MARKETING
How Story Packages Help Scale SME-Driven Thought Leadership Content

You know that feeling when you’re watching a movie, and a character suddenly starts explaining things in so much detail you find yourself pulled entirely out of the story?
You experienced an “info dump.” And I bet you didn’t like it.
The most familiar movie info dumps usually involve the villain explaining their entire plan to the story’s hero, laying it out in (sometimes) excruciating detail that delays the action.
But many beginning storytellers rely on info dumps in the introductions to their stories. They over-explain situations or characters to the point where the audience knows more than they need to and gets bored.
The introduction info dump is especially common in stories set in a fantasy world. Technically, the text crawl at the beginning of every Star Wars movie is an info dump. But they’re short (the original Star Wars intro is only 82 words) and presented in such a unique way that the audience doesn’t mind.
Did you notice that the introduction to this article is an example of an info dump? I hope it’s an entertaining one.
Info dumps aren’t inherently wrong. But when done poorly, they prevent the content from having any other value.
Watch out for info dumps in your #Content. They’re not inherently wrong, but if not done well, they risk ruining the value, says @Robert_Rose via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet
Info dumps in content marketing
Unfortunately, introduction info dumps have become staples of content marketing articles. They’re usually added to try for better organic search results.
But they don’t always serve the audience. Put yourself in their shoes: Imagine you decide to do a Google search for the “best marketing automation software.” You’d probably want to find a specific recommendation or a list of the best software solutions.
You click on a promising link labeled Best Marketing Automation Software in 2023 and get to an article structured like this:
- 420 words of introduction telling you what to expect in the article
- 530 words of information telling you what marketing automation is and why you might not need a marketing automation solution
- 200 words of introduction to the software list
- 2,500 words presenting descriptions of the software options in the list
Add that up, and you have a “meaty” article of approximately 3,600 words. But about 30% was an introductory info dump that (from an audience perspective) didn’t need to be there.
More and more, I find myself scrolling about halfway down in any article (or fast-forwarding the first third of videos) to get to the promised value in the content.
Before the SEO-minded jump in to tell me why this approach is required for building high-ranking pages, know this is a minor annoyance to me as a content consumer.
The insidious danger of info dumping comes from how it hurts your thought leadership.
The danger of info dumping lies in how it delays thought leadership, says @Robert_Rose via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet
Info dumping in thought leadership
My clients in specialized industries (e.g., financial services, technology, and health care) often ask for advice on how to work better with the subject matter experts who provide the brand’s thought leadership. (The SME challenge was a pain point in CMI’s latest B2B research, too.)
Content marketing practitioners often depend on subject matter experts to provide content (usually written) to feed the desired cadence for their publishing calendar. But subject matter experts might explain their thoughts, theories, findings, and conclusions in such thorough detail it’s hard for the content team to home in on the relevant portions.
Occasionally, this results in ridiculously long lead times for articles and position papers.
I spoke with the head of content marketing at one B2B technology company whose content team published only one article in six months because the engineers kept adding more and more technical detail.
The content marketing leader told me she couldn’t keep up with the demand for content because it takes so long to create any one piece.
My advice was a bit counterintuitive. I told her that this timeline for large content pieces might be unavoidable. But the solution isn’t to ask for more or involve more engineers.
Instead, I told her to call the info dumpers’ bluff. In other words, I advised her to help the engineers lean into the big idea and provide a more structured piece so the content team gets everything it needs to create a whole portfolio of content from it.
The answer to long #Content development time? Ask your SMEs for structured content, says @Robert_Rose via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet
HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:
Go long on short-long content
Often, SME-driven info-dumping articles that take weeks or months to produce are just information-heavy short articles. They use 5,000 words to make a point that could have been made in 500 words.
If an article, white paper, or video script takes weeks to work through with SMEs, create a full accounting of all the content you need upfront. That way, you can reuse or repackage that big idea that took so long to develop at different points in the audience journey.
For example, the technology company I mentioned specializes in cybersecurity. One SME-driven article that landed on the content team’s desk was a highly technical thesis about the company’s design approach and how it helps solve particular regulations and standards.
As an asset for potential buyers deep in the selection (or implementers) of a solution, that content might make a valuable piece of thought leadership.
But to anyone less technical who might drive a company’s initial interest in the unique approach, that content was almost useless.
What was missing? All the other pieces to the story.
