Why We Choose Content Marketing

Starting this time, over three installments, we'll discuss with Tomohiko Sugiura, President and CEO of Nextedge Dentsu, the path that led to content marketing, challenges in its actual implementation, and the outlook for 2015. Dentsu Inc. iPR Bureau and Nextedge Dentsu have formed a team to practice content marketing and have begun their activities.

 

Gunji: Let's start by talking about how each of us arrived at "content marketing."

Sugiura: At Nextedge Dentsu Inc., we've focused on "performance marketing" demanded in fields like e-commerce. Here, maximizing website sales, customer acquisition, and ROI is always required. Traditionally, we centered our efforts on optimizing performance-based advertising. However, in recent years, digital advertising methods have become commonplace, and competitors have also started actively pursuing online advertising. As a result, users have become accustomed to it, responses have slowed, and differentiation from competitors has become difficult. We began seriously considering content marketing as a way to break out of this situation and achieve better results than our competitors.

Gunji: I see.

Sugiura: There's another aspect to consider. When thinking about how to increase sales through web marketing, a common successful pattern is that as a brand matures, the proportion of traffic coming from paid advertising gradually decreases. Instead, the base of organic traffic—like brand-named searches and SEO—becomes stronger. As competition for paid traffic intensifies, you start wondering how to grow that organic traffic segment, which has greater potential. However, increasing this organic traffic is inherently difficult, and the SEO landscape is constantly changing. We came to understand that building and deepening strong, long-term relationships with users ultimately leads to more organic traffic. In other words, creating content that genuinely interests people increases organic traffic and forms the foundation for sustainable customer acquisition.

Gunji: Ultimately, it comes down to the fundamental idea that providing what consumers need will make them happy, right?

Sugiura: We refer to this as outbound versus inbound. When considering differentiation and improving results, how to get chosen through inbound channels is becoming increasingly important. To get users to come to us proactively or choose us by name, we need to steadily work on meeting people's needs. In the web world, this converges on content. Starting from here, we consider how to create flows beyond advertising, solve user problems, or change their mindset. Within this, we think about driving short-term purchases, but also about becoming the choice when they eventually want something. Otherwise, it doesn't solve marketing challenges. We approach content marketing from this perspective.

 

Gunji: To summarize, while continuing traditional performance advertising strategies, we also incorporate content-driven approaches to meet consumers' needs, foster emotional shifts, and build warm relationships.
I've worked in creative roles, which is quite the opposite of web marketing like Mr. Sugiura's. With traditional advertising, once you created the creative, the media platform handled delivering it to users, so planning and production were the focus. But with the rise of social media and curated platforms, when creating content, you also have to consider how to deliver it. I've come to see that delivery method as part of the creative itself.

Sugiura: Naturally, if you want to ensure what you create actually reaches its audience, you have to think that far ahead.

Gunji: Furthermore, the way consumers engage with media has become fragmented, symbolized by increased time spent on smartphones and computers. What's more, I'm starting to see situations around me where it's actually unclear where the target audience even is. This makes thinking about how to deliver content even more crucial. The field of leveraging social media for communication and using digital spaces like owned media to grow brand fans is one where everyone is feeling their way forward. Amidst this, about two years ago, my team at iPR Bureau caught wind that "content marketing" was gaining traction in the US. We saw a hint of our future there. At the time, Japanese-language information was virtually nonexistent, so we decided to start by addressing that gap. iPR Bureau and Dentsu Inc. collaborated to translate two books: ' ~Think Like an Editor~ 27 Secrets of Content Marketing by Rebecca Lee' Shoei-sha; and Epic Content Marketing: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Content That Attracts Customers by Joe Pulizzi, Nikkei Publishing). Since these translation projects were handled by separate teams, over a dozen members were involved in total. We learned a great deal and are now applying those lessons to our actual fieldwork.

Sugiura: That said, creating quality content online, delivering it to users, and leveraging it for marketing is something we've always done—it's fundamental. I've worked in digital marketing for over 15 years, and creating content to publish on client websites has always been standard practice. However, changes in the media landscape and shifts toward smartphone-centric lifestyles have made it easier for businesses and consumers to connect through websites. Furthermore, if a website offers quality content, consumers are more likely to discover it.

Gunji: That aspect of "the sender quietly preparing so consumers can find it" is a crucial perspective we mustn't overlook.

Sugiura: I feel the traditional approach centered on creating good content and then promoting it through advertising. But recently, we're seeing content not spread as easily. This is only natural because information distribution has fundamentally changed. However, shifting our perspective reveals that companies can now take on roles similar to traditional mass media. To put it more dramatically, it's no longer impossible for an individual to become a mass media-like entity on their own, presenting a huge opportunity. What we propose is to effectively leverage the increased flexibility of digital methods.

For example, a global IT consulting firm might regularly publish management tips in blog format, occasionally featuring interviews with prominent figures or content exploring management methodologies. By consistently sharing not just information about their own products and services, but also engaging content that sparks interest in those offerings and encourages reader comments, they broaden communication with customers. This ultimately builds trust and leads to business opportunities. I believe the perspective was that using owned media and social media enables this kind of approach.

