In business and marketing we are seeing a number of co-creation initiatives sprouting up. Partnering on projects, with an upstream or downstream business partner, or even with a competitor for scale, is now common practice. Some lead to acquisitions for the lucky few, and others form powerful networks.
I’ve got my headphones on as I write now listening to a mix of a bunch of “latin pop” that has 19 million views on YouTube.
Sorry about the thumbnail they have chosen, but I like the song and the title proves my point.
It fits well together and the combined works actually appeals more to me than each song on its own. Admittedly it’s a mash-up made by one individual, but already within each tune there’s a collaboration of at least two artists. This singular mash up is common, but we are also seeing collaboration with influencers and brands.
Here are a few sites and tools focused on this.
Contently.com
Contently.com is a great example of co collaboration for authors and also a nice way for writers to create a portfolio of work, and find work. Here’s mine: https://nickwallen.contently.com (No affiliate link, just love the idea).
Has functionality to invite authors to pin to your boards, but doesn’t have a workflow, so your trust has to be absolute.
Hootsuite
Enables you to add team members and editors then give them access to create drafts for all of the top four networks. You can check the schedule and optimise timed posts. Ensure you have a good mix of content each day, and even add Google analytics tracking to your shortened links.
WordPress
Yes, superfans can create drafts straight into your wordpress blog, ready for review and publishing. Much like a full blown WCMS you can manage workflow, scheduling for the month and report metrics.
What else do you need?
The tools are readily available. The next step is managing the change in your marketing team and managing the way you interact with your infuencers and superfans. Gone are the days of the “Dear Robert Scoble, could you do us a solid and write a post about our product”. Or the bribed guest post, or endorsement. Both of which are the owned media managers shoddy attempts a doing blogger outreach.
This is business, so quite why we thought the above would work or was appropriate I don’t know.
Their impartiality to internal business silos, conflicts, politcs or the way we have always done it, will also bring more resonant content marketing into play. They’re a customer, so they know what their pain points are.
Formal contracts, NDAs, brand guidelines and tone of voice are all in a good writer’s vocabulary. I think we’ll be pleasantly surprised by the uptake of cocreative influencers – if we take a professional approach to their professional work.
It is up to us to give superfans the power, tools and access to evangelise.
Nick Allen - Marketing, Growth & Running 