The Digiday Content Studio prepared this piece in advance of our Digiday Brand Summit, to be held Apr. 27-29 in Nashville, Tenn.
Brands of all shapes and sizes are going all-in on content creation. But with so much to explore and experiment with, it’s easy to lose sight of your ultimate purpose.
We asked speakers from the upcoming Digiday Brand Summit to illuminate the path by offering their thoughts on the mistakes brands make in creating content. Read their answers here, then jump over to our event page to check out the agenda in more detail.
Thinking short term
“Once you decide on a direction for a project and a storyline that you and your team can get behind, don’t let others steer you in another direction part-way through the project. There is a reason you committed to the direction in the first place. Hold on to that conviction to drive the project. Too many chefs in the kitchen is never a good thing. Be thoughtful, smart and creative when developing your project, commit and move forward. No side stepping – you’ll likely trip and sometimes even fall.”
— Karen Snell, digital content lead, Cisco
Being the funny guy
“Humor is hard. If a brand wants to try it, make sure the comedy has a purpose. And the brand should never ever be the butt of the joke. The brand should never be Gilligan.”
— Erich Marx, director of digital communication, Nissan
Trying too hard
“One thing that really annoys me is when brands do things that really have nothing to do with their product or service just to get likes/shares/etc. If you aren’t a vet or pet store, don’t share little cat memes! Just stop. Be authentic and your community will reward you for it. Also, I think there are too many brands trying too hard to get in on the real-time marketing discussion. I blame Oreo. They won, and since them, everyone else has lost (maybe Audi did ok also). If you had an active second screen during the Super Bowl, it was painful.”
— Aaron Magness, vp of marketing, Betabrand
Manufacturing engagement
“Buying fans. Content will always be king, but engagement is the power behind the throne. A small engaged audience is worth far more than a large audience that is not engaged.”
— J. Kate Scott, social media manager, Overstock.com
Image via Shutterstock
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