Content Marketing - Express Writers

100 Outstanding Content Marketers (Original Research Report)

June 19, 2024July 31, 2018 by Adam Oakley

In today’s report, we want to give you a list of outstanding content marketers, doing real and wonderful things in our industry. And to start, perhaps we should define what an “influencer” really means. These days, people aren’t putting their trust in one-off endorsements from celebrities or TV personalities. Instead, they’re choosing to trust people they can actually interact with, learn from, and admire: up close, and personal. And social media has made this all possible. Our favorite people are right there, within reach. Those people you follow, look up to, and know from your Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram feeds have major clout. Their sheer gravitas is enough to move people to act. That’s huge, and that’s the basis of influencer marketing. It’s more relevant than ever in 2018, as consumer preferences move farther and farther away from traditional ads (particularly Generation Z). Today’s influencer types include social media experts, popular YouTube users, bloggers, and celebrities (Sprout Social). Before we get into our official Top 100 Content Marketer influencer list, let’s discuss the concepts on which we actually built the list. (Want to save a copy of the infographic to read later? Download here.) How Did We Build the List of Top 100 Content Marketers? Our gross data points for this list were gathered on BuzzSumo, one of my favorite content intelligence tools. We combined both the Top Authors and Top Influencers for “content marketing,” cross-examined the results on both lists, and merged them into one, final list. We cleaned it up by removing accounts that had been suspended, had absolutely nothing to do with content marketing, or hadn’t tweeted about it in 5+ months. The top 100 accounts in both Authors and Influencers for “content marketing,” with a clear direct focus on content marketing and digital/inbound marketing, and an active role in the content marketing field (CEO, VP, Director, Marketer) were included. Fairness was important to us. We included teams and single marketers (a good balance of both women and men). Both teams and their team members had the opportunity to make the list. So, that’s why you’ll see both @Hubspot and a couple Hubspot writers/marketers on the list. We think that industry teams that work hard as a whole, as well as the individual people that really get behind moving content marketing inside the team, both deserve recognition. Our key goal with this year’s “The Top 100 Content Marketers” was to create a current, accurate, and real content marketing influencer list. Since the Twitter purge the week of July 9, which caused millions and millions of accounts on Twitter to be deleted and removed from the platform, it’s becoming more relevant and necessary than ever to maintain a real presence on social media. Not a presence built by bots, fake followers, and an overnight rush of success. But a real, humanly-built, humanly-connected presence. Over 2.5 months of work and 50-70 hours of team work has gone into the research and final list of 100. I worked on the final report-gathering research and work, the team at BuzzSumo helped me along the way (thanks, Susan Moeller!), and our team copywriters and editors helped me proof the list for any spam, as well as put all the bios together. Then, our editors proofread the copy while our designer put together a beautiful infographic and PDF. This was quite the project! [bctt tweet=”Fairness to both teams and individual marketers, as well as looking for leaders that have been recently active in content marketing, was important in building our #Top100ContentMarketers report. @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] How Does BuzzSumo Populate Their “Search Influencers” Feature? BuzzSumo combines and measures a lot of different data points to help you find influencers in an industry based on their Twitter profiles. Metrics that weigh into top-ranked include page authority, domain authority, total # of followers, real engagement: their retweet ratio, and more. The most important data point, however, is one BuzzSumo keeps under wraps: Relevancy. According to Susan, the relevancy factor measures how accurately a Twitter influencer matches the user search. For example, if I search for influencers using the keyword “content marketing,” BuzzSumo returns a list based on their own relevancy score for those results. We can surmise that this score depends on weighing all the factors together (total followers, domain authority, etc.) and ranking the results accordingly. However, there are other, proprietary factors involved that BuzzSumo won’t disclose. In other words, they use a “secret sauce” to return relevant influencers during a search. And, this proprietary factor is what makes their tool so special. Personally, in the last seven years of doing content marketing full time I’ve tried dozens of other content analysis-based tools, and I consistently find BuzzSumo the most accurate (accurate on share counts, followers, and minimal spam). Without further ado, we present The Top 100 Content Marketers for 2018. You can expand and scroll through the SlideShare embedded below, or download as a PDF and save for later. The Top 100 Content Marketers (Real Industry Influencers) Download as a PDF and save for later. The Top 100 Content Marketers 2018 (Express Writers & BuzzSumo) from Julia McCoy The Top 100 Content Marketers (Real Industry Influencers) Click on the @handles in the headers to open each profile in a new tab and follow on Twitter. 1. Content Marketing Institute – @CMIContent CMI is one of the top authorities in the industry. Their conferences, events, courses, and blog all highlight advice from experts, down-to-earth teaching, and a focus on advancing content marketing. 2. Ann Handley – @MarketingProfs Not only is Ann Handley the brains behind Marketing Profs – she’s also a pioneer of digital marketing, an inspiring speaker, and a best-selling author (Everybody Writes and Content Rules). 3. Joe Pulizzi – @JoePulizzi Another major name in the industry, Joe Pulizzi is the founder of CMI and a content marketing movement leader. He’s a speaker, an entrepreneur, and has authored go-to books like Epic Content Marketing, Content Inc., and Killing Marketing. 4. Lilach Bullock – @lilachbullock Lilach Bullock is a social media and lead generation machine. She shares her knowledge through … Read more

Outsourcing Your Content: The Risks and the Remarkable Rewards (Infographic)

