Is Your Marketing Content Cooking?

Marketers today are challenged to create valuable content that can be distributed through traditional print and Web mediums as well as newer social media channels.

For example, the authors of the book, Content Rules, advise: “But why not steer your marketing to another level?  Why not create value?  Why not provide your customers with a steady flow of high-value content that, as marketer Len Stein describes, is ‘paced with utility, seeded with inspiration, and that is honestly empathetic‘?”

Are you aware of organizations who are successfully leveraging today’s marketing channels to provide their customers with useful and valuable information?

One success story that I’d like to mention when it comes to content creation and distribution is a favorite of mine for a couple of reasons: 1-The founders of the organization are two women; and 2-Both of the women founders live in small towns.  Like singer-songwriter John Mellencamp, I’ve “got nothing against a big town,” but, since I was born in a small town, small towns for me will always have a certain lure and small town successes will always have an appeal.

Have you heard of “The Crockin’ Girls“?  In 2011, small-town Texas dwellers Nicole Sparks and Jenna Marwitz started an American revival of slow cooking by distributing timesaving, helpful Crock-pot recipes online to busy mothers across America.  Within two weeks of debuting their initial Facebook presence, their Facebook site went viral and received over 500,000 “Likes.”  Listen to this video to hear Nicole and Jenna describe the phenomenon that took place back in August 2011.

Why has The Crockin’ Girls’ online success been so incredible?  Did Nicole and Jenna hire an excellent digital marketing agency to support their marketing communications needs?  Possibly.  However, it’s more likely that, regardless of any professional marketing support attained, Nicole and Jenna have achieved online marketing success by, as Jenna stated in the video, “meeting a need for many, many people.”

The slow-cooking-related information that Jenna and Nicole regularly maintain and share online helps simplify the lives of their website visitors, Facebook fans, and Twitter and Pinterest followers.  In a nutshell, or maybe I should say, “in a Crock-pot,” Nicole and Jenna have figured out the way to successfully match specific, valuable content with an audience in real need of that content.

Again, are you aware of other organizations who have figured out the content creation, management and distribution puzzle?  If so, please share those examples with me.  Or, if you’re unaware of such an organization, feel free to simply pass along your favorite recipe for the slow cooker!