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IntercomExplainer
Doubling down on content - The Intercom Blog
Summary
Intercom hired John Collins, a former print journalist with 20 years at The Irish Times, as managing editor to lead its content efforts. The company’s blog, Inside Intercom, has been a key driver of its success by sharing insights on web design, search, and business evolution, not just product features, and increasingly reflects the views of its customers. Intercom avoids typical content marketing tactics like link baiting or artificial publishing schedules, instead focusing on evergreen content that builds a lasting knowledge base and gets referred to weeks and months after publication. This approach allows direct engagement with customers without intermediaries like PR agencies or trade magazines, which have declined, and the company is not setting up a corporate newsroom. The company views this as an experiment putting a journalist among engineers and designers to create content that attracts and engages prospective customers on its own terms.
Approach / What changed
Intercom invests in evergreen, long-life content that builds a knowledge base, avoids link baiting and artificial publishing schedules, and engages customers directly without intermediaries like PR agencies or trade magazines.
Takeaways
Intercom’s blog focuses on topics like web design, search, and business evolution, not just product features, and increasingly includes customer perspectives.
The company avoids typical content marketing tactics such as link baiting and artificial schedules, instead prioritizing content with a long shelf life that gets referred to months later.
By creating its own content, Intercom cuts out intermediaries like PR agencies and trade magazines, enabling direct and deeper engagement with customers.
FAQ
Why did Intercom hire a journalist as managing editor?
Intercom hired John Collins, a former print journalist, to lead its content efforts because the company values creating interesting, evergreen content that attracts visitors and builds a knowledge base, rather than relying on traditional PR or advertising.
How does Intercom's content strategy differ from typical content marketing?
Intercom avoids link baiting and artificial publishing schedules, focusing instead on content with a long life that adds to a knowledge base. They aim for direct engagement with customers without intermediaries, unlike typical content marketing that often prioritizes volume and short-term traffic.
What kind of content does Intercom publish on its blog?
Intercom publishes content about web design, search improvement, and how the internet changes everything, as well as insights into their work practices and customer views, not just product features.
Source and freshness
- Source
- intercom.com
- Published
- Added to Yomu
Summaries are generated from the original by a language model. Check the original before relying on it.
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