Rise above the downpour of content

Resources on Content Marketing 

Whenever you talk about Content Marketing, you have to start by considering two main obstacles:

1. There is an overload of information on the Internet. Virtually on any topic
2. People are busier than ever in history and they are bombarded with thousands of messages each day

With that in mind, you'll understand that...

Your mission is to cut through the noise to get the attention of your audience [ Tweet this]

I know, I know, easier said than done.

LookBook HQ has published this useful infographic to help you understand how you can improve your content marketing strategy, I'll summarize it and then I'll leave you alone with the infographic.

Implement different types of media in your content. Blog post with video get linked 3 times more than text-only posts.

79% scan rather than reading word by word.

Make it easy to digest starting with a winner headline and a strong first paragraph to sell the rest of the post. Break down the text to small paragraphs to avoid big chunks that might give the impression of a heavy read.

51% admit to spend more time managing information instead of acting on it. Don't rely on your reader to organize your content. Give people what you want them to get.

People get way too many messages every day of their lives, most of it in a direct marketing approach. Tell them a compelling story, tell the story of your brand.

How is your audience supposed to follow your content if it is spread in different platforms like YouTube, Facebook, etc. Think about how you can package everything in a smart way for them to consume.

By Andy Crestodina published December 30, 2013

Content marketing isn't brain science, but if you know a bit about the brain, you'll be a better content marketer.

The brain is specialized, each part with its own function. Planning, emotion, and language are all managed by different lobes. They each have their own natural tendencies, and these tendencies are common to all of us.

As we look at the research, we find that there are at least five content marketing tactics that align with different parts of the brain.

The amygdala: Basic emotions

Amygdalae are involved in emotions and storage of emotional memories.

Tactic 1: Headlines - Emotion and sharing: In the words of Antonio Damasio, "We are not thinking machines that feel, we are feeling machines that think."

Headlines are the fastest ways to tap into emotions, since they are the most prominent element on any page. Eye tracking studies show that headlines aren't just the first thing visitors see - they're looked at more than anything else.

They also have a lot to do with sharing and virality. Headlines that trigger emotions are much more likely to be shared - especially headlines that trigger very positive or negative feelings. More specifically, there are three types of emotions that get shared the most: anxiety, anger, and awe (inspiration).

Notice how sadness is the emotion people share the least? Never write a sad headline.

The frontal lobe: Logic and motivation

The frontal lobe handles motivation, planning, and short-term memory. It weighs options and consequences of actions.

Tactic 2: The order of lists: List posts are a popular format for content for bloggers everywhere. You've probably written a few yourself. But how carefully did you consider the order of the list?

The order is important because of what's called the Serial Position Effect. Our brains are best at attention and retention at the beginnings and ends of things. So when writing lists (or even organizing the navigation of your website), put the most important items first and last. The items in the middle are least likely to stay in your visitors' short-term memory.

Tactic 3: Scarcity, loss and marketing copy: The human brain is generally not very good at calculating costs and benefits. We tend to undervalue gains and overvalue losses. For example, the pain of losing $5 is greater than the pleasure of gaining $5. This is called "loss aversion."

Knowing that your audience has a biological fear of losing something or missing out, you can write your marketing content accordingly. Here are a few examples:

o Write about the costs (and risks) of not using your service: "Companies without a documented content strategy have lower return on investment."

o Use limited-time offers to create urgency: "Early bird discount ends today!"

o If the product is scarce, say so: "12 copies remaining in stock."

Tactic 4: Social proof and testimonials: This one might not surprise you. All things being equal, people will do what other people are doing. Behavioral scientists call it "herd behavior."

This is why it's so important to give some evidence. Your marketing needs to show that other people have made the choice that you want your readers to make. Make it obvious that other people have used your service. The goal is to make any decision other than hiring you seem abnormal.

This "social proof" can take many forms:

o Testimonials from current clients

o Product reviews from customers

o Endorsements from respected people in your field

o Logos of media sites that have mentioned your business " As seen in ..."

o Facebook and Twitter widgets showing the size of your following

o Awards, memberships, security certificates, and other "trust seals"

Tip: Never make a testimonials page. People don't go to websites to read testimonials, so these pages tend not to be visited. Instead, sprinkle them throughout the site. Testimonials are supportive content. They are strong when added to service pages; they are weak when they are kept together on one page.

