There is no silver bullet in content marketing. Just as there is no universally best approach to fat loss, you would be hard-pressed to find one content marketing strategy that works for every business. 

However, that doesn’t mean your efforts are futile. Far from it. For 85% of businesses that use it, content marketing performs from moderately to exceedingly well. Part of that success comes from understanding and following the industry’s best practices.  

Now, before we dive into best practices for 2023, let’s quickly run through foundational content marketing principles you need to follow regardless of the year on your calendar.

The Core Principles of Content Marketing 

Even if you follow best practices discussed later in the article, your content marketing strategies are bound to crumble without good foundations.

Understand Your Target Audience

Behind every successful marketing campaign there is a marketer that carefully analyzed their target audience. The exceptions are mostly blind luck and not something you should bet on.

Having an intimate knowledge of you target audience helps you:

• focus on the right content distribution channels
• adjust style and tone of voice to create greater emotional connection
• create content that helps solve actual problems your target audience has
• zero in on customers pain points and increase conversions rates

Furthermore, you need to keep in mind that your target audience aren’t just the people that are using your product or services. The pool is often much wider, forcing you to also target people who your customers take advice from (influencers), as well as the people they need to get approval from (decision makers).

Set Realistic Goals and Plan of Action

The same research mentioned in the intro states that 73% of B2B marketers have a marketing strategy, with 40% having the strategy written down.

I would argue that this research actually shows how only 40% of marketers have a marketing strategy. Because if it is not written down, there is little accountability, and it is generally too complex to just sit in one person’s head.

Defining realistic marketing goals and metrics is challenging. When you are doing it for the first time, you are going to miss with your estimates. Probably by a lot.

My advice is to get down and dirty. 

First, watch who you are comparing yourself with. Your marketing budget is likely to be much smaller than top dogs in your niche. Instead of picking a fight with them right off the bat, aim to surpass companies that are just one or two levels above your weight category.

Secondly, be sure to outline the steps you need to take to reach your goals. Increasing organic traffic by 50% in 12 months is a fine goal. However, don’t stop there. Break it down. Define how many content pieces you need to publish and how many backlinks do you need to build to get there.

Do that for all of your goals and you will already be a step ahead of most content marketers.      

Master the Basics

I like to think of content marketing as using content to build trust and awareness and generate traffic, leads, and customers. Usually in that order.

When you look at it that way, they only way to be successful at it is to understand the basics of:

• Content planning (target audience research, keyword research)
• Content production (selecting the right content type, consistently producing well-structured content with actionable advice)
• Content optimization (on-page seo)
• Content promotion and distribution (off-page SEO, PPC, influencer outreach, social media marketing) 

This is a tall task for any business that isn’t big enough to set up an in-house marketing team. However, even if you outsource it, it pays to understand the basics to ensure that the agency you are working with is spending your money wisely.

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Content Marketing Best Practices in 2023

With firmly established foundations, it’s time to explore what are the best content marketing practices you need to start implementing in your business in 2023.

1. Create Keyword-Based Content Strategies

In personal experience, one of the most common mistakes businesses make is not having a clear, keyword-based content strategy. They think that just creating quality content is enough. Unfortunately, this is not the case of “if you build it, they will come”. 

If you want to grow by converting organic traffic into leads and customers, you need to have a content strategy based on in-depth keyword research.

We have a few clients in industrial B2B niches and even there we are seeing competition seriously ramping up. Just throwing content at the wall and hoping something sticks rarely worked so far, and is definitely not the way to go in 2023.

2. Find Ways to Provide Additional Value with Your Content

More and more brands are understanding the value of quality content. If you want to compete for the top spots in SERPs for challenging keywords, look for new ways to provide additional value by making your content more convenient to consume and easier to apply. 

That can mean a lot of different things in practice:

• Making sure that long form pieces are logically structured and come with an easy to use content table.
• That broad and general advice gives place to actionable tips and relevant real-life examples.
• Supporting complex concepts with custom animations or (info)graphics that include steps, diagrams, and other visual representations that increase the understanding of the topic.
• Reaching out to experts in the field and sharing their thoughts on specific issues.
• Adding polls, quizzes, and calculators to make content more interactive.

This is not a definite list, but it should be enough to get your creative juices flowing.

3. Be Consistent

Doing quality content marketing is a lot like trying to achieve a fitness goal. The key ingredient is consistency.

You should:

• produce and publish content consistently
• have a minimum level of quality every content piece should satisfy before it goes live
• try to keep a consistent style and tone of voice across all channels
• have a set of visual brand guidelines to create a recognizable visual style

If you are just starting out, don’t be afraid to test things out. It might take a while until you find your brand voice. When you do that, create your brand style guide – and stick to it!  

4. Build What You Can, Outsource What You Can’t

Scaling up content production without any drop in quality is hard. If you do not have a dedicated marketing department, I would recommend turning to a content marketing agency for help. 

Now, that doesn’t mean you should abdicate all of your responsibility to an agency. Nor does it mean that you should give them all of the reins. 

For example, we work with a few businesses that have excellent content writers with in-depth knowledge of the subject area. In this case, we take the role of an editor – prepare content briefs, review outlines, add custom graphics, and make sure the content follows best on-page SEO practices.

In other words, those businesses use us to plug holes in terms of their marketing skills and knowledge.  

Another reason to stay involved to some degree is to make sure the content follows your brand tone and voice and really connects with your brand, as well as to coordinate lead generation and other promotional activities you might be doing in parallel. 

5) Leverage Your Analytics

As more and more businesses compete for customer’s attention, only those with a strategic approach to content marketing are going to see a fat ROI.

Recently, we talked with a semi-known brand in the interior design niche. They have over 500k monthly organic traffic but fairly low conversion rates as most of that traffic is generated by awareness phase-level content.

They wanted to spend most of their budget on building links to pages that are already performing well. While that would probably work ok, the more cost-effective idea was to split that budget in 3 parts. 

The first part would be used to continue boosting pages that are already generating some leads. The second part would be used to increase overall conversion rates on the site. 

