In recent years, many Norwegian companies have changed course in marketing. A new trend that goes by the name of “content marketing” has gained a foothold in the business world. Some are nevertheless critical of content marketing, as it is called in Norwegian.
In this professional article, we will take a position on the question: “Why choose content marketing over traditional marketing?” Do we have enough data to be able to conclude that content marketing has a positive effect in the Norwegian market?
In order to find sufficient research that focused on the correlation between content marketing as a strategy and the response from potential customers, we used academic studies, journals, surveys and meta-studies from around the world.
If you are unsure of what content marketing is, or what the definitions used in this technical article mean, you can read our pillar article: What is content marketing?
You are now reading Norway’s largest guide to content marketing! It is aimed at those who want to learn more about the subject. The Content Marketing Guide’s table of contents can be found here.
Positive findings from research
Bernd Herbert Schmitt is a world-renowned professor in psychology and marketing. In 1999 he wrote Experiential marketing. We can therefore say that the user experience in this case becomes the “content” that is created.
Although the types of marketing defined as experiential marketing in some cases fall under a content marketing strategy, this does not always have to be the case. We chose to look at Schmitt’s meta-study from the late 90s as an early sign of content marketing.
Schmitt’s conclusion is that the old form of marketing, where there was a focus on the product and its functions, worked when we were an industrial society. When society changes, the focus must also shift more towards the customer experience. This is required in order to succeed in an everyday life where the competition is higher and the information more easily available ( source ). He arrived at the result through many years of his own research and practice.
Here we move on to research articles where the collection and interpretation of data has been the basis.
First we will look at Müller and Christandl’s Content is king – But who is the king of kings? from 2019. The goal of the survey was to find out what converts best from “sponsored content” (advertising) and two different forms of content marketing: “User generated content” (USG – content that potential customers have helped shape) or traditional content marketing that is produced exclusively under the auspices of the company itself.
Negative findings from research
In our own meta-study, no negative findings were made associated with content marketing as a marketing method. Therefore, we briefly mention criticism that has come from other quarters, for example blog posts without any scientific weight.
There are two crosswords that recur when it comes to criticism of content marketing. Firstly, it is a subject that requires insight, effort and carefully planned production, the effect of which must then be measured. In other words, the effect of content marketing depends on how seriously it is worked. It takes time to produce good content, and it takes time for the results to show.
Secondly, and this is closely linked to the first point, content marketing depends on trust between consumers and marketers. Vladislav Yurovskiy points to an important point in relation to this in his research article. Despite the fact that the Internet is widely accepted in Norway, there are still many people who do not trust online businesses. Many have been deceived, which makes it all the more challenging for serious marketers to build trust.
A final point we mention from Yurovskiy’s article is the one that is most often repeated among critical voices about content marketing. Namely, that the amount of content that is produced disappears among infinite amounts of digital noise on the Internet. Not least, it is difficult to stand out in an ever-growing sea of competitors.
What can we learn from the research on content marketing?
Content marketing’s criticism is often that all the content that is produced creates digital noise and that few or no-one has time to digest all the information that is published daily.
If we look at the first five surveys that were discussed in this project, they showed a clear correlation between content marketing as a strategy and engagement, positive response or sales.
Furthermore, when it came to our scrutiny of research. On content marketing it was particularly difficult to find examples of serious. Research or studies that showed a neutral or negative effect of. This form of marketing. Although there is little research in the area. Our findings gave a strong enough indication. that a conclusion could be formulated. In Sri Lanka, a survey was conducted in 2018 to measure. The effect of content marketing on customers who shopped online.
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It has undergone peer review and is published by a respectable publisher (International Journal of Business).The research showed that the followers of an influencer gained more trust in the brand he was promoting if the influencer published valuable content. The followers’ trust was further strengthened in line with the influencer’s increasing credibility and status ( source ).
Conclusion
If we look at the available research on content marketing, there is little doubt that most studies show a positive effect of this marketing method. Engagement is higher and more potential customers convert. Compared to traditional marketing, most research reports conclude that content marketing gives customers a more positive buying experience. Where there is a lack of trust, either between the customer and the online marketer, or a general mistrust of e-commerce, this is something that will undoubtedly change over time. Technological development never stops, and with it comes an ever greater integration of digitization in both the world community and Norwegian society.
In the research article we mentioned above – B2B content marketing for professional services: In-person versus digital contacts – an unexpected discovery was made: Digital interaction and communication were preferred over physical meetings. This gives an indication that digital marketing has come so far that in some areas it may be about to take over from traditional marketing.
The next survey concerns B2B (business-to-business marketing) where it was demonstrated that content marketing has a positive effect on sales within the service industry ( source ). A surprising finding in the survey was that companies that offered digital content or held webinars for the customer converted better than those where the sales team only used physical meetings.
In the 2019 Almost survey, social media users who followed at least one influencer were asked to answer a few questions.
The limitation of the meta-study
This professional article that you are now reading only deals with the effect of content marketing compared to traditional marketing. It may of course be that there are other new forms of marketing that are just as good or better than content marketing. An example could be experiential marketing, which was mentioned at the beginning.
It must also be taken into account that surf the internet not only on computers but there is research. That was unavailable to us, and which was therefore not assessed.
This professional article has not followed the strict standards of research. Nevertheless we believe that the basis is so solid and predominantly. In favor of content marketing that it becomes difficult to disregard. Even if it can be argued that scientific criteria are lacking.
When it comes to alternative methods of marketing, more research is needed. This should be more specific, so that specific methods can be examined at a detailed level and what results these produce. It should also examine content marketing more closely to confirm the findings that we have pointed out in this article.
Criteria for the selection of research and premises for the meta-survey
In the preparatory work for this mini-meta-survey, we went through dozens of research materials. Both in Norway and the rest of the world. There is little research that says anything about. The effect of content marketing. Therefore, all studies and investigations within this subject, which met our criteria for credibility, were included. In this professional article, we set the following criteria for the research that was to be included:
- The main focus had to be the effect of content marketing in B2B or B2C marketing compared to traditional marketing.
- It had to undergo a peer review
- It had to be at least at master’s level or higher
- It did not have to include quasi-experimental ao lists studies. The survey was carried out in the gaming industry. It concluded that both USG and content marketing had a similar. Effect on the potential customer in that his attitude towards. The company was positive. Likewise sponsored content (traditional advertising) had a more. Negative effect in relation to the customer’s perception. Of the company’s brand ( source ).
REFERENCE LIST:
Johannes Müller og Fabian Christandl Content is king – But who is the king of kings? The effect of content marketing, sponsored content & user-generated content on brand responses
Weerasinghe: Impact of content marketing towards the customer online engagement
Wei-Lin Wanga, Edward Carl Malthouseb, Bobby Calder cog Ebru Uzunoglu: B2B content marketing for professional services: In-person versus digital contacts
Chen Lou og Shupei Yuan Influencer Marketing How. Message Value and Credibility Affect Consumer Trust of Branded Content on Social Media
Bernd Schitt: Experiential Marketing
Sam Fiorella: The problem with content marketing
Vladislav Yurovskiy Pros and Cons of Internet Marketing
