Started as a makeshift shelter in Covid crisis, content marketing turns mainstay for brands

The world has changed with the Covid-19 pandemic. So has the way most businesses operate and communicate. Many traditional and largely offline businesses, which until now had not taken the digital content plunge, have made the big shift. And since online is quicker, easier to measure and is more cost-effective, most brands have started to invest in digital content.

Content marketing plays both a strategic role (for long term) as well as a tactical role in a brand’s communication strategy.

But will these brands, which have just started experimenting with content marketing, stick to it for a longer period after having understood its benefits, especially in the times of crisis? Or, is it just a tactical phase?

Kumar Deb Sinha

Kumar Deb Sinha, Executive Vice-President, Dentsu Aegis Network and Country Head, The Story Lab India, while explaining how strategic content marketing engages with its viewers and over a period of time converts the viewers into consumers, brand advocates and loyalists, said, “There are tactical opportunities available every now and then, to create buzz, piggyback on an opportunity (scheduled event/unscheduled occurrence) or ride with an influencer or celebrity. What we have seen over the last few months is that many brands have engaged in tactical content marketing, and they have reaped desired benefits as well, including HDFC or Godrej Hair Crème.”

While brands such as Aashirvaad with ‘Everyday Ashirvaad Atta Recipe’ are witnessing higher engagement on its YouTube channel, other such as Godrej Hair Dye with Karan Johar for #HairLikeKaran or HDFC Bank anthem with AR Rahman and other singers (Hum Haar Nahin Maanenge) have generated quite a buzz on social media. Dairy brand Amul’s Facebook Live has garnered consumers’ affinity.

Amul Facebook Live:

HDFC ‘Hum Haar Nahin Maanenge’:

Godrej Expert Rich Crème for #HairLikeKaran:

Sinha said strategic content marketing is a long-winding journey, and marketers with serious intent and belief embark on this voyage. However, with success, many brands will continue their journey of tactical content marketing even in the future.

“Converting themselves into strategic content marketers will need a shift in mindset from quick wins to playing the long game,” he said.

Shamik Ghosh

Shamik Ghosh, Head of Content at Paisabazaar.com, said content would be part of the long-term strategy, at least for the larger brands.

Smita Murarka

At the same time, Smita Murarka, Vice-President, Marketing and E-commerce, Duroflex, asked brands not to see content marketing as trend. “The forms keep changing. But it should always be an integral part to what a brand speaks and stands for. You cannot be opportunistic. Jumping on a bandwagon is not sustainable,” she said.

Shriram Iyer

What may have begun as a reactive measure to the pandemic, Shriram Iyer, Chief Creative and Content Officer, Tilt Brand Solutions, believes will and must become proactive work for the brands.

“Brands will benefit most from sustained presence and engagement through content. Processes, however, will separate the meaningful and effective time content from the noise. Calendarised events, better social listening, better insight mining, better understanding of cohorts within the larger target groups, etc., will help streamline the content to better serve the brand,” he added.

Prachi Bali

Prachi Bali, Business Head, North, FoxyMoron, said, “ Digital hasn’t been a priority for a lot of businesses up until now because it always has been a smaller portion of their sales. Now that there is a greater chance of the sales happening online and as the consumer is actively shopping and looking for alternatives online, digital becomes a priority. I think businesses will certainly understand the benefits of digital better, the ability to communicate across the funnel, the agility it provides as well as it being a more economical platform. I’m hoping that content marketing will become a larger part of their marketing strategy moving forward. I do believe that brands will continue to create and adopt digital content in a big way.”

Content consumption has clearly increased multifold and is greater than ever right now. So is the flock of new marketers in this space.

It is obvious that if more brands are serious about this strategy for a longer run, there should be a clear indication in increased spends.

Increase in content marketing spends?

Iyer believes spends usually are a function of faith in ideas and results.

Creators with a better understanding of the brand will be able to create content that delivers and that in turn will help marketers sign off on better budgets, he said.

While Ghosh would like to believe that those who have begun focussing on content during the pandemic are doing it from a long-term perspective because a start-stop approach may not work, he said that to drive engagement and grab eyeballs, there would be more focus, if not spends for everybody, on creating content.

"I think brands should be investing in content that works harder and smarter, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be more expensive. I think brands will continue to spend to create more content which is relevant to the audience in this ‘new normal’. As of now I think everyone is gearing up for the festive season, post which we will get a clear idea on projections," said Bali. 

Shradha Agarwal

Shradha Agarwal, COO at Grapes Digital, said the number of content pieces is definitely increasing, but the overall cost may or may not increase and it completely depends from brand to brand.

“The reason for increased volume not being proportionate to increased spends are cheaper ways of producing content and competitive markets. But in totality we are already seeing an average 35% jump in content pieces being produced by us for our current clients already,” she said.

However, Sinha foresees an organic growth of tactical content associations in the future, and doesn’t see any change in strategic content associations in the long term.

In fact, he said there might be reduced spends in this genre of content associations in the next one year as marketers will be averse to taking risks.

Apart from this, the pandemic has been a great leveller and a school of education for brands to thoroughly understand and experience the benefits of content marketing, especially the power of good organic content. 

India is a country of consumption. So, one would always have an audience.

But of course, to win in the long term, your content has to be engaging and be able to meet the needs of the audience as well.

What can make you win the game for a longer term?

The biggest advantage of quality content done over a significant period of time is that it helps garner organic traffic and views, which brings a lot of positive equity to the brand. But that cannot happen overnight.

Therefore, Ghosh advised brands to build content consistently and measure it over time to make the most of it.

As long as brands measure their content and do it effectively over the long run with a focussed approach and adjust and adapt accordingly, he said they would see the benefits coming and it would become an integral part of their marketing strategy.

However, Sinha said the efficacy of content is still measured by media reach parameters. He urged brands not to be inconsistent with strategic content marketing.

“It follows a vision of creating a persona of the brand in the consumer's life. It takes time to create a persona of the brand, which has to be lived over time with the product and the messaging. One cannot be inconsistent in this journey. Inconsistency erodes trust. And that’s why strategic content marketing needs to be consistent over time,” he added.

Over the years, we all have seen Nike and how it has created a persona of the brand with its product and messaging. And its content marketing efforts reinforce that persona every time. It is not a tactical choice to piggyback an event or a movement, but a long-term commitment to the viewers and consumers. 

Consistency is the key in communicating with the consumer, regardless of the platform, but especially on digital because it is archived there for eternity.

The brand ethos and personality needs to remain consistent, no matter what the objective — whether it is to drive awareness for a new product or to drive sales for the top-selling product.

Therefore, Bali too agreed that it is imperative brands remain consistent in their core messaging and what they stand for.

Apart from being consistent in messaging, Agarwal advised brands to be consistent with their frequency, innovative formats, trending conversations and driving call to action as well.

Murarka said content marketing starts with a basic product content, moves on to the communication and then to the conversation. So, it has to be always a part of the regular campaign plan for the brand.