Architected story packages
I’ve found architected story packages helpful in modularizing big stories into reusable components. Architected story packages can scale content initiatives to cover the entire audience journey.
The package comprises four content archetypes, each with an increasing number of attributes:
- Performer (draw attention with the attribute of emotional stimulus)
- Promoter (inspire action with the attributes old world, trigger, and new world)
- Professor (persuade and convince with the attributes of a thesis, challenge, implication, justification, and opinion)
- Poet (change core beliefs with the attributes hero, constriction, desire, resistance, relationships, adventures, and truth)
The technology company content leader wanted to create a thought leadership piece, so the professor model fit. The content piece would need to address these attributes:
- Thesis – why the company’s cybersecurity design principles answer essential questions
- Challenge – the specific business or other challenge(s) the thesis will ultimately solve
- Implications – the good and bad implications of following the thesis and solving the challenges
- Justification – the proof points for why solving this challenge in this way will benefit the reader
- Opinion – how the brand’s specific approach to this solution works
The content leader had only been getting info dumps of detailed, technical proof (opinion) that the company’s approach to cybersecurity was effective. The only attribute that SME content addressed was opinion.
The content leader worked with the SMEs to fill in the other pieces to that puzzle. By asking for an even more detailed (but more structured) piece, the content leader ensured she’d have a toolkit of content that the team could use to create blog posts, podcast episodes, short-form articles, and even long-form e-books. That lengthy content development period provided content that could roll out for several months at several parts of the audience journey and to a broader audience segment.
Aim for full coverage
The filmmaking term “coverage” refers to the idea of shooting many versions of a scene (wide angle, two-shots, close-ups, etc.) to provide the director flexibility to package the story in different ways in editing.
The story package process is similar. If you spend a meaningful amount of time waiting for subject matter experts who want to explain everything thoroughly, then make sure the waiting period pays off. Take the time to capture all the elements of the story. You’ll end up with the flexibility to tell it in multiple ways for different uses.
Put simply, you’ll be able to transform the info dump through info-cycling – a much more effective use of all your ideas.
It’s your story. Tell it well.
Get Robert’s take on content marketing industry news in just five minutes:
Watch previous episodes or read the lightly edited transcripts.
Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
MARKETING
Comparing Credibility of Custom Chatbots & Live Chat

Addressing customer issues quickly is not merely a strategy to distinguish your brand; it’s an imperative for survival in today’s fiercely competitive marketplace.
Customer frustration can lead to customer churn. That’s precisely why organizations employ various support methods to ensure clients receive timely and adequate assistance whenever they require it.
Nevertheless, selecting the most suitable support channel isn’t always straightforward. Support teams often grapple with the choice between live chat and chatbots.
The automation landscape has transformed how businesses engage with customers, elevating chatbots as a widely embraced support solution. As more companies embrace technology to enhance their customer service, the debate over the credibility of chatbots versus live chat support has gained prominence.
However, customizable chatbot continue to offer a broader scope for personalization and creating their own chatbots.
In this article, we will delve into the world of customer support, exploring the advantages and disadvantages of both chatbots and live chat and how they can influence customer trust. By the end, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of which option may be the best fit for your business.
The Rise of Chatbots
Chatbots have become increasingly prevalent in customer support due to their ability to provide instant responses and cost-effective solutions. These automated systems use artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to engage with customers in real-time, making them a valuable resource for businesses looking to streamline their customer service operations.
Advantages of Chatbots
24/7 Availability
One of the most significant advantages of custom chatbots is their round-the-clock availability. They can respond to customer inquiries at any time, ensuring that customers receive support even outside regular business hours.
Consistency
Custom Chatbots provide consistent responses to frequently asked questions, eliminating the risk of human error or inconsistency in service quality.
Cost-Efficiency
Implementing chatbots can reduce operational costs by automating routine inquiries and allowing human agents to focus on more complex issues.
Scalability
Chatbots can handle multiple customer interactions simultaneously, making them highly scalable as your business grows.
Disadvantages of Chatbots
Limited Understanding
Chatbots may struggle to understand complex or nuanced inquiries, leading to frustration for customers seeking detailed information or support.
Lack of Empathy
Chatbots lack the emotional intelligence and empathy that human agents can provide, making them less suitable for handling sensitive or emotionally charged issues.
