Digital Content Strategy Hacks
Your digital content strategy doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel. One of the most persistent fallacies in content marketing is the belief that a website always needs a ‘steady stream of new content’ in order to educate, inspire, and motivate customers to take action via a content marketing campaign.
While it is true that frequent website updates appeals to Google’s search engine algorithm, that does not mean continually searching for new ideas and creating brand-new, from scratch content each time you wish to publish. To create a digital content strategy, you need one solid idea that supports your marketing goals and appeals to your target market.
Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle Your Best Ideas
Reuse, repurpose, and recycle applies to content marketing as well as to thrifty living. Here’s how “thrifty content marketing” can transform your approach – and significantly reduce your workload.
One Idea Can Generate Multiple Marketing Pieces for a digital content strategy
Most ideas can generate more than one content marketing piece. In fact, one idea can usually generate at least four or five.
One large topic often has multiple smaller topics hidden within it like gems in a mine waiting to be picked apart from the rock.
Let’s take a recent topic I that came my way through my bank’s weekly email to their business customers: How to Boost Business Credit. The original article published by the bankfocused on the steps a small business could take to improve its credit rating and, by extension, borrow more to fuel business growth. It was a well-written 500–700-word article, but that was it – it was one article.
It could easily have been seven different content marketing projects, each appealing to the same audience but shared through multiple marketing channels.
As a small business banking customer, it’s easy for me to slip into the mindset of their target market. This makes it an idea sample to show you what I mean by one idea fueling multiple content pieces to achieve the client’s objectives.
One Idea – SEVEN Content Marketing Pieces
Using the method my team at Seven Oaks Consulting and I use with our B2B content marketing clients, one idea can be spun into multiple content marketing pieces for a digital content strategy. One idea can be used to generate multiple content pieces along the content marketing continuum, helping to generate awareness, support customer education, and nurture the connection into a lead for business credit.
The Seven Oaks Consulting Content Marketing Process
We consider the persona, or target market, for the client’s services, asking ourselves, “Where do they go for content? Which social media platforms do they visit? How do they prefer to consume information: video, audio, or text?”
Next, we look at the tactics available to the client. Some client have multiple touchpoints established with their target market: a blog, a website, social media channels, emails. We leverage these touchpoints and may suggest additional ones for content amplification.
For the content creation process, the bank has several steps to generate a lead for its credit (loans) services:
- Education
- Awareness
- Motivation
Education comes first because most small business owners desire to learn more about the entire credit process. And, because credit is a complex and often new subject for business owners, the educational phase is crucial to the lead process. The bank wants their potential loan applicants to understand the process well before they apply for the loan. This helps the bank by saving time with customers and helps customers find the right credit source.
Awareness moves people from education (this is what business credit is all about) to “Bank XYZ offers such services.” It is moving people from the understanding of the topic into understand that Bank XYZ offers the service.
Lastly, motivation comes into the picture – motivating customers to take action and apply with Bank XYZ for credit and loans.
From our one idea, I’ve generated seven content types:
- Microblogging/social posts
- Multiple blog posts – small business credit, credit cards for small businesses, how businesses can check their credit rating, how credit ratings for businesses are calculated, what can help or hurt your credit rating etc.
- Infographics showcasing any of the ideas from the blog posts
- Case studies showing how the bank’s consultants helped small businesses improve their credit, fight credit fraud, or obtain credit
- A video of a bank manager explaining how the bank makes their credit decisions, key concepts in small business credit, etc.
- A gated white paper or longer position paper on small business credit: what businesses need to know/do
- Newsletter content based on the blog posts
Of course, the actual content deliverables depend on the desired budget, staff availability, and timeframe. Perhaps the bank wants to create all the pieces with their own marketing team. The list of suggested content pieces must be pared down to encompass the team’s strengths and bandwidth. Also, if the bank managers aren’t comfortable going on camera, the seventh idea needs to be adapted or changed. And of course, if clients don’t wish to be identified in a case study, that can limit the ability to create them.
These 7 content types can now be divided into each phase of the content marketing process:
Education
- Blog Posts
- White Paper
- Infographics
Awareness
- Social Media Posts
- Case Studies
- Videos
Action
- Social Media Posts
- Emails
Come up with one topic per month or quarter, then work it to the best of your ability. It will generate more momentum through repetition of concept and ideas. This momentum typically outweighs whatever organic SEO boost a site gets from adding unique ideas by building content clusters. Linking among similar topics on the site boosts organic SEO better than generating dozens of new ideas in the same amount of time.
With this method, executed by professionals such as my team at Seven Oaks Consulting, you can accomplish the following marketing goals:
- Build and sustain organic SEO traffic
- Build awareness for your company as an expert in a topic
- Educate potential customers
- Nurture customer relationships
- Augment and support paid lead generation campaigns
- Generate leads
Content marketing takes considerable time and effort to do right. Generating fresh ideas is one of the most challenging aspects of the content marketing process. But who says you need to have a fresh idea every day, month, or week? One idea can generate multiple creative concepts that supports marketing goals and sustains the lead generation pipeline for many B2B businesses.
More Content Marketing Resources for You
5 Things I Wish I'd Known When I Started
Ever since I can remember, it has always been my dream to become a writer. I knew I wanted to be a writer with a purpose, but I was unsure how to make that dream a reality. My lack of experience as a professional writer made becoming a freelance copywriter seem out of reach at first.
