Global Content Marketing by Pam Didner [Book Review]

I had an opportunity to read the final manuscript of Global Content Marketing by Pam Didner, the former global content marketing strategist for Intel’s Enterprise product launches and marketing campaigns. This book is interesting from a couple of perspectives. First of all, she provides a holistic view on content marketing from planning to execution and measurement. Secondly, she shares her thoughts on how to scale content beyond borders. In addition, she creates a frame work: the 4 P’s of Global Content Marketing Cycle which is the heart of the book. The “4 P’s” of the content marketing cycle are “Plan”, “Produce”, “Promote”, and “Perfect”. Produce and Perfect are acted as verbs and pronounced as “pro-doos” and “per-fekt”. Each of the four components of content marketing is further illustrated by multiple case studies from big brands such as Intel, LinkedIn, SAP, and DocuSign and also from smaller businesses such as Domo. She will launch a website, globalcontent.marketing, in September to expand upon the topic and provide free tools and templates (Yes, marketing can be a domain name now).

Some of my key takeaways from the book were:

• Building a high performing team is crucial to scaling content marketing. While each region and business unit may require different content, there needs to be strong alignment between the teams to build a well-oiled content creation machine.

• Develop a plan up front (even though you may not follow it when you start executing). The exercise of planning, editorial calendaring, and defining your audience, personas, competitors, and resources is tremendously valuable for large content marketing teams. While a plan may end up having limited value, the process of planning is indispensable.

• Produce efficiently. Even large companies typically have limited resources for content marketing. Content can be efficiently created through a number of techniques including outsourcing, repurposing, and translating, to name just a few.

• Focus on promotion as much or more than production. Promotion is more than half the battle in content marketing. Doug Kessler said it nicely in one of his blogs: “Somewhere between 42 and 67 percent of the success of a given piece of content comes down to the quality, relevance and timeliness of the piece itself. (Source: Fictional Research Associates, LTd). The rest is down to how hard you work to get your shiny new piece of content out there….”

• Perfect through optimization and measurement. Measure your content marketing based on its impact. Pam defined impact in the context of business goals, internal communications and marketing optimization.

In summary, I enjoyed reading the book. Takeaways from each chapter are clear and actionable. In the book you get a step-by-step walkthrough on how to perform each of the 4 P’s with specific callouts on how to adapt them in a “global” context.

In contrast to the recent swell in content marketing literature, Pam’s book stands out in three regards:

• Although her book may specialize on scaling content beyond borders in a large organization, there is also a focus on how to implement similar processes for small businesses.

• Unlike other content marketing book authors who come from a pundit or analyst background, Pam is a genuine practitioner of content marketing with many years of global marketing experience at Intel. Her advice is practical and actionable.

• Pam sticks with the strategy and philosophy of content marketing and does not delve into the tactical side. Her book will likely continue to stay relevant over the years since it does tie itself to specifics of the ever changing suite of content marketing channels and tactics.

Global Content Marketing: How to create great content, reach more customers and build a worldwide marketing strategy that works will be released in September through McGraw-Hill. You can pre-order a copy on Amazon here.

Don’t miss out on our exclusive webinar with Pam on September 4th  at 12 p.m. EST. Listen in as she previews her upcoming book and provides a specific checklist to start globalizing content. Click here to register today.