Friday, 1 January 2016

19 Content Marketing "Stop, Start and Continue" checks for 2016

Content-Marketing
Figure 1 Content Marketing Stop, Start, Continue[iii]
If you’ve started content marketing for your business, congratulations, you are already doing what was seen as the most commercially important digital marketing trend for 2015 ([i]). With content marketing and marketing automation the front runners again in 2016 ([ii]), it continues to be essential for your company to get right.

This article will provide you with 19 points highlighting what activities to stop, start and continue for content marketing for 2016.  If you are only looking to start this journey now, this will still act as a good first step in your digital transformation.

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Content Marketing ... Stop list 

  1. Being lazy: Getting it right is hard work.  It can be too easy just publish items using one format or one platform.  Challenge yourself to try different content in different ways to assess what works best.  AB Testing is just as relevant in digital content creation as it is on your website.
  2. Talking at people: Always validate that you are talking with people and not at people. 
  3. Paying too little attention to the titles: With as many as 8/10 [iv]people reading a great title, still only 2/10 people go through to tread the content.  With the right heading you’ve already engaged with someone and half way there, the stage is then set for you to drive it home.
  4. Overuse of keywords: There’s no reason why you shouldn’t optimise your content for search engines and grab the opportunity to appear at the top of the results for relevant keywords. But remember, too much SEO (search engine optimisation) may backfire, so refrain from keyword littering across your content.
  5. Writing for everyone as a group and with the wrong tone[v]: Talk at a personal level addressing a single person at a time to make the content more engaging.  Set the right tone for this conversation and do avoid jargon where there is any chance of them not understanding.
  6. Thinking about the desktop: Mobile first! Time spent online with digital media had had mobile break through 50% of total usage in 2015 [vi] vs the total of other devices including laptops and desktops.  Mobile first is the only way to go.  Stop any discussions in your company about laptops and desktops and think about mobile first and build on responsive websites.
Content-Marketing


Content Marketing ... Start list




  1. Knowledge is power: With much of your time and effort likely having gone into launching, you may have neglected building knowledge that you can apply to move you from good to great.  Follow blogs, read case studies, be aware of trends.  Content feeds such as Flipboard provides a quick daily window with content articles ripe for you to grow your knowledge.
  2. Really understanding and measuring your ROI: Now that you’ve launched the content are you truly measuring it’s success?  You must go out of your way to make the content measurable and recorded.  There are many great tools often freely available, but don’t expect you can understand your success and measure your ROI by glancing over this.  It may be necessary to create your own conversion metric and consider additional factors.  See a great case study example on Ikea below from Ikea Australia (Ikea Case Study).  It takes time for someone to work it measurement and do the thinking – give them the time and space.
  3. Video, Video, Video: “All signs point to video. Whether it’s Facebook Live, video on Twitter, Periscope, Blab, Instagram, Vine, or the old standby YouTube, 2016 will be the year when video becomes a primary content marketing consideration for all brands – even B2B” according to Jay Baer, president, Convince & Convert
  4. Integrating digital and traditional marketing[vii]: As per Smart Insights, many companies are acting in silos across marketing.  Though there is progress as towards integrated, there is still plenty of room for improvement with only one quarter of companies satisfied with their level of integration across digital and traditional communications.
  5. Customer retention content: As outlined by Andrew Lloyd Gordon[viii], companies tend to spend a lot of time at the top end of the funnel, but less effort on retaining existing customers.  What customers’ value, and the number one reason why people swap suppliers is indifference - if you done look after your customers, someone else will.  Start paying attention to your existing customers in in your content provision experience.
  6. Explore marketing automation: Such automation helps in effectively marketing on multiple channels online (such as email, social media, websites, etc.) and automate repetitive tasks.
Content-Marketing


