Brands in every business sector are responding to the transformative change in the media landscape caused by the increased growth of mobile phone use for media consumption. No longer are brands focused on traditional media placement and advertising; todays successful brands are built upon content and customer engagement. This is being done through content marketing.
Content marketing focuses on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action. After all, the purpose of any marketing effort should be to drive business.
Examples abound, but consider Marriott International; we know Marriott as the largest hotel company in the world with a variety of well-known brands including Ritz-Carlton and Gaylord Hotels. “We are a media company now,” said David Beebe, Marriott’s vice president of global creative. He further explains, “First and foremost, [the goal] is to engage consumers. Get them to associate with our brands, build lifetime value with them. Content’s a great way to do that.”
Closer to home, consider Vail Valley Partnership; you know us as your regional chamber of commerce, but we are making it even easier for members to promote their business through our online content channels. We’re invested in content marketing as well, and are providing a range of new features for local businesses through the new Member Login portal on VailValleyPartnership.com. Leveraging our reach and our content channels allows local businesses to grow their online presence by leveraging our reach both locally and to destination visitors.
Member organizations are now empowered and given full authority over their online presence. Through the new login portal, member businesses have immediate access to update business listings, upload events to the online calendars, post and manage job listings, and add news to the newsroom. These new options allow members to easily access all of their available benefits in order to better support business growth and engagement with the community, and to build an online presence outside their own social and earned media channels.
Many businesses rely on business listings (think the traditional yellow pages) to drive awareness and online traffic. User generated content such as Yelp and TripAdvisor own this space, but local visitor information sites such as VisitVailValley.com and local chamber business sites such as VailValleyPartnership.com are important tools as well. Businesses can now update their online listing to conveniently make changes to their listing in the business directory including contact information, website, business description, and business category.
Events drive engagement as well, and must be properly promoted to ensure customers are aware of the details. We now allow member organizations to directly post events to our valley-wide event calendars. This new function allows timely access to post, update, or change events on the online calendars available on VailValleyPartnership.com and VisitVailValley.com. Through this function, members can categorize their events into several selections including live music, educational event, volunteer opportunity, or networking event. The Partnership promotes these events in our web content, social media, and visitor newsletters, making the event calendar an important tool for local businesses, towns, and nonprofits looking to increase attendance at their events.
The local labor market is increasingly challenging and doesn’t show any signs of improving. Due to this, our job listings page is a popular feature for members. Businesses now have the flexibility to post new job openings, but also update them as needed, remove them once the position has been filled, and extend the expiration date if necessary.
Content of any kind – including press releases, visitor tips, sales, or most anything else – can be posted directly to our newsroom. The newsroom is essentially our blog feature, one that empowers members to share newsworthy items with other members and the public. Sharing remarkable and important information on your business has never been easier, and we’ll repurpose your content through our distribution channels to expand awareness of your business and our community.
Members (at silver level) also now have direct access to visitor contact information; we allow visitors to opt-in to receive more information on interests such as real estate, equipment rentals, lodging, transportation, activities, and dining. Your business can follow up directly with these visitors to drive business to your front door.
Unlike Marriott International, we have no illusion of becoming a media company now or in the future. But we do strive to stay on top of marketing trends, and we do continually focus on adding value to our business members and the community by curating content and allowing our members to leverage our communication channels to reach customers to grow their business. That’s a role we embrace, and we look forward to pushing your messaging and helping you grow your content marketing efforts.
Chris Romer is president & CEO of Vail Valley Partnership