Although I was hesitant, I finally built up the courage to dip my toes into the proverbial waters. Surprisingly, the initial experience was warm and inviting, and I quickly gained self-confidence and began to acquire real-world experience as a writer with a purpose.
Here I will share with you five things I wish I had known when I first started on my journey as a freelance copywriter. I hope it will inspire others to find the courage to take that first leap.
Networking Isn't Only For Established Professionals
For an introvert like myself, the idea of networking is intimidating, and it can feel like being the new kid at school all over again. The good news is that it isn't all that bad once you decide to put yourself out there.
Fortunately, social media platforms help facilitate the seemingly painful process. For me, LinkedIn has been indispensable for establishing contacts within the world of copywriting and developing my portfolio.
Social media platforms geared towards professional development can help you discover other writers in your particular field of interest - giving you access to mentorship to help you along your journey and find your niche as a copywriter.
Be Aware of Imposter Syndrome - Don't Let It Hold You Back
What exactly is imposter syndrome? I was unfamiliar with the term until recently. Imposter syndrome is experiencing perpetual self-doubt despite personal qualifications such as education, work experience, or other accomplishments and can lead to an unhealthy degree of perfectionism.
While you should never stop striving for self-improvement, the idea of perfection can also be detrimental to your creativity. From my personal experience, imposter syndrome is real, and anyone can fall victim. Being aware of the warning signs can help you avoid this harmful thought process. Don't be afraid to celebrate your achievements and demonstrate your talents!
Copywriting Isn't Only About Marketing Trends
To be honest, I first thought copywriting was a rigid field that revolved around trends in marketing to boost profits by creating generic content based solely on numerical data. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised to find out otherwise.
I discovered that I could combine my copywriting skills with my desire to serve a greater purpose by creating socially-conscious and purpose-driven content. As a freelance copywriter, you can select to work with clients and companies aligned with your values, allowing you to make a tangible difference by reaching your desired target audiences. My work at Seven Oaks Consulting has proven to be an excellent outlet for crafting genuine content that allows me to combine the art of marketing with my passion for writing with a purpose.
Don't Be Afraid to Explore Different Markets
Copywriting can range from developing easily understood technical manuals to compelling content that inspires a particular call to action. Some popular markets include small business development, health & wellness, travel & leisure, and the financial sector, to name only a few. Finding your true passion is key to being a successful and effective copywriter, no matter your chosen niche. Copywriting is a creative art form, and having a genuine passion for your work will make a tremendous difference in your quality of writing and your ability to connect with your readers. The world of copywriting is vast and exciting, so don't be afraid to explore and try new things!
Copywriting Isn't as Competitive as You May Think
While a certain level of competition is healthy and can push you to improve yourself, no one wants to work in a cut-throat environment. I feared that the world of copywriting would be overly competitive and that you had to know the right people to be successful, particularly in a specialized niche.
Based on my recent experience, the professional writing community is welcoming and supportive. Once I started to practice my networking skills, I quickly established my presence as a novice yet ambitious copywriter who was eager to gain real-world experience. Finding a mentor was instrumental in developing my "voice" as a writer and building my self-confidence.
For me, the world of copywriting has opened doors that I didn't even know existed. Although this realization can seem overwhelming at first, it can be empowering as well. As a freelance copywriter, you have the power to evoke strong emotion in your readers and inspire real-world action in your community.
9 New Year's Resolutions for Content Marketers
Happy (almost) New Year! Do you make New Year's Resolutions? I'm actually not a big fan myself of resolutions. I always feel that every day is a fresh start. We each get 24 hours with which to make progress on all fronts of our lives - spiritual, physical, mental, personal, business, you name it.
But I know that New Year's Resolutions are an important tradition for many. In that light, I've put together the marketing manager's spin on them.
If you do nothing at all in 2022 but follow these resolutions, I can almost guarantee you a happy, prosperous, and business-filled year. Happy New Year!
9 New Year's Resolutions for Marketing Managers
Repeat after me: In 2022, I resolve to....
- Prioritize marketing over other business tasks: It's so easy to tackle everything BUT your marketing! Yes, I own a marketing agency, but before founding Seven Oaks Consulting, I founded and ran an e-commerce business. And I can say from experience that often everything but marketing took priority in my day: answering customer emails, sourcing new products, shipping orders, and more. But the longer you put off marketing tasks, the greater the risk of being forgotten by your customers. With so much competing for customer attention online and off these days, it is essential to make marketing a priority. Resolve to do at least one marketing activity each day to promote your business!
- Keep abreast of updates in my field: Whether that means listening to a podcast each week or reading emails from your favorite blogger, make it a point to learn something new each week about your chosen business field or your specific marketing discipline.
- Focus on a few tactics to do well: Some businesses try every marketing tactic under the sun, using a "throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks" marketing method. The result is usually an uneven hodgepodge of marketing tactics. Each method might work, but without the energy, enthusiasm, consistency, time, and measurement behind each, it's impossible to know. Instead of trying everything and seeing what works, focus on one or two marketing tactics you believe will work and try them for several months (or even a full year).
- Measure the results: Not all marketing methods are easily quantified, but most can be quantified in some way. Whenever you can, measure your marketing activities and use the data to support marketing decisions.
