Content marketing was on everyone's lips at Infopresse's RDVMarketing 2017.

The 5th edition of Infopresse's RDV Marketing was held on March 16th in Montreal. For the event, over 400 communication & marketing professionnals gathered to discuss this year's main tendencies. Content marketing, influencers & social good were the main topics for the day. Here's what you need to know, in a 6 mins read.

48,5%. That is, according to Edelman's study on trust, the percentage of people who trust governments, media & businesses. Comparing to previous year's studies, it's a noteworthy drop meaning that the consumer's trust towards institutions is decreasing year over year.

Knowing this, how does a brand build trust with its community?

1. Every brand can become a media

Marriott, world leader in hotels, decided to listen to its clients passion points and launched an array of online platforms, social media channels and even magazines and books to give them what they want: relevant content.

« As brands, we need to stop talking about ourselves and become publishers.

According to David Beebe, Marriott's global VP of creation & content, a viable digital strategy should be articulated around 3C's: content, community and commerce. The goal is to create content in order to build a community. If you do so, sales will come.

« We provide value first and sell after.

A brand should always be asking themselves whether its audience will want to engage with its content. If not, then start over.

On a more local perspective, let's take Ricardo Cuisine as an example, who's growing rapidly thanks to its content model.

« Everything changed the day we decided to become a content brand.

Ricardo Media's purpose is to reach different audiences through varied content on their different platforms. By creating an ecosystem where each content platform - web, social or print - interacts with one another, they realized that their audience only engaged more with the brand. Key takeaway from their experience: a brand should not be scared to diversify its content and platforms.

2. Every moment has its content

Throughout the day, everyone of us looks at their screens for different reasons. That's why Denise Brien, chief of consumer analytics at AOL states that a brand should develop a content portfolio to address these different moments.

Ask yourself: at a precise moment, does my audience want to be entertained? Do they prefer to learn? Do they want to be inspired?

Depending on the answers, different formats should be developped knowing an in depth article will do good for one objective, but that a meme or a short video would do better for another.

By diversifying its content formats, a brand will create different contact points with its audience, allowing him to engage all day long.

Reacting to what's trending is key: every moment is an opportunity to create relevant content, as long as you can be reactive and quick to execute.

It's about agility & rapidity rather than financing. For example, during a big Quebec snowstorm lies a window of opportunity for a brand to wink at what's trending with a message that's relevant to its values and to its audience's interests.

3. Your community is at the center

David Greenfield, Global Chief of Digital Ecosystems at Adidas, believes that a strong community should be at the center of your brand strategy. By launching running clubs in every cities, for example, Adidas created communities that have now their own social media pages and identity.

By working with influencers, a brand can also invest and grow its most important asset: its community. The co-creative process is essential in a sense that influencers know what resonates within the community.

« Influencers are the ones who will authenticate the brand for you.

In the same line, Marriott's influencer strategy allows the brand to live through them and show an authentic brand experience.

4. Brands have a social responsibility

According to Jane Mosbacher Morris, founder of To The Market, social responsibility is now expected from brands. Millennials want to know how a product is sources, how its made and who the people behind the brand are. These interest points make great content pivots for brands to tell the story behind their products.

The communication efforts could easily become opportunism if their underlying actions are not truly made with a genuine social good purpose.

Prana Bio for example, a certified B-Corporation, sources locally, practices an open book management policy and are putting a profit redistribution system in place, where all employees will benefit from the company's success. These measures are not emplemented solely to raise the bottom line; they're in place to make sure the company stands for what it promotes.

« If we're not profitable, we cannot make a difference.

With this in mind and to demonstrate a brand's human side, do not hesitate to integrate your employees in your content strategy.

5. Measure what matters

Nowadays, we're surrounded by data. According to David Beebe, a brand should look at engagement KPI's in order to measure its success, knowing they demonstrate community building.

By creating relevant and timely content on each of its platforms, Marriott generates digital PR exposure such as reblogs, shares and features from other digital publishers, thus growing exponentially its reach and exposure.

With all that said, a brand must not lose sight on the client journey says François Lacoursière, Executive VP at Sid Lee. Big data can help in understanding the consumer and his state of mind during different moments. These KPI's will allow you to make sure the consumer journey is flawless.

To conclude

A good content strategy is a marketer's best friend. It's more valuable to a brand's audience and enables a brand to grow an authentic community.

Every moment is an opportunity to build relationships with your audience, why wouldn't you take advantage of it?