This weekend, moviegoers across the U.S. will flock to theaters to witness one of the biggest box office events of the summer, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” There is a lot to be excited about in this movie, like Andy Serkis (“Star Wars: Episode VII,” “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”) joining the ranks of previous “Apes” stars like Charlton Heston and Troy McClure. And, of course, there will be enough gun-wielding apes cruising around on horses to keep you glued to your seat for hours.
But here at Content Boost, we’re excited about this movie for the valuable content marketing lessons we can extract from it:
Brand survival: It’s a tough world for humans in “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” as they struggle to survive 10 years after the ALZ-113 virus caused the collapse of civilization. And as a marketer, you could be feeling that same struggle online as you try to compete with other companies for the attention of consumers. Building a robust blog and regularly posting content to social media will help spread brand awareness and create readership that translates directly into sales.
Tip: Create blog content that is highly sharable over social media to generate more traffic and get people interested in your company. Save overly-technical jargon and spec sheets for after you catch a lead’s attention.
Thought leadership: There is a big focus on leadership in the new film, as protagonist Caesar (played by Serkis) struggles to maintain control as leader of the apes. Just like Caesar wants to be in control, you want your brand to be known as the go-to authority for information in your industry. After all—if you don’t provide useful information, your competitors will. Right now, 68 percent of businesses claim that thought leadership is their top organizational goal for content marketing.
Tip: Your blog should be much more than a constant sales pitch. Craft informative articles that can help readers by offering valuable industry news and instruction.. By doing so, your readers will learn to trust your brand.
Lead generation: In “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” Caesar and his hunting party unexpectedly meet a group of human survivors after 10 years without any contact between the two groups. When your brand unexpectedly meets a potential lead online, you need the resources to hook, engage and turn them into a customer. For this reason, 80 percent of successful content marketers claim that lead generation is a goal.
Tip: Every article should have a goal. Whether that goal is to direct a reader to the landing page of a white paper or simply ask them to comment, try to avoid ending articles without some sort of closing invitation.
Can you draw any comparisons between “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and content marketing? Tell us in the comments section below!