Great Content Marketing Advice
Posted by Gordon Plutsky on Tue, Oct 25, 2011
A new content marketing site named Content Strategy Hub has recently launched and kicked off with a great series. They asked nearly 30 experts to share their thoughts on three specific questions related to content marketing. I was lucky to be included with such people as David Meerman Scott, Joe Pulizzi, Robert Rose and Ann Handley among others. Below is a recap of my responses to these questions – click the links to see what the experts had to say.
The site is the creation of Eugene Farber, follow him at @EugeneFarber
Follow me at @gordonplutsky
29 Brilliant Minds Discuss Business Publishing
“I’ve always aligned with the idea that all businesses are in the business of marketing. Are most businesses now in the business of publishing?”
My Response: Yes, that is true. Every company is now a media company in the sense that they need to produce credible, original content to attract new customers and retain current ones. Content is now being used as a vital customer relationship management tool in many venues: on company web sites to enhance SEO, through social media channels and via mobile apps and web sites. To build a true interactive relationship with a customer, content is far superior to traditional advertising. Content allows a company to build a relationship of affinity and trust with customers, and is actionable.
29 Brilliant Minds Share Uncommon Content Strategy Advice
“Share one uncommon piece of content strategy advice.”
My Response: Every content plan should have an overarching goal that ties back to a sales and marketing objective. While you don’t want the actual content to be too promotional or self serving, it is important for the content to lead the customer or prospect to a specific action. That action could be anything to opting into an email list to an actual purchase. The main point is to have a clear goal and path for what you want the content strategy to accomplish, and measure it. No company should be creating content just for the sake of jumping on a trend. It has to fit with your overall integrated marketing and sales goals.
29 Brilliant Minds Share Common Content Strategy Mistakes
“What is a common content strategy mistake that business owners make?”
My Response: Producing or obtaining low quality content just to get something up on their site, or because they think it will help them with search engine optimization. For content marketing to work, the content needs to be authoritative, authentic and credible. Without those attributes, you won’t create a relationship of trust that leads to action. To develop quality content you need to work with subject matter experts (SME) and someone with a background in professional writing and proofreading. There are many places to obtain cheap content, but that is generally not written by a SME with years of experience in the field, but rather a generalist who cranks out cheap copy by the word. The cheap route may get you clicks and traffic, but don’t count on it transforming your customer relationships. Like anything in life, you get what you pay for.