A second level of commitment is therefore becoming increasingly widespread. It consists in non promotional communication: companies create contents aimed at satisfying users’ interest and curiosity, in sectors connected with corporate activities, without explicitly promoting their products and services. Without direct advertising, users focus more on contents, and are therefore encouraged to comment and share them.
A survey called “Best Practices for Content Marketing: Engaging Consumers Across Multiple Digital Channels”, conducted by eMarketer on the US market, showed that online video are the preferred channels, chosen by 86.7% of the surveyed population; followed by blogs, articles, photo galleries and, other methods of communication (for instance infographics).
Nonetheless, this type of communication is not simple, because once the medium is chosen, it’s necessary to know how to employ the right techniques. Creating appealing information is not the same as expressing your opinion or simply publicizing what’s on your mind. Obviously various techniques can be employed (for instance one can animate things, turning them into the central players of a story), but there’s just one golden rule: putting yourself in the user’s shoes, asking yourself what he would comment and share.
The unsolved issue is how to measure the efficacy of a non promotional campaign. There is not a single answer, but according to 88.9% of the corporate managers interviewed by eMarketer, the main criterion is how users spread contents. The second top reply, given by 75,6% of the surveyed population, is simple viewing (or downloading) of contents, while sales are only last: only one third of the managers consider them a worthwhile criterion (for the time being).