Most interestingly, the third part of the budget would be used to boost pages that have the best conversion rates in terms of percentages, but currently generate a very small amount of leads because they are ranking poorly and do not get a lot of traffic – in other words, potential gems.

Source: Scoop.it

The key takeaway from this story is that creating such a concrete and cost-effective strategy was only possible because the client meticulously tracked the performance (traffic,conversion to lead, conversion to paying customer…) of all of his pages.

6) Be Transparent and Authentic

9 out of 10 consumers say that authenticity is important when deciding what brands they like and support. 

In an age where every brand message is designed to sell something and where every social media post is meticulously planned, people are sick of that uncomfortable feeling of being manipulated and told what to think. They crave transparency and authenticity. 

It is one of the reasons behind the huge success of Joe Rogan’s podcasts.  

So, if there are causes you want to support and talk about, find those you really care about. Be honest about your product and service, and what you can offer. 

Last but not least, when the context allows it, try to have some fun with the content you’re creating. Do your part to make the Internet a better place.

Trust the Process

It is not easy to measure the success of your overall content marketing efforts, especially as VPNs, GDPR, and other tools and laws reduce your tracking capabilities.

On top of that, content marketing campaigns with a modest budget can take 6+ months of consistent work to show provable results.  

Putting in earnest work for a few months and not seeing results can quickly become discouraging. You might even be tempted to pivot and make significant changes. Think twice before doing that.

If you are following industry best practices and have polished internal processes that can catch and eliminate quality issues, it is time to exercise patience and put some trust in the process.

The post Best Practices for Content Marketing in 2023 appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

With more people using ad-blocking software to shut out unsolicited ads, the future looks bleak for marketers. But content marketing is the silver lining. And there are many reasons why the future is bright.

Traditional marketing relies on outbound systems. It’s about reaching out to consumers to interest them in your product. This approach subjects consumers to marketing messages they don’t want. 

Content marketing is inbound. It’s about creating and sharing content that helps consumers achieve their goals without asking for anything in return. Who can say no to free help?

Consumers can now research their challenges online, increasing content’s value. When you share information that helps consumers live better, they will keep coming back for more. And when they need a product or service you deal in, they’ll naturally choose you over your competitors.

What’s the Purpose of Content Marketing?

The purpose of content marketing depends on the brand and where the consumer is in their customer journey. Here are some of the things content marketing does.

Gives Consumers Information They Need

The right content can help clarify a consumer’s thoughts so that they can make an informed decision. Regardless of the content type, the goal should be to feed your audience the information they need to get out of a jam or crush a milestone. Do this long enough, and your audience will see your brand as a source of truth.

Creates Brand Awareness

Content marketing increases your reach. Consistently sharing your knowledge and resources will improve awareness of your brand.

Some consumers of your content will share your posts with their family and friends. Some will share them on their social media channels and in their communities.

Brand awareness is your first step toward converting prospects because nobody buys from a brand they don’t know.

Generates Interest in Your Brand and Products

Many entrepreneurs expect the world to jump at their businesses when they launch. But your business won’t get traction if you don’t work to generate interest around it. Content marketing gives you the power to do that.

While sharing content that makes life better for your audience, find natural opportunities to show how your products or services will help them achieve their goals.

Inspires Audience Engagement

Once you start sharing valuable content on your blog, social media, or newsletter, responses will follow. While not everyone will agree with what you post, sharing your knowledge will engage your audience, which keeps your brand top of mind.

Increases Sales

Once your content marketing strategy and execution are effective, it’s only a matter of time before the attention you’re garnering starts translating into sales. The more people know and engage with your brand, the more value they’ll attach to your content, and the more likely they’ll be to buy from you.

Why is Content Marketing So Important?

Content marketing is vital to brands for various reasons, depending on your business’s needs and how you choose to use content. Here are some of the reasons content marketing is important for brands.

Customers Want It

Consumers are no longer satisfied with just sales-specific information. Traditional marketing gives the customers just enough information to get them to buy a product or service. Content marketing gives consumers the information they need to choose who to buy from and why. Customers want information that helps them make informed purchases.

Builds Trust and Loyalty

You don’t earn customer trust and loyalty by telling them how trustworthy you are. You need to show it with content that demonstrates your brand authority, trustworthiness, and subject-matter expertise. High-impact content takes customers from where they are to where they want to be. It informs, educates, and entertains them.

Creates Brand Awareness

Your prospective customers need to know your business exists for you to have a fighting chance at conversion. Content marketing is your chance to do that in a non-invasive way. Your brand personality and values will naturally shine through when you create content on topics relevant to your customers. That will give you more publicity.

Tells You About Your Audience

Content marketing sets you up to know more about your audience in new ways. First, you’d want to understand what, where, when, and how they consume information. Then, while sharing content, you’ll be able to know what your audience likes to read, listen to, or watch by analyzing your readership data. This information will help you understand their interests and empower you to improve your product.

Drives Traffic to Your Site Through SEO

Optimizing your blog content allows search engines (like Google) to find and serve your content to your audience. This aids search visibility.

A HubSpot survey found that businesses with SEO-optimized blog content get 55% more visitors, making their marketing team leaders 13 times more likely to achieve a good ROI.

Generates High-Intent Leads

Content serves up leads that are more likely to become paying customers. They don’t struggle to understand how your brand, its products, and its values fit into their lives. They already know because they’ve consumed your content. And content marketing enables you to write SEO-optimized bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) content that targets people ready to buy a product or service.

Affordable for Small Businesses

Content marketing is cheaper than paid ads. You can also get significant results even if you start small. Unlike paid advertising, which depends on how much money you can throw into it, content marketing levels the playing field. 

Why is Content Marketing the Only Form of Marketing Left?

Today’s consumers are much more focused on themselves and what’s good and valuable to them. That’s why interruption tactics no longer work. The focus on information when, where, and how the customer wants it is just one reason content marketing is the only form of marketing left. There are some other reasons too.

Most Consumers Use Mobile Devices

Consumers call the shots, so the best marketing efforts must meet them where they are.

