Spencer Critchley

Social Media

Shopping Made Psychic: No-Content Marketing Marches on

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Originally published at the Huffington Post:  A while back, I predicted the coming of no-content marketing: what comes next after the sheer volume of content drives its value below zero. That’s the point at which we start paying to avoid content, no matter how compelling, shocking, funny, or celebrity- or puppy-laden.

That point is here. The latest sign: In a piece in the New York Times, Cass R. Sunstein describes a recent study he conducted in which he asked people if they’d be willing to, in effect, let robots shop for them:

…companies can predict people’s purchases, often with uncanny accuracy. In the near future, they might even use those predictions to enroll you in special programs in which you receive goods and services, and are asked to pay for them, before you have actually chosen them. Call it predictive shopping.

Sunstein, a Harvard law professor and former Obama White House official, asked about 500 people what they thought of the idea of predictive shopping. Among his findings:

I asked, would you approve of a system in which the home monitor automatically, and without your explicit consent, bought goods for you and billed your credit card?… nearly one-third would approve.

But in an informal survey of university students, he found this:

…for household staples, there was a large difference: 69 percent approved of automatic purchases by the home monitor, even without consent.

So in other words, the cohort coming up may be much more open to letting software robots do their shopping for them. They would thus win back time otherwise spent consuming marketing content and wandering the mazes of store displays, whether IRL or on the web.

Does this mean marketing itself will go away? Unlikely, but it will change.

Content marketing emerged from traditional marketing, after all the promotion finally became overwhelming. The idea is that instead of pushing your message on people, you pull them to you with content that’s entertaining or useful.

But what happens when there’s too much content?

Code.

By using web stores like Amazon, we already rely on software to make recommendations for us, much like a personal shopper would. The next step is simply for those recommendation engines to be granted permission to buy.

At that point, consumer goods as a whole will experience the transition we’ve already seen in the music niche. Instead of shopping for songs or albums, more and more of us let iTunes, Pandora or Spotify just stream it. Next: we’ll “stream” our groceries, shirts, socks and toothpaste.

Why Meaning is the Future of Marketing — and How These 3 Companies Are Pointing the Way

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Also published at the Huffington Post. Recently, I’ve been thinking about what comes after the current rage for content marketing. As I argue here and here, I think that over the long term, the over-abundance of content will lead to “no-content marketing.”

But even now, we’re seeing the next step along the way: what we can call “meaning marketing.”

Meaning is what people really seek in most of the content they consume. (The writer in me hates the idea of “consuming” content, but I guess we’re stuck with that term.)

Meaning marketing aims to give them more of it. Here are three examples of companies that practice meaning marketing. [Read more…] about Why Meaning is the Future of Marketing — and How These 3 Companies Are Pointing the Way

What No-content Marketing Will Look Like

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Also published at the Huffington Post. Last time, I argued that while content marketing is still on the rise (e.g. see this Content Marketing Institute report), it will eventually become the victim of its own success.

In a nutshell, I said that:

  • An advantage isn’t an advantage when it’s available to everyone. This is one version of the fallacy of composition.
  • As the supply of something increases, demand falls. Eventually, people will pay not to get it, as in avoiding advertising by buying premium TV, or taking an off-the-grid holiday

So I suggest that when there’s finally been too much content marketing, it will be followed by marketing that reduces or eliminates content: “no-content marketing.” What will that look like? In fact, we’re beginning to see now. Here are 10 early signs and predictions. [Read more…] about What No-content Marketing Will Look Like

What’s Next for Content Marketing: No Content

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Also published at the Huffington Post. Content marketing is all the rage right now, and for good reason. In a digital world, people’s attention is divided among a nearly infinite range of media choices. That means it’s harder and harder to push a message at them, the way you used to with traditional advertising and PR.

So instead, you pull, by creating compelling content that attracts customers to you — content marketing.

Hence the explosion of publishing activity by businesses, non-profits and other organizations, through email, social media, blogs, image sharing, games and more.

According to a recent report by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs:

“On average, B2B [business to business] marketers are spending 33 percent of their marketing budgets on content marketing, which is up from 26 percent last year. 54 percent plan on increasing content marketing spending next year…

This year, B2B marketers are most challenged with producing enough content, which is different from years past, when the top challenge was producing engaging content.”

There’s just one problem: it isn’t going to work much longer. Although it’s still on the rise, content marketing is already showing signs of becoming the victim of its own success. [Read more…] about What’s Next for Content Marketing: No Content