What’s not to like about LEGOs? Most of us have spent more than a few hours playing with them.

A brand recognized around the world, and one that inspires global brand loyalty — something a competitor like Mega Blocks does not — there’s much to be admired. Who would think that LEGO was a master of content marketing? Or that they successfully started content marketing about 20 years ago with their Bricks Kicks and Mania magazines?

Spend a few minutes on the LEGO Club site and you’ll learn a lot about content marketing. Not only does the site appeal to kids, it packs a punch with parents too (just like the LEGO bricks themselves). The LEGO club site allows LEGO fans to “connect” with one another — they can see each other’s Cool Creations or find a calendar of family-friend events that are all about having fun with LEGOs. They can sign up for emails, become a BrickMaster, submit a news story (i.e., become a brand ambassador), get building tips and ideas, share photos of LEGO creations, enter a Comic Captions contest, or get the inside dirt on cool designs and new products. They can also download LEGO screen savers, wallpapers and activities (like “build your own shield” designs), play a wide range of games and view comics and movies. Everything a lover of LEGOs could possibly desire.

How did I discover all this? I have my sister to thank for sharing the BrickMaster idea — on Facebook no less. I couldn’t resist — I had to check it out. Coupons, six sets of LEGOs and an annual magazine! My kids loved it.

And once I was there, we were blown away by the Design by Me function: you can download digital software to design and produce your own LEGO creation, including the nifty little catalog that helps you build it. Better yet, they encouraged kids to “honor their moms” with a custom-created LEGO set. Not only could I get a great Mother’s Day gift, what a great birthday gift for my kids and their friends! We are hooked.

And it doesn’t end there. We kept exploring and found the My LEGO Network — yes, a social networking site for children that let’s them share everything that’s LEGO to them — they can create their own web page, share designs and ideas, and even trade virtual LEGOs.

The point is this — we just kept exploring and never found an end to content we couldn’t wait to devour. And we keep going back.

I know what you’re thinking — “I’m not LEGO.” No, but if you can produce content that helps your customers and prospects solve a problem, anticipate a need or address other interests germane to your service and product offerings — they will come. And come again. That means supplying them with original content you’ve created and also sharing third-party content that you know will tweak their interest. It means helping them learn and making it fun and easy to do so on a wide variety of traditional and digital platforms — be it catalogues, websites or social media channels.

Get creative with your content. Build it. Share it. And “LEGO” of it in the digital sphere.

When a company embraces customer engagement as a core marketing strategy, that company has moved well beyond customer satisfaction.  Those companies realize that satisfying customers is not enough.  Customer engagement means connecting to customers and prospects on such an emotional level that they have a need to seek you out for credible information, to interact with you, even contributing their perspectives and opinions about your brand.  The deeper they engage, the more connected they become.  The more connected they become, the more committed they are and the more they recommend your brand to others. 

Gallup Consulting, creators of the CE¹¹ customer engagement metric, categorizes customers into four distinct groups ranging from actively disengaged to fully engaged.

Gallup defines actively disengaged customers as emotionally detached and actively antagonistic. It defines fully engaged as emotionally attached and rationally loyal — your most valuable customers. Gallup CE research proves how valuable they are — , customers who are fully engaged represent an average 23 percent premium in terms of share of wallet, profitability, revenue, and relationship growth over the average customer. 

So, if customer engagement is the best new measurement of marketing success, then content marketing has to be the best new marketing strategy to achieve that success. 

Today’s customers have big appetites for information.  If you’re not continually feeding them fresh information — meaty, relevant and very valuable information designed to satisfy their different appetites — you’re not marketing. We’re talking content like white papers, case studies, insights into product application, and video demonstrations.

Further, if you’re not delivering that content in ways that can be easily measured, you’re not evaluating your level of customer engagement.  You need to use highly measureable Web-based media channels — like Web sites and social media. 

Then drive customers and prospects to the places they can find you’re content — otherwise you’re just wasting your advertising and promotion dollars. The value of traditional offline media advertising increases when you leverage it to promote your content, rather than be your content.

So if you want to be among those world-class companies who have embraced customer engagement as their new objective for marketing effectiveness, start by creating compelling content.  Offer that content in easy-to-measure places where your customers hang out. Then use your promotional budget to take people to those places and measure your level of engagement.

Press releases are no longer a one-trick pony. It used to be that the primary function of a press release was to entice the media to share your latest and greatest news. Your primary audience was a targeted set of journalists and your primary message centered on your business — not your customers.

