I recently reflected on ten years of transformation from traditional marketer to content-obsessed communicator. The vows I made back then hold true today.
Enough about me. Content Marketing is about you, and what you hold dear. For all the joys and woes it brings, I'd like to pay tribute to a content marketing staple: The Top 10 List. Check out lessons and takeaways from a decade of diligence. 1. Be Nosy The best of content marketing strategies can be wielded by simple questions to target audiences:
2. Rethink Thought Leadership You have experts in your circles who can drop top knowledge in an engaging way. But keep in mind: no one wants to have to think all the time. Maybe you can bring audiences value by giving them a needed mental break. Entertain them, distract them, or simply let them know you and your company are thinking on their behalf. It's noisy out here. When it's time for your leaders to shine, make sure they're centered in the value they are willing to share, without the promise of immediate gratification. 3. Repurpose on Purpose Don’t repurpose content because it’s simple, time-efficient, cost-efficient and useful. Do it because it supports a strategic business objective. Or because the timing is right. You could be either pressed for time, or have ample time to fully plot out a revamp. Good content, like cheese, will suit different tastes at different stages of aging. The worst you can do is get too immersed in the flavor-of-the-week, that your best content gets neglected...and way past its shelf life. 4. [Insert Marketing Tactic] is Dead? Time For a Comeback Events. Print. Content Marketing itself. We’re all happy to put tactics out-to-pasture to make room for the bright and shiny. Take a chance on a castaway medium or repurpose across various channels (see #3). 5. But Everybody is Doing it, Mom Don’t "do" content marketing because it’s cool (or for you newer generation professionals, because it’s retro). Commit to the approach because it’s good business and it feels right for your audiences. It’s a marathon, stacked on top of a triathlon, combined with a vision quest, and it's not for everyone. You will burn out if your heart isn’t into it, and you’ll be back to blasting salesy messages in no time. 6. Learn The Rules and Then Try to Break Them All Read the articles, attend the conferences and dial into the webinars. Then, at every single chance, challenge the status quo and try something new. You can call on best practices and still be original (see 99 Amazing Content Marketing Hub examples on the Marketing Insider Group). Author, speaker, and all-around marketing/media fireball Andrew Davis personifies the call for constant reinvention in this space. At the core of his multimedia world is a penchant for shining the spotlight on those with unique paths to extraordinary successes. The CMO Club has a great description of the anti-data movement in its 2016 surprising marketing trends post. Content marketing is not paint-by-number, but there’s a lot to be learned from those that practice it daily. Case in point: Propane. Our company consults on highest complexity of needs of organizations throughout the globe. So what’s one of the top visited pages on our website each month? A single, simple article on OSHA propane safety regulations. Client survey data may have never foretold the power of a content piece like this. 7. You Will Fail, You Will Learn You will lose time, brain cells and likely some friends. You will spend months on a campaign that gets killed before launch. You will think you have a viral hit on your hands that is nothing but a mild infection. All that you must know and master as a modern marketer is immense (and mounting). Things will fall through the cracks and expensive programs will flop. Keep good notes, learn from your failures and celebrate your wins in high style. Approach every project like it will be your Space Jam to keep the fire in your belly. 8. Enough About The Cobbler's Kids and Their Shoes While I believe you must walk the walk, I know many successful pros who spend the lion’s share of time making clients great. Every client, audience and strategy deserves a unique approach, so kudos if you have the time and energy to make yourself and your clients’ rock stars in your respective fields. Approach the task of staying active with your personal brand, and keeping up on new technologies and capabilities, as investments in the success of those you serve. There are teachers and doers, and if you work your tail off, you’ll get to be a bit of both. 9. Losing Your Voice You’re a visionary, you’re talented, and you’re driven, but newsflash: content marketing comes with a side of humility. It doesn’t amount to much without the buy-in of others. Put yourself in the shoes of your client, your boss, your company and your stakeholders. Put your ego aside to open up to new perspectives and the collaborative approach needed to achieve early wins. Need to keep your energy up, creativity booming, and authentic voice well-tuned? Create your own personal platform and let it flow. 10. Finding Contentment Celebrity keynoters from multiple Content Marketing World events have made jest of the phrase “content marketers” as being a “satisfied” group of professionals. If you’re true to the game, you will always be hungry for challenges, and that in itself will breed a new kind of fulfillment. You get to contribute. You get to collaborate. You get to create. It’s a passion and a privilege. Some Final Words If this article has worn you out, I will offer one of my favorite excuse quotes, from Blaise Pascal: “I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.” We all have a voice, with much more to say, all with shorter attention spans to spit it out. That’s the challenge and opportunity to keep us moving. If you’ve finished this post, you’ve read more than 1,000 words. You’re a web-reading rebel and get a gold star. If you’ve scanned the 10 lessons and took one nugget back to your boss, I salute you. If you’ve skipped to the bottom to experience the toll that ten years of content marketing takes on the mind and body, you are also a winner. Spoiler alert: we are all winners in the content marketing game, because it’s never ending, and we write the rules as we go. I may never contribute to a Fortune 500 brand, or keynote a major event, but to “content market” is wildly addictive, incredibly frustrating and undeniably rewarding. Even if there is no pot of Birkin Bags at the end of this rainbow, my love for the craft will never be a matter of contention. This is post 2 of 2 of my content marketing reflections. Check out “Ten Years' Content Marketing And Still True to my Vows" Christina Capadona-Schmitz (@ChristinaCS & @DownWithSpitUp) leads marketing communications for Oswald Companies, a risk management and financial services company in Cleveland, Ohio. She is on the clock 24/7 with her parenting resource blog www.DownWithSpitUp.com, among other creative pursuits and community-based endeavors.
2 Comments
7/22/2019 03:08:11 am
Hello, just wanted to say, I enjoyed this post. It was helpful. Keep on posting!
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