3rdspace is a content marketing company whose purpose is to help purpose driven brands connect with the values of purpose driven consumers. Our Brands with Purpose e-book will help you understand what makes a great content strategy, how to audit your current content strategy and how to set clear business goals to ensure your content lives and breathes your purpose. Our Brands with Purpose e-book is your first step to understanding the Why, How and What of your content strategy.

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If you’d like to chat about how your content marketing can better connect with your consumers by finding the place of shared purpose our team of marketing & content strategist, behavioural psychologists and creatives are here to help.

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In these challenging times it’s essential that our number one priority remains the safety of our society and also connectivity with citizens and our customers. 

As the stats grow by the day, we are likely to see something similar to the seven stages of grieving – but as an entire population. Shock and denial will be followed by fear and anger, then into depression and loneliness, before moving into the upwards turn.

We know that the way forward is through, and that brands play a vital part by living their purpose and finding new ways to engage, inform and help people through the period of isolation. By leveraging content that involves and gives the audience a release from the continuous bad news feed, brands have a real opportunity to cut through to their audiences. 

We’ve invested in a range of software and licenses to create captivating content remotely. We’ve upgraded our podcast studio to be all remote, and brought on more resources creatively and editorially that can scale to 24/7 operation, with creatives and writers in the UK and NYC working with our Sydney team and our new remote film and live stream studio.

Our Virtual Studio allows us to use all methods of content capture, from desktop and phone cameras, through to high end 4k and 8k cameras and quality audio from remote locations, all whilst having the potential to feed in multiple angles and real-time vision switching.  

We’ve taken what is a B2B conferencing back end, and given it a turbo charged capacity adding in the ability to generate: 

This capability taps into the new normal allowing brands to create content for their owned platforms and to go live on any social platform.

The content needs to have the consumer at the heart, reflect that we understand the situation and involve them in real time interactive content.

We’re on a mission to utilise this new “3rdspace” where brands and consumers can come together on screen as we feed the audience into the content mix from their homes with the talent.

While it is a very scary time, it’s also an opportunity to innovate with content that can range from learning and dialogue shaping interactive debate to live music, comedy, cooking and game shows.

If you’d like to know more call Rob in his remote office on 0419 722 151 or drop us a note;
rob@3rdspace.com.au
Madeleine.l@3rdspace.com.au

Stay safe,
Rob and the 3rdspace Team

The travel industry has taken a big hit through the recent bushfires and now the uncertainty within the industry has doubled with the global coronavirus concerns.

Australians have a fantastic optimism bias, where we sometimes choose to bury our heads in the sand and hope it will all go away. Unfortunately, this is not one of those times.

It’s a time for travel brands and the industry to step up and take action.

Here three starting thoughts from a business and content perspective:

1. Build Trust through Transparency

Loyalty begins with trust, and the best way to build trust is by highlighting the steps your business is taking to ensure customers who travel with you will be as safe as possible in this uncertain time.

 

 

2. Don’t Hold Back

Customers are constantly looking at new inspiration and content. While the first reaction may be to cut back on your marketing and content creation, it’s a time to dial up your content presence. Hold true to your tone of voice and the product attributes your brand offers customers.

People are still engaging with content and planning – they may decide to put off the trip in the next 6 months, but book for ’21. So, it’s important that you are top of mind as ever. By continuing to deliver the same level or dial up marketing & content during a downturn, you’ll already be ahead of the race to reap the benefits at the start of the upswing.

 

3. More than an Offer

Now is the time to highlight your points of difference and entice audiences to engage with the brand. While competitors may retreat and approach with caution, one of the best approaches to surviving uncertainty is to set yourself apart and dialling up the experience and added value that comes with your brand – the things your business is famous for. Think about this beyond a discount offer. Who can you collaborate with? What other innovations do you have in the pipeline that you can fast track?

 

 

At 3rdspace, we talk about helping brands with purpose create content that provokes action. Now is a time for dialling up why your business exists (your core purpose) and creating compelling and authentic content that brings that purpose to life, so that your potential customers want to engage and book with you when they do decide to take that holiday

If you’re interested in finding out more about this approach and how your brand can come through this storm in good shape, please drop me a line.

We’d love to discuss your business.

Rob Logan is the founder and Content Director at 3rdspace - The Content Company.

Change is inevitable. It’s what has shaped every aspect of life as we know it. Whilst change can seem scary at first, the most successful people are those who take opportunities for change and use it to their advantage by forcing themselves out of the comfort zone.  

 Establishing and enforcing new process and ways of thinking can seem unnecessary and resource inefficient – particularly when current processes are working. However, it is important to remember that failure to change means that your business will be left behind.  