- Avoid one-size-fits-all marketing: Just because everyone is on TikTok (or Instagram, or running Google AdWords campaigns, or mailing postcards out) doesn't mean that it's right for your business. Always check the demographics to see if your target audience is reading, listening, or responding to a particular channel before investing in marketing activities there. Your audience may love Facebook and hate Twitter, or may be hard to attract using Google Ads but respond well to content marketing. No two businesses have - or should have - the exact same marketing strategy.
- Keep your eyes open: Keep your eyes open and start a 'swipe file', or a sample file, or marketing materials that strike your fancy. While you cannot and should not copy anyone else's marketing materials directly, use this file as inspiration to discover what you like about the marketing activity and why.
- Ask for professional help when needed: Don't try to DIY all aspects of your marketing. You can't. I've been a marketing manager for over 30 years and even I don't DIY everything anymore. Besides not having the time anymore to fuss with certain things, I know that my skills lend themselves better to some forms of content marketing (writing) and less to others (video). It's much smarter to invest my time in what I know I can do well and pay someone to do things I don't do well so that the overall end product - the marketing deliverable - is fantastic than to try to save a dime and DIY the entire campaign.
- Invest in professional development: Early in 2021, I made what turned out to be a fantastic decision for my business. I invested in my own professional development. I joined a blogging course and weekly mastermind group. And while my blog did not turn into a money making machine, it did teach me a lot about various SEO skills I lacked and helped me to focus on what produced revenue. It was a great experience and one I recommend to anyone able to invest in professional development whether it is a recorded course or a weekly meeting with a coach.
- Plan, but be flexible: Resolve to create and follow a marketing plan but remain flexible enough to "go with the flow" should the occasion warrant it. My plans evolved in 2021 but my initial focus remained the same: to build Seven Oaks Consulting into the agency of choice for expert, unique and creative content marketing solutions. This focus, combined with a flexible approach to achieving my goals, enabled me to achieve the goals I set for myself at the start of 2021. Planning, flexibility, and regular check-ins with yourself are the best way that I know of to achieve your goals, too.
2021 was a wild ride, and 2022 is also starting off a bit rocky with so many problems worldwide, including the continuing global pandemic. Through it all, one thing remains: we all wish for a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.
So here's to your new year, and may your New Year's resolutions yield abundant results. Happy new Year!
13 Benefits of Content Marketing
These 13 eye-opening benefits of content marketing will convince even the most hardened skeptic that content marketing works wonders to generate leads and cultivate loyal audiences.
But What Is Content Marketing…?
If you’re a business owner, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of content marketing.
Maybe you’ve been told it will help you dominate search engine result pages (SERPs) and generate leads.
Or you’ve heard that it’s a form of inbound marketing that will help you attract, engage, and convert prospects by delivering the value they’re actively seeking.
No matter what you’ve heard, one thing is certain – there are many ways that content marketing can benefit your business.
Content Marketing isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a digital marketing channel you MUST adopt if you want to thrive in today’s digital marketing landscape.
It’s an effective and practical digital marketing strategy you should adopt to attract and convert quality leads into paying customers.
Here we’ll discuss 13 powerful and eye-opening benefits of content marketing you should know before hiring a content marketer.
Understanding these benefits will help you understand why content marketing is vital for your business.
But first…
Does Content Marketing Really Work?
Short answer: More than you can imagine.
Quick Fact: By prioritizing blogging (an aspect of content marketing), marketers are 13 times more likely to see positive ROI. In fact, marketers who blog generate 67% more leads than marketers who don’t. (HubSpot 2019)
HubSpot highlights that 70% of marketers actively invested in content marketing in 2020. This supports SemRush data indicating that 78% of companies have a team of one to three content specialists.
Investment in content marketing wouldn’t be this high if the strategy didn’t work.
To further explain why content marketing works, a Databox 2019 survey found that 70% of companies generated more sales through SEO content marketing than through PPC (Paid advertising).
This content marketing case study is a practical example of how content marketing works for businesses.
With the right content marketing services, the website was indexed by Google, acquiring 859 unique visitors in the first month. Within three months, that number grew to 2,490 visitors, and then more than doubled to 5,370 within six months’ time.
It’s clear that content marketing works. Now let’s explore the primary benefits of content marketing for your business.
Benefits of Content Marketing
Content Marketing Boosts Your SEO and Generates Quality Traffic
Content marketing helps your business rank high in the search engines and generates traffic from people hungry for your product or service.
If you’re looking for the best way to drive website traffic, look no further than content marketing.
To do this, starting with a content marketing strategy is highly recommended.
And here’s why.
Not all traffic is quality traffic.
With a good content marketing strategy, you’ll produce strategic content that answers search queries and gets quality, easy-to-convert traffic.
Attracting high-quality traffic is one of the benefits of a content marketing strategy that you don’t often hear about.
Don’t just focus on boosting your SEO and attracting traffic with content marketing. Focus on generating qualified traffic that will easily convert.
Once you’ve started generating high-quality traffic, what’s next?
Content Marketing Drives More High-Quality Sales
Here’s a question for you:
Would you prefer to chase your client or would you rather have them seek you out?
Undeniably, the latter is your answer.
With content marketing, your potential customers will seek you out.
And here’s why.
Because unlike other lead generation strategies out there, content marketing gives instead of asking for something.
