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#ContentWritingChat Recap: Creating a Strong Content Marketing Plan for 2020

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Creating a Strong Content Marketing Plan for 2020

by | Jan 10, 2020 | ContentWritingChat

With a brand new year upon us, we need to make sure we’re prepared with an incredible content marketing plan that’ll make our brands stand out and attract the right people.

But wait… How do you do that?!

In the latest #ContentWritingChat, we shared some of the basics of creating a content marketing plan for 2020. And we’ve rounded up some of the advice from this month’s chat in value-packed recap. Get ready to take some notes!

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Creating a Strong Content Marketing Plan for 2020

To start the year off, we decided to forgo a guest and host a community chat where the spotlight is on our incredible chat participants. And they certainly didn’t disappoint! Everyone chimed in to share their amazing advice so all of our content marketing efforts can benefit the year ahead.

Q1: An ideal first step in creating a content marketing plan is to set your goals. What are some common goals you might want to achieve?

Haven’t decided on your content marketing goals for this year? Don’t panic! These suggestions from the chat will give you some ideas of what you should focus on:

Gene mentioned a number of great goals that many brand set out to achieve. You may aim to grow awareness, educate your audience, inspire your audience, serve your existing customers, or introduce a new product or service.

Gaby suggested increased sales, thought leadership, and improving your brand reputation, among other goals that you might want to work toward this year.

Consistency is definitely important if you want to stay top-of-mind for your audience! As Michelle pointed out, people could turn to your competitors if you aren’t working to keep their attention.

Lexie knows that providing valuable content for your readers is always a goal to strive for. You want your readers to feel like they’ve gotten something out of your content.

And remember, don’t worry about vanity metrics such as reach, impressions, and views. Jason feels the metrics that truly matter are things like clicks, conversions, downloads, and comments.

Q2: It’s also important to decide which content channels will be best for your brand. How do you choose? And what’s your go-to: blogs, videos, or podcasts?

These tips will help you decide where you should direct your content creation efforts so you can ensure you’ll be successful:

Gaby shared some great questions you should ask yourself before making a decision. She encourages you to ask things like where your audience spends their time online, what your goals are, and what your strengths are. It’s important to be where your audience is, but you also need to consider which content formats allow you to shine.

Sometimes it takes a little trial and error to figure out what works for you, so don’t be afraid to change your course if needed.

Gene suggests experimenting with other content formats as well. After all, it can’t hurt to try something new and at least you’ll be able to say you tried. If it doesn’t work out, then no harm done!

If you’re already creating a variety of content, look at your analytics to see what’s been working for you so far. This will give you an indication of where you should be directing the majority of your attention.

Jason suggests picking two or three formats and putting your all into those. The key is to share content that’s valuable and to also be consistent with posting.

Julia recommends picking one channel and mastering it first before introducing something else into your strategy.

Q3: Once you’ve chosen your main content channels, you have to think about the topics you’ll cover. How do you decide what to talk about?

It can be challenging to come up with content topics, but it doesn’t have to be stressful when you remember these tips:

As Julia shared, you need to have a strategy first. You need to define your goals, know your audience, and plan out your sales cycle. Once you have a strategy in place, then you can begin brainstorming topics that fit into the bigger picture.

Do some research to figure out what’s relevant to your audience. When creating your content marketing plan, it’s always important that you choose topics that are going to appeal to your audience’s wants and needs.

Make sure you’re paying attention to what your audience is saying. If you really listen, you’ll pick up on various struggles they may be dealing with. And from there, you can create the content that solves their biggest problems.

Maddie suggests using tools like SEMrush or Answer the Public to find topics for your upcoming content. There’s a ton of information there if you look for it!

And of course, it never hurts to just ask your audience what they want to see from you. Ask what they’re struggling with and what they’re interested in. They’ll tell you. You just need to listen to what they have to say and deliver.

Oluwafemi agrees that asking your audience is a great way to go. Create a survey and send it to your audience. You can also find your target audience on other blogs and forums and engage in the conversations they’re having to get to know them better.

You can also scroll through Quora or Reddit to generate new ideas. Or you can check in on your competitors to see what they’re up to. Just make sure you aren’t copying them! You can, however, see if you notice any gaps in their content strategy or if their audience is asking for specific content.

Q4: Do you have any advice for filling up your content marketing plan’s content calendar months in advance?

You’ll always know what to post and when if you follow this advice from the chat:

Lexie suggests looking at some of your past content and figuring out what has been popular before. You can expand on that topic or find a way to put a new spin on it.

When creating your content marketing plan, it helps to consider seasonal content first. This will ensure you’re posting it in a timely manner, instead of scrambling to create it at the last minute. Always give yourself ample time to work on holiday posts!

Gaby suggests consuming content yourself to come up with fresh ideas. It just might help get those creative juices flowing.

Tamara’s advice is to be aware of any changes or trends that come up in your industry. These could be worthwhile content topics to write about.

It’s also important to ensure your content will be relevant by the time you’re due to post it. You don’t want it to already be stale by its publication date!

Focusing on evergreen content is a great way to guarantee your posts, videos, etc. will always be relevant.

Q5: Once your content has been created, how can you distribute it and spread the word to get more eyes on your work?

These tips will help you generate plenty of traction for the content you’ve worked so hard to bring to life:

Julia says to share your content to the social media platforms that your audience is most active on. This is how you increase the likelihood that they’ll see what you’ve created. For her, email and Facebook groups are key.

And if you have quoted or sourced anyone in the content, let them know! They just might share it with their audience.

Other ideas you can use to boost traffic include: creating an infographic for your content, retargeting your audience, or sending an email newsletter.

It’s also beneficial to repurpose/recycle/upcycle! This will help you get the most out of the content you’ve already worked hard to create.

And as Michelle said, don’t be afraid to share your work. Be proud of it. Confidently spread the word to others who need it.

Q6: How often should you check in to see if you’re making progress toward your goals with your content marketing plan?

Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly? What’s the right way to go? Consider this advice:

As Lexie pointed out, you won’t always see immediate results, so don’t get frustrated and throw in the towel too quickly. Make adjustments as needed and keep moving forward.

For Gaby, she has a regular process to track the results of her content marketing plan. She reviews everything monthly, quarterly, and yearly. And she keeps an eye out for patterns and opportunities that appear from year to year.

Julia likes to check SEMrush for stats on a bi-weekly basis for all four of the sites she manages.

Maddie prefers a monthly approach. This gives you plenty of data to review without obsessing over the numbers too much.

Q7: If you aren’t seeing the results you hoped for, how do you turn things around?

First, don’t panic. Next, follow this advice:

Lexie suggests reviewing your content. Is it as clear and as helpful as you initially thought? Are there any technical issues? And if you want, you can even directly ask your audience for their thoughts.

Gaby’s advice is to look for patterns, gaps, and changes in your analytics.

And of course, make sure you’re testing to see what works and what doesn’t!

Just remember Julia’s advice: KEEP GOING.

Q8: Which tools will you be relying on to make your job easier and keep you on track with your content marketing plan?

These tools are definitely worth checking out:

Gaby’s favorites include Buffer, Sprout Social, Slack, and Outlook Calendar.

Maddie’s go-to tools include SEMrush and Answer the Public.

BuzzSumo and Yoast are also must-have tools!

Hootsuite, HubSpot, and Asana are also popular tools.

Ready to join the next #ContentWritingChat? We chat on the first Tuesday of every month at 10 AM Central! Just follow @ExpWriters and @writingchat for all the latest.
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#ContentWritingChat Recap: Incorporating Psychology Into Your Content Marketing with Elise Dopson

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Incorporating Psychology Into Your Content Marketing with Elise Dopson

by | Sep 6, 2019 | ContentWritingChat

When you’re crafting your content marketing strategy, does psychology ever come into play?

If not, it really should!

In this #ContentWritingChat, we discussed why emotion should be incorporated into your content, which emotions make people buy a product or service, and how you can successfully target emotions in the content you create.

Want to learn more? Let’s dive into the recap!

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Incorporating Psychology Into Your Content Marketing with Elise Dopson

Our guest host for this month’s chat was Elise Dopson. She’s a B2B content marketing expert. And you can usually find her crafting blog posts on sales and marketing for various B2B SaaS companies around the globe. Elise shared some incredible tips, so let’s get to the questions!

Q1: Do you think about psychology when planning your content? Why or why not?

To kick things off, it only made sense to gauge where our community was at when it comes to incorporating psychology into your content marketing efforts. The answers were all across the board, so here’s what a few people had to say:

Ray says this is something he absolutely does. He feels it’s important to always know the state of mind your audience is in when you’re planning and creating the content they’ll consume.

Tamara agrees. She thinks psychology can help you better understand the thought processes of your target audience, plus how they might react to certain things.

For Gene, it’s something that’s always in the back of his mind because it plays such a big role in leadership, as well as marketing.

Not everyone in the chat had jumped on board with this idea just yet. But that’s totally okay! Doing these chats is a great way to teach people new techniques that they might want to incorporate moving forward.

Q2: Why should a content marketer include emotion in their content?

So, why would you want to start incorporating emotion into your content? Well, let’s talk about the benefits it can provide to show you why this might be worthwhile for you!

As Elise said, you’re writing for humans at the end of the day. And well, humans feel things! By incorporating psychology into your content marketing, you can spark those feelings.

To put it simply, you cannot expect to build relationships with your target audience if you aren’t adding their emotions into the equation.

Emotion plays a role in drawing your audience into your content and can keep them engaged. Plus, emotions can drive them to take action (like convert on your opt-in or purchase something.)

Shelly agrees, as she knows evoking emotions in a reader is key to getting them to take that next step with you and your brand.

Emotion is going to make your audience feel something powerful. As Bill pointed out, that could be humor, fear, fear of loss, inspiration, aspiration, connection, and being understood.

It’s also a way to make your content more relatable, which will help readers connect to it on a deeper level.

Ultimately, it’s emotions that will get people reading in the first place. And it’s emotions that will draw them in and keep them reading as well.

And as John said, a lack of feeling in your content might just leave your audience thinking you’re a bot. No one wants that!

Q3: How do you find out which emotions/feelings make your audience tick?

Let’s be honest here. We’re not mind readers! We need to be smart about understanding out audiences and these are some tips to help you do just that:

Elise’s advice is to do some research. You can conduct a survey and use it as an opportunity to better understand what does and doesn’t resonate with your target audience.

You can also take some cues from Rachel and conduct polls. Polls are great for sharing on Twitter, Facebook, and even Instagram Stories. It just depends where your audience is most active. Determine what you’d like to know and start polling!

Gaby’s suggestions include: listening to your audience, conducting focus groups, doing A/B tests, and more to figure out what truly makes them tick.

You can also view data from past campaigns and even observe content from your competitors as well.

Make sure you spend time actually talking to your audience. It’s the best way to truly connect with them and to understand their personalities.

It’s also crucial to listen to what your audience has to say. Pay attention to what they’re writing about you on social media. Plus, you want to monitor which content they typically engage with the most.

Q4: Which emotion(s) make you buy a product or service?

We all have different driving factors behind what makes us purchase something. So, what makes you hit the “buy” button? Here are some things that trigger our community:

Elise has previously felt a major fear of missing out (FOMO) when seeing other people rave about a product. This is definitely a common motivator to make a purchase.

Even Tamara has felt the FOMO before!

A solution to a problem you’re struggling with is definitely reason to buy!

John is more likely to purchase something if he feels the seller has his best interests in mind. When purchasing, you want to know the product understands your pain points and will address them effectively.

For Bill, he doesn’t give into fear-based tactics. He would rather purchase something based on aspirational emotions, such as how he sees himself.

Gene feels the same as Bill. He’s not one to give into scare tactics, as it can sometimes come off as manipulative if you aren’t careful. For Gene, it’s more about trust and helpfulness.

Sometimes it could be deeper feelings, such as anxiety, that encourage you to buy.

Even a feeling of relief could be the driving force behind your next purchase!

Q5: What techniques can you use to target emotions with your content?

Now that you’re sold on the power of emotions, you probably want to start incorporating psychology into your content marketing. But how do you do that? Check out these tips:

Knowing the paint points of your audience really helps. Then, you’re able to follow Elise’s advice of sympathizing with them through your content. It shows you understand and makes them feel like you care.

Ray suggests where and when people are connecting with your content, as well as why and how they’re consuming it. Then, produce content, analyze it, and keep following these steps.

This “Hero’s Journey” technique that Eric shared is definitely worth trying out with your audience.

Bill knows you want to paint a picture for your audience. Show them what their life could be like with your product or service so they can see the value and how it’ll change things for them.

Imagery and social proof always make a difference!

You can also incorporate emotional storytelling, color psychology, and more.

And ultimately, just make sure you’re being authentic with people. If you’re being fake, they’ll see right through you and they’ll be turned off.

Q6: When was the last time you felt FOMO for a product/service all of your friends had, but you didn’t? What was it? And did you buy it?

Our community has felt FOMO too! Here are some things they wanted to buy so they didn’t feel left out among their friends:

Mara remembers the feeling of having a Blackberry while her friends and cousins had moved over to the iPhone. She ultimately made the switch as well.

When everyone on social media is raving about a chicken sandwich, sometimes it’s hard to avoid giving in and trying it for yourself.

For Gaby, it was a pair of boots. And she’s surely rocking them now that they’re part of her wardrobe!

And sometimes, FOMO makes you purchase some expensive things like a new laptop.

Sarah remains strong, however, and doesn’t give into FOMO!

Q7: How do you instantly grab a reader’s attention and convince them to read your content?

And to conclude the chat, we asked everyone to share some tips on how to grab a reader’s attention and keep them reading all the way through to the end of your content. These are some of the great tips that were shared:

It starts with understanding the needs of your audience. Put yourself in their shoes and consider what they want to read from you. Then, deliver it.

A great headline always wins!

You also want to be clear about the problem you’re solving for your reader. And of course, make sure you’re actively promoting it. Don’t wait for traffic to show up.

Want to join the next #ContentWritingChat? Mark your calendars because it happens on the first Tuesday of every month! Follow @ExpWriters and @writingchat for the latest.

40+ Digital Marketing Experts to Follow on Twitter: Keep Your Marketing Skills Up to Date

40+ Digital Marketing Experts to Follow on Twitter: Keep Your Marketing Skills Up to Date

by | May 16, 2019 | Content Marketing

Digital marketing is constantly evolving.

SEO trends and content marketing strategies that worked six months ago might not produce the same results today.

So, what can you do as a marketer, entrepreneur, or website owner? How can you keep up with the latest marketing strategies, the algorithms, and analytics?

The answer? Follow the right people on Twitter.

There’s no better way to stay up-to-date than to follow the right people on Twitter and scroll through their feeds filled with great advice.

Twitter is ​one of our favorite social media platforms, but we all know there are over 500 million tweets sent out each day. No one has the time to check each account and verify the real pros from the self-proclaimed “experts.”

So, to help you sift through the non-relevant stuff and get straight to the information that really matters, we’ve compiled this list of the leading digital marketing experts and publications to follow on Twitter.

Each of these experts seems to have cracked the code with not only understanding the complexities of digital marketing but also putting them into practice. They are moving the industry forward with their innovative strategies.

The best part? They’re constantly sharing their knowledge — all for free.

What are you waiting for? Scroll down to see the list, add the experts you’d love to follow, add value to your Twitter feed, and keep your content marketing skills in top shape.

Read, learn, share, and enjoy! Did we miss anyone? Let us know in the comments!  

[bctt tweet=”NEW: Our top 40+ recommended #marketing experts to follow on Twitter, a list curated by @daninofuente and @JuliaEMcCoy ✨ Is your digital marketing hero on the list?” username=”ExpWriters”]

digital marketing experts

How We Hand-Curated Our List of 40+ Digital Marketing Experts

There were a number of factors that helped us decide on which experts to recommend for following.

Our CEO, Julia McCoy, was heavily involved in the creation of this roundup. She reviewed and approved each of the people we recommend below. Secondly, two of us writers were included in the formulation: one of our copywriters, and me, Danielle, Express Writer’s Content Specialist (and everything else behind the scenes).

We think that humanly created lists are some of the best lists!

Next, here’s what we looked at when determining who to recommend to our Write Blog readers.

  • First, we looked at experts in content marketing, social media, and SEO.
  • Then, we considered digital marketing experts who are regularly invited to share their knowledge by speaking at leading conferences all around the world, and writing for consistent columns or their own blog.
  • Instead of tenure (years in the field), we looked at recent accomplishments and studied to find people that are the most current in the marketing space. We believe that matters more than tenure. If you’ve been a marketer for 30 years and you haven’t written a single blog on marketing trends for the past six or even three months, are you even current?
  • We also researched the pioneers and thought-leaders. What did they share on Twitter that was noteworthy, original, and outstanding?
  • Finally, experts who’ve mastered current industry trends and are influencing future trends were also considered.

[bctt tweet=”See our top 40+ recommended #marketing experts to follow on Twitter! Is your digital marketing hero on the list?   ” username=”ExpWriters”]

40+ Digital Marketing Experts to Follow on Twitter

After taking into consideration the above points, we decided on the following names that every digital marketer needs to follow. These are the people who are moving the industry forward with their innovation and following them will allow you to stay on top of your digital marketing.

1. Ai Addyson-Zhang, Ph.D

Ai Addyson-Zhang, Ph.D. is a long-time college professor who is now an entrepreneur changing the space, taking the stage and teaching authentic, real practices for social media. Her passion for social media pedagogy only started in 2015 after the surprise that one of her students didn’t know what Pinterest is! She realized that not all her students were familiar with all social media platforms, and as an educator, she needed to level up and practice what she preached.

These realizations inspired her to create Classroom Without Walls, a weekly Facebook Live show where she interviews experts in modern marketing to provide real, authentic insights on the industry. Julia has been a guest 3x! Catch a recap of Ai and Julia on Ai’s Medium page. Ai also built the Social Media Pedagogy Online Training course and helps her fellow educators and professors transform traditional learning by applying social media practices. This fearless and industry-changing woman has grown into a consultant and speaker, keynoting on stages and training academic and industry leaders how to apply storytelling in digital marketing.

Follow @aiaddysonzhang on Twitter.

2. Chris Strub

When you check out Chris Strub’s YouTube channel, you’ll notice his impressive accomplishment: He’s the first (and only) man to live stream and Snapchat in all 50 US States. This accomplishment is documented in one of his books, 50 States, 100 Days.

His roadtrip-slash-social media success is only a part of his bigger achievement: helping nonprofit organizations around the US.

Besides being an author and famous mobile storyteller, he’s going around the world as a millennial keynote speaker in social media conferences, and an educator offering online courses on using social media to build relationships — whether you’re a nonprofit or not.

Follow @ChrisStrub on Twitter

3. Madalyn Sklar

If you’re wondering how to use the most out of your social media platforms — especially Twitter — in your marketing strategy, Madalyn Sklar is your go-to person. She’s had already figured out how to live tweet in 2008 before everyone else, and now, she offers her own #TwitterSmarter Masterclass online.

Madalyn also offers coaching, consulting, and speaking services for those who want “rockstar results” with their social media. She’s pretty much very active on Twitter as she’s hosting two Twitter chats #TwitterSmarter and #SocialROI every Tuesday and Thursday.

Follow @MadalynSklar on Twitter

4. Brian Fanzo

Brian Fanzo describes himself as a “pager-wearing millennial keynote speaker.” What is a digital marketing expert doing with a pager? What is a pager? (I still know what it is – no worries.) With or without a pager, Brian is far from being outdated, and you’ll find it through his unique keynote programs about “Digital Empathy” and “Think Like a Fan.”

Believe it or not, Brian had worked in the US Department of Defense in cybersecurity for 9 years. After that, he founded iSocialFanz, which helped many Fortune 50 companies through his #ThinkLikeAFan philosophy. He also worked with brands like Dell, Adobe, IBM, and even Applebees and UFC launch their digital and influencer strategies.

Follow @iSocialFanz on Twitter

5. Natalie Franke

Natalie Franke describes herself as an educator, entrepreneur, and community builder. She is the co-founder of Rising Tide Society, a platform that empowers the creative community by providing them with valuable resources such as free educational webinars.

Through Rising Tide Society, Natalie aims to achieve her mission to transform the way creative entrepreneurs see each other, from competition to collaborators. The platform has established in-person meet-ups done on the second Tuesday of every month, which started small through local coffee meetups and now all over the world.

Follow @nataliefranke on Twitter

6. Sue B. Zimmerman

Sue Zimmerman is known as “The Instagram Expert.” She empowers both entrepreneurs and marketers to know how to leverage Instagram and get the most out of it for their marketing strategies. She’s also a social media educator, consultant, and a keynote and breakout speaker.

If you want to know the ins and outs of social media, with an emphasis on Instagram marketing, Sue is the digital marketing expert you need to follow. Get to learn more from her through her online classes and online workbooks on Instagram marketing.

Follow @SueBZimmerman on Twitter

7. Mari Smith

Mari Smith has over 1.7 million followers on different social platforms. She’s been mentioned in Forbes as one of the top women social media influencers; labeled as the “social media diva” and the “Pied Piper of the online world” in her interviews in Fast Company; and, the expert BBC and NBC interviewed during Facebook’s data breach and privacy controversy. She’s pretty much the “queen” of it all.

Mari is also an internationally renowned, seasoned public speaker. Besides that, she offers social media training services for small to big businesses and brands — all customized to match their needs.

Follow @MariSmith on Twitter

8. Kim Garst

Kim Garst is a thought-leader in the social media space. She’s been recognized as a Forbes Top 10 Social Media Influencer and one of the world’s most retweeted people among digital marketers. She’s the author of the international bestseller, Will the Real You Please Stand Up, and a speaker sharing her views on social media and brand strategy.

