The Role of Synergy in Content Marketing Success

Harnessing the power of synergy to drive marketing success is hardly a new concept. In fact, the concept goes back many decades. The Walt Disney Company, in particular, is often cited as a pioneer in creating a synergy-driven marketing advantage, licensing and cross-promoting properties across its vast network of movies, TV shows, toys, video games, books, clothing, soundtracks, and theme park rides. Importantly, this notion of a synergy-driven marketing advantage is applicable in the context of B2B content marketing and lead generation and for the purpose of raising overall brand visibility.

Consider the synergies that naturally exist between a commissioned content asset such as an eBook and a webinar. At Starfleet Media, our clients often find it beneficial to combine a co-branded eBook with a webinar in which one of our subject matter experts participates as the featured speaker. In this case, the eBook can be used as an incentive to drive event registration (“As an added bonus, all attendees will receive a complimentary copy of the new eBook.”). The eBook can also serve as an effective vehicle that the sales team can use to engage with prospects following the webinar.

Guest-eBook

Of course, the eBook can also guide content development for the webinar presentation, especially if it includes new research — also, potentially, reducing the cost of doing either project on a standalone basis. Doing both projects in conjunction can make a lot of sense both content-wise and economically.

Guest-webinar.pdf

On a related note, marketers should always be thinking in terms of content repurposing, as many of them already do. In fact, according to preliminary research findings for The 2016 Benchmark Report on B2B Content Marketing and Lead Generation, more than three-quarters (76%) of companies “often” or “almost always” repurpose at least some portion of the content that was created for one asset (e.g., an eBook or white paper) into one or more other assets (e.g., a blog post, a bylined article or an infographic).

And why not? Creating compelling content generally requires a significant investment of time and budget and, according to the research, also ranks as most content marketers’ biggest challenge. Once created, it only stands to reason that they would want to take full advantage of the investment, by distributing the content in various formats and across multiple channels and touch points. Visual elements from an eBook can be used as the basis of a new infographic. A client success story developed for a white paper can be used to create a standalone case study. Content presented by a research analyst in a webinar or other event can be repurposed into a guest blog post. And so on.

Two decades ago, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner touted the benefits of marketing synergy, saying, “One plus one adds up to four.” In applying the concept of synergy to B2B content marketing and lead generation activities, the math would seem to ring true.

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