The temporal lobe: Language

The temporal lobe plays a key role in language comprehension and processing meaning.

Tactic 5: Readability and choice of words: Great marketing is easily understood. Complicated sentence structure, long words, and technical jargon are bad. They force the temporal lobe to work harder.

Use common words and simple sentences. Avoid jargon. Content that works well for "low literacy" readers is good for everyone.

In a study by NN Group, a pharmaceutical website was rewritten to bring the reading level down to an 8th-grade level. Not only was the site more successful for lower-literacy visitors, it was also more successful for the higher-literacy visitors.

Don't "dumb down" your content. Just do the temporal lobe a favor and use the simple words that everyone understands.

Keep the brain in mind

Your readers have brains and those brains have certain tendencies. For best results, create content that aligns with those tendencies. Test these tactics and measure the outcomes. Content marketing is like brain science. It's all about research and experimentation.

Resources

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People always ask me how to make messages "go viral."

Every business needs to get the word out, every leader wants her ideas to spread more.

So I talked with Jonah Berger, the leading word-of-mouth scientist, to get answers. Berger, a Wharton professor and author of Contagious, gave me a six-step method to drive people to spread the word.

Here's what he told me:

People love to talk about things that make them look good. The promotion they received, how well their kids are doing in school--or the time they got upgraded to first class. So make them feel like insiders, or give them remarkable information, and they'll tell others in order to make themselves look smart and in the know.

Top-of-mind means tip-of-the-tongue. Ever wonder why people talk so much about the weather or what they had for breakfast? The more people are thinking about something, the more likely they'll be to tell others about it. So link your product or business idea to prevalent triggers in the environment--objects, ideas, or topics that come up frequently in conversation anyway.

When you care, you talk. If you're excited about a piece of news, angry about a decision, or amazed about a discovery, you're much more likely to tell others. So focus on feelings rather than functions. Find the strong emotions behind any message you want to take viral.

People tend to use other people for information. What restaurant is good? Which service provider should I adopt? You look to others and assume that if many people are doing something it must be pretty good. But you can only imitate if you can see what those others are doing. So, the more observable behavior is, the more likely it is to catch on. If you create a campaign or idea that is easy for people to show, it will grow.

People don't only want to look good, they also want to help others. So the more useful a piece of information is, the more it will be "shared" on social media. Discounts, travel recommendations, or articles about the best sunscreen to use all get passed around because they're helpful. So, highlight incredible deals or useful tips and more people will pass it on.

Stories are the currency of conversation. No one wants to seem like a walking advertisement, but they will talk about a product or brand if it's part of a broader narrative: How a new software cut billing time in half, or how a company sent out a replacement product the next day free of charge. So, build a "Trojan horse" story, one that carries your brand along for the ride. Make your message into an enjoyable tale, and you can be sure it will be told.

Take into account a few of these principles as you create your marketing strategy, and you'll optimize your chances of "going viral." Take them all into account, and you'll get as close to a sure thing as I can fathom.

Before I end, I'd like to hear from you. Which if these concepts do you think is most important in order to create viral content? What is your favorite viral campaign? Let me know in the comments section below.

We're all are aware that content marketing is on the rise. You can tell just by the number of buzzwords thrown around: sticky content, snackable content, engagement, content curation, etc. In the midst of such a popular marketing strategy, it's easy to get swept away in the trendiness of it all. But let me make one thing clear: "Content" isn't a buzzword, it's the future of your business.

Not convinced? Then think about the fact that 61% of people feel better about a company that delivers custom content and are more likely to buy from that company, according to research conducted by the Customer Content Council with Roper Affairs.

However, as content marketing rises, marketing teams and small businesses are struggling to meet consumer demands and produce high quality content in large quantities. Many businesses have decided to scale content by creating a content team-which is great. However, I've heard from several businesses over the last few months who have asked, "how exactly do we create and maintain a content team?" Well, there are generally four steps:

1. Plan (define your goals and identify your strategies)
2. Create a team
3. Train
4. Monitor and track

Define Goals and Identify Strategies

I cannot emphasize this enough: do not skip this step! One of my greatest beefs with brands is in all their enthusiasm to "create content" the process is often rushed, which results in companies producing content with no idea why they're doing it, who their target audience is, or what that audience cares about.