At 3rdspace we’re always looking to reignite our purpose, learning from our wins and most definitely our mistakes. Here’s three key drivers to fostering an open-minded, change-centric culture.  

ONE: Just because it works for you, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a better way of doing things.  

We’re all guilty of it. We have a strategy, a way of thinking or one route that gets us to where we want to go. But what if there was an express route? Starting small and considering new perspectives will harness your change-centric mindset and allow you to personalize whatever it is you chose to apply this mindset to. From a content perspective engage in thought provoking conversations with specialists in the field to understand the perspectives and processes of thought leaders and gain knowledge to shape your content strategy to drive greater results.  

TWO: Foster a data-centric culture.  

Almost every single day, we hear about the importance of data. However, it isn’t the data which will benefit your business- it's the way in which it’s used. Analyze data and use it to establish and shape the identities of your audience personas. Determine who your audience is, not by assuming from industry, but rather, understanding who is engaging with your content, on what platforms and how that engagement is nurturing new clients for your business.  

Adobe pledged to stay ahead of the game, implementing the concept of the ‘subscription economy’. Whilst most businesses neglected change, Adobe has taken advantage of an eager market hungry for doing things differently and its sales skyrocketed. Fostering this data centric culture allowed Adobe to understand the value of this investment assisted by data backed forecasts. The results speak for themselves! 

THREE: Look at the scoreboard. 

It’s easy to think that our ways are the best- at least the best for ourselves. It’s not uncommon to hear businesses preaching about their great strategy or product that you need. From a content perspective brands often get caught up in vanity metrics. We need to be thinking about results results results, How those engagement metrics and brand building content campaigns are also nurturing new data – new leads and new opportunities for the business. 

In 2020 it’s one of the most exciting times in content marketing, so if you’d like a fresh opinion and some more information on what we see happening in the world of content, we’d love to chat about how your content can provoke consumer action  

Talk to us here

What are Insta stories?  

Instagram stories provide a short glimpse into share-worthy moments. Whether it’s a fun team lunch, updating your customers on your newest collection installment or back in stock items, Instagram stories connect you with your audience on a more personal and spontaneous platform. 

Since its launch in August 2016, countless features and functions have been introduced, making it one of the most effective forms of both organic and paid media.  

How many people are really using them? 

Instagram stories are visited by half a billion users each day. In 2019, the list of brands on Gartner’s Social platforms and influencers report, saw a 13% increase on brands using the feature from 2018. 

How should you use them?  

Swipe up links are an easy way to direct consumers to your website, encouraging buying behaviour through product education (keep in mind that your account needs to have at least 10,000 followers to have access to the ‘swipe up function). Boost audience engagement on your stories with polls and questions, reactions and swipe up messages. Swiping up on stories allows users to engage in direct messaging, also known as ‘Instagram Direct’ which has evolved to become one of the most popular messaging apps to date, drawing in 375 million users. According to TechCrunch, one in five Instagram stories shared by a brand receives a direct reply, facilitating direct audience contact.

Story highlights on your profile page allow brands to save notable stories. Bulk relevant stories together in labelled categories. Small icons can be used to quickly identify what the stories contain. Be sure to keep your highlights to a minimum, about seven highlights is usually enough to cover all your content and not overwhelm your audience.  

Stories are also an effective way to post trends and news segments within your industry. For smaller news breaks that need to be sent out quickly, or that aren’t big enough for an entire blog post, put it up on your story. Add a questions sticker or a trending hashtag to encourage engagement. And that’s it! Your brand is now a go-to for up-to-date industry news.  

So, whatever industry your business falls in, and with this handy cheat sheet, we’ll be sure to keep an eye out for your daily Instagram stories.  

It’s been an exciting 2019 for team 3rdspace, with 2020 fast approaching, here’s three ways we have brought our clients content missions to life.

We’ve helped ask inspiring questions and started new narratives for our nation. Guided by our friends at EY, we’ve learnt all about asking better questions. In two content series, we’re asking better questions to build a vision for a national digital transformation through LinkedIn and Digital platforms:

We’ve addressed the digital culture change, including the shift toward artificial intelligence and generating sustainable climate change responses. The personal skills needed to facilitate this change were also challenged. All in all, we’re collaborating to build a vision for a national digitaltransformation.
https://www.ey.com/en_au/oce-digital-transformation/conversation-with-the-nation

In series two, we simplified what this digital culture change means for the next generation. To talk to the future in the flesh, we invited some dynamic duo’s to discuss this in a segment we like to call CEO’s and Teens. Making this digital transformation a reality, we worked together to answer the hard questions.
http://ey.com/nextgeneration

Working alongside the team at NEC, we’ve facilitated a B2B content marketing solution to drive greater awareness of NEC’s Let’s Play to win mantra. Even as one of the worlds leading tech companies, NEC has celebrated the power of inspiring and compelling content. Teaming up with their sponsored sporting ambassadors Dylan Alcott and r Joseph Deng, we launched series of seven high impact films, a microsite and an opportunity to meet the stars and a training session.
https://vimeo.com/344941077

2019 also brought disruption to the world of travel agents where we hosted the first ever, live Globus Game Show. Pitting travel agents against each other to test their travel and product knowledge. Reeling in Globus partnered travel agents from around the nation to crown the first ever Travel Agent Champion! In a world-first B2B content marketing experience, 3rdspace have set the bar high, bringing to life the brand’s tone of voice like it has never been done before.