As an online marketing guru, she helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses through social and digital marketing like how she did with leading brands like Microsoft, IBM, and Mastercard.

Follow @kimgarst on Twitter

9. Amy Porterfield

Amy Porterfield has two best-selling marketing courses: the List Builders Lab where she teaches how to build a profitable email list of engaged, ready-to-buy subscribers, and the Digital Course Academy created for those who want to build their own online course or webinar.

Amy is also the host of her own podcast, Online Marketing Made Easy, where she shares her own tips and tricks, expert interviews, and answers to the online marketing questions sent by her followers.

Follow @AmyPorterfield on Twitter

10. Mark Schaefer

Mark Schaefer has authored The Content Code, Return on Influence, and The Tao of Twitter, which is currently the best-selling book on Twitter. Moreover, his blog {grow} continues to provide up-to-date stories, updates, and advice on marketing, technology and humanity. It’s known as one of the top five business blogs in the world.

His credentials don’t only stop on his publications. He has worked with top companies including Cisco, AT&T, Adidas, Microsoft, and more from different industries. He continues to help and share his insights to content marketers and entrepreneurs through his workshops, webinars, conference talks and consulting services.

Follow @markwschaefer on Twitter

[bctt tweet=”See our top 40+ recommended #marketing experts to follow on Twitter, feat. @kimgarst, @AmyPorterfield, @markwschaefer, @MariSmith, @aiaddysonzhang and more ” username=”ExpWriters”]

art of writing cta

11. Ann Handley

Ann Handley is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content and Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business. These bestsellers were all translated into 19 languages — a certified international hit.

She’s the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, a marketing training and education company offering online and in-person programs. It’s where content marketers can get their high-quality dose of marketing trends, tools, and research.

Follow @annhandley on Twitter

12. Aaron Orrendorf

Aaron Orrendorf is “saving the world from bad content,” and he does it pretty well as proven by his articles on big names like Mashable, Inc., Entrepreneur, CMI, Huffington Post, and Business Insider. He’s the founder of iconiContent where clients can get in touch with him and get his excellent B2B content marketing services.

Follow @AaronOrendorff on Twitter

13. Henneke Duistermaat

Henneke Duistermaat is an inspiration for those who are clueless about content creation. She started as a copywriter for clients based in the US and UK — even if she’s not a native English speaker — and continued until she left her freelancing job to focus more on teaching beginners and expert writers on better persuasive writing.

Henneke has been interviewed by Inc. and Forbes, and featured in top digital marketing sites like Search Engine Journal. She’s the author of Blog to Win Business, a handy guide for writing engaging blogs, and the teacher of her online course on persuasive writing.

Follow @HennekeD on Twitter

14. Brian Clark

If you’re a regular Copyblogger reader, you might have come across Brian Clark’s name a few times. As the founder of the platform, he’s at the forefront of providing all the current content marketing tips and tricks.

He’s also the founder of Unemployment, a resource that provides freelancers and entrepreneurs smart strategies. Brian has been featured in several business books such as Killing Marketing by Robert Rose and Joe Pulizzi, Linchpin and Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin, The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott.

Follow @brianclark on Twitter

15. Kieran Flanagan

Kieran Flanagan has worked with SaaS companies such as Marketo and Salesforce and helped them grow their traffic, users, and revenue. He’s also currently the VP of Marketing at HubSpot, a platform that provides inbound marketing and sales software, tools, tips and tricks to entrepreneurs and marketers.

As a thought leader in growth marketing, Kieran further shares his knowledge through his podcast The GrowthTLDR with Scott Tousley, and event talks.

Follow @searchbrat on Twitter

16. Joe Pulizzi

For everything related to content marketing, you’ll gain invaluable insight by following Joe Pulizzi. He’s the founder of the Content Marketing Institute, the leading educational organization for content marketing, after all. (If you know the Content Marketing World, then you should know CMI is behind this largest content marketing event in the world.)

He’s also a public speaker and has authored a number of books in the industry, including Killing Marketing, Content Inc, and Epic Content Marketing. If you’re serious about upping your content marketing game, better follow Joe now.

Follow @JoePulizzi on Twitter

17. Joanna Wiebe

Joanna Wiebe is a web copywriter and conversion rate optimization consultant more known as the founder of Copy Hackers.

If you don’t know what Copy Hackers is, it’s an all-packed source of tips, stories, and lessons for copywriters, freelancers, growth hackers, and startups. For clients, it’s a reliable place to find Copy Hacker-certified conversion copywriters for their business.

Joanna shares her knowledge of conversion copywriting with communities around the world through her speaking engagements. Follow her on Twitter to gain a front-row seat.

Follow @copyhackers on Twitter

18. Ryan Robinson

A writer, part-time entrepreneur, and content marketing consultant, Ryan Robinson is the man behind ryrob.com and its blog loaded with informative content that teaches readers how to create a profitable blog and business. He also teaches how to build a blog in 7 days through his free online course.

Besides writing for his blog, he also hosts a podcast where he interviews founders, entrepreneurs, and other professionals in different fields to share their stories and tips in building their businesses.

Follow @TheRyanRobinson on Twitter

19. Joanna Penn

Joanna Penn surely got the “pen” in her name for the right reason. She’s the woman behind The Creative Penn, a place where you can check out her guides on writing, publishing, book marketing, and creative entrepreneurship. She also hosts a podcast where she interviews the pros in the book writing and publishing industry.

Joanna is certainly the real deal in these topics as she herself is an author. She’s an award-nominated New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn. She continues to share her knowledge through her online courses including How to Write Non-Fiction: Turn your Knowledge into Words and Productivity for Authors.

Follow @thecreativepenn on Twitter

20. Joe Lazauskas

Joe Lazauskas is the head of marketing at Contently, a place where strategic services, a talent marketplace, and a technology platform are all in one place. He’s also the editor-in-chief of The Content Strategist, Contently’s blog.

Besides working for Contently, Joe has also written for Mashable, Digiday, and Fast Company. He is a regular speaker at Web Summit, Collision and Content Marketing World, and the author of the #1 Amazon New Release book, The Storytelling Edge.

Follow @JoeLazauskas on Twitter

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21. Jay Baer

Jay Baer is the founder of Convince & Convert, a digital strategy consulting firm providing strategic plans, training, and guidance for companies that need help in social media, content marketing, online reputation, email, and word of mouth. They’ve worked with mid-size and large North American companies such as Cisco, 3M, Oracle, CVS, Comcast, and Hilton.

He’s also the author of the New York Times and Amazon best-seller, Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype, plus other books on customer service, customer conversations, and online ratings and reviews. He has his podcast network too. He’s definitely someone you shouldn’t miss in your feed.

Follow @jaybaer on Twitter

22. Mandy McEwen

Mandy McEwen is a marketing consultant, digital agency growth coach, and agency owner of Mod Girl Marketing, providing DIY inbound marketing solutions and consultation for those who need help in their content marketing strategy.

Mandy is also included in the LinkedIn’s latest list of the 24 B2B Marketing Experts You Need to Know.

Follow @MandyModGirl on Twitter

23. Sarah Kennedy

Sarah Kennedy is the Chief Marketing Officer at Marketo, an Adobe company offering a digital marketing software for clients and marketers who want to improve their essential marketing areas like account-based marketing, mobile marketing, social media, automation, and more.

