Live from OMS: The 10-Step Content Strategy
It was amazing how few hands went up yesterday at the Online Marketing Summit when moderator Joe Pulizzi asked how many people in a room full of marketers have a content strategy in place. Attendees scribbled madly as his expert panel laid out a plan:
- Start with a needs assessment. Mike Stelzner of SocialMediaExaminer.com suggested starting out by asking who your ideal reader is. You need to be able to visualize that person and focus clearly on his or her persona to create content that resonates with that audience, he said.
- Get a sense for the competitive landscape. Where does your desired audience get information? Determine if there is a need that isn’t being filled and if you can own that gap, advised Content Rich author Joe Wuebben. Lawrence Coburn of RateItAll mentioned Seed.com as an example of a data-oriented service that can tell you what your market is searching for. (After you become a contributor, you have access to loads of user metrics.)
- Find out what stories people are telling about your brand. Listen to what your desired customers are saying. Survey them, if possible, and integrate what you learn into your plan.
- Choose your corporate voice. Simon Kelly of Story Worldwide suggests creating a “story platform” that will help define your voice. Make sure your voice is congruent with your core corporate values and consistent across channels. Your corporate voice will be defined by your audience demographics and company goals. It shouldn’t be confusing to your audience in any way.
- Know your core keywords. There are relatively inexpensive ways to find out the best keywords to target on your site. Coburn mentioned Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery as places to start.
- Commit to your blog. In Arnie Keunn’s business, Vertical Measures, 25% of his Web traffic comes from its blog. The blog should be the hub for your marketing activities, with platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Linked as the spokes. Your blog is real estate you own, and you can control 100% how your content is presented.
- Make content educational, not promotional. Tell stories about problems your customers have, don’t just pitch your product. Consider asking for registration/further engagement with your audience at the end of your content — once readers are hooked — rather than at the beginning. Shoot for 200 to 400 words, which is the sweet spot for blog-post length, and don’t forget to augment your content with video whenever possible.
- Integrate your content with the other social-media channels. Embed social media into your content — even if your content is PDFs of case studies, e-books or white papers. Give readers the opportunity to engage in your content and share it with their networks. Lightweight ways to encourage reader engagement include adding a “like” button to your content, plugging in Facebook Connect and including discussion threads for blog comments.
- Create a content calendar. Build the calendar at least three months out. Make sure it includes season- and industry-related events and is accessible companywide.
- Tend to reader comments. Last, but definitely not least, leave no reader comment unattended.
Image credit, Eoseye, via iStock
Related posts:
Tags: cms, community, content, marketing, social media
Categories: Blogging, Events
Permalink
Posted by bretsimmons on February 24th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Exceptional advice, Merritt. The only thing I would add is be prepared to learn even more about your content. Content will come easy in the beginning, but you will reach a point where you need fresh things to say. That's why content marketing makes you even better at what you do. One way to learn is to engage others that write similar content. Visit their blogs, leave comments and engage them in conversation. Great tips! Bret
Posted by @dspark on February 25th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Great advice Merritt. I've also interviewed Joe on this very subject as well in a discussion "Be the media rather than surround the media." You can listen to our interview or read the summary here: http://bethevoiceblog.com/2008/10/17/be-the-media...
Also, I invite your readers to read my article, "'Be the Voice' – Build Your Business by Becoming your Industry's Thought Leader" which speaks to the same topic: http://www.sparkmediasolutions.com/bevoice.html
Posted by merritt colaizzi on February 25th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Outstanding point, Bret — one that was underscored at a number of other sessions this week at the Online Marketing Summit. Learning from others and contributing when you can add value is absolutely key. Thanks for reading!
Posted by MerrittColaizzi on February 25th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Thanks for these great complementary resources – good stuff.
Posted by Ann Stofflet on February 25th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
Thanks, this is a great post, Merritt!
Posted by Joe Pulizzi on February 26th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Hi Merritt…thanks for the shout out.
Couple thoughts since our discussion.