June 19, 2024June 12, 2018 by Adam Oakley

Risks And Remarkable Rewards For Outsourcing Your Content

When you’re a small business owner and trying to save a buck, writing your own content can seem like a good idea. “It can’t be that hard! I’ll save lots of money! Right? …Right??” Well… I hate to break it to you, but writing content is not as simple as sitting down in front of a word processor and scrounging up 800 words off the top of your head. To be blunt, writing content isn’t even as simple as plain writing. To earn return-on-investment, to be profitable, content needs so much more: Time Planning Effort Research SEO smarts Can you ostensibly create this kind of content on your own – not to mention consistently, at the highest levels of quality – and still have time to run your business? Maybe if you’re a super-human or a wizard with magical powers. Maybe if you give up a social life, relaxation time, and sleep. Enter the case for hiring a writer and outsourcing content. It’s not only for the health of your business and your content’s ROI-potential; it’s also for your sanity. That’s why we’re discussing: When to outsource your content Why you should outsource And the real numbers involved, including the dollars and time you’ll save by hiring a writer (because time = money) To begin, here’s the first question we’ll answer: When should you start outsourcing your content? Spoiler alert: The answer is right now. Allow me to prove that to you. [bctt tweet=”When should you start outsourcing your content? @JuliaEMcCoy asks this tough question in today’s blog, complete with an infographic. ” username=”ExpWriters”] Exploring the Hidden Costs & Risks of NOT Outsourcing Content (Infographic Case Study) What will it cost you, in minutes and hours & dollars and cents, NOT to hire a writer with expertise in content marketing? Time = money. What is your time worth to you? Let’s estimate exactly how much time it takes to plan, research, write, and edit a high-quality, high-ROI content piece, like an in-depth blog post. Then we’ll compare it to the time and cost of hiring an expert. 1. Time Required for DIY Content (100 Hours/Month: Equivalent of a Part-Time Job) To create DIY content that actually gets results, the work you put in must include the following (assuming you’ve already researched your audience). The estimated time it takes to complete each step is included. Keyword research – Finding keyword opportunities to scoop up high-potential traffic (15-20 minutes) Planning – Ironing out a post topic that appeals to your target niche and uses your target keywords (5-10 minutes) Researching – Gathering relevant facts, stats, and supporting information you can link to and reference in your post (20-30 minutes) Outlining – Planning your argument, organizing your thoughts, laying out main points, and drafting headers and subheaders (10-15 minutes) Writing – Writing up the post, citing sources and linking to them, using SEO best-practices, adding visuals as needed, and finalizing your headers and subheaders (4-8 hours [dependent on MANY factors, including inspiration, the quality of your research, and your motivation – could take much less or much more time]) Editing – Checking your work for accuracy, proofreading for flow and tone of voice, checking for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors (20-40 minutes) Estimated time needed to craft ONE in-depth blog post: about 10 hours Estimated time needed monthly to publish 2x/week: 100 hours/month You read that right: It takes nearly an entire day to crank out a blog post worthy of ROI. To publish these types of posts two times a week, it will take about 20 hours per week, and 100 hours per month. That’s like having a part-time job. And those numbers are just an estimate! It could take much longer if you run into problems like writer’s block, or research fails such as coming up short for solid, recent studies to back up points in your content. It will take EVEN LONGER if you haven’t researched your audience, or if you don’t have a workflow and plan in place for strategizing your blogs. It takes a lot of work. Look at all the activities that top-performing content marketers commit to, from that same CMI benchmark survey we already mentioned. Top performers: Value craft and creativity in their content (88%) Have excellent/very good project management flow (70%) Deliver content consistently (75%) Use high-quality content to build their audiences (92%) For businesses who out-perform the rest, content quality and consistency is prioritized. If you DIY, that WILL take a huge chunk of time, effort, and resources that can add up to hundreds of hours over a few months. What’s your time worth? What is 100 hours/month worth to you? What could you do for your business in that time besides pulling your hair out over content creation? More importantly, could you repeat this exact same routine, ad-nauseum, to produce consistent results? 2. Time Needed to Hire a Writer and Hand Off the Dirty Work (Potentially 25 Minutes / $90) We know how long it takes to produce a high-quality, amazing blog that wins ROI. In contrast, how much time and money do you need to hire a writer to take care of it all for you? Let’s break it down: Finding and vetting a writer – At Express Writers, we handle writer vetting and match you with an expert who can write with authority about your industry topics. (0 minutes) Relaying keywords, topics, and strategy – With us, all you have to do is order the content you need (either fill out our guided order forms or talk to a content specialist). One of our content strategists can also do keyword and topic research for you. (5-10 minutes + $90 for an expert blog) Reviewing the completed content – All the creative work happens behind-the-scenes. All you have to do is wait for your completed content, review it, and, if needed, ask for any revisions. (10-15 minutes review time) Estimated time/cost for outsourcing content: 25 minutes, $90 What’s the Better Investment? About … Read more

A Content Marketing Training Guide for Freelancers & Marketers: Skills You Need to Know & Tips to Get Hired

June 19, 2024April 18, 2018 by Adam Oakley

Today, the interest and investment in content marketing are at an all-time high. Within the last two years, it has reached peak search interest on Google and continues to hover near that mark (in the graph below, the “100” line represents peak interest): That’s exciting. Content marketing is a hot industry to get into in 2018 – and it’s only going to get better moving into the future. Getting your feet wet in content marketing training couldn’t be a better time. Job opportunities are hopping, and roles are continuing to expand as businesses of all kinds start to truly understand the value of content. Just look at the diverse array of content marketing positions from a cursory search of Indeed.com – and this is just from the first page! And, according to PayScale, entry-level content marketing managers make an average median pay of about $59K per year. Entry-level content marketing freelancers, on the other hand, have a yearly income that depends largely on dedication and location. But, PayScale estimates that the average freelance writer nets about $24/hour, while the median income for content writers is about $42K annually (and plenty make much, much more). Finally, according to Marketing Profs and Conductor, the average annual salary for a number of content marketing roles all look pretty darn good: With the promise of a decent paycheck and innovative, creative, exciting work, it’s truly an incredible time to dive into this field. Of course, to become a savvy, skilled content marketer and nail that hot position (or net desirable clients!), you need the right content marketing training. If you agree, you’re in the right place. First, we’ll run through key skills you need to go far in content marketing. Then, we’ll cover application tips and tricks to help you win an incredible job or high-paying clients. Let’s get into it. Content Marketing Training Bootcamp: Hone These 5 Critical Content Wizard Skills To succeed in this industry, there are skills you need that remain constant, no matter your role or experience level. For example, the skills a content strategist needs closely intertwine with those of a content manager, content writer, and social media marketer. Sharpening the skills listed below could help you stay relevant and help you maintain the ability to wear many hats in the industry, whether you’re strategizing content, managing content, creating content, or all of the above. Content Marketing Training Skill #1: A Relentless Drive for Results Whether you work for a company or for individual clients, they will all have the same goal: They want to see results from content marketing. They want that ROI pie-in-the-sky. However, most have no clear idea how to measure it. In Content Marketing Institute’s 2018 research on trends in B2B content marketing, only 3% of those surveyed said their organizations were doing an excellent job aligning their metrics with their goals: That means you have to be driven to align metrics + goals so your clients or bosses can see those results. Every action you take has to reflect back on eventual return-on-investment, and you have to prove that connection. The ROI has to be quantifiable. You must know how to measure your content success, gather and analyze data, map it to goals, and present it to your clients or company in a way that’s easy to understand. Content Marketing Training Skill #2: Creative Problem-Solving If you want to be a top content marketer, get ready to hone your creative problem-solving skills. Depending on who you work for, you’ll be presented with challenges as varied as implementing fresh content strategies for businesses who don’t have them, researching the best keywords and blog topics for specific niche industry brands, and figuring out how to improve a company’s content so they hit high rankings for their best keyword opportunities. You’ll have a lot of challenges thrown your way, each their own particular color and flavor. As a content marketer, you’ll need to thrive on each individual hurdle. Content Marketing Training Skill #3: Thorough and Meticulous Communication Good communication is an essential skill for success in most industries. Content marketing is no different. You’ll particularly need thoroughness and meticulousness when relaying ideas and data back and forth to your higher-ups, clients, and other stakeholders. This isn’t just about writing, either. You also need to be a skilled presenter, a good collaborator, and a team player. If you work for a company, you’ll need compelling communication to help you get buy-in for your content marketing initiatives. If you work as a freelancer, your clients may need some data-backed examples to get on board with what you propose for their content. If you work with a team and have a great idea for driving engagement forward for a brand, for instance, you have to be able to explain your vision. Content Marketing Training Skill #4: An Instinct for Audience Defining and Storytelling A huge part of being a content marketer is the content creation aspect. You have to understand how to tell stories that will win over a vast array of different audiences in different industries. Your job will be to define these audiences and tailor content just for them, using the right keywords, tone, language, and topics to get them interested and invested. Your storytelling skills will definitely come into play, here. You’ll have to think about the right delivery for each group of people you’re creating content for, making sure you’re telling stories they need or want to hear. This involves part instinct, part research, and part creativity. Content Marketing Training Skill #5: A Savvy Promoter As a content marketer, you need to be internet-savvy to promote and distribute content as effectively as possible. You also need to understand techniques to get your content the widest possible audience. This means you have to: Know best-practices for posting to social channels, including optimal times, types of posts, word count, hashtags, and image types Understand how to speak to and target different audiences on social media, including the best platforms … Read more

The State of Content Marketing Today. Why We Just Launched New & Improved Content Strategy Services at Express Writers

June 19, 2024February 14, 2018 by Adam Oakley

Let’s talk a little about the state of content marketing as it stands today. 91% of content marketers are using content marketing. That’s higher than all previous years to date. Content creation is the #1 activity in content marketing that gets outsourced. 45% of content marketers are more successful than they were the previous year: And 78% quoted better content creation as being the number one reason for their improved success. Yet only 4% of these marketers rate themselves as extremely successful. CMI adds: “As they have in the past, respondents who have a documented content marketing strategy report higher levels of overall content marketing success compared with those who have a verbal strategy only, or no strategy at all.” Yet, despite this guaranteed success rate, only 37% of marketers still have a documented content strategy. Here’s a quick slide of those statistics from the CMI report: What exactly is IN a documented content strategy? Here’s eleven top cores I’d direct you to consider. Note that it is much more than just a keyword report, or a topic calendar. Audience Persona (you’ve identified your audience so specifically that you have a name and a face) Your industry standout factor (Content Differentiation Factor) Your messaging, voice, and tone (Brand Style Guidelines) SEO keyword reports with high-value, high-opportunity keywords (researched consistently) Content creation plan & creation team in place Content types to create A content creation budget Editorial calendar with staff collaboration Social media platforms to build a presence on Guest blogging opportunities identified Content updating, tracking and maintenance plan in place That’s a lot. You want to be in the 4% of content marketers that are “extremely successful,” right? Then you need all eleven cores turning in your content wheelhouse. But, here’s the issue. You’re probably facing two questions right about now. How the heck do you do all those things ^? Where the heck can you find a support team, that is quality controlled, to outsource all those things ^? How & Why Our Mission These Days is to Solve Industry Problems & Help Brands Succeed By Offering the Best Content Strategy Services Here’s the thing… I’ve been focusing on this “big industry picture” since late 2016. It all started when I began to look at these CMI Benchmark reports, and even asked myself “why are our blogging clients not renewing their order every month?” Every year, content marketing investment and marketer buy-in goes up. But the strategic success hasn’t really gone up at all. Today, only 4% feel they’re very successful at content marketing in 2018. You know what’s worse? Take a look at previous years’ records. In 2016, 88% of marketers were doing content marketing – now, 91% are. In 2016, 32% had a documented content strategy: today, 37% do. In 2016, 6% rated themselves as highly effective. Today, only 4% feel they’re highly effective. That’s -2% from two years ago! In my firm, I’ve seen success rise for my content marketing year-after-year. I know by now that it is all about consistent content, and I also knew, after five years of trial and error, beyond a doubt the value of great content in content marketing – provided you get consistent and you know what you’re doing. When my brand went past 1,000 published blogs, I wrote about the results after looking through our sales forms. It’s rather mind-blowing. 500+ inbound lead inquiries from those 1,000 blogs, closed with a sale at an 80-85% rate. Those were high-value leads: just one converted at $75,000. The success I’d experienced by using content marketing to power 99% of my own business success (for six years!) is the very reason I created a content strategy course. I go through all the cores I just mentioned, and teach strategists at all beginner levels how to be successful. How to be in the top 4%. By doing this, I want that industry metric to expand. Expand from 4% to 10, 20%. If brands get extremely effective at their content marketing, BIG things will happen for that brand. They’ll get known: appreciated: earn a loyal, tight-knit fan base: and see sales roll in every day. Hand in hand with the course are the content strategy services I’ve built in my content agency, Express Writers. I started writing the core training for our “content planning,” “keyword research,” and “content consultation” 5 years ago–and that inspired the industry-wide course I launched last year. We’re a content creation agency first and foremost, but truly: what is great content if you don’t have your fundamental strategy mapped out? Recapping the Main Changes to Our Content Strategy Services for 2018 Here’s what the new product, Content Strategy, looks like: 3 main changes to our content strategy services We revamped and improved each strategy service we offer (list of changes below), for the year. On top of that, I launched new internal training for our Strategists, straight from the cores of my 6-week, intensive content course at www.contentstrategycourses.com. All this happened in the last three weeks here at Express Writers. All of our content strategy services are now available from this one product link, Content Strategy, instead of multiple links for keyword research and the other variations inside this one service. Keyword research has now become more finely tuned and available in two variations: Keyword research for blogging, keyword research for web page topics. We’ll research longer-tail keywords for your blog, that offer a high likelihood of ranking: and wider opportunities for your site, where you’d want to rank overall for bigger, bolder keywords. Content planning and content planning blocks has turned into Topic Research, for web or blog. You’ll receive an editorial calendar with high-ROI topics analyzed, as well as a core keyword to use in the topic: and what’s more, we now research influencers for your topic area as well and give you an exported list in the Excel editorial calendar. Our topic headlines are highly-scored, and carefully analyzed by our Content Strategists. We use some of the best tools on the market: SEMrush, BuzzSumo, Hawkeye by Scoop.it, and Mangools’ KWFinder. Our team Content … Read more

