In this podcast you’ll get some practical tips to help you produce useful, relevant and engaging content that meets your target market’s needs and, in the end, your business goals.
Some of this material was first presented at a seminar at HalTech. You’ll find the slides at the end of these show notes.
You can download the audio file here, subscribe to the Trafcom News Podcast on iTunes, or listen right now with this player: Trafcom News Podcast 110: Content marketing tips by donnapapacosta
00:01 Intro and welcome
00:45 Some of this material was first presented at HalTech in Oakville
01:10 Many organizations are interested in content marketing because they want to focus more on inbound marketing and less on traditional push marketing. Some of us were doing content marketing before it was called content marketing!
02:14 A main benefit of content marketing: search engine optimization (SEO).
03:12 There’s always a place for sales literature, but that’s not content marketing.
03:38 Content marketing should attract people to your business; people get to know you in a genuine way, with mutual benefit.
04:50 Content marketing is not like a broadcast medium; you’re not talking AT your audience.
04:58 If the main content on your home page is your mission statement, you have a problem. No one cares about your mission statement but you. It’s an internally focused statement more relevant to your employees. What customers want to know: How you can help them.
05:40 Trend today: A lot of websites publish useful information up front, not just info about the company.
06:00 Example of CMO.com, which features useful curated content. If you visit the site, you’ll notice it’s sponsored by Adobe, but it’s a vendor-neutral site with minimal presence by Adobe.
06:50 Various ways to share content: text, audio, video, photos, blog, podcast, e-newsletter, webinar, infographic, white paper, e-book, survey, case study, how-to guide.
08:00 To find out what your target market wants: ask them, and look at your analytics to figure out what keywords people are searching for.
08:45 Be aware of the buying cycle in your industry; at which point is content marketing most useful?
09:38 Other benefits besides SEO: word-of-mouth buzz, getting known as a thought leader, to get leads and business; use social media to amplify content.
10:15 After you create a blog post or other content, tweet about it and mention it elsewhere via social media; be careful not to talk only about your own content.
10:42 Example: Liquor Control Board of Ontario Food and Drink magazine; this is content marketing (print).
11:21 Example: Great video by F-Secure to tell the story about the origins of the Brain virus; watch the video and see the F-Secure guy travel to Pakistan to meet the men behind the virus. See Home Depot’s various how-to videos; these are content marketing.
12:50 You can do content marketing even if your product isn’t sexy. Indium Corporation is blogging and using content marketing very successfully. They manufacture solder paste!
14:00 Be interesting, relevant, consistent to get results.
14:09 Best practices: Know your audience, look at your analytics, create content on a regular basis (editorial calendar can help), think like a publisher, use social media to amplify content, add curation as a tactic so you publish others’ content and not just your own.
15:18 Steal content, but only from YOURSELF. In other words, reuse your own content, repurpose and repackage into a different format. Turn a blog post into a presentation. Turn survey results into tweets, etc. Package your popular blog posts into a newsletter.
16:30 Do not overtly sell your services; be useful and relevant; don’t be dull; curate as well as create. Keep your end goal in mind. Just do it.
17:33 Where to send comments; email donna AT Trafcom DOT com or comment on the Trafcom News Podcast blog.
Theme music is "Beneath Your Surface" by the Elisabeth Lohninger Quartet from Music Alley.
Donna, this is a fantastic introduction to content marketing. I hope that you won't mind if I link to it in my (e)Magazine and upcoming ebook.
Posted by: Will Norman | May 27, 2012 at 11:17 AM
Thanks for the kind words, Will. Please link away, and do let me know when your emag and ebook are published. I'd love to read them.
Posted by: Donna Papacosta | May 27, 2012 at 12:38 PM
Donna, I finally got a chance to listen to this Great and Very Informative episode. It was very timely as I recently re-did my company's website and the changes I made were right in line with what you mentioned regarding content market (make it about them not you). It really made me feel good to know that I was on the right track with the changes. Thanks again for another priceless gem.
Posted by: Dave Guerra | June 03, 2012 at 12:55 PM
Thanks for the kind comment, Dave. I appreciate your taking the time to let me know the podcast was helpful to you.
Posted by: Donna Papacosta | June 04, 2012 at 09:31 AM
I was reading your post and this is awesome article one of the best post keep it up and good job.
Posted by: web design | October 05, 2012 at 04:20 PM