Does it seem crazy that giving something away can drive sales without even asking for them?
Consider this: According to Content Marketing Institute data, content marketing, among all other benefits, has six times the power of conventional marketing for converting people into leads and then converting those leads into customers.
With content marketing, you’re giving out information that benefits your ideal customers without asking them to buy anything.
The truth is, today’s consumers shy away from sites that always preach ‘buy now’ and ‘shop now,’ without offering value.
Advertisements are everywhere these days, and it keeps getting harder and harder to run away from them.
Stand out by offering something that your potential customers will value.
Effective content marketing will generate qualified leads who are happy to buy from you and recommend your business to others.
Quality Content Builds Your “E-A-T”
In February 2019, a Google whitepaper confirmed that EAT is very important to ranking.
According to Google, ‘our ranking system does not identify the intent or factual accuracy of any given piece of content. However, it is specifically designed to identify sites with high indicia of Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness (EAT).’
What Google wants from websites:
- Expertise
- Authority
- Trustworthiness
Effective content marketing meets these Google requirements. But that’s not all it does.
Besides ranking, EAT websites gain customers’ trust, and convert more than websites not utilizing effective content marketing.
When you publish content about your customers’ everyday challenges, it shows that you are knowledgeable and trustworthy.
Forbes, for instance, is known as an authority in the business, investment, technology, entrepreneurship, and leadership domains.
You can see them in the top SERPs for different queries, as well as being mentioned when someone is looking for authority information in those niches.
They didn’t get there by chance. They got there through well-planned content marketing.
When you establish yourself as an industry thought leader through content marketing, people will trust you and buy your product/services.
Content Marketing Puts Your Business On Your Customers’ Minds
When you have a robust content marketing strategy and write informative articles that rank well in search engines, your website will get thousands of visits per month.
This works like magic, especially when you adopt storytelling in your content writing.
Imagine your content ranking number one for a keyword that gets 50,000+ monthly searches. That’s your business in front of 50,000+ pairs of eyes every month!
Anything can indeed build awareness, but content marketing builds awareness and gains customer trust – icing on the cake.
Content Marketing Helps You Move Buyers Through the Buyer’s Journey Faster
To purchase a product, buyers move through a series of steps called the buyer’s journey.
The steps in the buyer’s journey are:
- Awareness – When the buyer first notices they want something and comes into contact with your brand.
- Engagement – When the buyer takes a more active role with your brand, contacting sales, or requesting a quote.
- Conversion – When the buyer spends money with your business, purchasing your product or service.
- Advocacy – When the buyer becomes loyal to your brand.
Every consumer goes through this process, but how quickly they convert largely depends on the quality of your content.
With effective content marketing, you can engage consumers at each step of the buyer’s journey and facilitate lead conversion.
Content Marketing Continues to Generate Traffic For the Long Run
This is one of the standout benefits of content marketing.
Content formats like blogs, ebooks, infographics, and many more continue to generate traffic long after they’re published.
This is unlike many marketing strategies where traffic and lead generation stop when you stop your marketing efforts.
How is this possible?
Your content assets compound to boost your authority in search engines and increase your organic website traffic over time.
This works very well when you use blogging as a content marketing tool.
Note that you need to focus on creating evergreen content to exploit this compounding effect of content marketing.
Some examples of evergreen content include:
- Case studies and data
- How-to guides
- Listicles
- Encyclopedic content
- Industry glossaries
- And so much more
Content Marketing Helps You Showcase Your Brand Personality
Brand personality is a set of human characteristics that customers attribute to a particular brand based on the brand’s consistency in reflecting those traits. It’s something the customers enjoy and can relate to, and it helps them identify with a brand.
Infusing personality into your brand is one of the most powerful benefits of content marketing.
It gives your brand a human touch and shows it’s not just another business on the Internet.
While some businesses’ branding stops at logo and color palette, successful brands reach deep into their values to give their customers an extraordinary brand experience.
Through content marketing, they reflect who they are, what drives them, how they’re different, their values and personality, and their unique promise to their customers.
When done well, content marketing helps you build a wonderful community and make customers part of your content creation.
Enhanced Accessibility and Open Channels of Communication
Efficient content marketing opens diverse channels for your customers to know and contact you.
Providing your audience with the content they need to solve their pain points will increase their loyalty and level of connection to your brand.
When they start to rely on you as their primary source of information, they’ll feel freer to reach out to you, ask their questions, and, of course, buy your products.
A good content marketing strategy includes content formats and distribution channels that will amplify your marketing and put your business in front of your potential customers.
When customers can access and contact you anywhere – social media, contact form, email – they build trust in you.
Your business becomes more than business as usual when customers connect with you on a more personal level.
More Quality Content; More Reasons to Stick Around
You can’t overestimate the power of quality, informative content.
Your content is an important asset that creates a positive experience for your potential customers and keeps them coming back for more.
Readers’ attention spans are short when reading content online.
But if you leverage content marketing the right way short attention spans won’t be a problem for you.
The more quality, engaging content you publish, the more visitors will spend time on your website.
Would you like your visitors to spend more time on your website? Consider this…
In today’s fast-paced content marketing domain, creating quality, engaging content isn’t the only important task.
You need to add extra spice to reap more benefits of content marketing, by utilizing methods to keep your readers on your website longer.