Content Marketing Copywriting 101: The Essential Guide on Writing For Your Online Reader

June 19, 2024January 30, 2018 by Adam Oakley

Two distinct strategies that many people confuse or mix up: Content marketing. Copywriting. They aren’t the same thing, although both intertwine with each other in benefits and results. Think of it like this: Content marketing gets your prospects invested in what you do. Copywriting makes them want to follow up on that investment with action. That, right there, is the key difference. And here’s the magic of both: When you mix the best of these two strategies together, awesome things start happening. Your content won’t just be educational and valuable for your readers – it will also make them want to take action. That action could boost your likes and shares, increase your social media following, grow your email list, AND best of all – lead to sales. It’s also why these two strategies are so perfect for each other. They make each other more powerful. The right content marketing meshed with stellar copywriting could give you success in the form of 4.5x the leads you had before. To that, add 3.5x more traffic if you create content consistently, according to HubSpot. Let’s go a little further, though. What are the nitty-gritty differences between content marketing and copywriting? How do you blend them together in a winning formula? Creating the copy can be the most challenging part of great content marketing. I totally get it. So, let’s talk about it. Grab a mug of your favorite hot drink (coffee, tea, etc.), and dive in with me. [bctt tweet=”Learn the differences between #copywriting and #contentmarketing and how both fit together to help you win online, in @JuliaEMcCoy’s guide” username=”ExpWriters”] Content Marketing and Copywriting: What the Heck Is the Difference? You can use them together, but they’re not the same thing. Here are the major differentiators between content marketing and copywriting. Content Marketing: Many Tactics, Various Ways to Succeed Content marketing is about creating content that nurtures your readers. The content you provide is served to prospects with the end goal of building trust and loyalty with them so they’ll turn into customers. Educate them concerning their pain points, and they’ll end up turning to you for more solutions. That’s content marketing at its core, and it can be done through a wide array of tactics – think blog posts, videos, podcasts, infographics, email campaigns, and more. It’s about creating content (which can mean writing, but also all kinds of other production methods) and distributing it so your prospects become customers and stay customers. Copywriting: Using Writing to Motivate the Desired Action Copywriting, on the other hand, is about using your writing to strategically spur the reader to do something. Good copywriting is not annoying. It sells whatever you want to sell without the reader realizing they’re buying in. Good copywriting is gently yet irresistibly persuasive. It helps move the prospect to sign up for your email list, click on your link or ad, follow you on social media, make a purchase, and more. As such, it’s used for stuff like landing pages, sales pages, ads, and direct mail campaigns. Great copy is essential to content marketing. [bctt tweet=”Great copy is essential to content marketing.” username=”JuliaEMcCoy”] Content marketing copywriting is cohesively intertwined. Think of it like this: What Happens When You Apply Great Copywriting in Content Marketing? What do better results look like with these two strategies? For one, engagement. Look at this blog example from Intrepid Travel, an adventure travel company based in Australia. The blog is called “The Top Destinations for Travel in April.” This could easily get very same-y and unoriginal, as there are scores of similar blogs out there. However, what keeps you on the page is the copywriting. [bctt tweet=”What keeps you on the page is the copywriting.” username=”JuliaEMcCoy”] Check out this intro: It invites you to stick around and keep reading without actually saying any such thing. It also promises what you’ll find in the series of guides: “Your easily digestible list of places to visit, things to experience, and amazing weather to chase around the world.” The blog copy also cleverly links to where you can book one of the company’s travel adventures: On the sales page for the “8-day Best of Jamaica” trip, more compelling copywriting entices you to imagine exploring this locale: “Experience the island in all its Caribbean colour, from Rastafari and reggae to the gorgeous unspoiled coast.” Finally, there’s a call-to-action at the end of the blog that urges you to check out the other guides in the series: The result? It’s not just informative, fun, interesting content – it’s content with a purpose. This content is working hard for this company. It’s providing value for their audience, but it’s also urging them to take multiple actions throughout the blog. This banks on the solidity of the writing and research. If these two things were sub-par, then you wouldn’t feel inclined to click on anything within this content piece. But, since both are on point, Intrepid Travel can use that built-in trust to get you interested in taking the desired actions. To put it simply, content marketing and copywriting are holding hands and skipping together into the sunset in this blog post. Now you may be wondering: How do I get these same results? How do you create awesome content marketing copy? Well, my friends, I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve that can help you get there. 6 Essentials to Nail in Your Content Marketing Copywriting (Or, How to Appeal to the Online Reader/Buyer) 1. Use the Flow, Luke If you want your online writing to be a little more engaging… If you want to draw in readers and make their eyes compulsively move down the page… Flow is crucial. Use the flow, you must. However… Writing with great flow on the internet is markedly different from writing with great flow elsewhere. Smart Blogger addresses this in one of their best posts ever. In this piece, they tell you exactly why your flow needs to work differently online. Basically, reading online involves a … Read more

