Editor’s note: We’re sharing insights from Content Marketer of the Year finalists on the blog before we announce the winner at Content Marketing World in September. This is the first year we will name a Content Marketer of the Year in two categories – B2B and B2C.
Corrado Paolucci is working to change how people think about energy’s complex role in the climate change saga.
His work as the content strategy and newsroom manager at Eni, an Italy-based global energy company, earned him a place on the list of finalists for 2019 B2B Content Marketer of the Year.
Why he caught our eye
Corrado leads the international team of storytellers behind the company’s content brand Eniday, which explores new frontiers in energy and the people who work every day to transform the earth’s natural resources into energy.
The first digital storytelling asset of its kind in Italy, Eniday mixes sophisticated written and visual storytelling techniques to inspire, educate, and persuade the audience that, as the hub’s tagline states, “energy is a good story.”
The challenge of a charged sector
Energy keeps the world connected, literally lighting our lives and making most of life’s tasks faster and easier to do. Yet meeting the global appetite for energy creates consequences and challenges today and in the future.
Eni, the top multinational company headquartered in Italy and a top 10 energy company globally, acknowledges its role in that complex conversation.
“With a global population expected to reach 9 billion in 2040, we feel the responsibility – as an international energy company – to contribute to bringing innovative and cleaner energy where it is needed,” said Claudio Descalzi, Eni’s chief executive officer, in a release announcing the company’s latest sustainability report.
The topic could skew heavily to technology and science. But as a skilled content marketer knows, dry science doesn’t capture people’s attention, imagination, and admiration. It takes creative stories that engage on a human level.
.@CorradoPaolucci and his @Eni team turn dry science into content that captures people’s attention. @carlajohnson Click To Tweet
Wielding the power of story to tell the new story of power
Our kudos to Eni for hiring a communications director with a journalism background and an appreciation for quality content and storytelling. As that director built his team and created the interactive media platform, he hired Corrado as an executive assistant.
A few years later, Corrado took on the roles of editor-in-chief and lead strategist for the Eniday content hub, managing the internal team and building relationships with external contributors including journalists; photographers; videographers; and experts in big data, energy, and sustainable development.
The interactive content they produce (available in English and Italian) mixes data and research with a healthy dose of creativity. Visual storytelling keeps the content entertaining, accessible, and engaging to a broad audience who cares about taking care of the Earth.
#Visualstorytelling keeps the #content entertaining & engaging to an audience who cares about the Earth. @carlajohnson Click To Tweet
Click to enlargeA recent Eniday story tells the history of fossil fuel through engaging text dotted with a series of tapestry-like panels that distill the elements into eye-catching and almost whimsical representations.
Forging energizing paths
Having grown up in a household that prized stories (his father is a journalist), Corrado studied communications, advertising, and creative direction at the University of Milan. Intrigued by the connection between art and communication, he started telling stories through video and photographs, and, later, writing. A firm believer in lifelong learning, he’s working toward a master’s degree in business administration and general management.
Just as he pushes himself to try new things, he constantly encourages his team to challenge conventional communication methods. He now leads the strategy behind newly launched Eni TV, likely the first digital streaming platform of its kind in Italy. Eni TV covers major energy issues and showcases company culture by making Eni’s employees the protagonists of the program.
.@CorradoPaolucci urges his team to challenge conventional communication methods, says @carlajohnson. #CMWorld Click To Tweet
Click to enlargePlugging into audience interests
Storytelling techniques are useless, though, if the story doesn’t resonate with the intended audience. To make sure Eni’s stories carry the right charge, Corrado and team analyzed audience data to inform the strategy, style guide, and main keywords.
These data sources included:
- Social media: By analyzing social media conversations, the team heightened its awareness of the audience’s interests and the topics they care about most.
- Google Trends and other research. Constant monitoring of energy topics on Google Trends combined with online secondary research and topics identified from social media helped the team become first-movers on new topics. Predictive analytics help them anticipate future trends.
- Influencers and opinion leaders. Analyzing how opinion leaders talk about energy issues (and which ones they focus on most) helps the team learn how to connect with these authoritative and influential people.
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Firing on all content cylinders
With their audience at the heart of all their content ideas, Eniday’s original stories focus less on the technical aspects of sustainable energy and more on the emotional responses these stories create.
And it seems to be working. Over the last year, Eniday’s content performance numbers are trending up, including:
- An increase in returning visitors
- Page scroll depth (now averaging 75%)
- Page views per visit (up 30% last year)
- Time spent (up to 3.45 minutes from 1.30 minutes)
.@Eni’s emotionally focused stories have led to jumps in returning visitors, pages per visit, and time on site. Click To Tweet
The site also promotes internal relationships. The authentic stories the Eniday team creates featuring Eni employees foster a strong internal brand culture that reminds employees of their importance, and the values and objectives they share with the company.
Corrado also produces a video strategy to promote the Eni Award for excellence in energy event (also known as the Nobel Prize of energy). The program celebrates people inventing better uses of energy sources, promoting scientific research and innovation, and encouraging a new generation of researchers.
And, very likely, generating all kinds of new energy stories for Corrado and team to tell.
Be among the first to learn the 2019 Content Marketers of the Year – the opening act to Scott Stratten and Henry Rollins’ keynote presentations. Register today for Content Marketing World Sept. 3-6 using code CMIBLOG100 to save $100.
Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute