Rethink your content strategy for engaging Senior Decision-makers
There are many frameworks and strategies that we can use to create content that educates, engages and spreads our message. For example, the Smart Insights Content Marketing Matrix helps review which content is effective in different parts of the marketing funnel. When it comes to tailoring content for our buyer personas it’s an obvious process; build content that solves a problem.
There’s another side to this though. If you’re trying to engage the C-Suite, or any senior decision maker for that matter, then the typical method of content marketing may not work. This is because they operate on a different level than your typical prospect.
There are a few reasons that you may want to target the C-Suite:
1. Enterprise sales; or any type of sales opportunities worth 6 to 7 figures.
2. Business development opportunities; connecting and partnering with complimentary organisations that would really move…
Recommendations on the top tips, techniques and tools to reach content marketing excellence in 2015
2014 has certainly been a busy year for content marketing and something that wasn’t a surprise given the research and buzz evident at the start of the year which showed that content marketing was the highest rated marketing priority for marketers. The more recent 2015 marketing trends poll on Smart Insights showed that content marketing is still the top marketing priority for 2015.
But as the year has gone on, what have we really learnt about content marketing and the lessons we need to follow in order to execute this particular area of digital marketing effectively?
In this post I’ve grouped together some key content marketing themes from 2014 and links to recommended best practice articles and resources from Smart Insights and other sites.
Key areas of focus
Understanding content marketing
Before embarking on content marketing for your business, it's…
How to avoid the all-too-common mistakes of using infographics
Infographics have been around for centuries. According to the infographic entry on Wikipedia, one of the first IGs was published in Rosa Ursina sive Sol in which infographics were used to visually demonstrate the sun’s rotation patterns.
Fast-forward to today and infographics have exploded in popularity! Simply typing 'infographic' into the Google Search bar pulls up more than 15,500,000 results. Visual content is taking over the web, with more people sharing visual content than text or links.
But first, let’s ask whether infographics should be part of a wider content marketing strategy. Of course they should be. It’s a no-brainer, right? But if it's so obvious, why do we see so many one-hit infographic wonders? Many infographics are created in isolation to illustrate a trend or to convey stats without any other content types to support or complement them.
Instead, infographics…
Examples of how content marketing has evolved from 1895 to 2014
Did you know that content marketing started in 1985 when John Deere launched 'The Furrow Magazine' and P&G were the first to sponsor a soap opera, and this is where the term 'Soap Opera' comes from?
We're sharing this video since it gives a simple introduction and interesting examples of how content marketing formats have evolved from sponsorship to video to editorial. Of course, the video is an example of a piece of content marketing too...
[youtubevideoembedder id="jC43QhFxFrY"]
As the video states: 'Content marketing is at the centre of many brand's marketing strategy with powerful visual content, as it becomes so much more personalised with the tools and technologies that marketers have today.
'Content Marketing is Engaging consumers with the stuff they really want, in a way that serves your brand's purpose and ideals, rather than just trying to jam your logo onto their periphery,'
Keith Blanchard, NYC
…
How and why we should move on from "Content is King"
"Content is King"... That phrase has been used so often over the years that it has become something of a mantra and a well-worn one at that. That doesn't make it any less relevant than it was at the time or that we should lose sight of its meaning - which is that content will always, and should always, carry great significance.
In case you're wondering, Bill Gates coined the phrase 'Content is King' - it was the title of an essay he wrote back in January 1996. 'One of the exciting things about the Internet is that anyone with a PC and a modem can publish whatever content they can create,' mused the co-founder of Microsoft, over 18 years ago.
And Gates was right. As a journalist at the beginning of my career in 1996, I…
The Final day of our Successful Content Marketing Series
Successful content marketing is an "always-on campaign" – to do it right, you need to keep up an ongoing flow of content, so you’re always there when a prospect wants to join the conversation or asks a question that you have the answer for.
Here are three easy ways to keep the content momentum going:
1. Explode your assets: When you create a big piece of content such as an industry report or an in-depth white paper, plan and structure it so that lots of little bits can be broken off and used independently in other channels to promote and amplify – tweets, blog posts, Google+ updates and so on.
2. Brainstorm series of ideas: Don’t just look for one-off ideas…
Day 4 of our 5 days of Successful Content Marketing Series with Sticky Content
Today’s the day you start generating ideas and populating your calendar.
Hold a brainstorm. Sit round as a team, look at what the competition are doing, look at what you’ve done before, look at who you’re trying to reach. Start jotting things down on Post-its: literally anything that comes to mind.
[Editor's note: Readers who don't know it, check out the Smart Insights Content Marketing Matrix which was designed for sessions to brainstorm content marketing].
At this point, no idea is a bad idea, but make sure you’re generating solid concepts and not simply coming up with themes. A good idea is specific, with a clear angle that can be summarised in a neat elevator pitch. A theme is an area you want to write about, perhaps many times. So…
Day 3 in our 5 days to Successful Content Marketing series
In previous days in our series we have defined a vision and strategy for Content Marketing. Now, today’s the day to start thinking about who’s actually going to put all of this together. You’ll need to work out who does what in your content team, and how much time and effort you can realistically muster.
At its simplest, your content team needs to look something like this:
All of the above roles could be resourced in different ways, depending on the scale and ambition of your operation. In some cases, several roles may be filled by one person wearing several hats; in other cases, one role may be taken by a whole team or an outsourced agency.…
Day 2 in our 5 days to Successful Content Marketing Series
Yesterday I introduced our mini series by reviewing the key content marketing strategy questions. Today's advice is all about working out how your brand and business offering can extend into a content proposition. What kind of content can you credibly create, and how can this content support your business goals?
Think of a classic sales funnel, such as AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action). Your content marketing activity will typically be most valuable around the Attention and Interest top end, where search and social tend to be the key triggers of engagement.
So ask yourself: what kind of content can we create that the people we’re trying to reach might care about, or be prepared to offer a click or an email address for? For a quick answer to…
Day 1 - Answer the key content marketing strategy questions
In this practical, 5 day series, I'll help define a 'quick-and-dirty' 5-day plan to help towards improving your content marketing strategy, without spending a fortune on paid media content distribution.
I've said this series is 'quick and dirty' since we believe that The perfect is often enemy of the good. When it comes to content strategy, it’s easy to spend a vast amount of time thinking about what you’re going to do and worrying about how to get it just right… without actually getting any content created or distributed.
But there comes a time when the Why needs to turn into the How. If you wait for all your strategic ducks to line up in a perfectly formed row, there’s a good chance the opportunity that content offers your business will…