Inbound Content & SEO Just Got 10x More Important. (My Thoughts In an Era of No More HuffPost Contributor, FB Business Page Reach Death)

June 19, 2024January 23, 2018 by Adam Oakley

Inbound Content And Seo Just Got 10x More Important

If you’re reading this, you likely already know what a big fan I am of great content in content marketing. It’s like saying, “Julia likes coffee” (understatement), or, “the sun is shining” (also a drastic understatement 89.9% of the year in Austin, Texas). And specifically, what a fan I am of the SEO side of it all. (Just read my piece studying the effects of hitting 1,000 blogs on the Write Blog to find out.) Why? Well, to recap, I’ve been blogging on our site for six years. It’s become our primary form of marketing. And it’s brought qualified leads our way. They’re so qualified that they’re ready to spend 5 figures without batting an eye – sometimes on the first order. They know what they need, and because they found our highly-relevant content piece high in the SERPs answering their question, they were convinced we were the answer. We’re an anomaly in our industry because we are what we sell. We know that what we sell, works. Because we’re a content agency fueled by the high-performing content we create. Mic drop. No other writing agency has the organic content focus we have. We’re 3-5% more visible in Google than all of our competitors. This organic visibility is how we net 99% of our best customers. I first started Express Writers on a mission to band together writers that could help me create my own content. The idea for the modern writing force we now have in our agency was born from a need I had. The rest was all hard work. That was the starting point: and it’s fired up a major movement we’ve been able to maintain in our industry. So, I’ve always loved SEO and inbound content. But… Did these online marketing fundamentals really just get ten times more important? Am I blowing smoke because I simply love these techniques? Not at all. Keep reading for my thoughts. Inbound Content & SEO Just Got 10x More Important. {The Case Study} Part One: The Death of a Guest Platform Spells Fear and Trouble for Those Focused on Real Estate that Isn’t Yours. “I write for HuffingtonPost!” Just became “I wrote for HuffingtonPost,” last week on Thursday. Ripples on the news of the Contributor network shutdown, a pulling-the-plug act for more than 100,000 “free” authors, ran through social media like giant waves, ebbing and flowing to instantly become old news the next day (let’s face it: that’s the nature of good old social media). I learned about it when Josh Steimle, founder of MWI, tagged me in a LinkedIn post: My initial thoughts to the Contributor shutdown: 1.) Honestly, my posts were not getting a ton of traction except for one really good one (my story) that launched over a year ago. Since then I’ve had lackluster exposure on all posts I published. 2.) I heard straight from the amazing Aaron Orendorrf that HuffPost was actually doing some sly no-follow on all their Contributor content so it wouldn’t show up in search. So that’s why I could never find my HuffPost story when I Googled it! 3.) Can’t say I’m not disappointed, though. If this was how they started and exponentially grew their platform, through the free contributor base, this just dissed everyone that helped them grow from nothing. And that’s not cool. You never diss the people that gave you the reason for who you are today. But let’s go into a wider picture for a moment. If you were publishing on HuffPost Contributor platform, you were publishing on real estate that wasn’t yours. And if you can’t lay an ownership claim to the site, you can’t get too upset if the person who actually did manage and own it did what they wanted to do. Frankly, it’s their site. Not yours. The same thinking even applies to Facebook algorithms, social media platform updates… they get to decide because they run it. They own it. You don’t own that platform. So, this fear factor, the “when-are-they-going-to-change/remove/do & how will that affect my content there,” applies to many platforms. Let’s call it “brand fear” for now. Think about all the platforms brand fear applies to. Medium. LinkedIn. Every other guest blog and publication on the planet. Every social media platform on the planet. The only platform brand fear doesn’t apply to? Your site. You own your site. You get to say when it shuts down, or when it’s online. When you add content, and what content to add. How it looks. Presentation. How your content looks. How well your content gets indexed (how well you optimize it). Etc. So… Start publishing to your site, NOW. Focus on it. Don’t have one? Get one. I teach this heavily in my course – your site is your real estate. Make sure you’re investing in your own real estate. That way when a platform goes down and takes your content with it, you won’t be in big trouble. Part Two: Many Platform Changes for Social Media and the Death of “Fads” Means Tried-and-True Just Got More Certain If you didn’t know, Facebook algorithms are like a weathercock in high winds these days. They’re all over the place. Read more about the massive Facebook algorithm change in my blog here. One side-effect of all the Facebook algorithm changes is that Facebook business page reach could be at an all-time low. Research from Social@Ogilvy shows that for Pages with more than 500,000 Likes, organic reach could be as low as 2%. This is probably more like 1% for non-video posts these days. Instead of just “posting” average content in a typical fashion to your Facebook page, try: Don’t schedule Facebook page posts from a tool: Directly post yourself, and get creative about what you want to tell people. Don’t schedule from a tool unless you have to. Tag a feeling: When I tagged “feeling happy” from my Facebook page, that post had the most reach of all my page posts out of that week. Try saving your Instagram or Snapchat stories and uploading them to your Facebook page as … Read more

Your Guide to Content Storytelling: Why Emotionally Connecting with Your Audience Produces More Traction, Sales & Results