1. Failed content marketing often comes from a lack of consistency. That's why the content calendar is so important.
2. If you want online content marketing to really work, someone in your organization MUST get active where customers are at online, and clearly show passion for the industry. It takes a lot of work, but it's worth the pay off.
My recent post Brands as Publishers – Where's Your Content Strategy?
Posted by MerrittColaizzi on February 26th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Hi, Joe. I appreciate your follow-up comments, especially because after I posted this, I realized that I neglected to mention that this content strategy plan is for companies in all industries — and is especially aimed at those who've never before thought of themselves as content creators. Passion for your industry — not just your product — will go a long way. Thanks for the terrific session!
Posted by MerrittColaizzi on February 26th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Hi, Joe. I appreciate your follow-up comments, especially because after I posted this, I realized that I neglected to mention that this content strategy plan is for companies in all industries — and is especially aimed at those who've never before thought of themselves as content creators. Passion for your industry — not just your product — will go a long way. Thanks for the terrific session!
Posted by Randy Duermyer on March 1st, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Great post. Joe's last two comments are especially on -point:
"
1. Failed content marketing often comes from a lack of consistency. That's why the content calendar is so important.
2. If you want online content marketing to really work, someone in your organization MUST get active where customers are at online, and clearly show passion for the industry."
I think not making the commitment in those two areas will make life a lot harder, and it's probably something nearly all of us are guilty of at some point.
My recent post Hey Google, That Blog is NOT Spam
Posted by Randy Duermyer on March 1st, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Great post. Joe's last two comments are especially on -point:
"
1. Failed content marketing often comes from a lack of consistency. That's why the content calendar is so important.
2. If you want online content marketing to really work, someone in your organization MUST get active where customers are at online, and clearly show passion for the industry."
I think not making the commitment in those two areas will make life a lot harder, and it's probably something nearly all of us are guilty of at some point.
My recent post Hey Google, That Blog is NOT Spam
Posted by Business Development | Social Media Literacy | GTD and Productivity Workflow on March 4th, 2010 at 12:35 am
[...] Merrit Colaizzi posted from the Online Marketing Summit on the 24th with Live from OMS: The 10-Step Content Strategy [...]
Posted by Doug Kessler on March 4th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
All good stuff. Thanks.
Posted by OMS 2010 Wrap-up (and Kick-off) | Alexis' Opinion | Online Marketing Connect on March 5th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
[...] Colaizzzi was live blogging from the event, particularly discussing the content strategy panel moderated by Joe Pulizzi. She mentioned her amazement at how few hands went up when marketers were [...]
Posted by Online Marketing Connect — Blog — OMS 2010 Wrap-up (and Kick-off) on March 5th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
[...] Colaizzzi was live blogging from the event, particularly discussing the content strategy panel moderated by Joe Pulizzi. She mentioned her amazement at how few hands went up when marketers were [...]
Posted by Marketers respond to new era of news consumption | SmartBlog On Social Media on March 23rd, 2010 at 6:26 am
[...] nature are starting to become resources for news about their industry. And given the traffic our Live from OMS: The 10-Step Content Strategy garnered, we know this topic strikes a [...]
Posted by 9 Ways Nonprofits Can Excel Using Social Media « My Blog on May 20th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
[...] small chunks via their friends on social networks. This changes how nonprofits need to think about web social content strategy and how to make it [...]
Posted by 9 ways nonprofits can excel using social media | Socialbrite on May 24th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
[...] small chunks via their friends on social networks. This changes how nonprofits need to think about web social content strategy and how to make it [...]
Posted by JSTBooks on July 1st, 2010 at 9:50 am
Perfect advice here. Content marketing rules the day and the sooner you make it work for you the better.
Posted by Overcoming the B2B Marcom Manager's Content Conundrum | B2Bbloggers.com - B2B Social Media and Content Marketing on July 26th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
[...] of the content in addition to your day jobs. Before you read any further, make sure you have a content marketing plan and a conversation [...]