One in every five people spends more than 4.5 hours daily on their phones. Add that to their sleep and work hours, and you’ll see why people don’t have time for TV or other traditional media.

When people are on their phones, they aren’t looking to be marketed to. They’re looking for valuable content that helps them navigate their daily challenges.

Consumers Search and Shop Online

With the rise of digital media, consumers shop more online than ever before. They research the products they want to buy from the comfort of their homes. They avoid the stress of travel and people associated with brick-and-mortar stores and can make purchasing choices as they research every step.

Your Search Visibility and Traffic Depend on Content

Helpful content gets search engines to notice and present your website content to people looking for the products or services you provide. Be sure to balance the creative with the scientific. You need high-quality content to give your readers a good user experience. But you also need to optimize your content for search engines to serve it to those looking for it.

Millennials Are Tech-Reliant

Millennials (consumers born between 1981 and 1996) are the largest demographic, and they make most of their purchases online. These factors make it easy for content marketers to get their attention since content marketing relies on technology.

Trust is Increasingly Important

Consumers are overwhelmed with marketing messages. Your brand needs to stand out with content that earns their trust quickly. Because when it comes down to it, only brand trust and authority will separate your claims from those of a random brand. It will give your prospects a solid idea of what your product does and how it works, which will reduce their doubts.

Legacy Media are Becoming Obsolete

The rise of digital content has crippled traditional media. Audiences now prefer the convenience of consuming digital content over traditional media. And because attention is the currency in marketing, the money will go wherever the audience goes.

What are the Best Content Marketing Methods?

There are various content marketing methods, so the mix you use is up to you. It’s all about what works best for your brand and audience. But some methods seem important for every business to use on some level.

Content marketing methods that benefit most businesses are:

• Websites. Websites are ideal for sharing information that helps your audience while informing them about your product or service and letting you buy directly from the site. Your website is part of your owned media, and the audience you build there is yours for as long as you want. As a distribution channel, websites can host all types of content — text, images, audio, and video, allowing you to share content that appeals to more people.
• SEO-Optimized Blogs. Your potential and existing customers are looking for answers to their questions, and search engines have become their trusted sources of information. Consumers run 8.5 billion searches on Google alone every day. You will attract customers with SEO-optimized content.

• Lead Magnets. Lead magnets are free resources potential customers can get in exchange for their contact information. Marketers use them to lure prospective customers into their email lists, where they can then nurture them into customers. Your lead magnet could be a tutorial, e-book, workbook, or industry report. In any case, be sure your lead magnet is specific, promises your audience a quick win, and solves a real problem for them.
• Email. If you follow the “email is dead” bandwagon, you’ll miss out on the chance to earn $36 from every $1 you spend. Email is as alive as it gets. This content marketing method is particularly effective for lead nurturing. That’s because it allows you to send personalized emails directly to your audience’s inbox. This approach allows you to address their specific pain points and aspirations.

Conclusion

Content marketing results ultimately depend on your strategy, budget, and nature of business. But you can never go wrong with content marketing investments. Regardless of your industry, your existing and potential customers have loads of questions and challenges they need answers to on an ongoing basis. If your content can help them, they’ll grow to trust you, buy from you, and become loyal to your brand.

The post Why Content Marketing is the Only Marketing Left appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

A simple, 2-hour-per-month content marketing framework for the content beginner. 

Content marketing is vital in developing your audience’s “know, like and trust” factor. It can overcome objections before they happen, increase the perceived value of your offers, and increase customer lifetime. This simple framework will teach you how to create compelling content and repurpose it for multiple platforms in about 2-hours per month. 

Core & Hygiene Content 

There are two categories of content that every business needs in their content marketing strategy. Core Content and Hygiene Content. 

Core Content is the core of your marketing efforts. It should deliver incredible value and include an opt-in. Creating Core Content is resource intensive, so how do you fill in the gaps in your content calendar? Hygiene Content. 

Hygiene Content serves the vital purpose of staying present and relevant to your audience. If Core Content is your 6-month intensive dental cleaning, Hygiene Content is brushing your teeth daily. Creating one type won’t guarantee dental (or content) disaster but combining both is ideal.

Core Content = Quality

Hygiene Content = Quantity

Hygiene Content allows you to create the quantity of content you need to be present and relevant in the highly competitive content marketing world without draining your resources or becoming a full-time content marketer. 

Core Content

It’s the most important content you create and is directly related to your customers’ biggest problems and how you solve them. To create Core Content, choose 2-5 core topics or categories. These should be the topics most important to your customer and directly related to your solution. Let’s look at an example. 

Tim’s Tax Team is a small business accounting firm specializing in tax filing and corporate tax breaks. Their customers’ biggest challenges are meeting corporate tax requirements, proper record keeping, and audits. 

Tim’s Tax Team Core Content Topics

1. Tax Filing 
2. Audits 
3. Corporate Bookkeeping
4. Corporate Tax Breaks

Tim’s Tax Team Core Content Examples

• How to save money on your corporate tax filing 
• How to become audit-proof
• Why your bookkeeping could cost you thousands of dollars in penalties (and how to prevent it)
• The five most missed corporate tax breaks

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Hygiene Content

Hygiene Content is the in-between content that keeps your brand in the hearts and minds of your customers without taking hours to create. It provides value and entertainment but doesn’t have the same depth as your core content. 

Hygiene Content topics are relevant to your customer but don’t necessarily have to be related to the problem you solve or your offers. To create Hygiene Content, identify 3-5 topics relevant to your ideal customer or related to your industry. Let’s look at Tim’s Tax Team again.

Tim’s Tax Team works primarily with local brick-and-mortar restaurants and retail businesses. Their clients are between the ages of 45-60, family-oriented and spend their weekends barbequing and watching the local football team. They aren’t tech-savvy and rely heavily on their accountants and bookkeepers to provide technical recommendations.

Tim’s Tax Team Hygiene Topics 

1. Football
2. Software & Technical Recommendations
3. Restaurant Finance & Tax Considerations
4. Retail Business Finance & Tax Considerations
5. How to use your business to build a family legacy 

Hygiene Content Examples

• Football and Finance: How to build a rock-solid business financial foundation with football strategy.
• The best accounting software for small restaurants 
• The biggest money mistakes restaurants make 
• Inventory & Taxes: How retail businesses can save money with better inventory management 
• Family business finances: three steps to creating generational wealth with your small business

Case Studies 

Let’s look at a few REAL examples. 

HubSpot

HubSpot is an all-in-one CRM platform for businesses that have growing teams with growing needs and can no longer manage multiple platforms. Their customers typically have marketing, sales, operations, and service departments that are rapidly growing and collaborating and need effective strategies and tools. 

HubSpot’s Core Content Topics  

• Marketing Strategy
• Sales Processes and Systems
• Customer Services

HubSpot Core Content Examples

• How Golden Bees became more customer-centric thanks to HubSpot
• How to Create a Sales Plan: Template + Examples
• How to Create an Effective Customer Journey Map [Examples + Template]

HubSpot Hygiene Content Topics

HubSpot understands that its customers are interested in many sub-topics related to its Core Content Topics. They want to learn about the latest social media strategies, website development tips, benchmark data and industry metrics. HubSpot combines corporate humor and educational content on the sub-topics relevant to the everyday lives of their consumers–anyone working in marketing, sales, or service,  

• Social media tips and tactics
• Relatable office moments and experiences
• Email humor
• Website sub-topics

HubSpot Hygiene Content Examples

• 43 of the Best Email Sign-offs That Put ‘Best’ and ‘Thanks’ to Shame
• 130 Instagram Influencers You Need To Know About in 2022
• How Much Does a Domain Name Cost?

TurboTax 

TurboTax is an Online Accounting Software with a primary market of individuals and entrepreneurs with simple accounting needs who don’t want to hire an accountant but don’t want to miss out on deductions, incentives, or tax breaks. 

TurboTax Core Content Topics

TurboTax’s Core Content Topics are directly related to solving the most common taxes and accounting problems their customers face with actionable tips and opt-ins. 

• Tax Basics
• Credits & Deductions
• Income & Investments

TurboTax Core Content Examples 

• Will I Get a Tax Refund This Year? What To Expect for Tax Refunds in 2022
• Freelance Taxes in Canada: 9 Things You Need to Know
• Guidelines for Reporting Self-Employment Income

TurboTax Hygiene Topics   

TurboTax’s Hygiene Content Topics provide quick tips and information on tax filing and investing sub-topics.

• New Tax Credits 
• Medical & Disability Tax Considerations
• Organizing Financial & Tax Documents
• Spending & Saving Tips 

TurboTax Hygiene Content Examples

• Back to School? It’s not just for the kids!
• What is a Bear Market and What Does it Mean to You?
• 7 Smart Ways to Spend Your Tax Refund

DigitalMarketer

As the premier online community for digital marketing professionals, DigitalMarketer provides educational resources, certifications and coaching programs for digital marketing professionals, businesses, and agencies. 

DigitalMarketer’s Core Content Topics

Marketing is rapidly changing, and finding up-to-date credible information, tools, and strategies is challenging. DigitalMarketer’s solution is to provide a one-stop shop for marketing certifications and programs that help marketing professionals stay ahead. 

• The Marketing Professional 
• Effective Marketing Strategy 

DigitalMarketer Core Content Examples 

• What is a T-Shaped Marketer
• Build Loyalty, Leads, & Sales In Your Community Using The Customer Value Journey
• Why People Don’t Respect Marketers & How To Elevate The Marketing Profession

DigitalMarketer Hygiene Content Topics

Marketing has many sub-topics and platforms, so DigitalMarketer provides relevant information and resources pertinent to their consumers’ everyday lives–anyone working in marketing.

• Email
• Social Media
• Websites
• Content & Copywriting 
• Driving Traffic
• Increasing Conversions

DigitalMarketer Hygiene Content Examples 

• 3 Simple TikTok Tips to Grow Your Business
• Choosing Music for your Brand
• 8 Tips For Writing Effective Email Subject Lines 
• 4 Types Of Offers That Can Instantly Increase Revenue

The Content Workflow

Now that you understand the two types of content and have identified your Core and Hygiene Content Topics, it’s time to create a sustainable content marketing workflow. With this simple workflow, you’ll create one long-form piece of Core Content and splinter it into up to 30+ pieces for greater reach instead of making all your content from scratch. 

The Workflow

1. Create Long-Form Core Content 
2. Splinter 
3. Fill in gaps with Hygiene Content
4. Repurpose

Step 1. Create Long-Form Core Content

Long-form content can come in many forms, including written, video and audio. Choose the format that works best for you to start this process. 

If you love writing, write a blog post. 

If you love talking, record audio or video.

If you don’t like any of that, invite a friend over and have them ask you questions while you record the audio or video. 

Step 2. Splinter

Content Splintering is taking the parts of your long-form content to make more content for multiple platforms. You can splinter your long-form content into podcasts, YouTube videos, emails, blog posts, and social media posts.

If you are starting with long-form video or audio content, you’ll need an application that transcribes your video or audio. The program I love is Descript which transcribes your video and audio content, and as you edit the transcription, it automatically edits the video and audio. 

Splintering Formats

You can splinter your long-form content into various formats, including audiograms, short videos like TikTok’s or Reels, and social media graphics and captions. Here are a few of the most common splinter formats.

• Long YouTube Video
• Short YouTube Video 
• Short TikTok’s and Reels
• Podcast Episodes
• Audiograms
• Blog Posts
• Emails
• Quick Tip Social Media Posts
• Quote Social Media Posts
• Reminder Social Media Posts
• Stats & Data Social Media Posts
• Content Announcements
• Summary Posts

You don’t need to be a video editor, audio expert, or writer to create great content. Practice is the fastest way to get better. Quantity, consistency, and speed are the most important things when building your content marketing engine. 