June 19, 2024January 16, 2018 by Adam Oakley

Hello, 2018! Isn’t it crazy we’re weeks into the New Year already? For one of our first Write Blog posts in 2018, I’m beginning the year with a powerful topic. I want to unveil the what, how and why of a rare content epidemic that can transform our marketing world as we know it. What is this epidemic, you say? Content storytelling. Research has proven that emotional connection is EVERYTHING in marketing: On average, emotionally connected customers are 52% more valuable than customers who are only highly satisfied. Emotionally connected customers engage with your content, buy products, and keep coming back. In a study of retail banking customers, those who were emotionally connected to the bank were 6x more valuable than highly satisfied customers. This is because: They remained customers much longer They held more products at the bank They concentrated more of their balances at the institution Just look at the average lifetime revenue of highly satisfied customers ($10,189) versus emotionally connected customers ($59,500). There’s a difference there that adds up to tens of thousands of dollars. It’s pretty clear that when you connect with your audience/potential customers on an emotional level, amazing things happen. Your customers become better, more loyal, and invested in what you do. They don’t just like or trust you; it’s deeper than that. So, how do you get to that level with them? Content storytelling can be the lynchpin. To get a better idea of how it’s done, let’s start by looking at how a major credit card company, Chase, courted millennials and plugged into an emotional connection with them for awesome results. Ready to dive in? How JPMorgan Chase Courted Customers and Won Their Hearts with Content Storytelling JPMorgan Chase has had a lot of success with millennials. They recently introduced a credit card targeted at this generation with the intent of inspiring emotional connection – with lots of success. What happened? Use among millennials rose by 70%, while account growth increased by 40%. Big gains, right? Let’s analyze a piece of their strategy and look at how they used storytelling to tap into millennial emotions. They did it with TheSkimm, a targeted daily newsletter that briefs its readers on world news and issues. First, there’s something you should understand about TheSkimm. It’s not just a news briefing delivered to your inbox daily. It’s also a wildly popular newsletter with a distinct tone of voice that offers tips for living a better, more successful life. It’s generally well-regarded and loved by celebrities, influencers, and average readers alike. (Among its fans: Oprah, Trevor Noah, Lena Dunham, and Sarah Jessica Parker.) Happy birthday to @theskimm. One of the best things young people can do to their inbox. — Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) July 21, 2016 However, according to Bloomberg, its most notable demographic makes up 80% of its readership: professional females ages 22-34. Along with that, TheSkimm gets great engagement when you look at its open rates (anywhere from 35-40%). Of course, the draw of TheSkimm for its readers mainly has to do with the way it presents its content. The newsletter has a style that’s fun to read, and it elegantly covers an array of news topics from various angles so readers feel informed and knowledgeable. It honestly reads like an email from a worldly, well-informed friend who has a hefty dose of wit. Here’s an example of a news snippet from TheSkimm’s daily digest: It’s important news in an easy-to-swallow format, with linked text so you can read further in depth. The thing is, this news outlet also includes affiliate advertising in their content. The other thing is, it’s not intrusive or annoying, and its presented in a way that’s meant to be helpful. And, it works: There’s no mention of brand names. But, these are obviously coupon offers (at least, to anyone with a marketing eye). They’re presented the same way as the rest of the information in the newsletter. It fits. Plus, these seem like offers that any millennial woman would be interested in. Enter Chase. Media Logic explained how the credit card company managed to take advantage of TheSkimm’s native advertising and seamlessly appeal to their built-in audience (even with branding!). Chase was able to tap into TheSkimm’s storytelling style and direct readers to their own blog: It only works because Chase is continuing to build the narrative that TheSkimm started: “You’re a young professional looking to create a successful life. You need help getting there. We have your back.” There is no tie-in to Chase’s various products or services. The Chase links within TheSkimm take you to content that meshes with the story already in progress. The results (particularly that 70% rise in millennial credit card use) attests to how well this strategy worked. Stories tell – and stories SELL! How to Use Content Storytelling to Emotionally Connect and Inspire Brand Devotion So, now you know how stories can sell. Storytelling in content marketing, needless to say, is integral. Via Content Marketing Institute The power of stories has followed human civilization since the cavemen first painted figures on cavern walls, telling the story of their way of life as hunters. It’s been with us since human language first developed, allowing us to entertain and regale each other with experiences both real and made-up. Emotion has always been at the core of stories. Stories make you feel something, whether that’s delight, surprise, sadness, fear, joy, or plain old empathy. Stories are how we communicate. What is a conversation but a series of intertwining narratives? Storytelling is also a better way to present content. To tell stories in your content, draw on what you know about them intuitively. Use these aspects to make your content come alive for your readers and create that emotional connection. 1. Be Personal When somebody gets personal, we automatically feel more invested in what they have to say. A personal story or point-of-view has far more emotional resonance than one told from a third person or objective perspective. Example: … Read more

