Are you? If yes, congratulations! You’re finally thinking about the long haul. As you know, I’m a big proponent of content marketing and what can it do to your business. And I strongly believe it’s the only kind of “marketing” that truly builds lasting brands.
Be it brand awareness, lead conversion and nurturing, customer service/loyalty/retention, or passionate subscribers — content’s got you covered. But you have to be intelligent about it. The idea is to not clutter the cyberspace with content just for the heck of it but be conscious about it. Quality matters. A lot.
The volume of content that’s put out there every day is just mind-boggling! And trust me, you don’t want to add to the clutter. Standing out from the herd is the key. And how do you do that? By ensuring that you’ve got a rock solid content marketing framework and strategy to fall back on. Anything less is just being stupid and wasting everyone’s time.
Now, one of the biggest challenges I hear people complaining about is this — “where and how the hell should I start?”
I hear you. And here’s my super-short answer — a content marketing strategy. Begin with the end in mind. Always. No exceptions. No matter how great you are. This is how you start.
I’ve compiled a list of resources (some of the best out there!) that can help you get started. Don’t skim through them though; consume them and digest them fully. If possible, take notes. And most importantly, implement!
Here you go:
HubSpot’s Content Marketing Plan — Goes deeper into the whys and hows of content strategy and yes, the next evolution of it. The 7 steps of creating a content marketing strategy is one of the most practical ones out here. Do take the time to review #5 for brainstorming content ideas. It’s gold!
CMI’s 7-step Content Plan — essentially the same as above but with unique insights that can only come from CMI. And like HubSpot, they’ve built their brand solely on the quality of content they put out. It’s a must read! And don’t forget to download this PDF that tells you exactly how to create your own content marketing program.
Kissmetrics’ Content Strategy Development Guide — these guys get metrics! Period. This is a slightly different take on content marketing (a user engagement perspective) and if you care about SEO (you should) look no further.
Contentfac’s Ultimate Content Marketing Resource Page — I honestly should’ve just guided you to this compendium of the best links from across the inter-webs on all things content. But I didn’t. I’m not sure why but I found the resources too good to be ignored. (Also, I really don’t trust websites that end with “factory.” You know, those do get shut down. ;-))
Moz’s Content Strategy Template — here’s a rock solid template that will come handy for the rest of your career! It was first published in 2014 but it’s still so relevant. If you’re just getting started, ignore the date, download the template and get your hands dirty. The article’s short (basically an intro, leading you to download the template) but the meat is in the template. Trust me!
LinkedIn’s Asia Marketer’s Guide to Content Marketing — I have a simple policy. If LinkedIn puts out anything on content marketing. I read it. No exceptions. You shouldn’t make on either. It’s the go-to platform for professional networking. And yes, it is going BIG on delivering the best content experiences to it users.
And that is it! Have fun!