That’s no longer the case. Today, press releases have a variety of purposes and audiences. You’re not just reaching out to journalists, but thanks to the Internet and social media, you’re speaking to targeted audiences on the Internet. And your content delivery platform isn’t limited to your website, a print publication or digital magazine —  Facebook, Twitter, RSS feeds and search engines can drive people to your content as well.

This isn’t to say that media relations and the established contacts you have with journalists are a thing of the past. They are still an important part of your strategy — and one that complements your own publishing ventures.

First, rethink the content in your press releases. Don’t just talk about your product or service — write releases that solve problems for a distinct audience and demonstrate how your product solves that problem. Then drive your audience to more content by providing embedded links to your relevant webinars or case studies. Make sure those links take them directly to the webinar or case study — not your home page.

Repurpose releases for your different audiences. You know how to speak to the media, but do you know how to speak to your customers? Your sales team can be very helpful when it comes to speaking the language of your customers, or to defining your customers’ needs and how you can address them in a press release. Don’t speak as a marketer and don’t talk “around” the subject. Be direct and informative — provide value to your customers.

Make certain you optimize your releases for searching and browsing. What key words will your audience use? Figure it out, then pepper your release with those phrases. Next time they search out ways to “reduce out-of-stocks” they’ll find your release and click on your embedded links — as long as you’ve included those keywords in your copy. And don’t use generic “click here” phrases for your embedded link. If they’re clicking on a link to a webinar, have them click on keywords. As an example, “Need strategies to improve retail sales? Our online webinar, Maximize Retail Sales with Minimized Out of Stocks, is the place to start.”

Stop hiding your press room and segment releases, case studies and white papers by audience so they’re easy to find. Keep your press room current, and have a separate section touting company wins that illustrate growth and thought leadership.

Finally, share your releases with the media, use a wire service that provides RSS news feeds, post your releases to your website and share them — and allow them to be shared — through your social media channels.

You’re going to hear a lot about content marketing in 2010 and 2011, and if you’re not hearing it from your marketing team, you might want to ask them why.  In my upcoming column in Central Wisconsin Business, I go into detail about content marketing, and how to do it, but essentially, it’s the practice of putting content first, ahead of the platform for distributing content (Web sites, brochures, videos and TV commercials to name a few), which is so old school.  It’s an approach that delivers relevant and compelling content to segmented audiences in a manner that actually makes them look forward to receiving your messages.  Oh, and by the way, it’s a lot less expensive than traditional efforts.

So, here are a few content marketing truths to consider: Forget your primary Web site as your most important communication tool.  It’s not.  It’s your blog, and the content on your blog is who you are and how you’re perceived.  And if you don’t have a blog, you don’t have a voice.

Nearly 90 million people generated content last year, and that’s only counting people and companies that did it at least once per month all year.  It seems to me that any company could and would benefit from a content marketing strategy, particularly when you know your audience is waiting to receive your great content.

It’s important to remember, patent laws aside, your competitors can mimic everything you’ve got with the exception of your brand.  And guess what?  Content is a huge part of your brand.  Your research, white papers, case studies, your insights, they’re all part of who you are, and they can’t take that away from you.

It’s a buyer’s market out there, and not just because of the recession, and it will be for a long time.  The entire sales motion is completely inverted from what it was.  Compelling content will allow you to be part of the sales mix, and your understanding of the industries you serve, and the entire notion of content marketing, will differentiate you from the pack.  If you don’t believe me, remember all those trade publications you read, or you used to read?  For the most part they’re thinner than ever.  Why?  Because you’re getting content elsewhere; so why not be your own publisher?

It’s not about what you sell — it’s about what your customer wants to know.

Is your company too self centered? Answer the following.

• Are your digital ads product focused?
• Is your “mission statement” front and center on your homepage?
• Are your case studies and white papers buried in your website?
• Is your company the focus of every Tweet or Facebook post?
• Is it “me, me, me” in your blogs?

If you answered yes, to any of the above, you need to adjust your focus. Sit down. Make a list of your customer’s top 10 concerns. Then address them in digital ads, white papers, case studies, blogs, posts and Tweets. And make it holistic.

Here’s an example. A digital ad — “Being eaten alive by inventory costs? The top 10 supply chain management strategies to get you through the recession are just a click away.” The interested party clicks on the ad and immediately arrives at your non-promotional white paper. On Facebook, share an article from CPG Matters about recession-driven supply chain retailer concerns and embed the link to your white paper. Then Tweet that same article. And blog about each of the top 10 strategies — one at a time over the next two weeks.  Intersperse those posts with other industry-leading articles that apply to supply chain management. Strike a balance.

