If you could click your heels three times and magically drill the 10 universal truths of content marketing into your team, what would they be? You know, the top tier takeaways that deliver the direction and acumen needed to exceed your expectations in 2016 and beyond…
In the competitive, ever-changing content marketing landscape, choosing 10 things can feel like choosing children. But we all love challenge. Here are 10 things CMOs wished their staff understood about content marketing:
1. It’s all about strategy.
Research consistently shows that content marketers who establish clear, actionable goals are more successful, but only 32% take the time to document their content marketing strategies. This is unacceptable. Putting a plan in place is of paramount importance to CMOs.
2. Content needs to be compelling.
You can’t simply string together some sentences, regurgitate some stats and expect results. It doesn’t work that way. In today’s information overload world, where 27 million pieces of content are shared each day, you need to show some personality to stand out. If you don’t care about what you’re writing, the reader — and Google! — will care even less.
Google is, by far, the largest global search engine. It is responsible for the majority of your site traffic. Google employs human raters who analyze sites for quality, and adjust algorithms accordingly. When it comes to content, everyone is judging what you put out there.
3. Content needs to be buyer-persona focused, not brand focused.
You need to reach your audience with unique, custom content at every stage of the buying cycle to generate quality, sales-ready leads. But first you must do the research to identify who you’re talking to and figure out what makes them tick.
Effective content marketing is all about problem solving, not selling. Due diligence into the minds of your buyers — what they’re wondering about, what they’re concerned about, what they’re searching for — is a must to convert. You will probably have to create several buyer personas to adequately cover your targets.
4. Get a handle on stats.
Stat. Today’s CMOs are losing patience when it comes to content measurement. You have access to more analytical tools and data than you’ll ever need. Your job is to hone in on the data that matters to your brand, establish a baseline (a couple months of data), and track it consistently. Be forewarned: Baseline statistics won’t work for all of your individual campaigns, projects, and pieces of content. Measurements need to be tailored to gauge the effectiveness of your efforts.
5. Dig deeper when it comes to KPIs.
When you interpret your data, make sure you present your CMO with information that matters. For example, CMOs aren’t impressed by how many people share your post (though it will undoubtedly stroke your ego). They want to hear about organic traffic (visitors referred by an unpaid search engine) shares generated by your post. Big difference.
6. Visual assets are necessary.
Quality content that engages your audience is not enough. It has to be paired with visuals to really make it pop. Articles with images generate 94% more page views. Photos, illustration, infographics and video are all part of a dynamic, forward-thinking, results-driven content marketing strategy.
7. Ideation is ideal.
Generating ideas is often the most loathed part of the content marketing process, but it is imperative. Ideation cannot be an afterthought saved for Friday at 4:45 p.m. It’s an everyday thing that’s embedded in the collective mind-set of the best content marketing teams.
8. Maximize your content.
If you generate content that resonates, don’t do a happy dance and let it run its course. Revamp and/or repurpose winning content. When you revamp, you update content so it remains fresh and relevant to the same audience. When you repurpose, you’re taking the existing content and spinning it to attract and convert a completely different audience. Both practices deliver maximum ROI with your resources.
9. Location, location, location.
Are you selling a product or service that applies only to a particular place? If so, it’s critically important to monitor the locations of your visitors. Geography is also crucial for optimizing your content for different cities, states and countries. Many content marketers over look this nuance, and it can wreak havoc on your numbers.
10. Stay relevant.
Do you know about content marketing trends and predictions? Savvy CMOs stay up-to-date on the latest, and they expect the same from their teams. You don’t want to be the one who has no idea about LinkedIn Elevate, Facebook Instant Articles or Snapchat Stories. Up your game to keep your content marketing strategy ahead of the curve.
Do you agree with our round-up? What would you add to the list?
The post 10 Things Every CMO Wished Their Staff Understood About Content Marketing appeared first on The Daily Lead.