
Retro + Content is the New Feature Story. In honor of throwback Thursday, I remind you of a time when tools such as feature stories and advertorials were commonly used. Well, it’s 2015 now, so we must add the newest buzzwords to the marcom mix of tools– Content and Retro.
“Content is the new feature story: If you write it, they will re-tweet,” – Abbe Sparks.
Yes, these are my sentiments. Veteran advertisers, marketers and public relations practitioners can also attest to this fact, and I’m confident will agree.

Content marketing is a hot re-vamped term, formerly known as feature story writing, advertorials and most recently blogging. Retro marketing is once again the “it” angle for brands in 2015 as evidenced by recent advertising commercials and in upcoming Superbowl 2015 spots – on—air, online and in print. So what’s the main difference?
Today the promotional field has vastly grown to include the internet and social media – stretching our messaging further — in real-time and at a rapid rate. According to Social Media Week, “The Connected Class” will increase from three billion people today, to six billion by 2022, representing over 75% of the global population. This affords marketers an enormous opportunity to expand a client’s brand and messaging.

A few tips to consider when creating content for a client’s brand, especially before putting it out there in the cyberspace stratosphere:
- Socially Engage – re-Tweet, Favorite, Like, ThumbsUp – continue the momentum and awareness by engaging in the social media posts and keeping the story new. The end game is to make the quality content story viral.
- Strategize – strategic planning is of the utmost importance. Have a method to your content writing and posting madness. Remember, what you post stays there forever.
- Craft Key Messaging– incorporating well thought out key messages, as in feature writing, will be extremely be
neficial, especially when you re-purpose your content on social media networks
- Focus on Quality vs. Quantity – Tell the story in detail and length. Different than a blog post — which tends to be a maximum of 500 words and comes out frequently – a content piece allows marketers to feature a client’s messages in long-form affording ample opportunity to support the messaging.
- Share – share your story on social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Tumblr and StumbleUpon. Utilize some of the new crop of social sharing sites available now like medium.
So, when hopping on the retro trendy bandwagon of content marketing, remember that it’s not just what you write, it’s how you post it. – evergreen can be king. Have a fabulous Thursday. See you next Wednesday.