Content marketing industry leaders want to establish a set of standards and solutions to “clearly differentiate” organic articles, blogs and other resources from advertising, after claiming that there is a common perception that “everything is content”.
A committee made up of representatives from brand giants such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise, American Express and the New York Times is hoping to solve some of the primary issues associated with content marketing. They believe the industry is currently “poorly defined” as brands are often unable to pinpoint exactly how content is distributed, measure and valued.
“Content marketing is one of the fastest growing markets in the industry, but continues to have some big challenges,” Scott Donaton, chief content officer for marketing agency, Digitas said. He also added that the industry’s players to come together to “agree on benchmarks and create some standards and bring a lot more coherence to the content marketplace.”
Metrics, measurements and analytics have regularly been cited as a blindspot for content marketers during the last 18 months. A letter from the committee has called on stakeholders to develop a standard set of “frameworks for measurement”, in addition to outlining “ideal content processes.
The representatives said branded content must now be viewed as an accountable business investment rather than a mere added value activity, and that there was a need for clarity across the board. The New York Times exec, Sebastian Tomich added: “We really feel like there’s a lot more good to be had by paying attention to the space.”