Follow @saykay on Twitter

24. Michael Brenner

Michael Brenner has been recognized as a Top Business Speaker by The Huffington Post and a top CMO Influencer by Forbes. His talks center around content marketing techniques, and he shares further on its ROI through his book, The Content Formula.

As the CEO of Marketing Insider Group, Michael has helped companies reach and connect to their audiences worldwide. They’ve worked with popular brands like Adidas, SAP, and The Guardian.

Follow @BrennerMichael on Twitter

25. Rand Fishkin

SEO is one of those constantly changing and evolving factors in digital marketing. Understanding the complexities of it will help you to really begin to master your digital marketing efforts. If you’re looking to learn from the best in SEO, you’ll want to add Rand Fishkin to your list.

Rand is the former co-founder and CEO of Moz, a platform that launched the Beginner’s Guide to SEO and offers a handy SEO toolset that checks everything you need to know from keyword research to page optimization insights. Now, he’s the founder of SparkToro, a product that aims to help people do better marketing (launching soon). He’s also the co-author of Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World.

Follow @randfish on Twitter

26. Brian Dean

Brian Dean is the founder of Backlinko, one of the most popular online marketing blogs where he shares his tried and tested SEO and traffic tips. One of his latest and most interesting case studies is about how he increased his site’s traffic by 110% in 14 days — something worth checking for sure.

Follow @Backlinko 0n Twitter

27. Michael King

Another digital marketing expert you can learn a lot from is Michael. He’s the founder of iPullRank, a digital marketing agency based in New York that does SEO, UX/UI, and market research services — to name a few. They also have a page for comprehensive guides on topics like machine learning and using Google’s tag manager.

Michael works as a consultant for different businesses — from small to big names like SAP, American Express, HSBC, SanDisk, General Mills, and FTD.

Follow @iPullRank on Twitter

28. Suzanne Nguyen

Recognized as one of this year’s “B2B Marketers You Need to Know” and  “Top Voice” on LinkedIn in both 2017 and 2018, plus nominated for Forbes Asia “30 under 30,” Suzanne Nguyen leveraged her content in LinkedIn through video and print.

She grew her LinkedIn community through her channel. It all started with her one viral video and her following just grew from 900 to 19,000 in 7 months. Impressive, isn’t it?

Suzanne is also the woman behind StringStory, a place where content creators can find guides on branding, content strategy, and influencer marketing.

Follow @StringStory on Twitter

29. Danny Goodwin

Search Engine Journal is your credible source when it comes to the latest trends on SEO, PPC, SMM, and content marketing. (Don’t you know Express Writer’s CEO, Julia, is SEJ’s regular contributor?)

If you fully want to grasp the strategies from the best, you’ll want to follow Danny Goodwin. He’s the Executive Editor at Search Engine Journal where he not only writes but also oversees the platform’s editorial strategy and managing contributions from a team of 60+ industry experts.

Follow @MrDannyGoodwin on Twitter

30. Britney Muller

Britney Muller’s goal is to help drive product initiatives through data-driven research and industry knowledge, and she does it as a Moz’s Senior SEO Scientist — no wonder their tools and resources are always helpful when it comes to inbound marketing and SEO!

Britney is also the founder of Pryde Marketing, serving businesses looking for a one-stop shop for SEO, content marketing, design, and content creation services. As a keynote speaker, she has spoken in different digital marketing events around the world.

Follow @BritneyMuller on Twitter

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31. Michelle Robbins

Michelle Robbins is the Head of Digital at Milestone, a company offering a combination of software solutions and digital agency services for location-based businesses in hospitality, retail, financial services, and automotive industries.

However, you’ll most likely recognize her as the former SVP Content & Marketing Technology of Third Door Media, the company behind conferences like Search Marketing Expo (SMX). She was also the Editor in Chief of popular digital marketing publications, Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today.

Follow @MichelleRobbins on Twitter

32. Joost de Valk

Joost de Valk is the founder and chief product officer at Yoast, a search-optimization company that developed the popular SEO Wordpress plugin. He’s also WordPress.org’s current Marketing & Communications Lead.

There’s nothing more to say here to convince everyone why he deserves to be mentioned, especially if he’s working on the two important tools most content marketers use every day!

Besides Yoast and Wordpress, he has invested in several companies and serves as an advisor to Mapfit and Student.com.

Joost regularly speaks at industry workshops and conferences like YoastCon and WordCamp US.

Follow @jdevalk on Twitter

33. Tim Soulo

Tim Soulo is the Chief Marketing officer and product advisor at Ahrefs, a company offering SEO tools and online courses for businesses. He’s also authored a number of marketing guides and data-driven SEO research studies.

Tim has been in the digital marketing space for almost 10 years. He regularly shares his knowledge and experience through live talks around the world, podcast interviews, and his Twitter account.

Follow @timsoulo on Twitter

34. Olga Andrienko

Olga Andrienko is the head of global marketing at SEMRush (our favorite content strategy tool!). Her key specialization is conversion and relationship marketing. She’s done it so well that, together with her team, she managed to increase SEMRush’s social engagement by 400% in one year.

If you want to learn more about connecting with your audience, Olga has all the insights.

Follow @olgandrienko on Twitter

35. Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz is the editor for Search Engine Land and CEO of RustyBrick. You can also catch him on Search Engine Roundtable, a blog that discusses advanced SEO topics.

Barry has been an advisor for startups and top companies like Google, Yahoo! Search, and Bing. Also, he’s been a speaker at several industry events including Search Engine Strategies, Search Marketing Expo, and PubCon.

He received the “US Search Personality Of The Year,” award in the 2018 US Search Awards. With over 15 years of experience, you’ll definitely learn all things search-related from Barry.

Follow @rustybrick on Twitter

36. John Mueller

John Mueller is the Senior Webmaster trends analyst at Google. That title alone is enough to get anyone who’s serious about online marketing to sit up and pay attention. We all want our marketing efforts to get noticed by Google, after all.

John is also the usual go-to guy for Google Webmasters’ Q&A live stream in Youtube where audiences can ask about anything webmaster-related like crawling, indexing, mobile sites, duplicate content, Sitemaps, Search Console, etc.

Follow @JohnMu on Twitter

37. Colan Nielsen

Colan Nielsen is the VP of Local Search at Sterling Sky, a position he’s held since 2010, helping businesses and marketers know the how-tos of Local SEO. He’s also currently the Google Product Expert for Google My Business.

Local search is one of the most interesting aspects of digital marketing — and he’s passionate about it. That’s why he regularly shares his insights and case studies on his current Local SEO projects. He also shares the lessons he learned in his experience in business operations through his interviews in different online publications.

He’s also a writer for Moz’s Local Search Ranking Factors, and a speaker at industry events such as State of Search and Pubcon.

Follow @ColanNielsen on Twitter

38. James Finlayson

James Finlayson has been in the digital marketing space since 2008. He has worked as an SEO executive and technical lead for different marketing agencies. Now, he’s the Head of Innovation at Verve Search, an SEO and content marketing agency based in the UK. He regularly enjoys experimenting with SEO — a hobby that brought him to where he is now after working as a lawyer!

James is now active in going around the world to speak in different conferences including the TEDx, BrightonSEO, Online Business Makeover, Fresh Business Thinking Live, the Digital Marketing Show, Search London, and Digitalization of Marketing.

