As marketers, we have to ask ourselves: Is it worth investing all of a campaign’s budget into one hero piece of content that generates media attention? Or, using a sport analogy, is it worth investing in one player without thinking about the rest of the team?
To create a good overall performance and keep the fans happy, Google suggests using the Hero, Hub, Help Model. Its goal is to strengthen a brand through storytelling that resonates with the customers and tackles their varied needs. So, what is the ideal content line-up and how do we score with it? Let’s start by dropping the sports references.
Hero:
Ask yourself: What would be your Superbowl moment?
Hero content pieces are aimed to target a broad audience to attract as much attention to the brand as possible. This is especially useful for new product launch campaigns – it creates a big buzz. As you can imagine, there’s mostly a big budget behind it.
As cool as it is to create a piece of content that people are talking about, it should happen rarely and should not excessively self-promote the brand. Instead, it should utilise the powerful effects of emotional storytelling.
Famous examples: Jean Claude Van Damme for Volvo or the John Lewis Christmas TV ads
Help:
Ask yourself: What is my audience actively searching for?
Help content answers the questions of challenges from prospective and current customers. It aims to provide information as well as inspiration. This could be an FAQ page, tips or customer service information. From YouTube tutorial to blog posts – it addresses issues, solves problems or sheds light on important developments.
If you think about doing YouTube content, however, bear in mind that there is a fierce competition of established YouTubers already out there with a huge follower base. That’s why YouTube content should always be well optimised and easily discoverable.
Famous examples: Gillette’s shaving tips or the Nike Football YouTube channel.
Hub:
Ask yourself: How do I keep my fans happy?
Hub content is any kind of content that loyal customers expect, such as weekly or monthly updates, or content series. This could be in the form of regular blog posts, social media posts or newsletters. It’s all about nurturing relationships and establishing loyalty.
It should keep people interested who might have seen the Hero content and want to find out more about the brand.
Famous examples: Waitrose Social Media Channels (including their recipes on their YouTube channel)
A brand that has mastered the Hero, Hub, Help Model is the Stratos campaign by Red Bull.
Hero: The Felix Baumgartner’s jump from the edge of space
Hub: Details on the man behind the parachute
Help: Stats from the jump, FAQs, Q&A sessions
The main takeaway:
Don’t just slam dunk into Hero content: before planning an offensive move with a big idea, make sure you have Help and Hub content as follow-ups to sustain the buzz. A content calendar with scheduled posts of all three types of content can be a good tactic.
So, use Hero content to create attention but use Help and Hub content to keep the ball rolling.