To kick off our first-ever Content Marketing Rockstars series, we speak to RP Singh, The Chairperson and Producer of Content Marketing Summit Asia.

Why Content Marketing?

RP: Simply, because it is the only marketing left, as described aptly by Seth Godin. And I am a firm believer of the same. We all know how users have started disliking traditional advertising, they have ad blockers installed and that describes their hate for ads.

To survive in this age of empowered users, you need to empower them with value which does not come from ads. Content is the only saviour now.

“Content Marketing is the Only Marketing Left”
– Seth Godin

How did you get started with Content Marketing?

RP: As a digital marketing professional for over 17 years now, I have seen digital advertising grow, the problems associated with it and the opportunities it presents to modern-day marketers. Response rates of different advertising methods have constantly been going down and that is major because the destination pages have never had anything to engage the user.

We used to show banners to users, only to land them on a page with a bigger banner. We are all starting to realise now that it has to change and content marketing is a great way to do so.

Content Marketing requires lots of inspiration, how do you stay inspired?

RP: The biggest inspiration is consumers themselves. Their changing habits, preferences, behaviours etc. always keep us on the toes as marketers. The more you understand about your consumers, more and more ideas will emerge on how to connect with them.

Other than that, there is some really good work being done by a lot of brands globally which acts as a huge source of inspiration.

What are some valuable insights you would give to businesses or organizations that are starting up or have been struggling with content marketing?

RP: I have seen a lot of businesses struggling with content due to poorly defined objectives of content marketing, poorly defined personas, poorly defined distribution channels.

In a nutshell, a poor content marketing strategy. There are three key areas of content marketing which need equal attention, these are Content Creation, Content Management & Content Distribution. If you focus too much on any one of them, you will have no resources left for the other two. You also need to understand, for every brand or business, the role of content changes depending on the consumer’s lifecycle stage. If one type of content is working for a brand, it may not necessarily work for another brand in the same category.

In the B2B sector, for instance, if you use the same content to target users across your marketing funnel, you have a problem at hand, and no one can solve that for you unless you adapt your content to the requirement of each stage of the funnel.

What do you think is the future of Content Marketing?

RP: I would say that the future of marketing is Content. A lot of people may think it is AI, VR or any of those jazzy things but according to me, you are eventually delivering content through the use of such technology or platforms. You cannot ignore content, period.

Besides Content Marketing, what are you passionate about?

RP: Content to me is a connecting link between various marketing disciplines. The role of technology is something I am very passionate about when it comes to content marketing and understanding how consumers use technology in their day to day life going forward, will be interesting to see.

Give us an elevator pitch of your business?

RP: Content Marketing Summit Asia is the largest platform in APAC to connect content marketing enthusiasts, with a single-minded objective of growing the content marketing ecosystem.

How can people connect with you/your business?

RP: www.contentmarketingsummit.org