Content Marketing ... Continue list




  1. Revisit the basics…goals and your Content Marketing Strategy: Do review and update if necessary the basics for understanding your goals[ix] (e.g. awareness, build email list, nurture prospects, convert audience to paying customers, retain customers) and the components of your mission (Who is the core audience target?  What types of information will be delivered to your audience?  What is the desired outcome for the audience once they have consumed your content?)  The Content Marketing Institute [x] has a great getting started section with links to how-to guides shown in my references section and answers to “what is content marketing?”
  2. Improving your content: According to one study by Moz and BuzzSumo[xi], over 75 percent of all content produced ends up getting zero links and zero shares.  For companies to get more visibility, they are desperately flooding the content landscape with weak submissions. [xii]Your content will need to be part of the 25 percent, which means it needs to be better-researched, better-written, and more valuable to your audience.   It’s not about creating more content, but content that’s “right” for the consumers.
  3. Story telling: People remember stories.  Continue to make your content relevant with storytelling to have the best chance of it being memorable.  Of all the content you’ve been presented in the last year and what stands out?
  4. Focus on the need and not the product: Be useful.  Your audience will be drawn into content around the need and not the product features.  Have a think a how Apple does it.
  5. Stay on top of how audiences search: People don’t only use google to search, but make use of other methods like social media sites (e.g. LinkedIn and Twitter) other search engines.
  6. Social media to get your digital content seen: You must have social media in your content marketing strategy, they are among the most important platforms in sharing your published content.  Continue to use these to extend your readership. 
  7. Investing in content marketing and SEO skillset: Continue upskill those internally in the range of skills required to be great.  It’s likely that you’ll need to bring in people with knowledge in this space or part time consultant arrangements.  There will be a shortage of skills in this space, so don’t delay in building the team that’s right for your business.


Content-Marketing
Figure 2 Digital Marketing Activities with the Greatest Commercial Impact in 2016[xiii] 




Footnote References:
[i] Smart Insights – 31 December 2015 - http://www.smartinsights.com/content-management/content-marketing-planning/the-state-of-content-marketing-2015-infographic/
[ii] Dave Chaffey, Smart Insights – 31 December 2015 - http://www.smartinsights.com/managing-digital-marketing/marketing-innovation/marketing-trends-2016/
[iii] Content Marketing Image – 31 December 2015 – FrackleMedia - http://fracklemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Content-Marketing-1024x682.jpg
[iv] Sandip Kar, Steamfeed.com - https://written.com/blog/169/top-6-content-marketing-mistakes-you-should-avoid-in-2015
[v] Sandip Kar, Steamfeed.com - https://written.com/blog/169/top-6-content-marketing-mistakes-you-should-avoid-in-2015
[vi] Mary Meeker, KPCB, 27 May 2015 : eMarketer 9/14 (2008-2010), eMarketer 4/15 (2011-2015). Note: Other connected devices include OTT and game consoles. Mobile includes smartphone and tablet. Usage includes both home and work. Ages 18+; time spent with each medium includes all time spent with that medium, regardless of multitasking.
[vii] Dave Chaffey, Smart Insights – 31 December 2015 - http://www.smartinsights.com/managing-digital-marketing/marketing-innovation/marketing-trends-2016/
[viii] Andrew Lloyd Gordon, Digital Marketing Training, Speak and Coach – 15th December 2015, ADBL Course
[ix] Michele Linn, Content Marketing Institute - May 30, 2014 http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2014/05/essentials-getting-started-content-marketing/
[x] Michele Linn, Content Marketing Institute - May 30, 2014 http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2014/05/essentials-getting-started-content-marketing/
[xi] Stephen Rayson, Moz, 8 September 2015, https://moz.com/blog/content-shares-and-links-insights-from-analyzing-1-million-articles
[xii] Jason Demers, Audience Bloom, 30 December 2015, http://www.inc.com/jayson-demers/7-ways-2016-will-force-your-content-marketing-strategy-to-change.html
[xiii] Smart Insights Annual Poll – 31 December 2016 – Active poll, data may change through more respondents - http://www.smartinsights.com/managing-digital-marketing/marketing-innovation/marketing-trends-2016/
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