2020 will be a year where the amount of content from brands will almost double. So with the New Year coming up, here are a few things to start thinking about.

  1. Quality is King

    2. While there is a lot of discussion around lessening dwell times due to more and more content being created by brands… quality content that relates to the audience will not only stop thumbs, it will have people leaning in and getting involved.

  2. Influences- micro or mega

    3. At 3rdspace, we continue to prove that a systematic approach to social media influencer marketing is the best way to enforce this category. 2019 showed us that 95% of businesses adopted an influencer marketing strategy (Starita, Nov 2019). As the metrics on social platforms continue to change in 2020, it’s about defining a strong content strategy and defining what the brand wants to communicate, collaborating with influencers to co create a single minded evolving story that reflects your brand to provoke consumer involvement.

  3. To Tik Tok or not to Tik Tok

    4. While the numbers on the platform are open to a lot of questioning, tapping into the zeitgeist for millennial audiences with tactics that engage the audience to create their own content and post is a great way to build time with brand on this platform. Big ups to Fanta’s Cauldron Challenge’ for Halloween.

    Tapping into the moment that saw Tik Tok influencers encourage their followers to unleash their creativity by making bold and imaginative Halloween costumes and sharing them on the platform.

  4. Purpose matters

    5. In two surveys conducted by the Huff Post America and Canada, consumers were said to buy brands that reflect their personal values and beliefs, and are staying away from brands that don’t. In Canada, this represented 55% of consumers, and 64% of American consumers. As we all know, Aussies are a lot more discerning, so we estimate a figure of around 70%, but will be conducting our own research in 2020.

  5. Customer experience will matter more than price and product

    6. Right now, high quality products are more feasible than ever. To stay in the game, customer experience will make or break your business and sway consumer choices to support your business, with 60% of consumers willing to pay more for a better experience. So more than ever from a content perspective think about the long tail in your content strategy, what is the content you are delivering to them not only through awareness, consideration and reason to purchase but what content are you delivering to highlight how much you value them that adds value to their lives to create brand love?

If you’d like to chat about your 2020 content plans, we’d love to have a conversation with you.

Connect here.

“There has been more content generated in the last 2 years
than in the history of mankind”
(Forbes).

This statement is truly mind blowing. It’s also scary to think that the amount of content produced is expected to continue to grow exponentially each year.

Take a minute to ask yourself these questions;

If the answers aren’t entirely clear, perhaps your brand is simply getting caught in all that content clutter? To cut through, brands need a well-defined content strategy.  

Recently, 3rdspace joined forces with LinkedIn Marketing Solutions to share key insights with over 60 marketers about the importance of the right content strategy.

Content strategy starts with your core purpose and your audience at the heart. A well-defined strategy will align your audience with your brand around shared values. It will help define how your brand adds value to your audience’s lives. It establishes your brand’s tone of voice and helps differentiate your brand from the competitive set. The right content strategy will ensure your brand is on a mission to provoke action.

Building the right content mission is the key to a successful content strategy. A content mission is not the creative solution, it is a ‘guiding light’ for the content which you create and helps determine exactly what you want your content to achieve. It defines how will it involve the consumer in an engaging way and most importantly, how it will provoke action.

If your brand doesn’t have a well defined content strategy and you feel that you’re simply getting lost in all that clutter, you should talk to 3rdspace! contact us here.

OUR TOP 5 CONTENT ENGAGEMENT TIPS

 
As a LinkedIn Marketing Partner, 3rdspace recently joined the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions team to share key insights with over 60 marketers,helping them to unlock their brand’s potential on the LinkedIn platform. If you weren’t part of the presentation, never fear…here’s our top 5 content engagement tips.

  1. Develop a well-defined content strategy

We can’t stress enough the importance of a well-defined content strategy. Creating and posting ‘content for content sake’ is simply adding to the clutter. Great content strategy starts with your core purpose and your audience at the heart. It will sperate your brand from the competitive set and ensure your content is on a mission to provoke action.

Is your brand getting caught in the content clutter? Perhaps we can help!

