Diane di Costanzo experiences the most effective of two worlds in a novel content material advertising and marketing position.
As chief content material officer, vice chairman/editorial director at Foundry 360, Dotdash Meredith’s branded content material division, she workout routines her brand-content technique muscle mass by overseeing about 30 conventional client-side applications at any time.
And as editor-in-chief of the editorially unbiased (and single sponsored supported) print and digital publications Millie Journal and PawPrint, she makes use of her journalism expertise day by day.
This highly effective mixture of expertise works properly for Foundry 360, which experiences excessive shopper retention – some shopper relationships span 15 years and counting.
And all that success earned Diane the 2022 B2C Content material Marketer of the Yr title. Right here’s a take a look at what units her work aside.
Combining model #Content material and journalism expertise led to spectacular outcomes for Foundry 360 purchasers – and the B2C Content material Marketer of Yr title for Diane di Costanzo through @AnnGynn @CMIContent. Click on To Tweet
A content material strategy-forward method
“We turn out to be a form of editorial division hooked up to purchasers however not embedded,” Diane says of the Foundry 360 enterprise mannequin. Foundry’s work doesn’t contain responding to manufacturers’ requests for proposals. As a substitute, it begins with brainstorming content material methods that would work for manufacturers.
In a break up from her conventional media background, Diane works hand in hand with the gross sales crew. Their mutual objective is to get the doorways opened for potential purchasers, to allow them to speak content material. Then, they discuss what success seems like and what firm objectives the content material ought to assist.
“We create a well-organized understanding of what we need to do and the way we’re going to measure it,” she says. “Should you don’t measure it, it’s onerous for the shopper to rationalize, ‘Let’s do it once more,’ as a result of they haven’t been capable of quantify what the content material did.”
Should you don’t measure #Content material affect, it’s onerous for purchasers to conform to repeat a program, says Diane Di Costanzo through @AnnGynn and @CMIContent. Click on To Tweet
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Broad expertise and a deep content material bench
That concentrate on success – and understanding that content material isn’t a one-and-done factor – prompts most purchasers to proceed working with Foundry 360.
Although the Foundry 360 crew executes over two dozen content material applications at a time, the crew consists of solely six full-time folks. All of them function government administrators who head up verticals, comparable to finance, well being and wellness, and medical science.
The remainder of the work will get carried out by freelancers. “We’re capable of rent the precise proper particular person with the precise proper editorial skillset for any given challenge,” Diane says, including about 50% of her job is discovering these proper folks.
In fact, the full-time workers additionally pitches in on different initiatives once they have the bandwidth. “We don’t simply put on one hat,” Diane says.
A repeatable mannequin for achievement
Whereas the Foundry 360 crew invests time in figuring out what content material initiatives would work properly for the manufacturers, it additionally creates initiatives from a conventional media perspective.
That’s potential as a result of Foundry 360 operates underneath the Dotdash Meredith umbrella, the most important digital and print writer in the US. (The publicly traded firm consists of iconic media manufacturers comparable to Individuals, Higher Houses & Gardens, Actual Easy, Investopedia, and extra.)
Recognizing that the distinctive construction may gain advantage potential model purchasers, Diane expanded Foundry 360’s content material product line in 2020 with the launch of Millie, a print and digital content material program about ladies and cash.
On the time, Meredith – later acquired by Dotdash – had offered the Cash Journal model, leaving the corporate with no monetary editorial model. However their analysis confirmed many monetary corporations nonetheless had cash to put money into buying audiences.
Girls often have been unnoticed of conversations round cash. (Lower than 50 years in the past, it was nonetheless authorized for a corporation to require a person to co-sign for a lady to get a bank card.)
“There’s this cultural, societal, and historic context because it pertains to ladies and cash. Our analysis got here collectively to say if you speak to ladies about cash. It’s a special dialog than if you speak to males about cash,” Diane explains.
Meredith favored the sponsorship mannequin as a result of a shopper’s funding would come from a advertising and marketing funds and never its promoting spend. The latter may have been a menace to its conventional magazines that depend on advertiser assist.
And, in contrast to conventional magazines that should first create an editorial product to draw advertisers, a sponsor-based journal has an funding dedication earlier than it’s created.
Synchrony signed on as the only multi-year sponsor, receiving 4 pages of promoting in every 48-page journal. They’ve a 100% share of voice within the journal. Additionally they profit from free distribution to over 1 million focused readers as Millie mailed in the identical bag as Actual Easy journal.
A sole multi-year sponsor will get 100% share of voice underneath the distinctive mannequin behind Millie Journal, led by 2022 B2C Content material Marketer of the Yr Diane Di Costanzo through @AnnGynn @CMIContent. Click on To Tweet
Repeating the profitable mannequin
Millie’s success led Diane to marvel what different manufacturers may be concerned about being the only sponsor for a brand new publication with large distribution. The reply got here from a goal that had been on the gross sales radar for some time – Mars Petcare.
Mars owns the most important portfolio of particular person pet manufacturers. They needed to focus on the twin pet (cats and canine) viewers – an modern advertising and marketing thought since most giant manufacturers are likely to silo the pet sort.
Mars signed on to sponsor PawPrint journal as shortly as Synchrony got here on board for Millie. Not like with Millie, although, Dotdash Meredith has a digital editorial pet model – Each day Paws. So PawPrint (the journal) and Each day Paws (the web site) act as companion content material retailers. PawPrint, like Millie, will get bagged with and mailed to over 1 million Actual Easy readers.
Whereas Mars shares its content material pointers (comparable to exhibiting pets in secure and humane settings) with Foundry 360, it doesn’t have a say within the editorial content material. And it might probably’t if they need the Paw Print journal to be mailed with Actual Easy to over 1 million subscribers.
As an editorial journal, Actual Easy receives the decrease price periodical price from the U.S. Postal Service. If it included a branded content material journal, it could now not qualify for that price.
“It’s been nice for Mars. They’ve coupons and different provides (of their adverts) in order that they’ll observe what occurs subsequent with the readers as a result of we need to be certain what we’re driving is effective to them,” Diane says.
Surveys are a essential instrument to measure viewers response. “It’s about as unvarnished an opinion as you will get as a result of nobody’s paying anyone to say something,” Diane says. And the surveys present that readers suppose PawPrint is nice, too.
“It’s simply been fantastic to listen to that it’s so properly obtained, and it helps to know there’s love for this animal publication Mars Petcare is sponsoring.”
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Cowl picture by Joseph Kalinowski/Content material Advertising Institute
