Asia hasn’t realized the potential of content marketing. Here’s why.

Photo credit: Aaron Burden

While content marketing has been the elephant in the room for many Western marketers attempting to discover, build and monetize their audiences, marketers in Asia face a different sort of problem: content marketing, period.

Content agencies have been a staple of modern marketing world in the United States and Europe for years; however Asia has been relatively slow to adapt what seems to many as common practice in the digital era.

Growing, slowly but surely

According to Campaign Asia, the Asian landscape of content marketing is growing between 5 and 10 percent annually as more companies are dedicating themselves to become full-fledged media agencies. Although content marketing is on the rise in the region, we shouldn’t expect a slew of content-exclusive agencies, but rather budding brands investing more in their content budgets.

For example, there’s been a recent explosion of branded videos, the viral media of choice in Southeast Asia according to a recent statement by Unruly, an ad-tech company which focuses on video marketing.

Western approach vs. Eastern values

This slow by steady rise of content marketing in Asia raises questions as to why the practice had previously been slept on for so long. Perhaps it’s because what works for content in the West isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach for Asian marketers. For example, marketers must keep in mind the following:

• Asia is not a homogenous marketing scene, despite popular belief of some in the West. For example, what works in China or Japan might not fly in Thailand or Singapore.

• With the traditional marketing mindset adopted toward Asian audiences, which include a focus on community, local values and low prices, the exact place of content in such a strategy seems somewhat ambiguous.

• Given the economic disparity and inequality in some regions of China, for example, content marketing may not be seen as the most effective means of reaching an audience willing to realistically spend.

For these reasons, among others, the link between the tried-and-tested content strategies of the west and the emerging Asian market may be difficult to make. As content marketing grows, Asian media agencies will hopefully find their respective voices and a means of reaching their audience.

According to digital publisher Novus, the hesitance of the Asian marketers to drive content can be most attributed to a lack of measurable ROI, a thorn in the side of most content marketers regardless of region. Additionally, the benefits of content marketing are a “slow burn,” as strategies require a consistent stream of attention and resources before benefits are apparent. This approach doesn’t necessarily mesh with the Asian market’s tendency to churn out products, quickly and efficiently.

A shift in mindset

In short, new attention toward content marketing requires a shift in the region’s marketing mindset. That is, tell a story and encourage others to share it versus constantly jumping from project to project with little regard for personal engagement.

The mindset for current Asian marketing seems to be “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” Fair enough; however, the principles of such marketers may continue to shift as the content landscape of the region continues to evolve.

The Western approach to content marketing often focuses on generating links and shares to big, informative pieces of content that meet the needs of a company’s audience. These pieces of content seldom try to sell a product directly. Instead, they offer helpful content in hopes of making an impact on the user. When the user gets enough help from a company’s content, they may find themselves ready to buy the company’s product.

Same approach, new content