Video Transcript

I want to talk to you today about content distribution. Particularly when you think about how do I get my content out to the world and get it found by the people that I want to see it? What decisions should I be making?

Now there are literally dozens of different channels that you can get your content into — between social, between paid channels, all the different platforms. Are you looking at influencers? Are you looking at email?  All these different channels.

The biggest question that we have to solve is where is our audience at and what are they looking for? If we can solve those two questions, that will help us understand the type of content we need to produce and then the distribution. Where do we need to get it? As you think about examples of what this type of content distribution looks like, part of our research has shown us that things like super detailed white papers or webinars — they can be effective to attract the type of people that want to learn more about marketing.

But they’re not always effective at attracting the type of key decision-makers that typically are the ones that make the decision to work with a consultancy. Rather, those type of leaders are looking to get to know people, looking to get to know culture, looking to say, Hey, if I sign with you and I talk to your president or your salesperson and then I get passed off to the execution team, is that execution team any good?

Well, that’s why we create a lot of videos of our own thought leadership, and we put our people on camera so that they can see that beyond just the salesperson or the few people that they might talk to, the rest of the team is really brilliant and has lots of really good ideas and is passionate about marketing.

So for Element Three in particular, when we think about our distribution channels, we know that video has to be a means to do that. We know that that needs to be on LinkedIn where we can We know we need to be in business publications and we have to have something meaningful to say. So that’s how you can think about, for us, where distribution is a matter of getting the right content in front of the right audience. We know that the audience is probably not downloading PDFs off of our website, but they’re in their social platforms.

They’re looking for content that’s genuine and shows a depth of knowledge and a passion about the job that they’re about to hire us to do. When I think about distribution in the RV industry, this is one of those industries where the website is typically a place that’s not really generating demand. It’s capturing demand. The website is a capture point where audiences come to to look at different products, to download brochures, to use a build your RV feature.

But when it comes to generating demand and you think about how do we get our content in front of the right people, you have to go to where those people are. Our viewers are outdoor enthusiasts. They’re travel people. They’re not looking to necessary be sold in a product moment and a demand moment from an awareness perspective.

You need to be where they are. So that’s the type of forums where people are talking about outdoor adventure or where they’re talking about travel plans. It’s in social media and Instagram, maybe even TikTok, Facebook, these type of places where the beautiful photography that I get to take when I’m on a trip to a national park or the experiences that I have with my family, what’s that experiential lifestyle? That’s where
when you think about generating demand, you need to be in channels that are celebrating things that are related to the RV lifestyle, right?

Use that to build your brand and use it to build your awareness and then drive them back to your website as a capture point. And that’s where it moves from the generating awareness and generating demand, to now capturing demand and starting to help them understand your products.

So if you’re thinking, I need to find new distribution or the things that we’re doing today are not working, what I would challenge you to do as a marketer is to think through where is my audience at? Where does my audience spend time?

How can I get away from my desk and even do some like physical research, go on location to where your products and services are actually utilized, sit back and observe, you know, be a good listener and a good observer in the world, whether that’s forums, whether that’s marketplaces, whether that’s where a product or service is utilized, get up and go to where the customers are and observe.

It’s also going to conferences, listening about what thought leaders and experts are talking about. It’s using your ears and your eyes to observe the world around your products and services, to understand how are your customers or potential customers interacting with it.

What type of questions do they have? That will both inform how you need to get that market out, that channel out, and what you need to produce in order to make a meaningful connection with those perspective audiences.