Initial Setup Costs
Developing and implementing chatbot technology can be costly, especially for small businesses.
The Role of Live Chat Support
Live chat support, on the other hand, involves real human agents who engage with customers in real-time through text-based conversations. While it may not offer the same level of automation as custom chatbots, live chat support excels in areas where human interaction and empathy are crucial.
Advantages of Live Chat
Human Touch
Live chat support provides a personal touch that chatbots cannot replicate. Human agents can empathize with customers, building a stronger emotional connection.
Complex Issues
For inquiries that require a nuanced understanding or involve complex problem-solving, human agents are better equipped to provide in-depth assistance.
Trust Building
Customers often trust human agents more readily, especially when dealing with sensitive matters or making important decisions.
Adaptability
Human agents can adapt to various customer personalities and communication styles, ensuring a positive experience for diverse customers.
Disadvantages of Live Chat
Limited Availability
Live chat support operates within specified business hours, which may not align with all customer needs, potentially leading to frustration.
Response Time
The speed of response in live chat support can vary depending on agent availability and workload, leading to potential delays in customer assistance.
Costly
Maintaining a live chat support team with trained agents can be expensive, especially for smaller businesses strategically.
Building Customer Trust: The Credibility Factor
When it comes to building customer trust, credibility is paramount. Customers want to feel that they are dealing with a reliable and knowledgeable source. Both customziable chatbots and live chat support can contribute to credibility, but their effectiveness varies in different contexts.
Building Trust with Chatbots
Chatbots can build trust in various ways:
Consistency
Chatbots provide consistent responses, ensuring that customers receive accurate information every time they interact with them.
Quick Responses
Chatbots offer instant responses, which can convey a sense of efficiency and attentiveness.
Data Security
Chatbots can assure customers of their data security through automated privacy policies and compliance statements.
However, custom chatbots may face credibility challenges when dealing with complex issues or highly emotional situations. In such cases, the lack of human empathy and understanding can hinder trust-building efforts.
Building Trust with Live Chat Support
Live chat support, with its human touch, excels at building trust in several ways:
Empathy
Human agents can show empathy by actively listening to customers’ concerns and providing emotional support.
Tailored Solutions
Live chat agents can tailor solutions to individual customer needs, demonstrating a commitment to solving their problems.
Flexibility
Human agents can adapt to changing customer requirements, ensuring a personalized and satisfying experience.
However, live chat support’s limitations, such as availability and potential response times, can sometimes hinder trust-building efforts, especially when customers require immediate assistance.
Finding the Right Balance
The choice between custom chatbots and live chat support is not always binary. Many businesses find success by integrating both options strategically:
Initial Interaction
Use chatbots for initial inquiries, providing quick responses, and gathering essential information. This frees up human agents to handle more complex cases.
Escalation to Live Chat
Implement a seamless escalation process from custom chatbots to live chat support when customer inquiries require a higher level of expertise or personal interaction.
Continuous Improvement
Regularly analyze customer interactions and feedback to refine your custom chatbot’s responses and improve the overall support experience.
Conclusion
In the quest to build customer trust, both chatbots and live chat support have their roles to play. Customizable Chatbots offer efficiency, consistency, and round-the-clock availability, while live chat support provides the human touch, empathy, and adaptability. The key is to strike the right balance, leveraging the strengths of each to create a credible and trustworthy customer support experience. By understanding the unique advantages and disadvantages of both options, businesses can make informed decisions to enhance customer trust and satisfaction in the digital era.
MARKETING
The Rise in Retail Media Networks

As LL Cool J might say, “Don’t call it a comeback. It’s been here for years.”
Paid advertising is alive and growing faster in different forms than any other marketing method.
Magna, a media research firm, and GroupM, a media agency, wrapped the year with their ad industry predictions – expect big growth for digital advertising in 2024, especially with the pending US presidential political season.
But the bigger, more unexpected news comes from the rise in retail media networks – a relative newcomer in the industry.
Watch CMI’s chief strategy advisor Robert Rose explain how these trends could affect marketers or keep reading for his thoughts:
GroupM expects digital advertising revenue in 2023 to conclude with a 5.8% or $889 billion increase – excluding political advertising. Magna believes ad revenue will tick up 5.5% this year and jump 7.2% in 2024. GroupM and Zenith say 2024 will see a more modest 4.8% growth.