  1. Leverage the voice of your customers or employees

Great content strategy is human at the heart. Leveraging the power of the people behind your brand or your consumers gives your content authenticity, makes your content more believable and is a powerful way to bring your tone of voice to life.

In this powerful campaign for Study Gold Coast, 3rdspace placed students at the heart of our content to demonstrate how they celebrate and embrace cultural  diversity while studying on the Gold Coast. The students are clearly the stars.

See the content here https://3rdspace.com.au/portfolio_page/study-gold-coast/

  1. Use high impact visual images with a clear call to action

Visual images are the new headlines and can be the biggest factor in determining engagement. Differentiating from the crowd by using real people or unexpected high-impact visuals, imagery and graphics will help ensure your content grabs immediate attention in the feed. You can also mix it up a little by A/B testing different imagery to optimize results, while ensuring all your content has a consistent brand thread, reflective of your tone of voice. It’s also important your content has a clear call to action and that you leverage every opportunity to provoke an action, which could link to further content, more engagement or the capturing of data.

  1. Include hero films to bring your brand to life

Don’t underestimate the power of film content to drive deeper levels of engagement. Powerful hero films deliver impact and inspire trust and confidence in your brand. The power of storytelling has the ability, to generate deep emotions, move your audience and provoke action.

Here’s an example of how 3rdspace delivered a hero film content campaign for NEC which brought their brand value to life.

https://3rdspace.com.au/portfolio_page/nec-lets-play-to-win/

  1. Make your content a two-sided conversation

One of our most important engagement tips is also one of the simplest - ask questions. Social platforms are made to enable a two-sided conversation. The simple role of posing a well-defined question to a targeted audience about a thought-provoking topic can drive deep levels of engagement around your brand.

3rdspace recently developed a powerful thought leadership campaign for EY which called upon business leaders to take part in the conversation. The campaign successfully drove engagement from senior business leaders including CEO’s, c-suite and board members.

See the campaign here https://www.ey.com/en_au/oce-digital-transformation/conversation-with-the-nation

 If you’d like to learn more and make your content more engaging, you should most certainly talk to 3rdspace! contact us here.

Aussies love a bit of a skirmish - that’s why we love sport.

If we look at why we love sport, there are some insights that can help brands cut through with their content marketing strategy.

Be brave - Be bold

We’ve just come out of 2 weeks of football finals. The teams that made it to the grand finals were the ones who not only had a strong strategy, but also were prepared to pivot if their game plan was being blocked.

It’s very relevant when it comes to a content marketing strategy - months out, the plan may have looked solid, but when it goes live, it’s not ticking all the boxes you wanted it to. In sport they are AB testing all season - the same goes with your content. If you are having viewer drop off or not getting the involvement planned - be bold and not only AB test but ABCD, re-edit, re-design... and also try things that are not considered “best practice”, as the commentators don’t know everything.

Take it up to the opposition

A bit of friendly heckling will cut through.

As much as we love the skills of the players, we love it when there is a bit of friendly heckling - and when things are not right the fans let the umpire know.

When we ran an audit on the LinkedIn platform of the most engaged content over 3 months, on top was a piece talking about Aldi smashing Coles and Woolies, proving audiences even in a business environment love a bit of a stouch. If it’s done with humour even better; for example, the way Burger King take it up to McDonald's in Europe - but for some reason in this territory, everyone wants to play so safe.

Going up against a leading brand is not for the faint hearted , but if you have the proof points, it can be a way to reposition a brand and cut through with a challenger content strategy very quickly, and if your content is speaking a truth, people will pick up on it and share.

Celebrate your stars 

Yes there is the contest; but sport, like content, is all about establishing who your stars are, whether they be the leader of the business, a personality/influencer, a great piece of creative, your staff or a customer. It’s all about not only highlighting them but also the back story and why they are so relevant to your brand, like the story of Marlin Picket debuting in the grand final for Richmond... it almost became as big as the win itself.

Build a culture that supports the fans and involves them in the game experience

The legendary Kevin Sheedy is a coach that does this better than anyone else, with initiatives way back, like the mums supporter group, that was all about creating community events for mums away from football at the club. I’m sure you can think of a piece of content in sport where a star has taken time to do more than sign an autograph. Make sure your content really works hard to involve the audience, but make it look and feel effortless and genuine.

Admit when you screwed up

A great coach and team will admit when they got the play wrong, as in content marketing. A day in social can be like a lifetime, so if something does go wrong, own it, apologise for it and take immediate steps to fix it. This one may also be useful for a certain referee who called six again on Sunday night...

 

We can talk content marketing and sport all day, so if you’d like to chat contact us here.

3rdspace acknowledges Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; and to Elders past and present.
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