Gunji: When creating content, we conduct user research, and understanding the core insights of our target audience is obviously paramount. However, until now, the most practical way to gain that insight was through structured "research" sessions like group interviews or online surveys. We were searching for insights within those frameworks.

But people don't always speak their true minds when they come to a survey setting. They might not act as they say they will and change their minds. There are also aspects that words can't fully express, meaning traditional methods had limitations. However, the widespread adoption of social media has started to break down these barriers. Since much of the interaction is based on genuine feelings, content creators can now align more closely with these insights and choose their points of contact with consumers. However, because it's genuine, there's also the aspect of having to face harsh realities.

Sugiura: I truly believe we're in an environment where deception no longer works.

Gunji: Exactly. You can't fake it with presentation anymore. That's really tough. It's no longer about the "how" – how to present it – but about the "what" – what to communicate. We've entered an era where the inherent value of the information itself is being questioned.

Originally, as a copywriter, my focus was on communicating the "what." But there were times when what was demanded as advertising and what I felt as a consumer didn't align, and honestly, that always felt uncomfortable to me, all along. Now that the focus is shifting back to whether the "what" is valuable to consumers, I believe this ultimately leads to a positive direction, not just for consumers but for corporate activities as well.

Sugiura: You're absolutely right. This requires a shift in mindset. The paradigm has changed; consumers now actively choose information, meaning the power balance has shifted. In this environment, vague impressions aren't enough. Facts are easily verifiable, and there are countless comparison points. The true substance—the tangible value of a product or the relationship with users for a brand—has become critically important.

Gunji: But this is an opportunity, so how we leverage it is crucial for the field, right?

Sugiura: On the other hand, digital marketing is becoming increasingly controllable. While users are taking proactive actions and evaluations are harsher, conversely, for marketers, it's becoming an environment where it's easier to draw out genuine opinions.

For example, using popular mechanisms like DMP (Data Management Platform), once you identify potential future customers, you can loosely nurture those prospects and maintain that database on your owned media. Then, you can design scenarios—like "audience targeting" and "lead nurturing"—to determine how to deliver content that resonates with them, what kind of ads to show, and ultimately drive results. Traditionally, owned media involved broadly setting up a site and waiting, then evaluating performance based on page views or unique users. Now, however, it's become easier to control aspects like identifying the specific "people" visiting, building good relationships with them, and ultimately guiding them toward purchase.

 

However, executing this requires tangible value that delights consumers. Without a compelling "what," you won't achieve attitude change. Conversely, I truly feel we're now in an era where, if you have that compelling value, it spreads rapidly through social media, SEO, and other channels.

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【Gunji's Eye】

The key points from my discussion with Mr. Sugiura this time are:

• Content must be considered holistically, including how it's delivered, such as through PR.
• In the social media era, deception doesn't work. Consumers now actively choose information, shifting the power balance between senders and receivers.

 

That's the gist.

Because deception doesn't work in the social media era, "vague impressions" won't reach people. Facts can be verified instantly, and comparative information is abundant. For products, tangible value is crucial; for brands, the relationship with users is paramount. Recognizing this is the most important point.
Furthermore, once the delivery medium was decided, the distribution method naturally followed. However, now that consumers take the initiative in gathering information, if you don't consciously consider how you deliver it, you risk not being noticed. Looking at it another way, this also means that if your information is interesting or useful, it's easier for people to find it. Therefore, knowing and understanding consumers has become extremely important.
To achieve this, we must engage with the raw voices flooding social media and meticulously analyze them. This is a world where deception doesn't work; an approach based on genuine insights is required.

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Nextedge Dentsu Inc.
Operating under the theme "Contributing to client business growth through results-driven PDCA execution," we provide digital marketing support services. A Dentsu Group company established in May 2013.

iPR Bureau
The division within Dentsu Inc. responsible for planning, executing, and managing marketing communications in an environment where consumers and companies are connected 24/7, 365 days a year, utilizing social media and owned media.

Performance Marketing
"Performance" also means results in English. This marketing approach involves continuously implementing necessary measures while cycling through the PDCA cycle (Plan → Do → Check → Act) to achieve final results, thereby continuously improving operations.

Performance Advertising
Refers to search engine marketing (SEM) ads, such as search engine results ads (listing ads) and banner ads. As Mr. Sugiura describes in "tuning performance-based advertising," this involves various trial-and-error efforts: designing targeting strategies, controlling ad placement through bidding, improving banner ad creatives, and determining the messaging for landing pages (the web pages users are directed to after seeing the ad).

Organic
Here, it refers to traffic generated by people's voluntary actions, such as having your company's information appear higher in search engine results through SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or accessing your site from bookmarks on smartphones or computers. Recently, due to changes in Google's algorithm, technical SEO measures can sometimes become a risk. Therefore, there is also a growing demand for content marketing, which uses high-quality content as the starting point for marketing.

Outbound and Inbound
Traditional marketing using advertising media focused primarily on delivering or disseminating information. In contrast, SEO and social media marketing involve users finding information themselves or building relationships through their own sharing and communication with peers. The former is called outbound marketing, and the latter is called inbound marketing. A key difference is that outbound marketing actively reaches out to targets, while inbound marketing encourages internal actions.