Content Archives - Page 3 of 17

April 9, 2017

#154: 7 Content Creation Ideas to Use When You’re Feeling Uninspired

Don’t you wish for a button you could push to get your creative brain synapses firing when it seems like they’ve gone on vacation?

While we’re waiting on that magic, I’ve got something to bring you back into the light because we’re all human, right? You may be the most creative person EVER, but for whatever reason, there are times when content inspiration is elusive and it is a battle to come up with something new.

This is especially true when you’ve been in the game for a while and feel like you’ve covered every angle of your industry. The good news is there are always more directions you can explore.

Here’s a quick tease of the strategies I talk about on today’s show to help you create new content when you feel less than gung-ho: I’ll tell you about how I just dusted off some old content and gave it a […]

How to Find Killer Content Ideas

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   Whether you’re a novice writer or a pro, at some point you’ll get writer’s block and will find it difficult to come up with potent, relevant content ideas for marketing. If you’re in a rut, or simply need new topics to align with your strategy, follow the tips below to help guide you to new ideas. Keyword research

For people who like to just get going quickly on content, keyword research can seem like a drag or burden that can that holds them back. However, the exact opposite is true. Not only is keyword research not a burden, it is a necessity that can be used to drive your content strategy and get you to your end goal faster than if you skipped it.

Once you have your marketing strategy in place and a strong understanding of your target audience and the actions […]

2 Funnels Are Necessary for Content Marketing

At the initial meeting with a new client, I ask a simple question: What is the goal for your content marketing efforts?

By far the most consistent answer I receive is “to generate leads and sales of our existing products.”

While this is an important goal to have in any content marketing strategy , we often focus too much on direct sales-related transactions to prove our content marketing return on investment.

In his book Content Inc. , Joe Pulizzi offers a way to think bigger about content marketing. The simple tagline, “Build your audience first. THEN create your product,” is exactly how marketers should approach content marketing. Use the content to attract subscribers and then figure a way to monetize them around a content product. There is more to content marketing than using the method to support your sales team.Unfortunately, many marketers (and, indeed, businesses) don’t think this way. We use tools, […]

Content Amplification Strategies: Tips From Barry Feldman

It’s tempting to love our blog posts so much that we expect others to find and share them automatically. We produce blog posts and display them for the world to see, without thinking about the content amplification strategy . But how often are those posts seen? Your content is competing for attention with millions of others published every day.

Publishing quality content, even beautiful content, is not enough. You need to have an amplification strategy to ensure your content reaches your audience.

We recently asked Barry Feldman , consultant, copywriter, and author of The Road To Recognition, to deliver a lesson on amplification on a BuzzSumo webinar. Below I’ve set out the amplification strategies he shared, along with a series of questions from the marketers who attended the webinar and answers from Barry and Steve Rayson. Key Takeaways

Content amplification is the process and practice of drawing attention to your […]

How to Do an Online Giveaway That Doesn’t Suck

Who doesn’t want something for free?

It’s a very enticing proposition.

Some of my best business-boosting hacks have taken place when I’ve offered something free.

I’ve given away free tools, free software, free headphones, free trips, free cash, and hundreds of free resources.Free is amazing.And hardly anyone will turn down a free gift, discount, etc. when it’s bestowed upon them with no strings attached. Research from Kontest proves that an online giveaway can have a profound impact on your marketing campaign.More specifically, they found that one-third of entrants will agree to receive information from brands and partners: On top of that, they found that new campaigns acquire a 34% audience increase on average: That’s pretty serious.But I’ll be honest. There’s a lot that goes into a successful online giveaway.There’s more to it than throwing something together, slapping up a prize, and expecting people to sign up in droves.It doesn’t work that way.The […]

The Beginner’s Guide to Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

Today, most marketing teams are structured to drive traffic towards websites, which then converts into leads for the sales team to close. Once this process starts to deliver results, marketers then seek to generate even more traffic, and hopefully even more success.

An oversimplification, but that’s the standard marketing playbook. Few marketing teams focus on getting more from existing traffic. That’s where conversion rate optimization (CRO) comes in.

In this blog post, we’ll teach you all about CRO — what it achieves, why you should do it, and how your team can execute it. We’ll explain how you can drive more results from your existing traffic so your content can work smarter, and not harder, for you. What Is Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)?

I’m glad you asked. Many websites are designed to convert website visitors into customers. These conversions occur all over the website — on the homepage, pricing page, blog, […]

6 New LinkedIn Features You May Have Missed

If you’ve logged into LinkedIn over the past few weeks, you may have noticed something different. Actually, everything is different, because LinkedIn completely overhauled its desktop site.

After Microsoft acquired the job search and networking website in 2016, LinkedIn announced it would redesign its desktop website to more closely mirror its mobile apps.