One good way to achieve this high dwell time is by adopting the topic cluster strategy, which keeps your visitors on your website and improves your SEO.
Content Marketing Is Cost-Effective
Content marketing is more cost-effective in the long run.
It costs 62% less and generates more than three times the leads than most outbound marketing tactics.
Do you know why?
Content marketing is typically easier to start and has almost six times the conversion rates of other marketing strategies because today’s customers prefer content that provides value.
There may be upfront costs involved in content marketing, but they’re one-off costs for content that will keep generating results.
Content published on your website will continue to climb higher on SERPs, earning you continual traffic and leads without extra cost.
It Works For Any Business or Industry
Now you’re probably wondering, “This is great, but will content marketing work for my business or industry?”
The straightforward answer: Content marketing works for every industry and business, no matter the size, structure, or product.
Maybe you’ve tried before and didn’t see results. Or maybe you’ve seen others leverage content marketing without results.
If that’s the case, it was done wrong.
The key to reaping content marketing benefits is developing the right content marketing strategy that works for your particular business.
Fuels Your Social Media and PR Marketing Efforts
Content marketing often goes together with social media and PR marketing because content powers these other marketing channels.
The more quality content you create, the more material you’ll have to power your own social media and PR marketing.
This is one of the top reasons why content is important in marketing.
With a good social media presence, you’ll reach and engage more new leads while also fostering your relationship with existing customers.
Statista 2019 reports that 3.6 billion people were using social media globally, and the number is projected to rise to almost 4.41 billion by 2025.
And guess what?
Your customers are already on social media.
Once customers identify that you share useful and valuable content, they’ll seek you out and follow you on social media.
The more content you have, the stronger you become on social media. This increases your ability to attract, engage, and convert leads.
Less Invasive Than Traditional Marketing
Traditional marketing involves approaching people and trying to sell to them.
But let’s face it, nobody likes being sold to.
It can be annoying.
More and more people are opting out of situations where they’re sold to.
Blockthrough reports that 527 million people used mobile browsers that blocked ads by default in 2019 – a 64% increase from the last edition of the report.
This number is expected to continue increasing as people lean more towards companies that provide value over companies that sell to them.
Rather than investing thousands of dollars in advertising, switch to content marketing. It costs less and yields more.
Why Is Content Marketing Important?
Because everyone loves content.
People love quality content that gives value, and search engines like making the content available to them.
In a series of interviews, publications, and algorithm updates, Google has emphasized the importance of quality content.
In fact, search engines are obsessed with providing their users with high-quality content.
If you can help them achieve this by continuously publishing valuable content, they’ll reward you with better rankings and keep sending traffic to your website.
You could call it autopilot marketing.
In addition, continuously publishing high-quality content helps you attract references and quality backlinks from high-authority websites.
This boosts search engines’ trust in your business website and sends an unending stream of leads your way.
These authority websites won’t cite you if you produce generic, low-quality content.
Furthermore, the more content you produce, the more keywords are added to your keyword arsenal. This gives you more authority in search engines and earns you more trust amongst potential customers.
Another great reason why content marketing is important is that content powers other marketing strategies.
Whether you’re doing print marketing, email marketing, or any other form of digital marketing, you need content.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
Why not develop a complete marketing strategy built on content marketing?
Then you can enjoy the core benefits of content marketing and also have all of your marketing bases covered.
Is Content Marketing Worth It? A Recap of the Benefits of Content Marketing
Yes, it’s worth it. Here’s why.
Yes, it’s worth it. Here’s why.
To put things in perspective, here is a recap of the benefits content marketing can bring to your business.
- Content marketing boosts your SEO and generates quality traffic
- Content marketing drives more high-quality sales
- Quality content builds your EAT
- Content marketing puts your business on your customers’ minds
- Content marketing helps you move buyers through the Buyer’s Journey faster
- Content marketing continues to generate traffic for the long run
- Content marketing helps you showcase your brand personality
- Enhanced accessibility and open channels of communication
- More quality content; more reasons to stick around
- Content marketing is cost-effective
- It works for any business or industry
- Fuels your social media and PR marketing efforts
- Less invasive than traditional marketing
You see, it’s not a question of whether content marketing is worth it.
It’s a question of when you’re going to enjoy the full benefits of content marketing.
We highly recommend you start with a content marketing strategy built on your business goals. That way, you know you’re generating results relevant to your particular business growth.
Not sure where to start? Reach out to us to discuss your business goals and how we can help you with content marketing that converts.
The 5 Best Content Marketing Books
I started thinking about the 5 best content marketing books this weekend while I was canning green beans.
Here I was, sitting at my kitchen table snapping green beans and listening to Joe Pulizzi's Content Inc. marketing podcast on Spotify and thinking about how much I'd gotten out of his book. Snap-snap went the end of the green bean as Joe and Ann Hadley talked about content marketing. Suddenly, it dawned on me: I should write about my favorite content marketing books!
Joe's book is, of course, tops on my list. It's the best book on on content marketing I've come across and that's no coincidence. You may know Joe's name since he was the founder of the Content Marketing Institute. At a time when few of us knew what content marketing is or how powerful it could be, Joe was busy starting an institute, a conference, and a training system for would-be content marketers. Now, through his company The Tilt, he continues to spread she mission and mindset of content marketing.
