chance to stand out, and this is key to your SEO positioning and also your brand recognition,'' she explained.

Exploit technology

Pablo Sanz, the third guest speaker and head of the sales and marketing software at HubSpot, explained the importance of exploiting technology to generate more business, i.e. to generate quality visits to the website, convert leads and gain customers. ''HubSpot is a powerful and simple platform, a one-stop platform that lets customers edit the website, do SEO tasks and blogging, keep tabs on social media, create email marketing campaigns, etc. In other words, do inbound marketing.''

He regards inbound marketing as a marketing approach that combines a series of digital marketing tactics, such as organic positioning, payment positioning, content creation, and so on, in order to increase website traffic and convert this traffic into customers, i.e. that is, to use this strategy to create business.

As for analytics, he said that it was ''difficult to attract investment and increase marketing budgets because marketing is usually regarded more as a cost than an investment. This is because it is not usually connected to sales and because it is difficult to measure it. This is where analytics comes in, because it provides numbers to base investment on.''

The three guest speakers brought the talk to a close by emphasising that content marketing is effective, but requires patience. ''When companies are willing to invest in it they achieve results – but in the long term.'' Programme

This session organised by the ESADE Alumni Marketing Club will examine the current scenario and trends of inbound marketing and content marketing, with several case studies and a discussion of their usefulness as marketing strategies.

Also taking part will be Hubspot, the creators of the inbound marketing concept; Hoyreka!, the promoter of the 2nd Survey of Content Marketing in Spain; and MetLife, who will share the case study of Segurosdeloqueimporta, the platform for the company’s content and lead generator for its inbound strategy.

This session will reveal how to incorporate content into marketing and transform it into a tool to boost business.

Speakers:
Patricia Jiménez, ‎director of Marketing, Customer Centricity & Comunicación, Metlife Iberia
Pablo Sanz, ‎Channel Account Executive - Iberia, Hubspot
Antonio Gimeno, co-founder and director, hoyreka! – contents that sell

After the session we will offer a glass of Spanish wine For further information:
guillermo.angulo@esade.edu

Language: Spanish