You don’t need expensive applications, fancy cameras, or high-tech equipment to create great content. Great tech can turn good content into great content, but no amount of tech can turn bad content into good content. Focus on the quality of your message and information. Your iPhone and a simple video or audio editing software like Descript or Garage Band are enough to get you started.

Workflow Example: Long-Form Video Splintering

1. Record a long-form (10-30 min) video. You can edit or leave the video as is and post it on YouTube. 
2. Identify 2-3 of the main points in the video and make mid-sized (3-10 min) YouTube videos. 
3. Identify any soundbites, tips or quotes in the video and create short YouTube videos, TikTok’s, or Instagram Reels (5 sec – 3 min). 
4. Transcribe the video and edit the transcription into a blog post with headlines and an opt-in. 
5. Identify the main points from the blog post and create content emails. Add the emails to your automated nurture campaign and send them to your existing list.  
6. Identify the best quotes from the transcription and create social media posts with the quote in the graphic or caption.
7. Identify the top tips or hacks from the transcription to create social media posts with the tips or hacks as a carousel or in the caption. 
8. Identify reminders you can share with your audience based on the tips or actions your long-form content highlights to create social media posts.   
9. Identify any statistics, metrics, or data relevant to the content to create social media posts. 

Workflow Example: Long-Form Audio

1. Record a long-form (10-30 min) audio clip. Edit or leave it as is and publish it as a podcast episode. 
2. Identify any soundbites in the audio and create audiograms. Post them as short YouTube videos, TikTok’s, or Instagram Reels (5 sec – 3 min). 
3. Transcribe the audio and edit the transcription into a blog post with headlines and an opt-in. 
4. Identify the main points from the blog post and create content emails. Add the emails to your automated nurture campaign and send them to your existing list.  
5. Identify the best quotes from the transcription and create social media posts with the quote in the graphic or caption.
6. Identify the top tips or hacks from the transcription to create social media posts with the tips or hacks as a carousel or in the caption. 
7. Identify reminders you can share with your audience based on the tips or actions your long-form content highlights to create social media posts.   
8. Identify any statistics, metrics, or data relevant to the content to create social media posts. 

Workflow Example: Long-Form Written 

1. Write a Blog Post.
2. Identify 1-3 main points and create content emails to add to your automated nurture campaign and send to your existing list.  
3. Create an announcement email that teases the long-form content and drives subscribers to watch, read or listen. 
4. Identify the best quotes from the blog post and create social media posts with the quote in the graphic or caption.
5. Identify the top tips or hacks from the blog post to create social media posts with the tips or hacks as a carousel or in the caption. 
6. Identify reminders you can share with your audience based on the tips or actions your long-form content highlights to create social media posts.   
7. Identify any statistics, metrics, or data relevant to the content to create social media posts. 

Step 3. Fill in gaps with Hygiene Content 

No matter how incredible you are at splintering your core content, there will still be a few gaps in your content calendar. You can fill those gaps with Hygiene Content. 

For the content beginner, you can write a few extra social media posts or record short videos or audio clips on your Hygiene Content Topics to fill in the gaps. For seasoned professionals, create long-form Hygiene Content and splinter it using the same workflow as your Core Content.

Repurposing Content

Just because your content has been posted doesn’t mean you can’t use it again. You must consistently remind your audience who you are and the value you provide. Don’t be afraid of being repetitive because consistency in messaging is vital when building trust with your audience. Repurpose existing content to give your older content new life and build trust with your audience.

Ways To Repurpose Existing Content

1. Updating
2. Headline Swapping
3. Format Switching
4. Copy & Paste

Updating

Content Updating is taking existing content and updating it to be relevant and current. This can be as simple as changing the design, updating the year, or adding items to a list. 

Here’s an example:

1. Write a Blog Post
2. Wait for 90-days to 1 year
3. Update the post with relevant examples
4. Change the dates
5. Improve the design
6. Add any information needed to make the post more current.

Headline Swapping

Headline Swapping is reusing existing content with a fresh new headline. 

Here’s an example:

1. Write a social media post
2. Wait 90-days to 1 year 
3. Repost with a new headline in the graphic and caption.

Format Switching

Format Switching is when you repurpose an existing piece of content in a new format. You can switch a long-form blog post into a checklist, change a carousel social media post into a PDF download and turn an email into a short YouTube video. Format switching is a great way to take your splintered content and get even more use. 

Here’s how it works:

1. Write a Checklist LinkedIn Post
2. Wait for 90-days to 1 year.  
3. Switch that LinkedIn post into a short video clip and repost it to LinkedIn.

Copy & Paste

Copy & Paste is when you reuse existing content without changing it. This is standard practice on social media, where creators will repost their best-performing existing content without changing it after 90-days.  

Here’s how it works:

1. Create a social media post.
2. Wait for 90-days to 1 year.
3. Copy & paste the social media post without making changes and repost it.

2-Hours Per Month

Creating content shouldn’t be your full-time job unless you are a content creator. By following this framework, you can create your core content, splinter it, and fill in the gaps with Hygiene Content in about 2-hours per month. 

Here’s how:

1. Time Limit

Most people waste hours trying to create the perfect piece of long-form core content and never end up posting or splintering it. Instead of letting perfectionism hold you back, set a time and only give yourself 1-hour each month to create your core content. That’s it, and whatever you make in that hour is posted. Get in the reps first; you’ll nail the process over time. 

2. Focus Time

Distractions are a content creator’s worst enemy. Your phone notifications start blasting, and the creativity is gone. Block off two hours each month for content creation with no distractions, and you’ll be amazed at how much you accomplish. 

3. Templates

One of the easiest ways to streamline this process is to use templates. Here are a few of my favorite templates that make this process a breeze. It’s as simple as doing it once and optimizing the template as you go. 

Video speaking points template

Video thumbnail

Video captions

Blog post templates

Podcast description template

Email templates

Social media graphic templates

4. Workflows and SOPs

Like any business operation, a checklist or standard operating procedure (SOP) will improve efficiency and quality control. Write out your step-by-step process as a checklist or SOP. It will save you time, energy, and a lot of frustration if you do it from the start. You can even use the example workflows from this article to get started! 