Follow @JamesFinlayson on Twitter

39. Julie Joyce

Julie Joyce started working in search marketing in 2002 and then founded an all-female blog called SEO Chicks in 2007. Now, she is the owner and Director of Operations in Link Fish Media, a link building and SEO company. She also writes monthly link building articles on Search Engine Land.

Follow @JulieJoyce on Twitter

40. Casey Markee

With over 19 years of experience in SEO, link building, site auditing, and social media, Casey Markee is definitely the expert you’re looking for when it comes to experience and knowledge in the ins and outs of the industry.

Casey runs the SEO consultancy company, Media Wyse, and also works as the lead SEO consultant at Search Engine News. He further shares his knowledge as an author (with over 400+ digital marketing articles to his credit), instructor for SEO teams, and speaker at several events, including Pubcon, State of Search, and SMX Advanced.

Follow @MediaWyse on Twitter

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41. Marie Haynes

Marie Haynes has been helping businesses rank on Google, making sure that every step complies with Google’s Guidelines through her Canada-based company, Marie Haynes Consulting Inc.

Before 2008, she was a full-time veterinarian who became interested in SEO when she’s trying to rank her vet website in Google. Now, she’s a top online marketing consultant businesses will go to for guidance and solving penalty issues.

She’s also a regular writer for Moz and Search Engine Watch, and a contributor in SEO Chat forums and Google Help forums, answering questions about Google’s penalties and algorithm.

Follow @Marie_Haynes on Twitter

42. Bill Slawski

Bill Slawski has been doing SEO for more than 20 years when search engines weren’t a big thing in the world of marketing. Known as the patent master and expert on technical SEO topics, he has worked for Fortune 500 brands and nonprofits, helping them in website optimization and increase their traffic and leads.

Bill is the founder of Go Fish Digital, a company providing content marketing, web design, and SEO services. For SEO updates and insights on search engine patents and white papers, you can check out Bill’s blog, SEO by the Sea.

Follow @bill_slawski on Twitter

43. Danny Sullivan

Danny Sullivan is a digital marketing expert who has covered digital and search marketing topics since the 90s. He’s the co-founder of Third Door Media, the company behind popular online publications like Marketing Land, MarTech Today, and Search Engine Land. It’s also the company behind MarTech and SMX conferences.

In 2017, he left his position in Third Door Media as chief content officer and his job as a search journalist. He, later on, started working with Google to continue educating the public about search and find out how to solve certain issues around it.

Follow @dannysullivan on Twitter

44. Joshua Hardwick

Joshua Hardwick is the founder of The SEO Project, an SEO blog that aims to clear all the misinformation regarding SEO and educate readers in a way that everyone can understand. He’s also the Head of Content at Ahrefs, where he shares more of his strategies and techniques in applying SEO.

Follow @JoshuaCHardwick on Twitter

45. Cyrus Shepard

Cyrus Shepard started in 2010 as Moz’s Lead SEO, which later on gave him the opportunity to do his first speaking event in MozCon and lead its Audience Development Team.

After working at Moz, Cyrus opened his own SEO company, Zyppy, where they educate readers about SEO trends and best practices and guide them about the top ranking factors that help improve site traffic and ranking. He’s also working with startups and Fortune 500 companies as an SEO consultant.

Follow @CyrusShepard on Twitter

46. Russ Jones

Russ Jones is the Principal Search Scientist at Moz. He regularly engages with his over 9K Twitter followers about all things digital marketing. He’s also the SEO Advisor at Hive Digital and regularly speaks at top industry events and conferences like PubCon, SMX, SearchExchange, LinkLove, and IBM’s Netezza Conference.

His most notable accomplishment was leading the development of SEO technologies such as LinkSleeve, a link spam prevention tool; OpenCaptcha, a free distributed anti-spam solution: and Remove’em, a link removal service.

Follow @rjonesx on Twitter

47. Dr. Pete Meyers

Dr. Pete Meyers is a marketing scientist and subject matter expert. He describes himself as “the keeper of the Algo History, the architect of the MozCast Project, and the watcher of all things Google.” If these titles sound like you’re dealing with “the wise one” in a medieval role-playing video game, that’s what he really is in real life.

Dr. Pete works on product research and data-driven content, acting as the medium between marketing and data science. He also built research tools to monitor Google, with MozCast–a weather report showing the changes in Google’s algorithm–as one of his best projects.

Follow @dr_pete on Twitter

48. Will Critchlow

Will Critchlow is the co-founder and CEO of Distilled, an online marketing services company with offices in London, New York, and Seattle. His company also produces the online training platform, DistilledU and DistilledODN, an SEO split-testing platform.

He had spoken for top digital marketing events like SearchLove, MozCon, and Inbound, and continues to share his insights through Distilled and Moz blogs.

Follow @willcritchlow on Twitter

49. Julia McCoy

We may be biased, but our own CEO is a great resource in the industry of content marketing to follow.

Named an industry thought leader by Forbes, Julia McCoy has been on the roll providing top online content for clients in different industries through Express Writers. She’s also consistently publishing every week everything content marketing-related on Express Writer’s Write Blog.

Besides being the head of Express Writers, Julia is a serial content marketer devoted to staying at the forefront and leadership of our beautiful industry of content marketing. She is the author of two Amazon bestsellers, Practical Content Strategy & Marketing and So You Think You Can Write?. She has even developed two industry-leading courses guiding beginner and professional content marketers on how they can create content that converts. She’s been doing a few workshops and webinars lately too!

Follow @JuliaEMcCoy on Twitter

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You Can’t Go Wrong When Learning From the Best

And there you have it! Our list of the movers and shakers of the digital marketing space.

Of course, there are plenty more digital marketing experts who are doing great things, but we wanted to highlight these guys as their presence in the industry can’t be denied.

Before you hop on over to Twitter to follow, can you think of any other digital marketing experts?

Let us know in the comments!

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Content Marketing SEO

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Content Marketing SEO

by | Dec 15, 2017 | ContentWritingChat

This week, we had our monthly community chat for #ContentWritingChat!

There was a lot of great information shared during the busy hour over on Twitter. And we’re recapping it all for you!

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Content Marketing SEO

We conducted a poll a while back to see which topics our participants were interested in. One of the topics that came out on top was Content Marketing SEO, so we made it the choice for this week.

Q1: How do content marketing and SEO work together? And why is it important to utilize both?

To kick off the chat, we asked everyone to share how content marketing and SEO go hand-in-hand and why both are important for content creators. Here are a few responses:

Jason knows that if you spend more time on one or the other, your content is going to suffer. It’s important to implement both content marketing and SEO if you want to see major results online.

As Sarah said, they work together to improve each other.

Good content isn’t worth much if it isn’t optimized for your audience to find it. Keep that in mind!

Julia said you can’t have high-ROI without a firm strategy and knowledge on how to use both.

You need great content and you need people to actually discover it. That’s why content marketing SEO is so crucial these days.

Q2: What are some tips to help you create content that truly resonates with your audience?

No matter what, it’s so important that your audience enjoys your content. To create content they’ll want to read and share, here’s what you need to know:

As Lexie said, it’s important to get to know your audience first. They will guide you when it comes to creating content they enjoy.

Once you know who your audience is, you can create with them in mind. Write about the topics they’re discussing to attract attention.