So, before you create a content team, answer these basic questions:

• What do we want our content to accomplish? (Goals)
• How can we do that effectively? (Strategies)

What do we want our content to accomplish?

This isn't a hard one-you want your content to get you customers, right? More specifically, you want your content to move consumers through the conversion funnel until they actually convert. That should be the underlying goal of any content strategy; but, of course, you will need to devise other goals specific to your business. Here are a few examples of goals you might have:

• Grow your base of loyal/repeat customers
• Grow your brand's reputation as an expert in your industry
• Build relationships and partnerships with industry influencers
• Increase customer engagement
• Attract new customers to your site
• Decrease bounce rate

Whichever goals you choose, keep in mind they need to be measurable with either hard or soft metrics.

How can we do that effectively?

Obviously the strategies you implement will be specific to your goals. However, there are a few strategies you can use to achieve the one goal we should all have as content marketers: content should move consumers through the conversion funnel towards conversion.

I talked about this a little more in-depth in one of my previous blog posts, but just for a recap, here are a few ways you can identify your audience and what they want/need/desire:

• Ask for reader feedback in blog articles/blog comments and through your social media platforms
• Send out surveys (old school but still effective)
• Hang out with your target audience by going to networking events or conferences they are likely to attend
• Check out case study reports your competitors publish on their audiences

When identifying your audience, be sure to ask:

• What are are the general demographics?
• What/who influences them?
• What does your audience want/need? (basic information vs. detailed tutorials, etc.)
• What are the problems your audience is facing? How can you help resolve those?
• What questions are your readers asking and what topics would they like to see covered?

You should also create buyer personas, and, if you have the ability, use big data in combination with your personas -this will give you a very well rounded and holistic picture of who your audience is and how they behave online, which will help you create hyper-targeted content.

This step in the process will help your content team form an editorial calendar later down the road and will allow you to target a specific persona in each piece of content, with the goal of moving them further through the funnel.

Here's what you need to do to get started: Create a chart with your buyer personas along the X axis and your funnel stages along the Y axis. Then, in each box answer the following questions to direct your content:

1. What are the main issues and concerns your persona is facing at this stage?
2. What questions does your persona have?
3. What type of content and topics can you cover to answer those questions or address those concerns?
4. What are a few examples of headlines or titles for that content?

All together your chart should look something like this (click on image for larger view):

Create a Structured Team

Now that you have goals and strategies in place, you've essentially created a framework and structure for your content team to work in and build from. So, now you actually have to assemble a team.

There are plenty of resources out there that have multiple structure suggestions for content teams. Keep in mind there might not be a perfect formula for your business, and you'll likely have to play around with your structure and job responsibilities to find the right combination. Here's the model that I've seen have the most success (click on image for larger view).

Content Team Lead

You might also see job descriptions like Senior Content Consultant, Chief Content Officer, etc. Basically this person is the head of the team or department and is responsible for overall strategy, budget, execution of goals, communication with the executive team, etc. This person likely won't be very involved in the actual creation or editing process, but will likely be involved in brainstorming and customer feedback processes. On the Distilled Outreach team this role is filled by the one and only Adria Saracino.

Managing Editor

Other job titles might include Content Coordinator, Editor in Chief, etc. This person will play a crucial role in quality assurance and will ultimately be responsible for maintaining your brand's voice and content creation process. It's absolutely vital this person have a strong background in English, journalism, or writing, as the responsibility of brand storytelling will fall on this person. It's also incredibly important that this person is organized (like obsessively so), because the managing editor will be responsible for the editorial calendar, scheduling, assigning jobs to content creators, consistency, and style/voice. On the Distilled Outreach team this role is filled by me.

Content Creators

Other titles might include Content Producers, Writers, Videographer, Photographer, etc. These are the people who actually create the content for the editor to review. Many times, companies outsource this work to a freelancer-especially for a more niche media like video animation. Since you've already identified the types of content you need to produce, you should look for content creators who specialize in that field and make them the backbone of your content production. That said, it is helpful to have a diverse team of content producers who are able to fill any niche areas you want cover.