With a consistent flow of valuable content delivered to your audience, you will develop trust, position your brand as an authority, and remain present and relevant in your customers’ lives. Leverage the power of content marketing with this simple framework to attract, engage and retain your ideal customers. 

The post 2-Hour-Per-Month Content Marketing Framework appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

As a marketer, you aren’t getting the respect you deserve.

You are a hard worker that loves what you do. You have spent years learning an ever-evolving list of skills, testing and refining your craft as technology and society have chaotically shifted drastically. You help businesses to make more money, allowing them to hire more people, create better products, and build empires of sustainable revenue. 

Even so, no one gets excited to see a marketer walk into the room.

When the accountant walks into an office, managers are happy to throw their accounting work at them. When the lawyer arrives to ensure legal compliance, no one thinks twice about handing their contracts over. Even when a plumber arrives, no one questions how they fix the toilet, they’re just happy that the toilet is going to be working soon.

…but when a marketer walks in with a new marketing plan, hold onto your butts.

EVERYONE has an opinion. Everyone has doubts, suspicions, and sometimes hostility towards them and their promises. 

They will question your prices, results, plans, decisions, and worst of all, even if you are 100% successful at delivering what you promise, they may STILL fire you because you don’t charge less than the next marketer (who they consider interchangeable).

Unlike most professionals, from doctors, lawyers, and engineers to accountants, human resource reps, and graphic designers, marketers garner very little respect initially. 

This isn’t anecdotal either. When it comes to the C-Suite, the Chief Marketing Officer has a shorter tenure than any other executive by far. As reported by The Drum, “The average tenure of a chief marketing officer at 100 of the top US ad spenders fell to 40 months last year, down from 41 in the year before and the lowest average since 2009.”

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As a marketer, what would it feel like to walk into a prospective job and have everyone rise to greet you? For people to be excited that you took the time to visit? For business owners to be RELIEVED that you have a solution to present?

This should be the case, but it’s not. In this article, I’ll describe how we arrived at the current perception of marketers and how we’re going to fix it.

Why People DON’T Respect Marketers

While the public’s perception of marketers is largely unfair and unjustified, it’s still there for a reason. Here is why I think that marketers aren’t garnering the respect they deserve.

Marketing is the Most-Trackable (and Therefore Damnable) Activity

Other than sales, marketing results are the most easily trackable components of a business. A business owner can look at a P&L and see the difference between revenue and the advertising budget, and while they shouldn’t, they will make decisions based on that number. 

Even with the changes to privacy and tracking, there are about a million reports that can be generated on all marketing-related platforms, from Google Analytics to Facebook Ads to social media channel subscribers/comments/likes/etc. 

With all this data, it’s easy for people to blame marketers for all sales results, even if the actual outcome is related to product design, customer service, pricing, and a ton of other operational concerns.

Marketing is Complicated

Unsurprisingly, most people’s idea of “marketing” comes from television, more specifically, the series Mad Men. A bunch of over-confident, chemically-addled man-children coming up with tricky phrases to doop customers out of some cash (at least that’s what cynics think). In reality, marketing is MUCH more complicated than that.

The funny part is that Mad Men actually gives an excellent view into marketing, but it’s not obvious and only marketers will probably understand it. A key note in that regard is in the first episode when a new employee is walked through the agency and told that all the “real money” is made in the lowly and unassuming “media buying department.”

Modern marketing is WAY more complicated than that though. Today, marketers have to deal with more competition than ever before, a constantly evolving set of legal, regulatory, and societal rules, and a changing and growing list of technologies, platforms, and media types (some of which, like the Metaverse, haven’t even been embraced yet).

These complications mean that marketing is even less understood than it has ever been in history, and with a lack of clarity has come a lack of understanding and appreciation. If everyone knew what was going on, we’d all start using the phrase “it’s not marketing strategy” rather than “it’s not rocket science” or “it’s not brain surgery” (maybe not, but you get the jist).

Big Tech Advertising Has Over-Simplified Marketing

Do you remember this commercial from the Super Bowl a few years back?

While an epic fight scene is going on, an unsuspecting chef designs his entire website… in a kitchen during work hours… three times. Every time his business gets destroyed, he quickly sets up a whole new brand and website that is instantly attractive and successful. Marketing is so easy!

NO! I used to build websites for a living, and between Wix, Squarespace, Bluehost, and Godaddy, the misconception that “building a website is easy” completely ruined my credibility. The same is true for advertising platforms that make running ads sound like a 5-minute task that a 5-year-old can do in her sleep.

Millions upon millions of dollars have been spent by big tech companies to convince the masses that all aspects of digital marketing are easy, cheap, and stupidly simple… and they are, if you don’t want to ROI anything you’re doing.

How to Make People Respect Marketers

Every Marketer Needs to Know Everything (a Little Bit)

Every marketer needs to know about every marketing method. Please note that I said “know about” and not “be good at.” Every marketer needs a basic understanding of how all pieces of marketing work together (our outline for overall marketing strategy is called the Customer Value Journey) before starting to specialize.

Marketing is one of the only professions that doesn’t require a base-level of knowledge prior to choosing a specialization… which is something that needs to change.

Many marketers actually become specialists before they know anything about overall strategy. They “become” a social media manager because they’re good at engagement, even if they have no understanding of how to convert people after they become a follower (or may have never made $1 online). In contrast, you’ll never meet a doctor who didn’t attend medical school prior to becoming a pediatrician, neurologist, cardiologist, etc. Doctors all start with the same education and requirements so they can make an informed decision about their specialization.

Here at DigitalMarketer we call this concept the T-Shaped Marketer. A T-Shaped marketer is somebody who has expertise in about 1-3 main marketing facets and broad knowledge of all marketing facets. Once you have a speciality, you can drill into it using what we called Learning Paths. No matter what, we always recommended starting with our Digital Marketing Mastery Certification.