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with more than 467 million members worldwide. However, LinkedIn members aren’t actually spending much time on the site. In fact, only 23% of LinkedIn users visited the site every month at the end of 2016. That’s not a great monthly active user number, and the website redesign was meant to “create more value” for LinkedIn members — and, hopefully, make them want to spend more time on the site.

For example, the LinkedIn desktop homepage used to look something like this: Source: LinkedIn And this is what my LinkedIn homepage looked […]

The 4 Ways to Fix Your Broken Content Marketing

As more and more (and more) content is created, the performance of the average piece of content is plummeting. There is no shortage of content about content marketing, either. Yet, when content doesn’t work, many marketers are perplexed. Perhaps they’ve been lulled into a false sense of, “If I write it, they will come?” Or maybe most content marketers simply don’t have a background in testing and optimization? (Fun fact: That’s why this company and site are called “Convince & Convert.” My plan was originally to make this a conversion rate optimization consultancy, as we did a lot of that at my prior firm, Mighty Interactive.) Certainly, the specific changes you can make to improve the performance of your content marketing are nearly limitless. But realistically, all of them fall into one of these, the 4 Ways To Fix Broken Content Marketing. Fix Your Content Marketing Topic You are competing against EVERYTHING with your content, not just your competitors. Content is consumed as a mixture of personal and commercial updates, like an information smoothie that combines Trump, each and every Kardashian, reminders from Mom, and whatever you’re trying to tell your customers. It’s daunting. If your content isn’t working, maybe what you’re creating content ABOUT is off-base? Remember, if your content solely talks about your company, its products, and the corresponding features and benefits, you don’t really have a content marketing initiative; you have an episodic brochure. Kim Kardashian was robbed of all of her jewels. Your bullshit blog post about your new product doesn’t stand a chance. Ultimately you have two paths for your content marketing topics, and you should pursue both. First, make SURE you create content that addresses known or inferred customer questions. If you don’t have—by far—the best FAQ in your industry, you’re forgetting the […]

How Outlines Hone Your Content and Improve Your Writing

Copywriting comes naturally for some marketers—yet for many others, writing can feel like absolute torture. It’s no surprise, really. Writing succinctly and persuasively is an acquired skill that often requires endless hours of think-tanking, talking to oneself, brief moments of insatiable insanity, and a handful of untimely swear words. Meld the time it takes to write well with all of the competing pressures and tasks that a marketer juggles on a daily basis, and you have a recipe for frustration. Learn how to create a strong outline to improve the direction of your content, open the door for team collaboration, and transform your writing into a more polished product that drives audience engagement and results for your marketing team. Clarify Strategic Direction Before Executing Content Whether creating ad copy, email nurture, landing pages, or an eighty-page ebook, knowing where to start and how your campaigns will affect your business goals is often a challenging guessing game. Too many marketers discover a strategic direction for their content efforts mid-way through a project , or it’s an afterthought entirely. It’s even common to approach content with a “get-er-done” attitude with intentions to save time, execute quickly, and test multiple variables; however, this mindset can lead to sloppy content execution and be an expensive lesson to learn. This typically means poor content performance, misaligned brand messaging, or an underwhelming audience sentiment that could damage your marketing campaigns. The key to avoiding this is slowing down your content efforts , even if it’s just by an hour or two, to narrow your focus and strategic direction in an outline. Creating an outline for your content can help both you and your team collaborate on the specific purpose of your content, the type of research or sources needed to support the content, and how […]

6 Ways to Energize Your Content Marketing Team (and Your Content)

Nearly half of B2C businesses have small content marketing teams supporting the organization. Yet, 73% of businesses will produce more original content in the coming year, which means content teams will spend more time keeping the engine running with little time or headspace for innovation. While boosting the size of your team might seem like an obvious solution, it’s expensive. If you really want to improve your team’s ability to produce quality content, you better protect their opportunity for creativity. Here are six ways to help your team create more amazing content and improve your content marketing program in unexpected ways. 1. Aim for more creative, less standardized process Adobe’s State of Create 2016 survey confirms that 73% of workers today feel increasing pressure to be productive versus being creative at work. Of course, there are always deadlines to meet, but if your team members don’t have space to think, experience diversity of thought, or have the ability to engage in new experiences, their creativity will suffer. A recent study showed that unfamiliar experiences can contribute to a 50% increase in creativity. Even small changes in one’s environment can provide a boost including lowering the lights , adding some ambient noise , or even just taking a walk . As the leader, you want your team knowing they have the freedom to do what’s needed to conjure their muse. Remember, your team will follow your lead, so show them how you change your environment to fan your own creativity. 2. Encourage more risk-taking When you’re focused on getting the next piece of content to market by deadline, it’s easy to shy away from trying new things. Untested ideas carry the risk of your team not hitting goals, so it feels safer to go with the tried and trusted. Yet, […]