When it comes to making the most of what you’ve got, marketers and partner marketers could take their lead from the entertainment industry. From popstars to film magnates, here’s an industry that knows how to promote content, collaborate, and pivot as needed. 

Earlier this year, Sir Elton John repurposed and remixed not just one, but two classics in collaboration with pop powerhouse Dua Lipa to create a track that has modern appeal and a whole new generation crooning Rocketman. Maroon 5 dug even further back into the vaults to blatantly appropriate Pachelbel’s’ famous Canon V into one of their popular tracks, Memories.

It’s not just music. Popular novels make their way on the big and small screen, movie franchises make the most of popular culture (and nostalgia) to attract audiences.  Don’t think for a minute that Tom Cruise was too concerned about repurposing content when he reimagined his 80s classic ‘Top Gun’ into the wildly popular ‘Maverick’, easily walking way with one of the biggest box office hits of all time.

So, what’s the lesson for marketers?

Marketers – and partner marketers – need content to attract, inform and convert so the business can drive revenue. While not quite the same as selling albums or seats, there are definite lessons here. The marketplace is noisy, competitive, and there is a lot of great, ok, and indifferent content out there, which makes it difficult to stand out. Plus, there is the challenge of getting the job done quickly, cost-effectively and in a way that grabs audiences and gets them to act again and again.

The key takeaway here is – much like in entertainment – you have to take the needs of your audience in mind and tailor your content accordingly, but great does not have to mean ‘completely brand new’. Use what you know has appeal, and then ‘sweat it’. Refresh it to make it look as new and as up to date as you can. Cut it up and slice it up into shorter, punchier pieces of content for social and digital. Adapt customer content for sales and vice versa.

Where possible, try and collaborate with someone who has some credibility and an opinion your audience will be interested in – could you get an analyst or expert to provide a new front end to your content for example? All so you can amplify the value you deliver without making a big spend.  And remember, while you may have seen a piece of content what feels like a hundred times, it’s highly likely a good proportion of your audience has never seen it before.

How Coterie can help

Marketing departments have a content budget and resources dedicated to content creation. There is nothing wrong in targeting that resource to create powerful new content, but when budgets are tight, marketers need to work smarter to make every cent – and their content – work harder.

At Coterie, we believe in extracting the most value from existing marketing assets – whether or not we created them the first time around. We know Partner Marketing seldom has a big blockbuster budget and can’t afford to waste time and money creating assets that don’t convert.

A content audit is the perfect place to start.  We help you identify what content you have, and where the gaps are and how best to fill them. From here, Coterie helps you align your content with your strategy and will amend, adapt and develop that content to ensure it will fuel your sales and marketing engines.

Coterie has delivered thousands of successful projects, designed specifically to deliver value to tech companies and their partners. Our rapid, programmatic approach makes it easier to leverage current resources, assets, and platforms. All this while bringing fresh-thinking creativity to relationships and revenue creation.

Music to your ears? Talk to us about our partner marketing and content services on (+44) 0113 292 0945 or email [email protected].