• by Tobi Elkin , April 11, 2016

Content marketing is popular with and has proven effective for many marketers. As more brands jump into the content creation game, they are, in effect, becoming publishers.

Real-Time Daily spoke with Steve Sachs, CEO of OneSpot, a cross-channel content sequencing platform, to understand how marketers are linking content creation to real-time marketing.

Prior to OneSpot, Sachs ran digital properties and was head of consumer marketing at Time Inc.

Real-Time Daily: Can you offer an example of cross-channel content personalization?

Steve Sachs: Take, for example, Whole Foods and Delta Faucet. Whole Foods knows that if in the morning you look at a Whole Foods recipe and you choose it over the Food Network recipe, you’re more likely to shop in-store.

Delta has all kinds of articles on how to redecorate a bathroom. If a consumer chooses to to read those articles and videos over going to Houzz, they’re more like to buy Delta products. It’s pretty simple.

But marketers need more than just great content. I would argue that they need a real-time marketing platform to deliver the right content to the right person—but that must be done through cross-channel means because consumers are consuming content everywhere.

Marketers need to be able to coordinate content cross-channel no matter where people are. That involves cross-channel content sequencing across the Web, email, advertising, mobile platforms and other channels.

RTD: Can you offer a specific example of how a marketer is using this process?

Sachs: OneSpot personalized Whole Foods’ website for individual shoppers. We build an interest profile for each person who visits the site so they see personalized content when they get to the site.

They also receive personalized email, social media, mobile display advertising, native and retargeting opportunities—these are all designed to create deeper engagement.

With personalized emails, we’ve seen 20% to 200% more clicks.

RTD: What is content sequencing?

Sachs: It’s pretty new. We’re in the early days of content marketing. Content sequencing is about figuring out what type of content should be served to each person and when, depending on what they’re interested in.

RTD: Where in the proverbial “purchase funnel” is this relevant?

Sachs: Content marketing in our experience is especially good for the upper to mid-funnel, for building relationships and nurturing them. It tends not to be so good for lower-funnel activities.

Content marketing is stepping to fill the gap in the upper to mid-funnel. Content does that really well, but only if you personalize the stream.

RTD: How is OneSpot’s offering different from the rest?

Sachs: We do content retargeting, programmatic, and we offer email in combination with other pieces. We work with Fortune 2000 brands, while other providers are more focused on publishers and ecommerce brands.

Others in the space are primarily focused on publisher monetization tools, and only recently have they started dabbling in on-property solutions for brands. Outbrain and Taboola are content monetization platforms.

OneSpot has worked mostly with consumer package goods, food, beverage, financial services and technology brands to build customer relationships and repeat engagement through the sequenced delivery of personalized branded editorial content.

We have four main products: OneSpot  InAd, which is used for acquiring traffic for the first time by using programmatic media; InBox, an email product; ReAct, which is a content retargeting product; and OnSite, which offers personalized content to client sites.

RTD: How does programmatic work into this equation?

Sachs: Our retargeting product is programmatic. We have our own technology that’s integrated into all the ad exchanges in the U.S. We also have OneSpot InAd, which is designed to acquire traffic for the first time by using programmatic.

We personalize content everywhere a customer goes. Our clients told us that placing content into an ad channel is fine, but we want content in front of people wherever they are.

RTD: What is the benefit to marketers?

Sachs: As more marketers understand the need for automated, highly personalized content experiences, there’s industry movement toward a sequencing approach to content marketing and distribution.

Brands’ content-marketing budgets have increased this year. On average, 32% of total marketing budgets are going toward content, compared to 25% last year—that’s according to the Content Marketing Institute.

RTD: What’s the takeaway?

Sachs: Content marketing is here to stay. Marketers are finding that if done right, it builds relationships with customers and prospects in ways that other marketer strategies don’t.