In our ongoing series The Digital Advantage, we chat with today’s marketing leaders to explore and unpack all the current trends, challenges, and solutions senior marketing professionals need to know about so that they can drive real change in their organizations.
This blog series dives into some key highlights from the episodes. We continue now with a conversation between Dónal Ó Mearáin and Bynder’s very own CMO, Warren Daniels, and LinkedIn Top Voice/highly-experienced CMO, Robin Daniels.
In the full episode, Warren and Robin cover everything from harnessing content for effective storytelling and the importance of content investment to how compelling content can positively impact customer acquisition and brand differentiation.
The following excerpt provides some conversation highlights from their discussion, but you can watch the full episode below:
Dónal: I’ve got two marketing leaders here this time! Can I ask you to share a bit about your background and experience, please?
Robin: I’ve been a CMO three times, taken a few companies public, and worked at probably some of the most iconic companies of our time (Salesforce and LinkedIn, for example). My last role as a CMO was at Matterport, which went public in 2021.
At the core of what I stand for is the ‘storytelling’ aspect of marketing. Marketing is all about how you connect with people through stories, and content is, of course, the key vehicle for that.Robin Daniels
Warren: I’ve got around 25 years of experience in B2B tech marketing, working in organizations of all shapes, sizes, and categories.
I spent nine years leading teams at IBM and SAP, and then most recently my focus has been on e-commerce and martech with Bynder.
I've witnessed the evolution of content first-hand; both as a marketing practitioner and then as a marketing leader; one who has had to make difficult decisions about where to invest, what’s important, and what the priorities should be. I also think the meaning of the word ‘content’ is at an inflection point.
Dónal: So, one of the key things I wanted to explore with you is a data point from our own research last year, which indicated that 76% of tech marketing leaders plan to maintain or increase their investment in content. Why do you think that number is so high?
Robin: From my perspective, it's because we're in a golden age of content; particularly when it comes to storytelling. People are hungry for content that resonates with them, and there are so many interesting formats that brands can use to tell a story now.
Every CMO I talk to has content investment on their agenda. I've been working for the last couple of years as an advisor with several high-growth companies, series B, D, and F companies — they're all investing more in their content production and how it’s distributed.
That’s the good news.
I think the downside of being in this ‘golden age’ of content is that there's now so much out there in terms of volume, and it’s only going to grow with the rise of AI. It means that audiences are just going to be flooded with content.
Average content doesn’t cut it anymore. Incrementally better content doesn’t cut it anymore. You have to have a strong point of view. You have to stand for something. You have to be something that people haven't seen before.Robin Daniels
Unless you have something worth sharing or talking about, you simply won’t break through all the noise.
I think of that quote from Jurassic Park, where they see the dinosaurs roaming wild, and say, “Life will find a way” — I think the same kind of thing about content.
Good content “will find a way” if it's interesting enough, if it's good enough — it will be shared; it will be talked about. But, the bar has been raised significantly lately, so I’m not surprised by the stat that more and more marketing leaders intend to invest in content.
Bynder’s comprehensive suite of products can accelerate the pace of content production, reduce time to market, and drive competitive advantage.
Dónal: What do you think is driving this increased strategic importance of content, Warren?
Warren: 20 years ago, if you were a potential buyer wanting to gather information about a vendor and their products, your main option was to speak to a rep for that vendor. It meant that vendors held a lot of the cards. However, that power has now shifted to the buyer.
With so much content out there for buyers to educate themselves with these days, brands need to ensure that they’re front and center — and that relies on their ability to influence buyers through their content.Warren Daniels
CMO at Bynder
I totally agree with what Robin says about the importance of storytelling too. The need for brands to differentiate themselves from their competitors is critical. I certainly hear that when I talk to our own customers and partners.
We're living in a world in which content — and more specifically, content experience — will be absolutely crucial for capturing interest, inspiring action, and driving engagement from our audiences.
Another thing to mention is that most organizations are dealing with a growing demand for volume of content. We know that as a vendor in this space ourselves.
For example, we've seen exponential growth on our DAM platform in the last year and a half, with the number of digital assets doubling in just the last month. So, we’re seeing this proliferation of content that’s going on — but we’re seeing this pattern everywhere.
What’s more, with newer generations of people entering the world of work, it’s becoming more obvious that some groups of people consume their content differently. This brings more complexity to a brand’s content operations and content strategy.
I think senior marketers and content operation practitioners are waking up to this fact, but they’re also realizing that they need to find newer, more innovative ways of working so that content production can be scaled to respond to demand.
Enjoyed this episode extract? The Digital Advantage is an ongoing video series by marketers for marketers who want to create engaging content experiences to differentiate their brand from the competition. Watch previous episodes.
*Please note that some of the wording in the above conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
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