Cheval knows that listening to your audience is so important if you want to create amazing content.

Amanda also said listening is crucial. You can see what your audience responds to, what they comment on, what they talk about, and so much more. That can help guide the direction of your content.

When you pay attention to your audience, the answers will follow. Don’t be afraid to tweak your strategy to best suit them and their needs.

Debi knows it’s important to share content that showcases your expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.

Sarah suggests looking at your analytics. You can see what is grabbing their attention and earning conversions. Do more of what’s working to maximize your results.

If you’re feeling stuck for ideas, ask them! Danielle suggested surveying your audience to see what appeals to them. After all, they’re the best source to ask.

Make sure you’re answering questions people are asking. You want to deliver on an actual need that’s related to your business.

What is your target audience already talking about? Andrea suggests using tools like Quora or BuzzSumo to see what their conversations are centered around. This will give you a great starting point for your next piece of content.

Don’t forget to also check out industry trends. It can be very beneficial to talk about the hot topics of the moment.

Jason made a great point about putting yourself in your audience’s shoes. Figure out their pain points and what kind of information they’d like to have. Then, all you have to do is create it!

Q3: Does consistency matter to SEO when it comes to how often you post on your blog? If so, how often do you write new content?

Does it really matter how often you blog? Is there a magic number of posts you should be publishing each week? Check out this advice:

Julia knows that consistency is huge. You don’t want to drastically cut back on the amount of content you’re producing because your rankings can suffer as a result. However, you also shouldn’t publish somethings that’s rushed or low quality. You need both quality and consistency in order to succeed.

Sarah also knows how important quality is. No one wants to read fluff content. They want something that’s truly going to provide value.

Publishing regularly is great, but it’s only worthwhile if you’re publishing something that’s high-quality.

As Amanda pointed out, no one really wants to follow a blogger who isn’t consistent. Create a schedule that’s actually manageable for you and stick with it. That way, your audience will always know when to expect a new post.

Q4: What is one SEO tip more people should know and implement in their content creation?

Is there an SEO tip you wish more people would use? Our chat participants shared some great advice! Check it out:

More people need to learn how to effective conduct keyword research for their content.

Lexie’s advice is to tastefully use keywords within your content. You don’t want to fill your posts with keywords in a way that’s unnatural. It’ll turn off your readers.

Once you have your chosen keyword, you need to sprinkle it in a few key places throughout your blog post. Use it in the URL, image alt tags, the post title, meta description, etc.

A great headline makes all the difference! Include your focus keyword and make sure it’s something that intrigues people enough to click.

Sarah said you need to link to your new content somewhere else on your site. Internal linking is a big deal for SEO!

Don’t forget to give your images a description by adding alt text. It helps to make your images searchable.

You can also use an SEO plugin to help. Yoast is a great one for this if you’re on WordPress.

Q5: How has SEO changed over the years? Is there a tactic you used to use, but have ditched in recent times?

There are a number of old SEO tactics that are no longer acceptable to use. You’ll want to make sure you stay clear of them! Here are a few our chat participants have ditched:

Ranking blank pages and keyword stuffing are things of the past in the world of content marketing SEO.

Julia said the focus should be on your reader and the quality of your content.

Keyword stuffing, doorway pages, and cloaking… These won’t fly anymore.

Lexie said link building has changed in recent times. It’s important to get quality backlinks from reputable sites, as opposed to getting them from any old site.

It will surely be interesting how things change as the world of video and voice search continues to expand.

Make sure you’re always staying updated with the changes Google makes to their algorithm.

Q6: How do you know if your content is performing well? Are there certain metrics you like to track?

Once you’ve published a piece of content, it’s important to track how it’s performing. Metrics you’ll want to keep an eye on include:

What’s your end goal for your content? As Amanda knows, that’s what really matters because it’ll help you choose the right metrics to focus on. You might be looking for sales, comments, email subscribers, or something else.

Is your audience responding to the content? You want to know that what you’ve created is actually resonating with them.

Are you attracting attention from the right audience? It’s not doing you any good if you’re attracting all the wrong people.

Average time on site, click-through rates, and heat maps are just a few things you may want to watch.

You might even want to check out behavior flow charts to see how visitors move through your site.

Website traffic and email responses are just a couple metrics Devin likes to track.

Bounce rate, shares, comments, and more! These are all things any content creator may be on the lookout for.

Julia suggests tracking things like time on site, chats started for those running live chats, sales inquiries, and conversions.

Q7: Do you have any tools you rely on to create amazing, search engine-optimize content?

There are plenty of tools you can use to help with content marketing SEO. Which ones are the favorites among our chat participants? Check out these suggestions:

Lexie has a few essential tools in her arsenal, which includes Answer the Public.

You can’t go wrong with Google’s Keyword Planner, Google Analytics, and your brain power.

Yoast is a must-have for anyone on WordPress!

Yoast, Google Analytics, SEMrush, and Google Trends are tools Sabjan relies on.

Aisha is also a fan of Yoast, but she also likes to use Grammar Girl.

Debi knows that Google’s tools are essential for any content creator.

Anne also uses Yoast, Google Keyword Planner, and Google Analytics.

Quora, BuzzSumo, and Ahrefs, are also great tools to try out.

To make a splash with your headlines, use CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer. Danielle also like Hemingway app.

Q8: Which resources do you turn to in order to learn more about content marketing and SEO?

To expand your knowledge on the latest with content marketing and SEO, check out these resources:

Lexie has a few resources she loves, which includes Neil Patel, Search Engine Journal, and even us!

Cheval turns to SEMrush, Search Engine Journal, and Rebekah Radice for all the latest in content marketing SEO.

Moz is another go-to resource.

Danielle loves to read content from HubSpot.

A few of Carla’s favorites include Content Marketing Institute and Medium.

Don’t forget to use social media to see what others are talking about online.

And in case you need another reason to join our next chat, Devin said one of his top resources is our very own #ContentWritingChat.

Twitter chats, blogs, and Google searches are all great, but sometimes it helps to just have a conversation with people in your industry.

Join us for the next #ContentWritingChat! The fun happens every Tuesday at 10 AM Central Time over on Twitter! You can follow @ExpWriters and @writingchat for all the latest.

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#ContentWritingChat Recap: Content Marketing Strategy

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Content Marketing Strategy

by | Nov 17, 2017 | ContentWritingChat

Did you catch our latest #ContentWritingChat? We had our monthly community chat, which is when we skip having a guest host and allow our audience to choose the chat topic. We ran a poll the week before and the winning topic was Content Marketing Strategy!

If you could use some help putting together an effective content marketing strategy for your brand, you’re in the right place. We’ve compiled some of the tweets from this week’s chat into a handy dandy recap!

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Content Marketing Strategy

In Tuesday’s community chat, there were some amazing tips shared by our participants. You’ll learn the basics of a great content marketing strategy, tools and resources to help, and how to measure your success. Keep reading to check out all the advice!

Q1: Why is it important to have a content marketing strategy for your brand?

To kick off the chat, we asked everyone to share why they feel it’s important to have a content marketing strategy in place. If you need a little convincing that it’s worth the investment, you’ll want to read through these tweets!

As Julia said, a content marketing strategy is everything to the success of your content. When you have a strategy in place, you have a much better chance at succeeding in your work.

If you don’t have a strategy in place, how you can expect to make progress and reach your goals? Iain knows that having a strategy is a must.