Using that team structure, your workflow might look like this (click image for larger view):

Train Your Team

First off, it's incredibly difficult to teach an adult how to write well or edit, so you should look for really high quality writers and fierce editors right away. If an applicant doesn't have those qualities-it's a no-go. Beyond that, how you train your team will largely depend on which structure you use and your goals. However, there are a few key elements you should have in place.

Stylebook

You should have an extensive stylebook that outlines your brand voice and standards. Here are a few topics it might include (and here's a leaked copy of Groupon's stylebook and here's the University of Oxford style guide, both of which you can use for reference):

• Strategies to achieve brand voice
• Structure: including how to use subheadings, bullet points, lists, etc.
• Link policies: are there sources you don't want to link to? Do you want writers to link to only primary and secondary sources?)
• Point of view to use
• Grammatical preferences: are there industry terms you're going to abbreviate? What about countries, currencies, etc.?)
• Standard spelling: if you're an international company which spelling will you use? (For example, Distilled generally tries to use U.S. English)

The purpose of a comprehensive style guide is to create consistency across all content, and it also gives writers something to refer to if they have questions (thus freeing up headspace for the editor and team lead). If you don't have time to write up a stylebook, I would recommend purchasing a copy of the AP stylebook, which is the one all journalists use. If you're writing your own stylebook, refer to Purdue Owl and Grammar Girl for grammar and formatting questions.

Writer Guidelines

One of the best things I've ever done at Distilled is create an extensive writer guidelines, because it outlines exactly what I expect from writers so there's no miscommunication down the road. Here are a few topics I cover in the guidelines:

• What Distilled expects from writers in terms of deadlines, plagiarism, quality of content, etc. (This is a very simple overview that outlines our most basic expectations)
• Legal issues: who owns the rights to content, how Distilled is allowed to curate content, etc. (And yes, we did have an attorney review this)
• Information on how exactly jobs are assigned
• Editing policies: what I reasonably expect in the editing process (i.e. how many edits I typically ask for, what happens if I want the piece entirely rewritten, etc.)
• My policy on deadline extensions and consequences if deadlines aren't met
• FAQs

Ultimately, your writer guidelines will probably have to be a living document that's continually added to as new issues arise. Here's a list of questions writers typically have that you can incorporate into your guidelines as a start.

Feedback

This is a very fundamental training tool, but giving a writer and editor feedback (and I mean extensive feedback) is absolutely crucial to training, continual improvement, creating a sustainable team, and ensuring long term quality and consistency.

If you're the managing editor, you should give feedback to content creators for every single assignment they complete. Make sure to give feedback on what the writer did well in addition to any problems you saw. Distilled has a system in place where I rate articles on a scale of 1-5 and am required to give writers comments and feedback for every article submitted to me. I also regularly share edits, as I find that to be the most helpful form of feedback (a great tool for this, besides regular Google docs, is Draft)

If you're the team lead, make sure to periodically review the content the editor is approving and sharing. You don't have to review every single piece, but make sure you're in the loop and give regular feedback ( Pro tip: set up a monthly meeting with your editor to give feedback).

Monitor and Track

Like any marketing strategy, content marketing needs to be constantly measured to see what's working and what's not. So, what should you track?

Well firstly, you should track the goals you previously identified (which should be easy, because all of your goals should be in some way measurable). Beyond that, it can often be difficult to know what you should track. Content strategist Jay Baer suggests you track four categories of metrics:

Key question answered: How many people consumed your content, measured as page views, downloads, views, etc.?

Key question answered: How often do consumers of your content share it with others?

Key question answered: How often do content consumers turn into leads?

Key question answered: How often do content consumers turn into customers?

I would also add a few more metrics you should consider tracking:

• Bounce rate on your content pages: This is a very simple metric, but crucial in determining whether or not your content is up to reader expectations.
• Are your customers moving through the conversion funnel? (See here and here) This will help you better determine whether or not your content is effective in driving conversions (which is the overarching goal of your marketing efforts).
• Is your content attracting new visitors? This fits under the consumption category, but note this is for new visitors; of course maintaining repeat customers is absolutely crucial to your business, but you also want to make sure you're expanding your customer base.

