7-Eleven marketer: Winning with great content and right context

We've heard it all. Big data, analytics, AI, SEO, omni-channel, digital, CRM, insights, and more. Each has its own place in a marketer’s ecosystem, and if used correctly, it makes for better ROI.

However, it’s really too easy to just go out there and carpet-bomb the market with countless advertising ringgits and generic creatives and taglines. It’s pointless surrounding oneself with so-called big data and analytics, but you’re telling people what to see and not what they want to see. Artificial intelligence? Useful and great in cutting down man-hours and helping to target more precisely, but it isn’t going to help you write emotive copy.

It’s time to go back to the basics and that is creating great content for the right audience at the precise moment – optimised with big data and analytics. Content that best connects with people at that right moment makes them care about your brand, eventually building loyalty and advocacy.

First, it goes without saying that everything starts with great content, so we need to know what content truly resonates with our customers, including the nuances of their emotions, desires and preferences. Second, respect the platform and the psychology of what people are doing when they are on that particular platform. Many are still making the same mistakes of blasting the same content across different platforms with scant regard to what makes each platform unique.

Third, respect your audience. Put out content the consumer will like rather than content you will like. Fourth, don’t interrupt your audience experience. If we’re truly making great content, and factoring into account the context in which that content will be consumed, it won’t interrupt a consumer. If someone is trying to watch a video on YouTube, the last thing they want is to sit through an ad and wait to see what they really wanted to view because of something they are being forced to watch.

The context is crucial here as we need to meet consumers in authentic ways. Let’s also humanise the experience – we all have our favourite sites that we visit or shop.

Let’s just say I am viewing videos on hair styling tips and a site banner appears promoting the most technologically advanced hair curler on the market. I click on it and though the content resonated, I did not make the purchase. I revisit the same site the next day and the ad banner appears, but now comes with a 0% interest free easy payment plan, enticing me into a purchase. I revisit the site the following week with the intention of purchasing other hair styling accessories, and when I reach the home page, I see multiple hair styling accessories appear with discounted prices!

Personalised experiences with great content appearing at the right time in the right place, at the end of the day, allows for transactions to be achieved. The context in which consumers experience your product or service matters, so don’t drive them away. Rather, bring them value.

Last, be consistent. Every single tweet, comment or image posted becomes part of your brand. Your core story needs to be consistent and your brand personality also needs to be constant as doing so sets up a larger narrative, the broad context, for your brand content to succeed with a clear message. That’s really all there is to it. Write great content. Respect the platform and audience. Don’t interrupt, and bring value. Be consistent. You don’t need to reach everybody on a social platform, just the right ones for your brand.

The writer is Ronan Lee, general manager – marketing, 7-Eleven Malaysia. The article first appeared in A+M’s The Futurist print edition.