The Unicorn List: 14 Content Marketing Pieces That Made It to the Top in 2017

June 19, 2024December 27, 2017 by Adam Oakley

The state of successful content today is dire. A recent study done by expert Guillaume Decugis, using his new content intelligence tool Hawkeye, reveals that 84% of all articles get LESS than 10 shares. Only 16% of all articles published on the web get more than 10 shares. In our industry, this gets even WORSE. A search in Hawkeye’s Analyze section on the topic “content marketing” reveals only ONE article that’s achieved more than 20,000 shares. One. That’s pretty dire, people… Considering that we’re talking about an industry with over 42 million results in Google for the topic. Fact: The ONLY content that earns links and shares today is standout content—content that people in that topic industry/area are attracted to. It takes a ton of work to create that kind of content. But with 84% of content falling flat, it is ZERO ROI to create just another “average piece” of content. That’s why standout content is so important – and so special. The blogs and articles that leap into that magical realm of shares and links – and, let’s be honest, rainbows – are the unicorns of the bunch. To identify the unicorn content of 2017, I used Hawkeye myself, a new content intelligence tool from Scoop.it. I looked for some of the best, top-shared, top-performing blogs and articles for the year across various key industry sites. From Content Marketing Institute to Copyblogger, only a few pieces made it to the very top, most-shared and most-read. We even took a look at our own site. This will be the LAST piece published on our blog for the year – see you in the New Year! ? ? Drumroll, please… Here they are: the content unicorns of 2017. The Unicorn Content List: 14 Content Marketing Pieces in 2017 That Brought Magical Levels of Engagement 1. Content Marketing Institute Most-Shared: “Content Marketing Trends to Watch for 2018” Current Share Count: 2,456 CMI’s most-shared article was penned by its founder, Joe Pulizzi (of course). In it, he shares the most exciting and interesting trends he sees on tap for 2018. A few he mentions include: Original content is gaining popularity – big brands like Apple, Google, and Facebook have made moves to start producing original stuff. Companies worldwide are increasing their content marketing budgets, but plenty of them are still treating it like advertising. Some innovative marketing departments could eventually start creating their own revenue streams from monetizing content. Overall, Joe says this is the most exciting time to be in marketing. His personal insights and know-how in the industry make this piece a must-read. Second Most-Shared: “4 Content Marketing Things That Turn Off Your Audience” Current Share Count: 2,372 This CMI piece by Neil Patel flips the coin and tells you what you may be doing to turn your audience off without knowing it. A few of the biggest sins include focusing on you, you, you and not your audience; overdoing it with SEO (yes, it’s possible); and churning out as much content as you can, no matter the quality. The takeaway: If you annoy, overwhelm, or discount your audience, you won’t get anywhere with content marketing. Runner-Up: “A Content Marketing Love Letter” This heartfelt piece, another from Joe, is one of my favorites. It truly is a love letter to the industry as he reflects on how CMI was founded and the people who helped grow it to its current standing. Joe wrote this piece as a sort of “see you later” as he steps away from his role at CMI, but his assurance that we’ll see him at Content Marketing World 2018 feels a little bittersweet. We’ll miss you, Joe! 2. Search Engine Journal Interested in Hawkeye.ai for your own content intelligence research? I’ve partnered with the creator, Scoop.it’s founder Guillaume Decugis! You can get free access to it here – for a limited time. Put “Julia McCoy” in the referred by section for a quick approval on your request. Most-Shared: “4 Important Ranking Factors, According to SEO Industry Studies” Current Share Count: 4,352 There are over 200 ranking factors Google takes into consideration when it looks at your site. This article pinpoints the top 4 you can hone in on to optimize your content. Best of all, it’s based on a bunch of data-backed studies – for now, these points are totally up to date and useful. For the curious, the most important ranking factors are content, backlinks, mobile user-friendly design, and a smattering of technical factors like headings and encryption. Second-Most Shared: “50 Incredible Women in Marketing to Follow” Current Share Count: 4,048 In honor of National Women’s Day, I wrote this piece for Search Engine Journal about notable lady marketers making their mark. Among the exhaustive list of 50 inspiring women, you’ll find social media marketers, brand managers, marketing agency founders, content directors, and leaders of all stripes in the industry. A few names include Ann Handley, Stephanie Diamond, Pam Kozelka, and Joanna Wiebe. 3. Smartblogger Most-Shared: “How to Write a Paragraph in 2017 (Yes, the Rules Have Changed)” Current Share Count: 954 This SmartBlogger article already knocks it out of the park with the headline. (It makes writers everywhere question themselves about a fundamental part of their jobs!) As it turns out, the right way to write a paragraph online is totally different from writing for print media. Author Mike Blankenship artfully shows you how it’s done (hint: no walls of text!). “How to Write Faster: 10 Crafty Ways to Hit 1,000 Words Per Hour” Current Share Count: 589 1,000 words per hour?! Sign me up. This article divulges 10 ways to increase your writing speed without losing quality. It also may or may not talk about using your bladder (the power of pee) to write faster (no lie: I’ve done that, and still do – and I didn’t learn it from this article), plus tons more unique tips you’ve never heard before. 4. Copyblogger Most-Shared: “20 Types of Evergreen Content that Produce Lasting Results for Your Business” Current … Read more

5 Content Marketing Predictions for 2018 (The Content Marketer’s New Year Resolution List)

January 1, 2021December 19, 2017 by Adam Oakley

Content marketing is set to be bigger than ever in 2018. In fact, by 2019, the industry is expected to grow by more than double. Its expected worth? $300 billion. That’s one huge pie. If you want a slice of it, it’s time to hop aboard the content marketing bandwagon. The thing is, when it comes to content marketing today, you can’t just blog 2-3x and call it a day. In 2018, marketers must be smarter and more strategic with their content strategy. I repeat: must be more strategic. If you want to pull ahead of the competition, you need to go the extra mile. All of the practices on my list today will help you get there. These are golden ways to make your content marketing work better, faster, and longer. Add these to your 2018 content marketing resolutions and prepare for a powerful, high-performing year. Ready? 5 Hot Content Marketing Predictions Every Content Marketer Must Add to Their New Year’s Resolution List 1. Start (and/or Build) a Community Prediction: Communities, and the power a community brings, will be hotter than ever in 2018. Starting a community, or focusing on building one if you’ve started but never actually built, gives you a pool of friends and followers who will cheer on your efforts, like and engage with your content, and generally boost everything you do. Real people, who will take action when you create and publish content just for them. A good community is based on shared interests, goals, and comradery. There are many ways to easily start up your own. Here are a few: Run a Twitter chat Run a Facebook group Start a podcast or weekly live show Bonus: tie multiple communities on multiple channels to each other. I’ll show you how I do that, coming up. When it comes to building a community, you simply need a place where you know you can commit to showing up regularly, and where people can easily continue to show up and listen to you. Facebook is one of the best platforms for this. 2.07 billion people use Facebook — 1.15 billion are on the mobile app alone every day. This ginormous reach ensures you get a real shot at reaching your audience. And, a Facebook group is perfect for engagement. You can consistently engage, re-engage, and excite your audience just by showing up live in your group, giving away your tidbits of wisdom, and being you. Real-Life Community Building Example: How I Route 3 Communities to An Active Facebook Group For over a year now, we’ve been running a Twitter Chat, #ContentWritingChat, and a podcast, Write Podcast. I started the Twitter Chat in January 2016, and the podcast in April of 2016. I’ve run the Write Blog since 2012. All three communities gain a lot of activity. The Write Blog earns over 1,000 views/day, and the chat has over 200 people joining us during the live hour. To date, I have over 6,000 downloads on the Write Podcast, and the show notes on our site generate a lot of inbound traffic. In September 2017, I decided to start a Facebook group and start tying CTAs (call-to-actions) to the group from each of my communities. I’d already started a private Facebook group for my course students, but I thought about a general group that I could easily recommend to all of my communities to boost more follow-up engagement. It would be a great way I could “funnel” all my traffic into a real-time channel where I could keep chatting with them, even after the community hour or podcast episode was over. The idea of my rough traffic funnel was something like this: Well, the trio-community-funnel idea was a hit. We’ve seen huge engagement in the group (Content Strategy & Marketing), and on average, during the live mentions of the group in our Twitter chat, I’ll see 8 new members join. Or, two organic new members find their way in from a high-traffic blog CTA – and I did absolutely nothing but update old content to earn that. It’s gotten to such an activity point where I’ve seen organic members join just because they saw the group recommended to them on Facebook’s feed – their role title was “content marketer.” Again, that’s using the power of Facebook (remember: Facebook does advertising for you to boost engagement on their platform!). For Facebook group content, I focus on adding value in the posts I share in the group. I share 1-3 posts/daily (M-F). My social media manager, Rachel, posts once in the group on Mondays with a sneak peek at our Tuesday Twitter chat questions. This week, I plan to start live streaming in the group. So, in just four months, with ZERO paid ads, we’ve grown to 389 members in the group. The real magic? Every single post we publish in the group has engagement! That’s because we’ve routed active communities, that already know, like and trust us, to the group. It’s not just a cold community building. One of the best things about running, specifically, a Facebook group is that it puts a “name to the face” – or rather, a face to the name. I’m live, right there, in the group — solidifying that I’m a real person, besides being an author, CEO, educator, etc. It’s low-cost and seriously low-effort to start your own group, but you do need a plan to consistently boost its growth. For starters, think of an easily recognizable name for the group that aligns with what you do, and what your audience does. For me, creating a group called Content Strategy & Marketing was a winner. One final Facebook group pro tip: Be sure to set up a new member questionnaire that members must submit before they can join your FB group. It’s an easy way to filter spam and ask for people to sign up to your list (win, win). Here’s how you can get to that: go to Manage Group > Edit Group Settings, then look for “Membership Requests” where you can click “Ask Questions.” Here’s what … Read more