There books aren't your typical list. For one thing, there's a book decidedly about writing sales copy on the list, and as content marketing managers are so fond of telling people, sales copy isn't content marketing. But the book belongs on this list because of the enormous influence it has had on my marketing writing as well as on my team's writing. Often when new writers start at Seven Oaks Consulting, I ask them what content marketing or writing books they like. Nine times out of ten, if Bob Bly's Copywriter's Handbook is mentioned, they'll be a great fit for us.
Without further ado, I present to you Jeanne Grunert's unofficial list of the 5 best content marketing books. And yes, these are Amazon affiliate links. I will make a small commission on any books you buy after clicking on a link. It doesn't affect your price. Thank you. Commercial over.
Best Content Marketing Books
If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland
This book is one of the best books about writing, period. Brenda Ueland taught fiction writing for many years. She helped her students break free from the inhibitions that lead to stale, boring writing. We could all use some of her advice especially when writing on topics we may find less interesting.
The Copywriter's Handbook by Bob Bly
I intentionally included Bly's classic on writing marketing and sales copy for a reason even though content marketers are adamant that content writing isn't sales writing. They are correct, of course, but all of us do at some point or another need to know how to write compelling sales copy. There's no matter teacher than this primer from Bob Bly. I bought this book decades ago when I first dreamed of freelancing and I still read it periodically to refresh my memory on all things writing for business.
5 Chairs, 5 Choices by Louise Evans
I am not exaggerating when I say that Louise Evan's book, 5 Chairs 5 Choices changed my life. Actually, it was her TedTalk on YouTube that first began my journey into communication styles. Her method of identifying various mental mindsets during conversations is essential reading for content marketers who are serious about understanding their customers. Whenever I sit down to write, I think about the five chairs and wonder whether my customers are seeing my content through jackal, giraffe, meerkat, dolphin, or what. Check out the Tedx Talk. You'll thank me later.
Content Inc by Joe Pulizzi
Serious about your content marketing? Trying to make it as a content marketing entrepreneur? Or just want to cut to what's important in the content marketing journey? Whether you are a seasoned content marketer or a beginner at content marketing, this is a must-read book. It will teach you the basics and set your mind buzzing with the possibilities of advanced content marketing. Joe Pulizzi makes content marketing accessible and easy to understand for all.
Stories that Stick by Kindra Hall
At the heart of great content marketing is the ability to tell a compelling story. That's one reason why I love content marketing - as a novelist, I can use my fiction writing skills to craft great content for my clients. Understanding the hero's journey, the concept of a villain when writing industrial copy, all of this I learned from Kindra Hall's approach to storytelling. Kindra's book will help you better understand the idea of stories as part of business writing and especially in content marketing.
What Are Your Favorite Content Marketing Books?
I've shared my 5 favorite content marketing books. Now, what are yours? Drop me a note and let me know your favorites. I'd love to add more great reads to my business book collection.
Long Form Content Ranks Better
A new report from QuickSprout underscores what many content marketers have known all along: longer copy ranks better with Google's search engines.
The report, available from the QuickSprout website, provides details on the company's study of page length, ranking and conversion. Among their findings:
- The average page length for content that ranks among the top 10 search results Google is at least 2,000 words.
- The better a site ranks, the more content it has.
- Overall, Google's search engine algorithm prefers content rich sites.
Why should longer content help with search engine rank? Longer content keeps people on your website for greater lengths of time than shorter content. If I can see at a glance what you're trying to say, I might click away quickly, resulting in low time on page and high bounce rates. But if your content requires me to focus on what you are saying, draws me into the page, provides insights or useful information, and keeps me reading, I'll stay on your site longer.
Longer website content also tends to get more inbound links. These inbound links are strong signals to Google's search engine algorithm that a web page has merit.
Lastly, social media users tend to favor longer content, even if they're not aware they're doing it. By studying sharing patterns on Facebook and Twitter, QuickSprout determined that a post with 1,500 words or more received 68 percent more tweets and 22 percent more Facebook likes than a post under 1,500 words.
Are You Ready for Long Form Content?
Long form content for content marketing programs takes skills and finesse. You can't just keep blabbing away and stuffing keywords and expect to get the same results as a thoughtful, in-depth and insightful long form article.
As a long form specialist, my freelance writing services include extensive research. I have a gift for finding excellent original research from well-regarded and reputable sources to support the theme of your article. My writing is also creative, engaging, and insightful, which will make your content highly shareable, too.
If you're interested in receiving an estimate on your long form content projects, please contact me.
Irony: This post is under 500 words.
But you now what? Sometimes you only need a few words to say what you want. Sometimes, short copy is appropriate. Know when to use long form or shorter copy in your content marketing programs is what I do best.
Content Marketing Case Study: The Whole Seed Catalog
This week's content marketing case study focuses on an excellent example of content marketing: The Whole Seed Catalog from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.
If you're a gardener, then you probably know about Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. This seed company, founded by Jere Gettle in 1998, sells heirloom, non-GMO, organic seeds. Sounds simple, right?
Their marketing, however, is anything but simple. The 2016 Whole Seed Catalog is like a symphony of excellent content marketing in one gorgeous, can't-stop-looking at it package.
Here's what this company's content marketing gets right:
- The catalog tells a story. From the first page, where the reader is introduced to Jere and his family and their life's mission to preserve historic seeds to the stories from the seed growers around the world, we're drawn into this amazing global community of gardeners. It made me want to run out and start gardening immediately even if it was only January.
