There’s a growing realization that features and functions don’t win market share alone, which means more marketers are getting a seat in the c-suite.
And whether you’re already there or want to join them…
You need to remember that a rockstar CMO’s job is creating ART.
In this takeover episode, Barb Mosher Zinck speaks with Ian Truscott, Founder of Rockstar CMO and Head of Content at iManage, about why great marketers turn content into ART.
The ART of marketing
If you want to rise to the level of CMO, you obviously need to be taken seriously by the c-suite you plan on joining.
Even if you are already there, you’ll likely want to prove your value in the role.
That takes a laser-focus on improving the metrics that really matter for marketers in a business — not the vanity metrics that many marketers mistakenly key in on.
Luckily, there are really only 3 fundamental areas all of your metrics should be built around — and they turn marketing into ART:
- Awareness
- Revenue
- Trust
“Marketing needs to remember that its role in the business is to do three things: Get awareness. Get revenue. And get trust.”
And, in an age when businesses are obsessed with growth hacking, let’s just look at these in terms of growth.
Awareness
This one is mostly self explanatory — if new customers aren’t aware your solution exists and that you can solve their problems, then they are going to look elsewhere.
If you want to grow, you need awareness.
But awareness is also ensuring not just that you are known, but that you are first in mind when your customers encounter that problem.
Revenue
This is perhaps the most important for the aspiring or newly-crowned CMO looking to prove themselves to the c-suite, where revenue is the central concern. (Of course, changing the order is a bit of a problem — we’d get stuck with a lot of RAT or TAR wordplay, neither of which have quite the same appeal.)
If you say you want growth, you ultimately are saying you want to increase revenue — otherwise, what’s the point of growing?
Trust
Trust is everything. Without building trust with your customers, all the awareness in the world won’t help you grow your business.
Trust is how you turn awareness into revenue.
If you are going to grow, it’s because your customers trust you to solve their problems.
Finding your tribe
Successfully building art is the ladder to the c-suite and the way you build ART is through content.
But not all content is created equal.
To illustrate, let me give you a scenario:
Your company trains a cat to wear a tux and play the piano — then your marketing department places that video front and center on your website.
You’re going to get a ton of attention, right? You’ll have more visitors than you ever thought possible.
But how many of them will actually be interacting with your brand?
Yeah, probably next to none. You created great content, but for the wrong audience.
You need to discover your tribe.
“Discover who your tribe is and really lean into those people. This may mean creating content that other people won’t like, but they may not be your people.”
This is why content gimmicks don’t work. You need to be catering to your buyers — their needs, their problems, and their interests.
And that might exclude some people, but who cares? If it does, then those weren’t your buyers in the first place.
You want your content to set you up as a trusted leader in your community. Thought leadership gets you awareness, builds trust and, ultimately, drives revenue.
On word of caution, though: Don’t go overboard branding your thought leadership content.
Many potential buyers will be weary of the information if it seems like a trap to take their money. Similarly, buyers and influencers may be unlikely to share the content if they believe it makes them look like they are shilling for your organization rather than finding the content valuable.
The shadow business within every organization
Content builds ART. ART is foundational to the growth of any organization. And that growth is how marketing is becoming more relevant at the upper echelons of business.
And while, yes, it is marketing’s primary responsibility…ART is too important to be siloed in one department.
That’s why in the most successful businesses, content is everybody’s responsibility.
“There’s a shadow business inside of every business: the production of content.”
After all, no matter which department we’re in, we are all working to grow the business, right?
So, if content is how you do that, everyone has a part to play in creating it. That’s why Ian refers to it as a shadow business in every company.
If you want to create the best content you can, you need to break down the invisible walls forming your organizational silos.
The more information each department has on the why behind the tasks they perform for other departments, the better equipped they will be to help your marketing team craft killer content.
The best way to turn content into ART is together.
This is a #FlipMyFunnel podcast. Check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or here.
And if a thriving community of growth-oriented marketers sounds like your kind of place, be sure to check out PEAK Community.
