Imagine what you would prefer: walking down a street blindfolded or with earplugs in. We’re going to guess you said you’d prefer to be wearing earplugs. Why is that an easy prediction? Because humans are highly visual beings. Given the chance, humans will opt to trust their eyes over their other senses most of the time. Smell a fire? You’re likely to investigate it with your eyes first (and put it out or flee) before simply trusting your nose. This is because our brains are wired – with over 50% of the cortex (the surface of the brain) – dedicated to vision. That makes vision our primary sense. Keeping all of this in mind, marketers can leverage this insight to create more compelling content marketing.
Content marketing isn’t new but lots of marketers still think it is.
Technically, the first content marketing – the sharing of ideas to others based on a medium – was cave paintings. We’ve certainly come a long way since then but maintaining a focus on the basics of communications is critical.
To explore how and why content marketing works – and how we can make it better – In Partnership With saw an opportunity to connect with Muzafar Malik. He is the Founder and Executive Producer at uncle, a full service production for content and event projects. Muzafar has over 20 years of experience in this space, plus expertise in cinematography and editing. With these skills, he has captured exceptional content for the EY Entrepreneur of The Year Awards, the Institute of Corporate Directors, the Toronto Stock Exchange and more. Muzafar is also the Co-Founder of Split The Difference Productions which produced the award winning feature film, Webdultery.
The Pull (Not Push) of Content Marketing
Muzafar is part of a generation that came from the launch of the internet which opened content marketing opportunities to levels never seen before. His education evolved by going to film school, taking psychology and communications before moving to television production. Throughout his studies and into his career, Muzafar saw firsthand how content was becoming the main way of communicating to a specific audience. Using a visual medium has become the key way to communicate information to people – and this is only increasing with younger generations. Muzafar reminds that YouTube gets consumed more than anything else on the internet. He finds this fascinating but makes sense with his psychology training.
Content marketing is most effective to attract customers, rather than to chase them.
Good content informs, educates, entertains and inspires, reminds Muzafar. All marketers want their customers to trust their brands and engage with them. Content marketing often has a long shelf life and the publishers of this content can differentiate their brands as thought leaders. How? You want to create content that is relevant to your audience that is targeted to them. Of course, it’s critical to catch their eye with your content for this to happen. Then, you try to build a relationship with them and that’s where the long shelf life can be leveraged.
Muzafar suggests we should all want to grow our businesses while being connected. You want to attract (and ultimately you want to close) so you want to delight in the emotion that gets shared. The best, most effective content is to ensure you’re not being sales-y. You want to want to tap into the emotional side of your audience.
Planning for Effective Content Marketing
Muzafar believes that really understanding what your brand is all about plus studying your audience is essential. Explore where are they going in person and online. Where are they consuming their content? How can your brand provide value and intercept consumers in an authentic way? It really depends for each campaign and each target.
Once you’ve answered these questions, you can start to craft a strategy on what kind of content is going to keep your audiences interested. This, all while making sure that your content is relevant.
You want to really attack on that emotional side of things and make sure customers keep on coming back.
That’s where research and experience come into play. When you create something new, having a testing plan is imperative. Take a look at what other people are doing as well. Muzafar encourages us to get creative and analyse everything you see online. In a way, he says, it’s is a test case for you. If you see a competitor with a lot of views or likes on a certain image, you can gauge a certain emotion. Again, it goes back to visuals that surprise in order to connect. Then, explore – within your own authentic brand imagery and voice – how you can differentiate while still tapping into that emotion.
Getting Creative (Again and Again)
We know there’s a lot of people who seem have perpetual writer’s block. And this is a reality despite knowing for their own personal or professional development that they want to be more visible online. They just don’t know what to talk about or they’re perhaps nervous about sharing an opinion. It’s easy to have self doubt creep in. Muzafar suggests for new content creators, they have to just jump in and try it – there’s no secrets here. For somebody who already has content out there, they have a voice and they have a message, they may need to reinvent themselves. This may mean finding a way to expand on the next stage of their message.
For brands, Muzafar thinks the best brands keep it simple. They don’t try to say too much. So they simply say exactly what they need to say to reinforce their brands. And yes, it sounds easier than it is because the ones who do a good job really grab your attention and make you feel something.
Effective content marketing brands never lose sight of their core. They associate everything to it and it connects in powerful ways.
Sure, these brands are making adjustments to adapt to the times but their brand essence doesn’t change.
Dig Deeper >> Read more about building a brand platform to attract attention over the long term with the co-founders of cleansheet, the agency behind many of Canada’s most audacious launches and re-positionings
What To Do and What to Avoid
Since we know content marketing is all about about making an emotional impact, let’s explore what’s working and what’s not. Muzafar recalls last summer watching a McDonald’s TV commercial where two people are talking at opposite ends of a bench. One person wanted to eat the other person’s fries. But, he was stopped in his tracks with the other saying, “sorry, we’ve got to be socially distant.” Everyone knows about the temptation of McDonald’s fries and that they’re great to share. That hasn’t changed. What the spot was able to do was use the current times to cleverly promote their product. It’s especially relevant, Muzafar notes, since we all have to make fun of ourselves and continue on with life, even during COVID. The ad stuck with him since he thinks people don’t want to be reminded of the pandemic in a negative light. We’re all surrounded by that.
Today, when you promote your product, you want to relate it, or at least have something socially conscious, to the pandemic in there.
You also want to make it light hearted, fun and remind people that we’re all moving forward in this world together.
Whatever you do, stay away from simply trying to sell something directly. Don’t talk about facts or figures or a product or a price tag. If you have a product you’re selling, show your target consumer how it relates to them on their terms. Show how it can affect that person because that’s where you’re going to have people relate and identify to that brand. That’s how you can best attract and delight your audience.
The one thing that has surprised Muzafar the most over the years is the impact of saying less. Just being true and just saying exactly what you need to say. Be straight to the point. But, of course, this is best done by seeing clearly how you can do so in a fun and engaging way with great visuals to connect based on how we’re all wired.
In Partnership With
Muzafar Malik is the Founder and Executive Producer at uncle, a full service production for content and event projects. He has over 20 years of experience in this space, plus expertise in cinematography and editing. With these skills, he has captured exceptional content for the EY Entrepreneur of The Year Awards, the Institute of Corporate Directors, the Toronto Stock Exchange and more. Muzafar is also the Co-Founder of Split The Difference Productions which produced the award winning feature film, Webdultery.
Tim Bishop, CM is a multi-disciplined executive with a proven record of optimizing strategic efforts to expand the influence of leading organizations, such as the Canadian Marketing Association, Cineplex Entertainment, Lavalife.com, IMI International and Northstar Research Partners. In Partnership With is his latest focus to curate Canadian marketing experts to celebrate the power of strategic partnerships in a perspective-based content series.