Robert says that the feeling of an ad slump and other predictions of advertising’s demise in the modern economy don’t seem to be coming to pass, as paid advertising not only survived 2023 but will thrive in 2024.
What’s a retail media network?
On to the bigger news – the rise of retail media networks. Retail media networks, the smallest segment in these agencies’ and research firms’ evaluation, will be one of the fastest-growing and truly important digital advertising formats in 2024.
GroupM suggests the $119 billion expected to be spent in the networks this year and should grow by a whopping 8.3% in the coming year. Magna estimates $124 billion in ad revenue from retail media networks this year.
“Think about this for a moment. Retail media is now almost a quarter of the total spent on search advertising outside of China,” Robert points out.
You’re not alone if you aren’t familiar with retail media networks. A familiar vernacular in the B2C world, especially the consumer-packaged goods industry, retail media networks are an advertising segment you should now pay attention to.
Retail media networks are advertising platforms within the retailer’s network. It’s search advertising on retailers’ online stores. So, for example, if you spend money to advertise against product keywords on Amazon, Walmart, or Instacart, you use a retail media network.
But these ad-buying networks also exist on other digital media properties, from mini-sites to videos to content marketing hubs. They also exist on location through interactive kiosks and in-store screens. New formats are rising every day.
Retail media networks make sense. Retailers take advantage of their knowledge of customers, where and why they shop, and present offers and content relevant to their interests. The retailer uses their content as a media company would, knowing their customers trust them to provide valuable information.
Think about these 2 things in 2024
That brings Robert to two things he wants you to consider for 2024 and beyond. The first is a question: Why should you consider retail media networks for your products or services?
Advertising works because it connects to the idea of a brand. Retail media networks work deep into the buyer’s journey. They use the consumer’s presence in a store (online or brick-and-mortar) to cross-sell merchandise or become the chosen provider.
For example, Robert might advertise his Content Marketing Strategy book on Amazon’s retail network because he knows his customers seek business books. When they search for “content marketing,” his book would appear first.
However, retail media networks also work well because they create a brand halo effect. Robert might buy an ad for his book in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal because he knows their readers view those media outlets as reputable sources of information. He gains some trust by connecting his book to their media properties.
Smart marketing teams will recognize the power of the halo effect and create brand-level experiences on retail media networks. They will do so not because they seek an immediate customer but because they can connect their brand content experience to a trusted media network like Amazon, Nordstrom, eBay, etc.
The second thing Robert wants you to think about relates to the B2B opportunity. More retail media network opportunities for B2B brands are coming.
You can already buy into content syndication networks such as Netline, Business2Community, and others. But given the astronomical growth, for example, of Amazon’s B2B marketplace ($35 billion in 2023), Robert expects a similar trend of retail media networks to emerge on these types of platforms.
“If I were Adobe, Microsoft, Salesforce, HubSpot, or any brand with big content platforms, I’d look to monetize them by selling paid sponsorship of content (as advertising or sponsored content) on them,” Robert says.
As you think about creative ways to use your paid advertising spend, consider the retail media networks in 2024.
HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:
Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
MARKETING
AI driving an exponential increase in marketing technology solutions

The martech landscape is expanding and AI is the prime driving force. That’s the topline news from the “Martech 2024” report released today. And, while that will get the headline, the report contains much more.
Since the release of the most recent Martech Landscape in May 2023, 2,042 new marketing technology tools have surfaced, bringing the total to 13,080 — an 18.5% increase. Of those, 1,498 (73%) were AI-based.

“But where did it land?” said Frans Riemersma of Martech Tribe during a joint video conference call with Scott Brinker of ChiefMartec and HubSpot. “And the usual suspect, of course, is content. But the truth is you can build an empire with all the genAI that has been surfacing — and by an empire, I mean, of course, a business.”
Content tools accounted for 34% of all the new AI tools, far ahead of video, the second-place category, which had only 4.85%. U.S. companies were responsible for 61% of these tools — not surprising given that most of the generative AI dynamos, like OpenAI, are based here. Next up was the U.K. at 5.7%, but third place was a big surprise: Iceland — with a population of 373,000 — launched 4.6% of all AI martech tools. That’s significantly ahead of fourth place India (3.5%), whose population is 1.4 billion and which has a significant tech industry.
Dig deeper: 3 ways email marketers should actually use AI
The global development of these tools shows the desire for solutions that natively understand the place they are being used.