• Are you producing enough content for each persona at each stage in the funnel?
• Are your customers satisfied with the concerns and questions you've been addressing for each persona?
• Has one type of media been more successful than others (i.e. video produces more results than longer articles)?
• Are there any gaps in your content production process? Any inefficiencies?
• What's the ROI of your efforts?

Final Thoughts

There isn't a perfect formula for developing and maintaining a content team. Your company ultimately needs to remain agile and adjust to changing circumstances or inefficiencies. But, to start you should follow the four steps we covered here:

1. Plan (define your goals and identify your strategies)
2. Create a team
3. Train
4. Monitor and track

Beyond that, I would emphasize two key points to anyone building a content team: 1) Make sure you hire people who are really good at writing, editing, or managing from the beginning, and 2) Make sure your content team is sustainable -not just for the next 6 months, but for the next 6 years, because you'll be in content marketing for the long haul.

Kyra Kuik is the Content Coordinator for Distilled's Seattle office. You can follow Kyra on Twitter

In 2013 more than ever, content will be king. According to Doug Kessler, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Velocity Partners, it's "tipping this year because it works. Content is the engine of search, social, outbound and Web marketing." So with that in mind, what are you doing to jump on the content train?

To help you decide which content marketing methods are right for you, here's a list of 15 types that work. Which will you use this year to build your business?

1. Blog Posts

It should come as no surprise to see blog posts on this list-blogs are often the first thing that comes to mind when people think content marketing-but that's only because blogs are such a natural way to promote your message. By setting up a blog, you create a resource for your customers and a place that reinforces your brand.

2. Guest Blog Posts

Just as important as writing posts on your own blog is contributing elsewhere online-in fact, according to author Jeff Goins, "Guest-posting is the single most important strategy for growing your blog readership and platform." When you write articles on other websites, you get your content in front of new audiences and expand your presence.

3. How-To Guides

Whether in a video, a blog post, a series of photos, or a website page, how-to guides draw readers in and give you a chance to demonstrate your subject expertise. Use them to show your audience how to complete a project, learn a new skill, or put into practice some specific tips.

4. Images

A whopping 93 percent of communication is nonverbal, says psychologist Albert Mehrabian, which means almost all of what you tell your audience happens outside the words you say. With powerful pictures, illustrations, and graphics, you have an opportunity to make a real impact on your fans-amplifying your message, explaining an idea, and gaining user attention.

5. Infographics

A particularly powerful type of image is the infographic-the fastest growing form of content marketing for B2B brands. A well-designed infographic organizes and communicates technical or detailed information in a visually attractive, easy-to-process way. What's more, infographics perform well on social sharing sites like Pinterest, where images are key.

6. Video

What better way to differentiate yourself from the competition than with video? Videos are an ideal platform for interviews, demonstrations, how-to guides, and any content with which you want to communicate a clearer sense of your personality and style.

7. Illustrations

Just as infographics present information in a more readily understandable way, so too illustrations add an extra dimension to your content. Whether it's an ironic comic strip, a pretty watercolor, or a hand-drawn recipe, illustrations are great for catching reader attention and adding visual punch.

8. Testimonials

Endorsements from satisfied customers act as major social proof for your company's value. Whether you post testimonials on your website, across social media, or strictly on review sites, the power of these comments is undeniable.

9. Case Studies

Show the value of your product or service through tangible facts-case studies are the perfect way to demonstrate what you offer. Show your clients how you've helped others as an example of how you can help them.

10. Memes

When retailer Forever 21 runs a "21 Days of Style" campaign that instructs followers to "Show us what kind of turquoise is hiding in your stash!" the brand is demonstrating a great way to run a meme. Each day, the store gives followers a way to engage with the brand by posting related content and tagging it with the #21DaysofStyle hashtag. In so doing, the store not only promotes its brand but also strengthens connections with fans. Consider following in these footsteps by creating a similar campaign to engage your audience.

11. Email Newsletters

The opt-in email newsletter is a fantastic avenue for getting your message out to loyal followers-the key is providing highly relevant content that they actually want to read. This means it's time to forget recycled blog content and opt instead for unique content that meets a need for your audience: inspiration, humor, information, etc. Ask yourself how you can make your newsletter a must-read.

12. Ebooks

For your customers who are hungry for more about your brand and your story, eBooks offer many advantages. Package your best writing into an ebook to sell or give away, and you can share more in-depth info on your company's unique personality, story, etc.

13. Podcasts

Thanks to the prevalence of smartphones, laptops, and MP3 players, people today listen to podcasts in the car, while riding the morning train, running errands, or doing the dishes. What this means for you is multiplied opportunities to expand your message. You might podcast to conduct interviews, tell stories, or provide or more personal look at your business operations.

14. Twitter Chat

In the world of social media, Twitter is becoming increasingly influential. As a content marketer, use the network to engage with influencers in your industry. Schedule Twitter chats to discuss topics, find out what interests your audience, ask questions, and generate dialogue about your subject matter.

15. Newsjacking

Take advantage of public interest in a hot news story by finding a way to connect it with your brand-and write about it.

Fueling your blog with great content that your customers and prospects will find relevant, valuable or entertaining, is no walk in the park.

However, blogging in a Content Marketing program can build awareness for your brand, generate leads, and position you as a expert in your domain. And consistent creation, distribution and analysis is now the price of entry if you hope to succeed.

A common frame of reference for Content Marketing.

Robert Rose, of the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), provides this helpful criteria for defining what the real world requirements of Content Marketing are. As Robert points out, a content marketing program needs to:

1. Be focused on attracting or retaining a targeted customer audience
2. Share compelling, useful, and/or entertaining information
3. Be consistently delivered.

Achieve your objectives with the right structure.

To help you organize and speed up your content creation efforts, we offer 7 different ways to construct your posts. Your goal should always be to select a structure that will present your content most effectively with the highest reader impact or response.

This handy list can also help you mix up your post types to keep your content fresh and always improving.

7 ways to construct posts for Content Marketing.

1. List Post

List posts provide a structure for an idea that is broken up into simple parts. Unless your objective is to disclose a complicated subject that requires a lot of understanding, it's best to keep it simple.

2. Interview Post

People love to read, watch, or listen to interviews. So why not share what an expert or thought leader has to say about your subject matter?

If you're well prepared with a structured questionnaire before you meet your subject and record the interview, a better outcome is likely. And if you conduct the interview on Google Hangouts, you can then post it to YouTube or Vimeo and embed it into your blog for others to watch on demand.

3. Review Post

If your goal is to add value by providing analysis or evaluation of a subject, be as detailed as possible and cite reference sources with links to support your analysis. Avoid any tendencies to rant or whine and always strive to be balanced and not one sided.

4. Links Round-up Post

Readers love link round-up posts as well, as they expose your readers to new and interesting sites or authors.

Twitter and Facebook now enable the opportunity to embed tweets or facebook posts right into your blog. So what better way to connect what you blog about with your social media stream than integrating both right into your post?

5. Controversial Viewpoint Post

Politically correct may not always deliver the best result. By taking an unexpected or alternative position that challenges convention or consensus, you may achieve more by providing a dimension that others may have overlooked. And it may get you more comments or shares as a result.

6. Process Post

Step by step is always effective for providing your readers with the "how to's" from a subject matter expert. The key to a successful process post is to provide specifics and instructions.

Formatting your content with subheads or lists to break up the steps in easy to consume bites will help readers understand and absorb the content more easily. It's also a good idea to include detailed photos or graphics that visualize the "how-to" steps. These supporting components can also improve your SEO and the chances of your post getting found and passed along by others.

7. Reward Post

Providing a reward in your post for taking action is always appealing. Consider what your readers will find valuable and make it the focus if someone submits, responds or shares your content. Contests, surveys and polls are good examples that engage readers and drive action.

It's a good idea to make your reward relevant to the content of the post or the brand presenting it. Otherwise you run the risk that a trivial come-on will result in no reader action.

This post example provides readers with a great incentive for completing a survey .

Looking ahead to forever.

If you've committed to content marketing, you're going to be posting a lot if you want to succeed. So mixing it up and creating posts that are fresh and not repetitive is a more than a good idea. It's a requirement if you don't want to turn off your readers.

Have you been practicing a variety of structures to your posts? Which type got the best response? Share!

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