Content marketing is the foundation of marketing success: It’s where your business success starts and ends. To succeed, content should be placed at the core of business operations. Today we’ll talk about tools, tips and examples of how to execute this all-encompassing content marketing strategy.
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About @SimonPenson
.@SimonPenson is former print editor and currently speaker, writer & founder of @zazzlemedia. Simon is into content strategy, creation & distribution mixed with SEO and social.
Connect to Simon on Linkedin
Questions we discussed
Q1 How did you transition from print media to digital marketing? What’s your career story?
I started as a journalist obsessed with using content to create audiences. I ran my own sites and could see the audience migrating!
It was obvious audience was moving online & yet content wasn’t taken seriously. @ZazzleMedia was created to change that.
We called it content marketing but we want to move it on to the end game – brand as publisher.
#contentmarketing is a ‘lite’ version of brand as publisher #vcbuzz
— Simon Penson (@simonpenson) February 14, 2017
Q2 What’s best way to explain “The Brand as Publisher” concept? I, for one, LOVED your @Moz quote:
“Imagine yourself as THE leading consumer magazine for your market.”
For me Brand as publisher is the idea of putting content front & centre of your brand. I wrote about it here.
It means a change in mindset to become a brand that informs and entertains through content and monetizes with products and services.
What would your content output look like if you were the leading magazine in your space? Put that front and centre on and off page! And Brand as Publishers cuts across every channel – email, brand, social, search, influencer, paid…EVERYTHING.
It’s a big, brave change but is the future for all market leaders!
@simonpenson A leading magazine owns itself and doesn’t rely heavily on other channels. If I get it right, I like this mindset! ? #vcbuzz
— Luana Spinetti (@LuanaTF) February 14, 2017
Q3 Let’s talk about those “pillars” of the approach!
Structure is important to ensure u see positive ROI from brand as publisher. We work through several stages to maximise opportunity.
The process explained in that post borrows the best of digital & print publishing thinking to create a channel agnostic strategy.
We created a toolkit to help build a brand as publisher strategy. You can get it for free here.
Is there a brand you think are doing this really well at the moment? @simonpenson #vcbuzz
— Megan Salter (@megansalterr) February 14, 2017
There are lots! The obvious one is Redbull – media company that sells drinks! Patagonia are also good at it.
@simonpenson Which brand would you LOVE to work with on Brand as Publisher? #vcbuzz
— Rebecca Carey (@rebeccacarey955) February 14, 2017
While it would b easy to say something like Coke the biggest reward would come from reinventing a so-call…
@simonpenson Do you have any content trend predictions for 2017? #vcbuzz
— Jessica Wicks (@Jawsicor) February 14, 2017
Video will explode, especially live video. Those that win will move away from campaigns & towards true ‘always on’.
Q4 How do you define and explain the ROI of that approach? … because you know, most business owners will just respond “Show me the money”
ROI is very important to me too. The initial phase must include proper GA set up to understand the value across every channel.
You must measure across search, social, brand, influencer buzz & more. Starts with top of funnel & ends with revenue growth.
You must measure across search, social, brand, influencer buzz & more. Starts with top of funnel & ends with revenue growth #vcbuzz
— Angu Ransom(RANSBIZ) (@azehrams) February 14, 2017
Audience growth, visitor growth, return visits, sentiment, dwell time, visits by channel, conversion, revenue…the whole 9 yards.
Content drives every one of those from top of the funnel to conversion & then retention.
It’s the easiest place to start. Build it in from the very beginning – put it at the heart of your brand proposition #vcbuzz https://t.co/sGKmEnNJU6
— Simon Penson (@simonpenson) February 14, 2017
@simonpenson What can be a suitable time frame to get a considerable audience growth? #vcbuzz
— Angu Ransom(RANSBIZ) (@azehrams) February 14, 2017
You need to set expectation. It doesn’t happen quickly & never ends but think 12 months not 12 days!
It would take a large distributed team for freelancers to launch their own always on live channel @socialwebcafe @simonpenson #vcbuzz
— Gail Gardner (@GrowMap) February 14, 2017
Q5 What are your favorite content marketing tools?
The best are those that help you understand who your audience and customers are, what content they consume now and where.
Great content starts & ends with that. For this we use everything from Comscore & social data 2 Hitwise, ahrefs & Hubspot/CRM tools.
If you’re creating content an investment in a CRM is very smart. Create content to download and build a picture of your audience.
Do you recommend any particular CRM for content marketers? @simonpenson #vcbuzz
— Gail Gardner (@GrowMap) February 14, 2017
We have had most success with @HubSpot but there are a lot in the space.
Our previous content marketing chats:
- It All Starts with an Idea: with Catrinel Bartolomeu @glamatron #VCBuzz
- Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses with Gail Gardner @Growmap #VCBuzz
- Content Marketing Through Story Telling w/ Todd E. Jones @tejones of @grafixcatmedia #VCBuzz
- Niche Content Marketing: Twitter Chat with @LindsayGriffith #VCBuzz
- Is Viral Content Marketing Only For “Fun” Niches?
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