- The pictures are gorgeous. The cover looks at first glance like gemstones stacked one on top of the other, but it's actually a close-up photograph of corn. CORN! Beautiful, gorgeous, multicolored Indian corn. Inside, each plant is featured in color photographs that also capture the people who raised the seeds.
- Throughout the entire seed catalog are sprinkled well-written, in-depth stories that support the Baker Creek story. These stories or articles explain what GMO seeds are and why the company believes they aren't good for the environment. Other stories share the history of various plant varieties or stories of the people who grow them.
- Each item's description includes all the relevant information you'd expect to find in a catalog, such as item number, price, growing season, cultural information, etc.
- The catalog's layout is clean and easy to read.
- The paper quality is excellent.
The catalog isn't free. I received a free copy because I am a member of the Garden Writers Association, but the cover price of this book is $9.95. I'd say it is well worth it. I actually brought my copy with me to the salon while getting my highlights done. As any woman will attest, that means hours of styling, coloring and drying...and I was engrossed in my seed catalog. Can you imagine reading a seed catalog so intently?
Content Marketing Tips
All in all, the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog gets an A+ from me for its expert content marketing.
Great content marketing hits the sweet spot between informing customers about products and services, entertaining and engaging them, and yes, selling products. Some content marketers talk about the undersell or soft sell, and some pretend that they don't want their content to sell anything at all. While content marketing isn't direct marketing (it's not about the direct sale), your content marketing programs should always support the consumer's choice to buy your products or services. Information is the key to helping people move along the decision ladder, ultimately choosing YOUR company to do business with among the many companies available.
That's where the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog hits all the right points. It's incredibly informative while simultaneously being entertaining, and that's not easy to do in a market saturated with seeds. Seeds aren't particularly high margin items, and it can be difficult to invest in marketing them. But because garden seeds are everywhere for consumers to purchase, you've got to make customers understand why your garden seeds are different or better than other companies'. And that's where Baker Creek gets it right.
They are selling a different product. They invest time, money and resources into finding heirloom seeds - seeds passed down through generations of gardeners, families and communities. These seeds are free from genetic tinkering by humans and are open-pollinated. Some are said to be more nutritious or tasty than commercially grown varieties. Others are quite difficult to find among the large commercial growing operations. Baker Creek tells a unique story, and because they tell it well, consumers understand what sets them apart and why they should shop from their catalog.
Would You Like Your Company Features as a Case Study?
I'd love to share YOUR company's content marketing case study here. Please contact me and share samples of your firm's content marketing program if you'd like to be featured on the Seven Oaks Consulting content marketing blog.
Why Long Form Content Is Great for SEO
When it comes to content marketing, it seems that every marketer under the sun has their own opinion about what works and what doesn’t. Some say that posting frequent short content pieces, such as blog posts, works the best. Others swear that long-form content, or articles and blog posts over 2,000 words, works the best. Who is right?
Long Form Copy Produces Better Organic Traffic
A firm called SERPIQ analyzed the search engine results position (SERP) for more than 20,000 keywords and discovered something very interesting. It seems that the length of the content had a direct correlation on a web page’s search engine results position.
Here’s a summary of their findings:
- All of the top 10 positions were dominated by posts with 2,000 or more words.
- The average word count for the top position was 2,416 words.
- Most posts averaged around 2,200 - 2,400 words.
Our Take on Long Form Copy
From my own research, I’ve concluded a few interesting facts about long-form content. I write a popular home and garden blog, Home Garden Joy, and include a “free gardening guide” section filled with long-form posts on topics gardeners want to learn about. The section is new, but growing. My goal is to add one long-form content piece each month.
Last month, I added a long-form piece on composting - How to Make Compost. I haven’t done much to promote it except send a special email out to my subscriber list to announce it and announce it via Twitter and Facebook. I decided to schedule some automated posts via HootSuite to share the link during peak traffic times on Twitter.
Almost immediately, a popular gardening website aggregator picked up on the link and included a blurb and link to my long-form content prominently on their website. Several shares on social media also increased visibility for the new guide. At last count, my site’s inbound links increased from 42 to 63. Not all are going to this content page, but I think the increase is partially due to the long-form content.
What Makes Longer Articles Appealing?
What makes long-form content so appealing? Long-form content appeals to website visitors seeking more than a cursory look at a topic. If the content is well-researched, it adds value and depth to the information, and makes your blog, website or article worthy of bookmarking or sharing.
By its very nature, long-form content also requires site visitors to spend more time on your website, another clue for search engines to use to gauge the value of your site. Longer, well-written and intriguing content naturally holds visitors’ attention longer, and if you include thoughtful links to related content on your site, you’ve also increased the time spend on your site even more.
Long-form content is great for really diving deeply into a topic. Some topics don’t lend themselves to long form content; others, however, naturally need more room to develop the thesis and explore the many nuances around the topic. Anytime you dive deeply into a topic, you’re adding value to the reader’s experience, which develops your relationship with the end-user and creates a favorable brand impression.
B2B Content Marketing for Customer Acquisition
I generally think of marketing in three phases: acquisition, retention and loyalty-building. Content marketers tend to focus on the tail end of that three-phrase cycle, loyalty building. B2B content marketing is ideal for building brand loyalty. Magazines, long-form content, case studies and similar content marketing strategies are often used to great effect by B2B marketers to boost loyalty. However, B2B content marketing for customer acquisition can be equally as effective if it’s done well.
