Tom Newcombe is the global marketing content manager at CWT, a travel management company that’s present in more than 150 countries. Shaheen Samavati recently had the chance to speak with him about transitioning from journalism to marketing and working his way up in the industry. In this interview, Tom shares his perspective on what it’s like to manage such a wide array of markets, how the current crisis has affected the travel sector, and the increasing importance of quality over quantity in the content world.

You can watch the full conversation in the video above or on our YouTube channel, listen to the podcast on Apple and Spotify, and read our recap below.

Key takeaways

• The lines between journalism and corporate communications are blurring as today’s audiences become more aware of paid promotions and demand genuine content.

• The travel industry is facing enormous uncertainty regarding future demand, and CWT has had to adapt both their way of working and messaging to position the company as a valuable source of information for travelers.

• The key is to create high quality content that can be adapted to different markets, like CWT’s price forecast tool—which is a great example of using B2B content marketing to respond directly to customer needs.

• For people in creative roles, one of the hardest parts of working from home can be finding inspiration in structured calls and isolation, rather than letting it emerge naturally through constant collaboration.

• If the content you’re creating is strong, you don’t need to get hung up on small details or focus all your energy on promoting it—quality comes first, and the rest follows. 

The heart of everything we do in marketing is creating strong content that customers actually want.

Rapid-fire recs

What’s an app or tool that you can’t work without?

Recently it’s been Crayon, a competitive intelligence tool that gives me daily updates on what our competitors are doing. We’re all coming from a similar place right now, so it’s invaluable to ensure that we’re not talking about stuff that our competitors have already put out.

A marketing influencer who you follow?

Ann Handley. She has a blog with great tips on the fundamentals of marketing, and I really like her writing style. She writes well-structured posts in plain English, which really resonates for me since I come from a journalism background.

Also check out: 8 inspiring content and marketing influencers to follow

A valuable resource, event or group?

Last year I went to Festival of Marketing in London, which was very valuable from a B2B angle. There were some great speakers and keynotes, and representatives from really cool brands. Whenever it’s back on, I would highly recommend it.

Also check out: 7 online networking groups for content marketers on Facebook & LinkedIn

Connect with Tom and Shaheen on LinkedIn.

This post was edited by Melissa Haun, a freelance content creator based in Lisbon.

For more insights from experts in global marketing content:

Forget the fluff – Sara Lesina, global marketing lead at Lonza

Stay competitive in a globalized market – Ilia Markov, Bulgaria-based content marketing manager

Reimagining staycations – Jasmine Anderson, global content marketing manager

To see the full transcript, click on page number 2 below.