This week, hosts Gianna Whitver and Maria Velazquez sit down with Brittany Geronimo to discuss unique takes on reusing design content in a marketing design process. Gianna and Maria ask Brittany how she turns whitepapers and ebooks into eye-catching, marketable content in her position at BlueVoyant -- which offers internal and external cyber defense services. Brittany also guides listeners through her workflow explaining the unique ways she keeps pushing the boundaries with new and creative content in her field of cybersecurity marketing. 

Timecoded Guide:

[02:27] Repurposing whitepapers and ebooks for marketing

[06:04] How to imagine content assets as reusable from start to finish

[08:02] Gated vs ungated content in marketing assets

[14:47] Crafting a unique message while staying loyal to the brand

[17:28] Keeping consistent themes to tell brand stories 

How do you create a content asset that will engage an audience? Brittany explains her marketing strategy in how she takes any tier-one asset to then turn it into digestible and easy-to-follow, creative content. These assets could be anything from an eBook, a whitepaper, or a report. Brittany shares how she takes these large lumps of information and condenses them down into either LinkedIn infographics or carousel posts making them marketable and useful for people to follow. Each creative product relates back to which type of asset Brittany starts with while each final product circles back with an option to explore the subject further by linking the eBook or larger report. Brittany breaks down her process with marketing design ideas and how she goes from what she calls a “tier one asset” to a “tier two asset.”

“I think there's a lot of pressure sometimes to just put out as much content as possible . . . But I think taking a step back and saying okay, what do we have? What else can we possibly do with it? Then, you sort of end up with these nice buckets of content that's all related that you can then use in future campaigns.”

Brittany walks listeners through how she’s already thinking about how to make content more marketable as she looks through ‘tier-one’ material. Sometimes, Brittany is involved on the front end of the marketing design process and is able to shape tier-one assets in such a way that makes them reusable for more content later on. Also, it’s important to edit content and style it to fit the audience: reused content intended for a CSO will look different than content intended for someone on LinkedIn. Good design means knowing how to make content within the marketing design process that will catch the eyes of many different audiences. 

“if you think about repurposing at the beginning, you'll have more opportunity to do so as opposed to we already have this thing that's finished. It can be done both ways. But I think if you're thinking about it always, it really helps.”

Which type of content should be gated and what type of content shouldn’t be gated? What’s the overall best philosophy with gated content marketing? Brittany explains where and why she finds gating to be essential with certain types of content. She also highlights how she leans towards making content more accessible overall. Brittany also adds, through this philosophy, how she seeks to create a brand that others think of when they have a project in motion. 

“I personally lean toward less gating, because I think if you put up too many roadblocks, people are just going to abandon their cart, per se, or form . . . I personally don’t like to put up too many roadblocks.” 

How can someone make their message stand out but not abandon their brand’s theme? Brittany says that there is a balance and that it takes compromise—but that it can still be done. Big fast-food chains can afford to attract a high volume of attention through social media with crazy posts. This may not work for everyone but Brittany explains that brands can still think outside of the box while maintaining their company’s style. It’s also important to find themes and ways that an audience can consistently recognize a brand while continuing to find interest in the messaging. 

“There's a lot of stuff out there content-wise that people are getting just like hammered with all day, like on LinkedIn and other channels. So I think having a different look really makes you stand out . . . I think good design goes a long way.” 

----------

Definitions: 

Whitepapers: Whitepapers are business reports that include data and analyses making information presentable to a company.

Top-funnel/mid-funnel: Levels of audience to a brand or company and their awareness of the products or services—top funnel being those not yet aware of the company and the mid-funnel being those who have shown interest and might engage with the company. 

Gated/ungated: This refers to whether or not content is made available to an audience through paywalls or other selective processes: gated refers to content that is exclusive through a fee, etc. and ungated is content that is available and free to virtually anyone. 

____________

Links:

Spend some time with our guest Brittany Geronimo on LinkedIn

Like the BlueVoyant Facebook page

Visit the BlueVoyant website, and follow on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.

Keep up with Hacker Valley on our website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.

Follow Gianna on LinkedIn.

Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn.

Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter.