Sonia Simone says, “Last week, we talked about how to really understand who is in your audience. This week, we’re shifting into what kind of message they want and need from you. Brian kicked off on Monday with a piece of classic marketing advice (exemplified by a classic American comic film): It’s not enough to just know your audience. You also need to put their interests and desires ahead of your own. That might sound impossibly idealistic — but in fact, it’s pure pragmatism. On Tuesday, Beth Hayden gave some specific thoughts on how to do it, by creating extraordinarily generous... [...]

Lindsay Colowich says, “Creating content isn’t always a walk in the park. (In fact, it can sometimes feel more like trying to swim against the current.) While other parts of business and marketing are becoming increasingly automated, content creation is still a very manual job. That being said, there are plenty of tools out there to make creating content much easier. Below, you’ll find a list of 36 fantastic tools and resources to help you research, write, edit, and design content more easily. (You’ll notice there are a lot of design tools in here — that’s because... [...]

Steve Lazuka says, “If your content doesn’t provide readers with value, solve a problem, answer a question or entertain, then it doesn’t really serve a purpose. Have you ever had what you thought was a great post idea, but it failed to resonate or, more importantly, get shared? It’s frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be. Writing content that readers will love isn’t only about what you write, but how you write it. Here are four keys to help you unlock your creative juices and increase your chances for writing content that readers — and Google — will love. Be irresistible Great... [...]

Brian Clark says, “It’s been almost two years since I started Further, my curated email newsletter about personal growth. And there’s no mistaking that the project was inspired by Dave Pell’s NextDraft. Content curation is all about becoming a trusted editorial source that finds the best information within a certain topic from amongst the valueless clickbait and mediocre dross that overruns the web. Pell’s NextDraft takes on the daunting task of delivering “the day’s most fascinating news,” plus commentary that’s often better than the links themselves. Even though Further... [...]

Beth Worthy says, “One of the keys to building credibility with search engines is to keep creating fresh content. But not every website owner has time to create the quantity of quality content favored by search engines or like-minded thought leaders. Here are ideas to speed up the content-generating process without sacrificing quality. Avoid fluff Rule No. 1 when trying to produce several 500-1,000 word articles per week is to not fall into the trap of creating fluff that doesn’t benefit anyone. Users certainly won’t keep coming back to your site if all you give them is useless... [...]

Kyle Fiehler says, “Engineers and other technical experts take to the web to educate themselves on their options now more than ever before. When sifting through online content, engineers and other experts in their fields want facts, not a hard sell. They’re conducting serious research. In fact, according to a study by CEB in partnership with Google, 57 percent of the B2B purchasing process has been completed by the time someone contacts a salesperson. So, as content marketers, we need to give them the information they need to make smart purchasing decisions. But engineers have already... [...]

Verónica Jarski says, “Take a journey through the world of content visualization, and find out which method may work best to captivate your audience. “Develop concepts into images to build a visual vocabulary that defines your brand and appeals to your buyers’ emotions,” states Marketo in the following infographic. “You can publish them on their own, like a meme, or with accompanying text.” Visual content will help your customers remember you and your message. For example, if you just hear a piece of information, you’ll only remember 10% of it three days... [...]

Benjamin Spiegel says, “The rise of content marketing, the push for real-time engagement and constantly growing competition in digital have led to more and more brands trying to become publishers and content creators. So what do you get when thousands of brands try to mass-produce content on a global scale? A million chicken noodle soup recipes and 600,000 identical ways to remove grass stains. Put differently, you get a content junkyard filled with meaningless and duplicate pieces of garbage. Marketers often forget to ask themselves key questions like, “Do our consumers actually care?”... [...]

Dan Stelter says, “Just 30% of B2B marketers rated themselves as “effective” at content marketing in 2015. That’s down from 38% the previous year, according to Content Marketing Institute’s and MarketingProfs’ joint Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report. And the content output for brands increased 35% from its highest to lowest points in 2015, but engagement with that content fell, on average, 17%, TrackMaven found. So what gives? Why do you hear everyone trumpeting content as “king,” but just a few companies experience great results? It... [...]

Leslie Ye says, “It’s no mystery that social media is a crucial part of any marketing strategy — regardless of industry, company size, product, or service. We’ve all been there. Back in the day, I had to make the case for some businesses to even have a social media presence in the first place. But finally — finally! — it seems like folks are catching on. After all, 69% of marketers are using social media to build a following. Now that most marketers really do understand that social media is a strategic must-have, how can we make it more manageable? Like... [...]