Are You Trying to Achieve Content Marketing Success?
This Is a Great Article by By Patricia Redsicker Published October 16, 2014 in Social Media Examiner
Are you trying to improve your content marketing?
Wondering how to connect the dots between content and customers?
In this article you’ll find important best practices, backed by research, to help improve your social media marketing.
Brand new research from Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs shows that while there are universal challenges in content marketing such as measuring ROI and producing engaging content, there are certain best practices that mitigate these problems.
Here’s our take on the research.
Fifty-four percent of the most effective B2B marketers have a documented content strategy and most of them follow it “very closely.” Furthermore, 60% of those with a written strategy consider their organization to be effective in content marketing, compared to 32% with only a verbal strategy.
One of the biggest differences between effective content marketers and those who fail is a documented strategy.
Find out what new research shows about achieving success with content marketing.
Unlike a verbal strategy, which can be forgotten or misunderstood, a written document is “living” and can be referred to, modified and executed. The key takeaway is it’s much easier to follow through on a strategy that’s written than one that’s just spoken.
The benefits of documentation aren’t just limited to execution. Among those who have a documented strategy:
While there is no cut-and-dried template for a content marketing strategy, your document should at least define your business goals, brand story, audience, content distribution channels, budget and resources, workflow or process and business model.
Finally, make sure everyone involved in the content marketing process has a copy of the strategy, understands it and follows it.
When asked, “How often does your organization publish new content that supports its marketing program?”, an average of 42% said either daily or multiple times per week. The research also indicated that having a documented strategy resulted in marketers publishing more content.
Content marketers are producing more content than they did a year ago.
Overall, marketers from all company sizes whether they considered themselves effective or notate producing 70% more content than last year.
The lesson here is that frequent publishing is no longer just the habit of a few ‘A-list’ B2B marketers, but anyone who is growing their content marketing efforts.
Marketers have wised up to the benefits of content marketing, and even though they’re struggling with engagement (more on that next), the fact is they understand creating content is a first step in trying to connect with customers.
find important best practices, backed by research, to help improve your social media marketing
define your business goals, brand story, audience, content distribution channels, budget and resources, workflow or process and business model
make sure everyone involved in the content marketing process has a copy of the strategy, understands it and follows it.
understand creating content is a first step in trying to connect with customers
Define your audience
Understand their needs
Figure out why they should care about your organization and what you can offer them
Determine what content to produce, and when and how to deliver it
break into topics that generally struggle to find an audience elsewhere on LinkedIn
Invest in both online and in-person content marketing events, and read content marketing blogs
Quick Summary
understand the importance of having a content marketing strategy
What do you think of these findings? Have you documented your content strategy? Do any of these findings surprise you?#1: Have a Documented Strategy
#2: Be a Content Machine
#3: Prioritize Engagement
#4: Invest Heavily in Social Media
#5: Use Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
#6: Hire a Dedicated Content Marketing Person or Group
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