The more avenues of access you provide people, the easier it is for them to find the information they need. And to find you.

As I begin this column, Starbucks has 5,658,146 Facebook friends on its fan page. In July 2009 the company passed Coca-Cola to become the most popular corporate brand on the social network site. Since then it has added about two million more fans.

Most social media experts rate Starbucks at or near the top in terms of companies who have embraced and benefited by social media. That might not be surprising to you. Big company, big resources. They can do all kinds of snazzy stuff on their fan page, right?

Right. Except that’s not what Starbucks is doing. The company’s fan page on Facebook isn’t anywhere near the most sophisticated, application-heavy fan page out there. Budweiser’s has a feature that lets fans watch three Bud commercials and pick the one they’d like to see aired during the Super Bowl. Coke Zero’s features a “Facial Profiler” application that takes your photo and matches it with another person who resembles you. Both are fun, interactive and far beyond the budget of the average medium sized or small business wanting to generate fans for its page.

Not so with Starbucks. With the exception of some company videos, there’s little that even a mom and pop business can’t replicate. The company’s wall is dominated by fan posts. (Take note that not all of them are favorable and that Starbucks isn’t freaking out about that.) The company encourages fans to post videos and photos. Those posts run the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous. But a Facebook fan page is communal property and Starbucks does a good job of letting the fans take ownership.

The company also does a great job with status updates. Every few days Starbucks posts an update. It might be a video, interesting information about employees, reviews of new music and books they sell at the stores or an offer. Last summer Starbucks promoted their ice cream by giving away coupons for free pints to Facebook fans. You don’t have to give away 800 pints an hour like Starbucks did to make this work. And it doesn’t have to be free ice cream – it can be coupon savings, information, a free consultation, etc. You’ll draw fans to the page and keep them coming back if from time to time you offer them something special for being part of your community.

In the time it took me to write this column, Starbucks added 1,196 fans. No smoke. No mirrors. Just good, smart engagement with the public.

Steve Coss is a Creative Director at TMA+Peritus: A Strategic Interaction Agency. Find them online at www.tmaperitus.com or offline in their offices in Wausau and Madison.

Do you consider yourself a Creator, Critic, Joiner, Spectator or Conversationalist? In a recently published Ad Age article, Josh Bernoff provided a chart that defined each of these levels of social media participation. According to North American Technographics Empowerment Online Survey, seventy percent of U.S. adults online are categorized as Spectators — they read blogs or tweets, listen to podcasts, or watch video from other users at least once a month. Less than one in four adult online users are categorized as Creators — those who publish a blog or web pages, upload original videos, audio or music, or write and post articles or stories.

Why are 3 out of 4 online users passively absorbing the content that 1 in 4 is providing? Perhaps it’s because an overwhelming 3 out of 4 of us really don’t understand what social networking is all about.

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Make 2010 the year you “do some good.” Whether it’s donating to victims of the earthquake in Haiti or bowling for your local chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters — social media platforms have leveled the playing ground, making it just as easy for a small entrepreneur or multimillion-dollar conglomerate to play a philanthropic role in the community.

Why should you expend energy on “giving?” Besides the obvious answer — because you can make a difference — there are some business advantages. Remember, “community” no longer defines a geographical region just outside your door. It represents a larger, virtual online community populated by your fans, customers and prospective customers. People talk about you in these virtual communities. And they share your links, events, white papers and postings.

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When it comes to social media, businesses usually make one of two mistakes. They rush into it faster than a doped-up sprinter without realizing the consequences of their actions, or they stick their toe in the water — ever so slightly — making it utterly impossible to see any results.

To avoid the predictable, which is no measurable results from your social media efforts, you must adopt a point of view, or POV.

Before you do that, it’s imperative that you subscribe to the philosophy that we spend so much time trying to be understood and not enough time understanding. If you have trouble agreeing with that belief, it’s almost a certainty that you’ll have trouble with social media.

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Retailers, it’s time to help out those of us who still have presents to buy. How? Social media. It’s the fastest, most direct way to let me know what sales you’re running, text me special offers and allow me to contact you directly to find out if the gift I want is in stock.

In a survey conducted by Harris Interactive, 33 percent of cell phone owners ages 35 to 44 are interested in receiving alerts about sales from their favorite establishments. Among 18- to 34-year-olds, that percentage jumps to 42. And yet, only 1 percent of cell phone owners currently receive alerts from retailers. With consumers so willing, retailers need to respond. A retail “Field of Dreams”: If you alert them, they will shop.

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