Marketing Needs to Be Your Long-Term Profession 

A lot of people “end up” as marketers not through a conscious choice, but because they were good at some aspect of marketing and started doing it for other people. There is nothing wrong with this, but if this is how you became a marketer, you now need to choose to become a marketing professional.

What is a marketing professional? There’s lots of descriptions online, but at DigitalMarketer, we’ve defined it as the following after working with over 120,000 marketers:

• Min. 2 years experience building and executing marketing campaigns.
• General understanding of marketing metrics and a sincere desire to measure and be measured.
• You are “T-Shaped” (meaning you have identified your marketing “super-power,” but you also have a general understanding of all aspects of marketing so you can communicate and coordinate with multiple team members and stakeholders across a diverse set of marketing disciplines).
• OPTIONAL (but highly recommended): You have at least one professional certification and are committed to continuing education (because this industry changes fast, and there are a lot of “talkers” who can’t actually DO out there).

Sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how many people have never managed full marketing campaigns or really care about their metrics. 

Practice What You Preach

This is a tough one for most marketers, both on the branding/company side AND the personal/professional side. You may be making your clients MILLIONS of dollars, but you and your company may not have ANY exposure online at all. No ads, no content, and maybe even no website. This is extremely detrimental for you and your profession.

I used to have a magazine called My Mad Methods, a gym, certifications, ecommerce store, etc. I worked with thousands of trainers, and I can tell you one thing… no one took the out of shape trainers seriously. Note that I said “out of shape” and not “fat” which is what you’re probably thinking. If you were a strongman trainer, you were expected to be strong. If you were an athletic trainer, you were expected to be fast. If you were a bodybuilding trainer, you were expected to look fit.

Did it matter that the current physical condition of a trainer may have NOTHING to do with their ability to train others? Nope. But as a trainer, the expectation was that you should be healthy and fit. Being “fit” therefore, fell into the realm of marketing… and that’s just for the fitness industry!

As a marketer, you’re expected to have an awesome online presence for both you and your company. It doesn’t matter that your business is 100% referral based, or making millions a month, or has systems that would make the greatest marketers in history cry with envy… if no one knows about any of that, no one cares (at least in terms of respecting you and your profession).

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Actively Contribute to Professional Marketing Communities

The quickest way to feel respected is to gain the respect of your peers. If no one within your professional network respects your work, you’re going to be hard-pressed to get respect outside of it. These are people who know what you do, know what success in the space looks like, and will gladly promote your work, thoughts, and ideas if they deserve merit.

Online content is a digital representation of your competency. If you could speak to every person on the planet, you may be able to explain your competency to them. Considering that would take thousands of years, it’s not going to happen. 

Instead, you have to show them how awesome you are with articles, videos, and podcasts, and then let those assets do the work for you. At the bare minimum, you should be commenting on other people’s content to gain exposure for your ideas.

Professional marketing communities provide the ideal way for all of us to enhance the respect of the marketing community. They’re a conflagration of the best content which will rise the top in the form of comments, shares, likes, subscriptions, and the most flattering form of praise of all, stolen ideas

Enough people pay attention to your ongoing concepts, the more respect the entire population will have for our profession.

The post Why People Don’t Respect Marketers & How to Elevate the Marketing Profession appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

My screen time is up to 8 hours some days. Admittedly, a lot of that is my own personal scrolling addiction, but at least 2 of those per day are spent doing work-related research on TikTok. 

“Research on TikTok? You mean…watching TikToks?” Yes. Exactly. And I get paid to do it. Getting familiar with the trends, the lingo, the songs, what goes viral (and what doesn’t) is an essential part of establishing your brand on TikTok.

Research, strategy, execution, and community management are foundational tasks to every social media platform — but TikTok operates much differently than Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram. It has a unique culture, its own rules, and niche best practices and cadence. With that in mind, here’s why you should hire a full-time TikTok Manager, whose sole focus is that platform, and that platform only.

Research and Strategy

As I just mentioned, TikTok is its own beast. Yes, Instagram made Reels and Youtube made Shorts, but each platform has its own culture.

TikTok is more youthful and far less curated, and its influence transcends the app — elements of our real world like language, fashion, beauty, music, and more have all been heavily impacted by what’s popular on TikTok.

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Think of your full-time TikTok Manager as an Anthropologist, immersing themselves in the culture of the platform until they become experts on it. You must understand its values, rules, social norms, structure, and more, and then adopt them seamlessly in order to become part of the community. 

For all of the reasons above, your TikTok strategy and voice may be vastly different from what you do on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Check out the huge difference in brand voice between Duolingo’s website, their instagram, and their TikToks.

While their Instagram and website are more polished, Duoloingos full-time TikTok manager went completely rogue – doing what fed the TikTok algorithm and matched the trends, and because of it, has built one of the most successful brand TikTok accounts ever.

Execution

One of the tough things about TikTok is that it moves incredibly fast. This is vastly different from classical social media platforms where trends are subtle and move much, much slower. Trends are the core of TikTok, and come and go in mere days—blink and you’ll miss the next big viral sound or dance.

A downside to keeping up with the platform’s unprecedentedly fast pace means content has to churn out just as quickly. There is urgency in recognizing a trend, planning the spin on it, and executing the video. Depending on your brand, you may need props, a unique setting, or even actors (read: your coworkers). Having a sole visionary plan and direct streamlines the process and prevents too many cooks in the kitchen.

While some TikToks can be made in minutes, others can take hours, and the time-sensitive nature of the platform can require the need to to stop, drop, and Tok. How can one effectively balance those demands while managing a bunch of other tasks within an 8-hour day?

Community Management

Culture extends to community management. Traditional marketers would reel at the idea of “roasting” someone in their social media comment section, using curse words, or even innuendo. And yet, the TikTok audience eats that up. Pushing the envelope moves the needle on TikTok, for better or for worse. 

Keeping brand voice consistent on TikTok from the videos themselves to the dialogue in comments is another reason why one person should be in charge of all facets of the app. Let’s go back to duolingo for examples of this.

