Jeanne Miller, communications manager with Tecplot, Inc., recently forwarded me an interesting article from BtoB magazine about how changes in the discipline of marketing are driving organizational changes.
The article focuses on how business-to-business marketing teams at Intel Corp., Sybase and Xerox Corp. are “rethinking the organizational structures and even their cultures” so they can generate more content. According to BtoB magazine, to make content development easier, b-to-b marketers with these companies are hiring former journalists and creating editorial calendars to govern what is used in advertising, on websites or in social media campaigns.
The April 4 article, entitled “Content needs to drive organizational changes,” is an interesting read, but generating content and the need to rethink the structures of marketing departments is an issue consumer companies and nonprofit organizations are facing as well. This is not a challenge unique to b-to-b marketers.
From our work with Seattle Children’s hospital I know that the marketing, public relations and social media teams confront many similar challenges as the companies mentioned in the BtoB magazine article.
Zillow, the practical website that helps individuals understand real estate values or find rental property, is also using content to drive consumer awareness via its blog, news coverage (Zillow is a source of content for Fox News, for example) and social media. Consider these two blog posts.
- 80K the Non-Distressed Way: See Homes for Sale for $80,000
- Whack! Nicolas Cage Sells Rhode Island Estate at 60 Percent Loss
These were both incredibly popular with a large number of Facebook shares, tweets and comments on each. This new practice of creating so much original content is a huge departure from the marketing activities of yester years. It is no wonder that it is causing organizations to rethink the structure of marketing departments and teams. What will be interesting is to track going forward is which companies and organizations get this market-department restructuring right and how it impacts their marketing campaigns and subsequent results.