The Content Marketing World 2017 opened with some crystal ball gazing from Joe Pulizzi, the godfather of content marketing himself. Predictions about where we are headed in the future made much of the crowd go hmmm (remember the C+C Music Factory song?). Linda Boff from GE followed with an extremely relevant keynote address, and Scatter has put together some of the more relevant take-outs:

GE tells stories to
(a) communicate strategy
(b) sell
(c) inspire, and
(d) reach audiences

• Good content speaks for itself.
• Stories are right under your nose (Scatter fully agrees. Here’s our latest offering, Scatter Recommends)
• The GE content formula = (first on platforms + activate unlikely audiences + find the human in digital) x continuous motion
• GE is a 125-year-old company, and Linda has the task of making sure they continue to be relevant. This, in a time when legacy companies are saddled by the very ‘legacy’ they have built.
• Ideas appear to be scary, messy, and fragile at first. An idea’s natural-born enemy is the way things are at present. GE embraced content marketing when it was just an idea, and today they are at the forefront because they embraced this scary, messy, and fragile ‘baby’. What this video to understand this better:
• You can’t read about platforms. You have to experience it! GE has actually used Instagram as they knew they had access to imagery (in their products) that the common world just did not have.

GE has embraced content marketing and is experiencing its benefits today. What about your brand?