When you have a strategy for your content marketing efforts, it provides the guidance you need to keep moving in the right direction.

A strategy helps define the purpose of your brand. Plus, it helps you break down all the steps required to help you reach your goals.

As Sarah said, you need a strategy for any kind of marketing you’re doing. This tells you what you’er aiming for so you can stay on the right path.

Having a strategy gives you measurable actions, cohesive messaging, and ensures you aren’t scrambling to throw something together at the last minute.

You can product much better content when you have everything planned out in advance. Plus, it’ll keep your entire team on the same page, which is very important.

Maureen said your content marketing strategy is the driving force behind the channels that do the outreach.

Q2: What are the essential elements of every successful content marketing strategy?

To get started with a strategy of your very own, you need to know where to begin. These are some essential elements you’ll want to have in place:

A great strategy all goes back to knowing who your audience is and understanding them.

Sarah feels good research, resources, and tracking are essential. She also pointed out that you need to know who your audience is and how to reach them. Don’t forget to set deadlines, meet them, and monitor your efforts.

Julia shared a helpful graphic of the four keys she teaches in her course!

Knowing who your audience is, what kind of content you’re going to share, and what your goals are make up just a few of the essentials of a great strategy.

Andrew also agrees that knowing your target audience is a must. He also mentioned that it’s important to know the desired outcome you hope to achieve, platforms you’re using, and more.

Mallorie said you need a defined objective and an understanding of your target audience. You also need to be able to adapt and make changes along the way if needed.

Cheval knows it’s important to listen to your audience to see what they’re chatting about. This is a great way to get to know them better.

Measurable goals, your target audience, tactics to reach the right people, and metrics to track progress are all essential.

Iain recommends setting SMART goals with your content marketing strategy.

Q3: What kind of goals might a brand set for their content marketing efforts? Which ones do you focus on?

Every brand is going to have different goals for their content marketing strategy. However, if you’re just getting started, you might wonder what kind of goals they often set out to reach. Here are some great tips from the chat:

As Sarah pointed out, the goals you set will depend on your business objectives. Either way, you need to make sure you’re tracking your progress.

Conversions are definitely a major goal you’ll want to track with your efforts. Jason also recommends tracking things like click-through rate, leads and sales, and how much reach you’re getting.

Proving valuable, relevant, and consistent content is always key. It’s the best way to build relationships and establish trust, as the Source Media team knows.

You may want to track web traffic, community growth, and how many leads/sales you’re getting.

Maureen also knows that your goals are going to be different from what everyone else is doing. However, if you’re new, she said you may want to track awareness by viewing traffic to your site and how long they’re spending on your page. If you’re moving people through your funnel, conversions are key.

Lexie said different types of content are going to have different goals. She said you may want to track website traffic, sales, or social shares.

Web traffic, leads, and community growth are all common metrics to track within your business. As Rebecca said, you want to make sure you see how your audience responds to your content. Make adjustments as needed.

Tony knows goals are going to differ for everyone. Whether you want to see shares, clicks, sales, or something else… You need to focus on what’s right for you.

Q4: Describe your process for building your own strategy. How do you get started?

Ready to craft your strategy? We asked everyone in the chat to share the initial steps in their strategy-building process! Here are some of the answers we received:

Cristy’s advice is to brainstorm. She’ll use paper or a whiteboard to jot down ideas, which she then moves into a spreadsheet. Another tool she’s used in the past is Asana.

Sarah said to start with your goal and work backwards from there. You need to figure out how you’re going to achieve that end result, which will help you plan your strategy.

Clearly defined goals are essential to Jason. As he pointed out, you won’t be able to hit your target if you don’t know what you’re aiming for. Set goals first before working out the details.

Julia knows that a content marketing strategy will look different for every brand. It needs to be targeted to their audience in order to see the best results. Know your topic and then figure out what your audience wants to know and how you can help.

Maureen shared some great advice that’ll help anyone that works with clients. You want to know that the company understands their audience and their marketing before moving forward.

Knowing the brand voice, conducting audits, doing customers research, and more! These are all essential steps to consider.

Know who the target audience is and where they want to go. This will help you create the content that resonates the most.

Debi also agrees that knowing who the target audience is plays a major role.

Q5: What’s something you intend to cut from your content marketing strategy for next year? What will you keep?

Sometimes we notice things that just aren’t working within our strategy, which means it’s time to cut ties. While other times, we see what’s been successful so we can create more of that. Here are some things people will be cutting and keeping in their strategy in the new year:

The team at ThinkSEM is going to focus on being more flexible with their calendar and still plans to join plenty of Twitter chats.

Lexie said Netvantage will continue to focus on high-quality, long-tail keyword content.

One of the things Rebecca will be doing is shifting to even more video content, which continues to be essential for content marketers.

As Debi said, if it’s not working for you then you need to cut it out. If it is working, make sure you embrace it moving forward.

Q6: How do you know if your strategy is effective? Which metrics do you track?

Once you’ve implemented your strategy, you need to know if it’s actually effective. To do this, there are key metrics you’ll need to track. Here’s what you need to know:

As Lexie said, it all depends on the goal of your content. This can differ based on what you’re trying to accomplish, so keep that in mind.

Debi frequently looks at Google Analytics to see how any content marketing efforts are performing.

Julia knows it’s all the conversions! You want to ensure your efforts are actually helping you grow and make a profit within your business.

You might want to track link clicks from other site and search engines, as well as any search terms you’re ranking for. This can help you see how your content is performing.

Cheval focuses on how his blog has grown in terms of readership.

Sometimes you just get that feeling that things are working out! You might notice more phone calls or emails coming in for potential customers, which is always a great thing.

Remember that it all goes back to your unique goals. Once you know what those goals are, you’ll know which metrics are important to track.

Q7: Do you use any tools to help you manage your content marketing efforts? If so, what are they?

With all the tools that are available today, there are plenty that can help with content marketing. Check out these recommendations from Tuesday’s chat:

Debi’s go-to tool is Google Analytics.

Evernote is great for storing ideas and planning content, while Trello is handy for outlining larger projects.

Sarah’s essential tools include WordPress, Teamwork, Google Sheets, good old fashioned pen and paper, and brain power.

Google Drive is a must these days!

Lexie loves using Google Drive, WordPress, and Yoast.

Feedspot, Buffer, and Hootsuite are Carla’s favorite tools.

Cheval also relies on Hootsuite for social media scheduling.

TweetDeck, Hashtagify, Canva, and Pablo by Buffer are all great tools to look into.

Q8: Which resources help you strengthen your content marketing skills?

If you want to learn more about mastering content marketing, take a look at these suggestions:

Lexie know Twitter chats are where it’s at! They’re great for making connections and learning new things.

We have another Twitter chat fan! If you aren’t already joining chats, you should make it part of your content marketing strategy ASAP.

Twitter chats and trainings (online and in-person) are essential for Rebecca.

Julia has a list of blogs she reads daily, including: Content Marketing Institute, Smart Blogger, Copyblgoger, and Copy Hackers.

Twitter chats, podcasts, blogs, email lists, and social media are all great ways to learn new skills.

And here’s a great reminder from Cristy: always be learning and strive to improve.

Want to join the Twitter chat fun? #ContentWritingChat takes place every Tuesday at 10 AM Central! Follow @ExpWriters and @writingchat to stay updated!

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