“These regional products in their particular country…they’re fantastic,” said Brinker. “They’re loved, and part of it is because they understand the culture, they’ve got the right thing in the language, the support is in that language.”
Now that we’ve looked at the headline stuff, let’s take a deep dive into the fascinating body of the report.
The report: A deeper dive
Marketing technology “is a study in contradictions,” according to Brinker and Riemersma.
In the new report they embrace these contradictions, telling readers that, while they support “discipline and fiscal responsibility” in martech management, failure to innovate might mean “missing out on opportunities for competitive advantage.” By all means, edit your stack meticulously to ensure it meets business value use cases — but sure, spend 5-10% of your time playing with “cool” new tools that don’t yet have a use case. That seems like a lot of time.
Similarly, while you mustn’t be “carried away” by new technology hype cycles, you mustn’t ignore them either. You need to make “deliberate choices” in the realm of technological change, but be agile about implementing them. Be excited by martech innovation, in other words, but be sensible about it.
The growing landscape
Consolidation for the martech space is not in sight, Brinker and Riemersma say. Despite many mergers and acquisitions, and a steadily increasing number of bankruptcies and dissolutions, the exponentially increasing launch of new start-ups powers continuing growth.
It should be observed, of course, that this is almost entirely a cloud-based, subscription-based commercial space. To launch a martech start-up doesn’t require manufacturing, storage and distribution capabilities, or necessarily a workforce; it just requires uploading an app to the cloud. That is surely one reason new start-ups appear at such a startling rate.
Dig deeper: AI ad spending has skyrocketed this year
As the authors admit, “(i)f we measure by revenue and/or install base, the graph of all martech companies is a ‘long tail’ distribution.” What’s more, focus on the 200 or so leading companies in the space and consolidation can certainly be seen.
Long-tail tools are certainly not under-utilized, however. Based on a survey of over 1,000 real-world stacks, the report finds long-tail tools constitute about half of the solutions portfolios — a proportion that has remained fairly consistent since 2017. The authors see long-tail adoption where users perceive feature gaps — or subpar feature performance — in their core solutions.
Composability and aggregation
The other two trends covered in detail in the report are composability and aggregation. In brief, a composable view of a martech stack means seeing it as a collection of features and functions rather than a collection of software products. A composable “architecture” is one where apps, workflows, customer experiences, etc., are developed using features of multiple products to serve a specific use case.
Indeed, some martech vendors are now describing their own offerings as composable, meaning that their proprietary features are designed to be used in tandem with third-party solutions that integrate with them. This is an evolution of the core-suite-plus-app-marketplace framework.
That framework is what Brinker and Riemersma refer to as “vertical aggregation.” “Horizontal aggregation,” they write, is “a newer model” where aggregation of software is seen not around certain business functions (marketing, sales, etc.) but around a layer of the tech stack. An obvious example is the data layer, fed from numerous sources and consumed by a range of applications. They correctly observe that this has been an important trend over the past year.
Build it yourself
Finally, and consistent with Brinker’s long-time advocacy for the citizen developer, the report detects a nascent trend towards teams creating their own software — a trend that will doubtless be accelerated by support from AI.
So far, the apps that are being created internally may be no more than “simple workflows and automations.” But come the day that app development is so democratized that it will be available to a wide range of users, the software will be a “reflection of the way they want their company to operate and the experiences they want to deliver to customers. This will be a powerful dimension for competitive advantage.”
Constantine von Hoffman contributed to this report.
Get MarTech! Daily. Free. In your inbox.
-
WORDPRESS4 days ago
8 Best Zapier Alternatives to Automate Your Website
-
MARKETING7 days ago
How Does Success of Your Business Depend on Choosing Type of Native Advertising?
-
SOCIAL7 days ago
Paris mayor to stop using ‘global sewer’ X
-
SOCIAL4 days ago
YouTube Highlights its Top Trends, Topics and Creators of 2023
-
MARKETING6 days ago
Intro to Amazon Non-endemic Advertising: Benefits & Examples
-
MARKETING5 days ago
Mastering The Laws of Marketing in Madness
-
WORDPRESS5 days ago
Watch Live on December 11 – WordPress.com News
-
SOCIAL6 days ago
With the end of the Hollywood writers and actors strikes, the creator economy is the next frontier for organized labor
You must be logged in to post a comment Login