The Currency of the 21st Century”

It is impossible to talk about Content Marketing in Brazil today without mentioning Rafael Rez, author of the book on the best-selling topic in the country (and probably one of the best-selling in the world): Content Marketing: The Currency of the 21st Century.

One of the biggest differences for Rafael Rez to be considered an important name in the area is his experience. He started paying attention to blogs, carrying out activities and reflecting on content strategies when most of us still saw the tool as a “virtual diary”.

Before concepts such as Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing and even Content Marketing were on the crest of the wave, there he was, studying, looking for new paths and creating countless cases.

This is part of what he shares with us in the book. More than a technical reading, Content Marketing: The Currency of the 21st Century is also a tour of the countless possibilities that communication offers to those who know how to use it correctly.

Defining Content Marketing

The first lesson that the work brings us is that content is not just a blog post, it is not even just what we do on the internet: content is everything that a company thinks about and puts into practice to reach its target audience on the internet. most propitious moment, making the brand practical for those looking for it.

Content marketing, therefore, is the set of online and offline strategies that a company has in order to serve the consumer even before being purchased by them.

And what is the benefit of being useful without being bought?

Simple: in addition to remaining in customers' minds as a potential choice, the brand can mature the consumer so that the purchase is made at the right time. By nurturing its personas with content, the company is preparing the audience for decision making. If you don't take action to tip the scales in your direction, a competitor will.

Content, therefore, is a strategic tool for increasing competitiveness.

“But why does a business specifically need content marketing? Because it improves all digital marketing, or rather, all marketing. It is, without a doubt, the only strategy capable of integrating and centralizing all other actions. No other digital marketing strategy can individually feed, nourish and structure all others. Only content is an integral part of each of the different marketing stages. (…) The only strategy that is capable of feeding all other marketing strategies is content marketing. Record this”

But it's not enough to do anything and think everything is fine: you need to know what, when, how and, most importantly, why to develop the content that will be worked on. Without these questions finding answers, it is very difficult to take advantage of what the content strategy has to offer.

Content marketing, in the author's words, is a technique for distributing valuable content based on an objective that, in turn, will define the audience that will receive the information. For it to be truly strategic, the manager must take into account what Rafael calls the “3Cs of Content”: continuity, consistency and the (power of) persuasion.

The possibilities for creating content based on these three factors are countless: they can range from a blog post to a book, from an e-book to an online course, from a newsletter to an in-person event. What will define the best format for each company is, precisely, the objective focused on the audience.

Without knowing what you want to do and for whom, producing content is like shooting in the dark: you might hit the target, but it will be by accident; and accidental gains do not tend to occur as frequently as purposeful ones.

To create a plan that can be considered the first step in effective content marketing, the book provides a series of practical lessons. Really practical, “pause reading and test this theory” style. Without further ado, the work teaches us how to develop crucial steps of strategic content, such as:

• keyword research: the author lists a series of useful tools to accomplish the task, which is not the easiest. But, with the right tips, it becomes less complicated;
• the checklist for building personas that are true to reality: there is an archetypal technique for defining the ideal customer, called persona or avatar, and Rafael gives us a guide of questions to ask customers to discover the characteristics that can guide the company's communication;
• the content inventory: a simple and, at the same time, very important table for monitoring content production over time;
• landing page checklist: After going through marketing automation, the author gives tips on how to create a page that captures accurate and valuable information from leads.

The author also goes through all the details of the conversion funnel in detail – always reminding us to personalize the content, instead of treating the audience like a flock of sheep organized to get through the gate – and the development of the main online content formats.

It also teaches us how to develop and monitor performance indicators capable of indicating whether our strategy is going well or badly. After all, although it is not only online that content marketing works, it is certainly in this environment that we can more easily measure its results.

Content marketing doesn't work miracles

Throughout the book (and personally through his courses and lectures) Rafael Rez makes a point of making it clear that content marketing is not based on miracles.

Creating and managing communication in its most varied forms will not give anyone instant recognition. When we see success stories, we tend to think that they are overnight phenomena, but the reality is that time, energy and money was spent to transform ordinary people or companies into authorities in their fields.

Investing in content marketing is not just a question of funds, but also of patience. When the work is continuous and consistent, at some point it will be able to convince people and convert leads (potential customers) into sales. But for it to work, this must be the goal, not the focus.

The focus should be on showing the public that the company can be useful through accurate and quality content.

If you produce content for third parties, always remind your client of the importance of creating content for medium and long-term results, avoiding the bullet of promising something in the short term. Content marketing is about relationships, establishing trust, and this is not achieved overnight.

If you create content for your own company, remember this to avoid discouragement.

As Rafael says, there is a moment that every company goes through in its marketing strategies called the “valley of death”. This is when a lot of effort is made for little result, while the strategy fails. Anyone who gives up in the valley of death will never reap the fruits of well-founded work. Those who resist and go through it begin to see, more and more, the opposite: less effort and more results.

Why read the book until the end?

The subject of “content marketing” is so extensive that one book is not enough – and that is the first reason why it is worth consuming Content Marketing: The Currency of the 21st Century from start to finish.

The second reason is because Rafael Rez's technical narrative unravels a kind of ball of yarn: as one thing leads to another, which comes precisely in sequence, reading in stages can make you miss important details between one moment and another. The book is all about building an effective strategy, and failing to read it in a linear fashion could spell holes in your own strategy.

Furthermore, the reading is fluid and very fast. All themes are divided into topics, which gives us the impression of reading small articles, although each one is very complete.

Those who are not in the habit of reading, therefore, will not have much difficulty finishing this quickly – and those who already read a lot, especially on technical subjects, will be able to enjoy the content in one or two afternoons, if they dedicate themselves solely to this activity.

Final verdict on the work Content Marketing: The Currency of the 21st Century

I started this review by saying that I am a marketing professional and I follow Rafael Rez some time ago. Still, I learned a lot of cool things from your book. Although, obviously, it is the same subject that he deals with on the networks, given his specialty, the book has a different approach.

It is very didactic, direct and provides ease of application, something important for those who read aiming for quick learning for urgent implementation.

For those who don't know content marketing, the book is an excellent gateway. The way in which communication can be shaped to generate results is attractive and makes laypeople passionate about the subject.

Anyone who already works in the area, as is my case, will not feel like they are reading more of the same. Rafael brings examples and insights that make our reading experience enriching and, just like in his workshops and lectures that I have had the opportunity to participate in, he uses direct and clear language, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

Although the content is excellent, I have an observation to make regarding its review – something that will reach more people who are native to the Portuguese language and in no way detracts from the value of the work.

The work sometimes suffers from inadequate punctuation and words left over from the final edition.

None of this, however, takes away from the reader the great experience of reading about the subject from one of the most important voices in the segment today.

Content Marketing: The Currency of the 21st Century It's a class on how to make money on the internet. But, more than that, it is a complete course on how to identify, retain and, above all, respect the created audience, always giving them the best they can receive.

This is how we change the market: one good content at a time.
Do you want to get to know Rafael Rez and his work better? Visit Nova Escola do Marketing or listen to the podcast we recorded with him here on Portal Insights.

Buy Rafael Rez's book via the link below and help Portal Insights.