On top of engaging in your own comment sections, brand presence can grow through commenting on other creators’ TikToks (as seen below from Chipotle). Especially when you’re just starting out, devoting time to being witty, helpful, or even controversial in other creators’ comment sections will help grow brand awareness.

There are only 8 hours in a workday to accomplish all of this. It is not realistic to expect virality and success by making “TikTok management” a bullet point in a long list of other job duties. We’ve had over a decade to establish, fine tune, and optimize efficiency on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and Linkedin. TikTok is still in its infancy, and requires devoted attention and nurturing.

So, if you’re still wondering if hiring a TikTok manager is the right decision for your brand, the answer is “yes.”

The post Why You Should Hire a Full-Time TikTok Manager appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

What Does a Content Marketing Career Path Look Like?

Are you looking to pursue a content marketing career path? You’re in a good place. Content marketing is blowing up, set to be worth $600 billion in 2024 (Technavio research).

What’s more, 89% of companies that hire content marketers plan to either continue or increase their current investments throughout 2022.

If you have natural writing ability, a knack for creativity, and are driven by data, content marketing may just be your dream field.

But, what does it take to be successful in content marketing? Are there specific hard skills you need to have? Let’s take a closer look.

Why Choose a Career in Content Marketing?

For starters, it’s a growing field with a lot of opportunities. Additionally, it allows you to be creative and work independently – two things that are increasingly important in the modern workforce.

Growth Industry

Content marketing continues to grow as an industry for one main reason; it works. In a recent Semrush survey, 73% of companies who increased their content marketing spending from 10% to 70% of their total marketing budget were very successful.

In addition, 72% of companies have stated they plan to increase their content marketing budget in 2022. As the industry continues to grow, the need for individuals in the field also increases.

Pay

While having a career that feeds your creativity can be rewarding, the paycheck is a significant factor.

As a content marketer, you can create a stable and solid income. The average base salary for a content marketer in the United States is $56,036. Not too shabby for an entry-level position.

It only goes up from there. According to PayScale, the median base salary for a management position is $70,332 and $168.183 for an executive-level role.

Continued Learning

One thing a career in content marketing won’t be is stagnant. The way people consume content is constantly changing, meaning the way you create it will also shift. You’ll need to stay updated with the latest trends and best business practices.

The learning doesn’t end there. Depending on your role, you may be creating content for various industries. This means you may have to educate yourself on topics you have no experience in.

The more you increase your knowledge, the more room you have for personal and professional growth.

If you consider yourself a lifelong learner, this is an excellent career.

What Does a Content Marketing Career Path Look Like?

The content marketing industry is a sprouting field with many opportunities for those willing to invest time and effort. While a bachelor’s degree may help you start on the right foot, it’s not a surefire ticket into the industry anymore. Instead, think of building skills that clients and employers will immediately hire for.

There are specific skills that are vital to your success in content marketing.

6 Key Skills You Need to Succeed in a Content Marketing Career

This rapidly growing field will require essential hard skills to land jobs. While this may slightly vary depending on your specific role, we found the skill set listed below as being necessary for all positions within content marketing:

1. Writing skills: This is a must. The majority of content marketing is writing, so it is vital that you can craft compelling copy that draws in your target audience.
   
2. Knowledge of SEO: To ensure you create the content your audience wants to consume, you need a basic understanding of search engine optimization.
   
3. Data & analytics skills: This is essential in determining the success of the content; whether it’s measuring engagement, subscriptions, or clients, you need to be able to quantify your success.
   
4. Social media literacy: You may need to craft and distribute content for a range of platforms, knowing how to leverage multiple channels will set you apart in the industry.
   
5. Research skills: Depending on your role, you may be crafting content for several industries. You need to know how to find reliable and factual information no matter the field.
   
6. Time management skills: Your content is only strong if it’s still relevant. Adhering to deadlines is crucial so employers can publish on time, in season.

Seem to be missing one or two skills from your portfolio? Don’t get discouraged. We offer a wide range of resources that can set you up for success, such as our Head of Marketing Bootcamp.

While the knowledge mentioned above is going to be key to getting you into the door you can’t forget about some essential soft skills.

To truly enjoy your career and continue to grow in your field, the additional skills below are another essential set to add to your content marketing toolkit:

• Curiosity
• Persuasion
• Creativity
• Good intuition
• Growth mindset

Content Marketing Roles

A career path in content marketing can look different for everyone. In fact, content marketing is a pretty broad term, and you’ll have your pick from various roles within the industry.

Typical roles within a content marketing team include:

• Community Manager: The middleman. The community manager acts as the brand voice through content distribution, community support, and digital engagement.

• Social Media Manager: Responsible for creating and distributing content across social media platforms. This can also include content strategy, analyzing analytics, and digital campaigns.

• Video Marketing Manager: Helps brands tell their story through engaging videos to connect with potential customers on a deeper level.

• Brand Journalist: Produces a variety of written content that communicates the capabilities and values of the company. They grab the attention of potential clients and turn them into customers.

• SEO Specialist: A research and analytical guru that uses search engine optimization to create strategies and in-demand content.

• Graphic Designer: Responsible for the visual aspect. From websites to logos, the graphic designer creates engaging visuals that are brand and captivate the audience.

• Copy Editor: Ensures all written content is in tip-top shape before distribution.

• Managing Editor: Also known as a content manager, this individual often oversees designers, writers, and researchers to ensure the success of all visual and written content.

• Director of Editorial: The boss of the boss. This editor manages a team of producers, along with creating and implementing strategies and upholding vendor relations.

• Chief Content Officer: This is the top dog. The CCO oversees all content creation and distribution, ensuring it is on par with the company’s brand.

Start Your Content Marketing Career

In today’s digital age, content is king. The best way to succeed in content marketing is by producing high-quality content that engages your audience.

If you want to start a career in content marketing, we can help. We offer courses and training that will give you the skills you need to succeed. Check out our Content Marketing Mastery course to start your content marketing career path.

The post Want to Build a Content Marketing Career Path? Here’s What to Do appeared first on DigitalMarketer.