How Netflix Is Dominating With Their Brand Content Strategy

June 19, 2024December 5, 2017 by Adam Oakley

Over the years, slowly but surely, Netflix has morphed into an original content machine. At the same time, they have honed their brand content strategy into an incredibly sharp tool. One that literally mows down their competitors. Look at their brand growth numbers: In 2016, Netflix reached over 109 million streaming subscribers worldwide (that’s one gigantic list). The company additionally raked in well over $8 billion in revenue during 2016. And, according to Tech Crunch, over 75% of U.S. households subscribe to the streaming service. Netflix’s success has been staggering. Some have even touted that the company is changing movie culture as we know it. Think of one streaming service that competes nose-to-nose with Netflix. Which ones have the same amount of quality shows? Which ones offer original content at the same level? There are competitors (like Hulu and Amazon), but let’s face it: Right now, there is no competition. Not for content, not for content delivery, and not for content promotion and engagement. Nobody says “I’m going to stay home and watch Amazon” when asked about their plans for the night. Instead, the following phrase has become part of the cultural consciousness: “I’m going to watch some Netflix.” So, how do they do it when it comes to marketing? You might be surprised to know that Netflix heavily relies on content marketing, and key brand engagement strategies that every content marketer can implement. Read this guide — all the way through — and be inspired with your content efforts. Let’s delve into Netflix’s brand content strategy. How a Blazing Brand Content Strategy is the Formula for Netflix’s Dominance Netflix’s brand content strategy is obviously strong. But why, exactly, does it work so well? Let’s start with a look at their history. The Early Beginnings: How Netflix Became an Original Creator Let’s explore their history first, a bit. Netflix used to merely offer up a buffet of movies and TV shows created by others. Now, they’ve got their own table groaning under the weight of shows cooked up in their very own kitchen. For example, look how many of these shows have the Netflix logo stamped proudly above their titles: Note the ratio of “Netflix originals” compared to the amount of off-brand content in these feeds. Every other option – more than every other option – is from Netflix’s own studio. The thing is, nobody is complaining. People are eating up Netflix’s original shows and asking for more. Some shows have reached beloved, cult-status territory. Think Stranger Things, House of Cards, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Others have been outright hits – Mindhunter, The Keepers, Orange Is the New Black, and The Crown come to mind. 6 Ways Netflix is Killing It With Their Brand Content Strategy Now, let’s piece together how it all ties up into a neat bow (a red one, naturally). 1. Using the Data at Their Fingertips (Can You Say “Content Audit”?) Netflix’s success didn’t come from lucky guesses or half-hearted research about what their audience wants. Think about it: Before it started producing original content, the streaming service already had tons of data to work with from looking at their customers’ habits. This included how people watch TV and movies, what they like to watch, and when they prefer to watch. This was undeniably a huge advantage for them. A giant amount of information about user preferences was ready and waiting to be turned into audience-specific content gold. They looked at what was winning with viewers, and they ran with it. This kind of content audit proved vital to the success of their fresh content ventures going forward. And, there’s no doubt looking at the data will continue to do so. 2. A Defined Target Audience Let’s backtrack and look at Netflix’s current roster of new shows out right now. You may notice a bit of a pattern appearing: Are any of these shows for children or families? Would they appeal to the average teenager? What about seniors? No, no, and no. Netflix quite obviously has their target audience cornered. Over and over, they target their shows to the 18-49 age bracket. Of course, there are always exceptions, but most of these shows will only appeal to adults looking for smart plots, escapism, or nostalgic escapism (Stranger Things is arguably a love-letter to ‘80s movies, while Godless is a modern take on Westerns that still has all the hallmarks of the genre). Here’s the key, though. They’re sitting at the intersection of knowing their target audience and understanding that audience’s preferences. What Frank Sinatra sang about love and marriage applies here, too. You can’t have one without the other. Netflix knows their customer and what they want to see. (The aforementioned content audits/data analysis helps, undoubtedly.) The content they produce reflects that to a tee. 3. The Brand Content Strategy Crux: High-Quality Content Pushed Out Consistently Part of Netflix’s success is the quality of their shows. They keep putting out binge-worthy, good stuff. Just look at this list Thrillist put together of the top TV shows of 2017. Many lists like it are out there, but they all have one major similarity: Netflix is overwhelmingly the top media producer represented. Others make appearances, like HBO, NBC, and FX, but Netflix beats them all for the highest number of shows on the list. Out of 42 total, 11 are from Netflix. That’s over a quarter of the pie. Their commitment to quality is part of the reason viewers come back for more. It’s additionally why Netflix is practically a household staple. However, the way they deliver their content is of equal importance. Strategic Release Dates Instead of releasing new shows and new seasons of shows randomly, Netflix does it strategically. Look at the release of Stranger Things 2. In the U.S., the streaming service dropped all episodes on October 27, which happened to fall on a Friday. For the show’s creepy, ‘80s-monster-movie-adventure vibe, the weekend before Halloween was a perfect launch date. Plus, to make things more … Read more