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Content marketing has been deemed one of the hottest trends in marketing. This page includes articles and blog posts that provide helpful insights, and tips related to content marketing.
Regardless of whether you are exploring the feasibility of content marketing or have already developed a cohesive strategy, you probably want to better understand the precise forms of content that your specific audience wants to connect with. There are no “silver bullets” or one-size-fits-all plans that apply to every organization. However, there are some core, common elements across successful content marketing programs. At CMI, we’ve been blessed to work with some amazing brands to help them operationalize the process of content marketing. We’ve learned so much from this practical experience, and have begun to recognize some interesting patterns — patterns that form a “chain,” if you will, that can increase the likelihood of content marketing success.
With the explosion of interest in content marketing, brands are diving headfirst into content production and publishing. But all too often the effort is sporadic, poorly planned, inadequately optimized, never promoted, and barely tracked. This leads to bad results and general grumpiness.
Content marketing efforts are typically held to ROI metrics – this is “weaponized content” that is supposed to generate traffic, sales, or engagement – so let’s begin with the ends in mind and map out the best possible content marketing framework. It may not be reachable, you may not be able execute every element, but at least you know what to shoot for. So let’s get started on defining our own personal content marketing perfect state.
The first and most important step in making sure your content is keyword-focused and aligned to you keyword strategy. And what drives your keyword strategy? Your users, target market, and potential customers. Keywords represent concepts, and concepts are shaped by content, so take what you want to say and distill it down to keyphrases.
There are lots of great posts on about creating a solid content marketing strategy and translating this strategy into a solid editorial plan. Dig into this body of knowledge.
Once you have a keyword-informed content strategy in place, you start creating the content. This is another big area deserving an article in itself, so suffice it to say your content is cost-effectively produced, meets quality standards, and is appropriate for your audience and the context (social, website, mobile, etc.).
Now it’s time to publish your content and give it a gentle shove out the door. This is where real “content marketing” begins and where many efforts fall flat. As we all know, for most brands it’s not a matter of “build it and they will come”; it’s more like “build it and then optimize it and push it out through channels and promote it with spend and they will come.”
Is your content marketing checking all the boxes?
Most everybody is doing content marketing, but there’s more to it than writing blog posts and creating the occasional infographic. Here’s the ideal content marketing framework translated into a checklist to ensure your content flies across the web.
I am an SEO & Social Media Analyst at KoMarketing Associates living in the greater Boston area. I started my internet marketing and consulting career in 2010 after spending 2009 traveling through Europe. Since my return to the States I have been dedicated to discover the best ways to reach, engage, and connect with people on an effective level. As the internet continues to change I'm inspired to leverage new tools so that I can help others and myself.