Why Are Customers Looking for Your Products or Services?
All good marketing programs, including content marketing programs, begin by answering the question, “What do my customers want or need?”
People shop for products and services based upon needs. Those needs may be physical needs; you need milk for your cereal, so you go to the store to buy it. Needs may also be psychological. I made an appointment with my favorite hair salon a few weeks ago, and the first words out of my mouth to my stylist were, “Blonde me.” I needed a psychological “lift” for the new year, and my naturally ashy blond hair had turned dark brunette over the past year. An hour or two at the salon and I left with lighter hair and a lighter spirit. In that case, my needs were psychological.
Before crafting your content marketing programs, know what your customers want or need. Conduct surveys, listen to their comments on social media, visit with them, hang out with them, but do understand what they need. That understanding flows into the first segment of a three-step acquisition program.
Good B2B Content Marketing Begins with Education
Once you understand what your customers want or need, you can begin to think of how your products and services might fill that need. But don’t rush right into an advertising campaign disguised as content marketing. Instead, educate them first on how your products or services solve that need.
How do you educate customers via B2B content marketing? You have many choices:
- Educational content: This type of content tends to revolve around industry facts. Statistics, facts, data, product information are all forms of educational content marketing.
- How-to articles: Teach your customers how to tackle simple tasks that solve their problems and win their attention and loyalty. How to choose an accountant, how to tackle a computer-based task, how to do something smarter, better or faster are all great how to article types for B2B content marketing.
- Advice: I like using personal advice from an authority or expert to educate customers. This works best when your brand is already well-known or you have a strong ‘voice’ in the industry. I’ve used this successfully with manufacturing clients and those who have a very unique, specialized area of expertise. Customers are hungry for advice from a true ‘expert’ in their industry, especially industries where products are more prosaic and functional.
B2B Content Marketing as an Acquisition Funnel
All steps along your B2B content marketing program should act like a sales funnel, gently leading and guiding prospects to make that final decision to call, contact, or complete a sales action. Once you educate prospects, it’s time to introduce solution-focused content. Such content takes the educational information shared in step 1 and introduces your firm as a solution for whatever problem led them to your content in the first place. By helping, advising and guiding instead of hard-selling them on your product or service, you can share useful, actionable information without clubbing them over the head (figuratively, of course) emotionally with hyperbole charged rhetoric. Instead, you’re selling to professionals in a manner that appeals to them as business people.
Jeanne Grunert is the president of Seven Oaks Consulting, a content marketing writing and services firm based in Virginia. She hopes you found this article educational and informative.
Improve Your Business Blog for More Sales
One of the hallmarks of my unique "strong sales through gentle marketing" program is the use of writing, especially blogging, to help businesses promote their products and services. Does blogging work? Yes, it can -- but like any marketing activity, you must be prepared to invest time and effort into your blog. If you don't want to (or cannot) invest time and effort, then be prepared to invest money in someone who CAN invest time and effort for you. It's a trade-off. If you can write, and you can devote a half hour to an hour per day to content marketing, then blogging may make sense for you.
Blogging is more than just spewing out your ideas and information online. A good blog engages readers and retains their loyalty in the future. A good blog is search engine optimized; it attracts the popular search engines, who like the original posts they find on the blog, archive and index them, and provide them to online searchers. A good blog has personality and style. It is original. It speaks from the heart, person to person, and shares information not easily obtained elsewhere.
Sounds like a tall order, doesn't it? Fortunately, there are alternatives to creating a blog entirely from scratch.
- Hire a freelancer: You can hire a freelance writer to create you blog posts for you. Be prepared to search for a good writer and pay him or her a fair rate. Rates for good bloggers start at $25 and go up from there per blog posts. Where can you find bloggers? Craigslist, Guru.com, Elance.com are three places that immediately come to mind. Be sure to include the topic of your blog and your expectations in your advertisement. The topic is important. You want a writer who has experience in your area, and who is eager to contribute. A fashion blogger may e ill at ease writing financial advisement tips, and a legal blogger unsuited for home and garden topics. Ask for their resume, three writing samples, and see if you like any writer who applies.
- Work with a third party site: Post your request to a corporate site such as Writer Access: Writer Access allows companies to post writing work for hire on their site. Writers apply with their ideas and you hire, through the Writer Access site ,the best writer for the job. The catch? They take a cut out of the fee, so you have to pay a little bit more in order to attract a good writer. But it may save you time and effort screening applications and some good writers can be found there.
- Buy rights: You can purchase already written content through Constant-Content.com. Writers (including myself) write and post articles with a price tag. When you buy the article, you purchase certain rights, depending on the level you buy. Read the contract carefully. You can also find writers for hire through their site.
- Work with a company: Marketing agencies provide writers who can craft excellent blog copy. They also have on staff researchers, SEO experts and others who can help you get your content out there. They are probably the most expensive option among these four, but if you are working with an agency you like, why not ask about blogging services?
Some pundits claim that blogging is dead, but I don't believe that for an instant. A good blog, one that engages, entertains and informs, offers readers another venue to obtain useful information. If blogging is part of your marketing plan this year, try boosting your blog's quality through one of these resources.