Content Marketing is about attraction. It’s about becoming a credible,

familiarvoicetoyourcustomers,prospects,andreadersalike.Donecorrectly,

andyoucanestablishyourselfasadefactoresourcereadersgotowhenthey

seek helpful, compelling information. That’s your goal, and I’ve identified

sevenkeyconceptsthatmakeitpossible.

1Havethemindset,"I’mgoingtocontribute."

Goodcontentmarketingbeginswiththerightmindset.Ata fundamental level,a shiftneeds tobemade fromthe traditional outbound marketing approach. It’s nolonger about your products, your latest release, orwhat you think is remarkable. It’s about your readersandwhatthey’reinterestedin.That being said, content marketing isn’t about writing for your currentcustomers,orevenyourpotentialones.Youmustthingbroaderthanthat,andthink likeapublisher.Producecontentthat isappealingtoanyonewhomayinteractwithyourpotentialtargetaudience.

Knowingthis,andcommittingtoit,therearemeasuresyoucantakeforeachpieceofcontentyouevercreateordistribute.Yourcontentshouldhavesomecombinationoftheseelements:

Isthisrelevant,informativeand/oreducational? Itcontainsyouruniqueperspective,voice,andintonation. Isthisentertaining? Itcanbefunandexciting. Willitincitecomments,sharing,andconversation?

Frame your content around the benefits and the value that you’re going todelivertoyourprospectorcustomer.

2Knowwhatitmeans tocontribute

Contributingmeansgivingawaythingsforfree.Even though the internet marketing book youreadthreeyearsagomayhavesaidawhole lotof 99‐cent downloads can make me instantlywealthy,that’snottheapproachI’mtalkingabout.Thingsothersaren’tgivingaway, you should create and distribute, because it breeds trust, likability, aloyalfollowing.

ThesearefivecontenttypesIliketousetocontributetomyreaders.

1. Solutionarticles–Offerasolutiontoaproblemforpeoplestrugglingwiththesameissue.

2. Listarticles–Producecontentthatisbrokendownintoeasilyscanable,relatabletermsusingbulletsandorderedlists.

3. Reviews–Lendingyourbrand’svoicetoaproduct,trend,ornewsitemis effective in keeping you relevant, as well as building your brandauthority.

4. Invitations – Broadly speaking, you can offer invitations to newpromotions,polls,orevenproductorservicedesign.Invitationstoyourreader base are a contribution, in that they are the opportunity forpeopletooffertheiropinions.

5. Interviews – Seize opportunities to interview thought leaders,celebrities,orjusteverydaypeoplewithno‐so‐ordinaryexperiencesforyour content. Well written, relevant interviews offer your readers aperspectiveandinsighttheyotherwisewouldn’thave.

3Therearegoodresourcesoutthere,use‘em

This point is about two types of resources: internal and external. It’s noaccidenttherecentpopularityandpracticeofcontentmarketingcameaboutinconjunctionwiththespreadofsocialmediachannelsandtechnology.Thecommunity that reads and collects good content also shares it. And thechannels and methods for sharing, distributing, and consuming contentcontinuetogrow.

Thissameconsumercommunityisawealthofstorytellingmaterial.Knowingthismeansyoudon’thavetodoitalone.Becauseyou’renecessarilyremovingthe “you” from the content youproduce, tapping into your internalandcommunityresources isanaturalprogression.Thestoriesareoutthere;within your organization and withinyour reader and industry community.Yourjobistoseekthemout.

4Distribute&measureWhenIthinkofwhatIdoinallocatingtimetocontentmarketing,Ifindthatcreatinggoodcontentisabout70%ofthetotalprocess.It’scriticalincontentmarketing, but it’s not everything. Distribution and measurement are the

remaining30%.When you share links to your content throughsocial media channels, you want to put somestructureandthoughtbehindit.Fortunately,thereareawealthof contentmanagement tools tohelpyou be successful. Measuring and analyzing yoursocial reach will help you target content andresourcestotherightplaces.

Iliketorecommendthesethreetoolstobeginningtointermediatebloggers.

1. Bitly–BitlyisaURLshortenerthatdoesmorethanjustmakeyourlinksfit into a Tweet. It enables you to track each content piece acrossdifferent distribution platforms. You can find out who’s reading yourwork, and whom they’re sharing it with. It’s a terrific tool used bybeginnersandexpertsalike.

2. Buffer–Whenyoudistributecontentisequallyasimportantashowyoudo. Buffer is a tool that helps you schedule your content distribution.Thetoolwillevenhelpyoudeterminethebesttimestodistributeyourposts.

3. Hootsuite–Hootsuite,isperhapsoneofthemostpopularsocialmediadashboardsaround.Itallowsyoutodownloadreports,whichputyouractivity and reach into easy‐to‐understand graphs. It integrates withGoogleAnalytics,FacebookInsightsandmultiplesocialmediaaccounts,enablingyoutomonitorawholelotinasingleplace.

5Beremarkable“Beremarkable”isanexpressionthat’smadea meaningful impression in the contentmarketing vernacular. I borrow it fromHubSpot,whoquoteditoriginallyfromSethGodin.Producingremarkablecontentmeanscreating content that encourages people toshare,commenton,and/orreference.

Breakingitdownsimply,yourcontentshouldbeoneorbothofthesethings:

Unique Useful

For certain, by interjecting yourwriting voice and personal experience, youarewellonyourwaytoofferingauniqueperspectiveonyourtopic.Backingthiswithoriginaldata,furtheraddstoauniquestory.Offeringmorethanjusttextdoesso,aswell.Includeunderusedcontentelementslikecustomimages,infographics,diagrams,orinteractiveandmultimediaelementswhenyoucan.Anotherapproachistoensureyourcontentisthought‐provoking.Doesyourcontent help challenge your reader to consider a different perspective,challengeanorm,orofferhelpfulwaysforimprovement?Iliketokeeptrack

on industry news for content opportunities,and create articles with a unique vantagepointtothem.OnethingIoftendoisstartcontent,produceitinsegmentsasaniterativeprocess.WhenIget stuck creating content, I like to put itaside and revisit it at another time, with

another perspective. Even if it’s content I’ve created completely, it’s a goodpracticetocomebacktoitasecondtimeafterabreakbeforepublishingit.Beforeyoupublishyourcontent,askyourselfifit'ssomethingyouthinkyourprospectswillwanttoreadandsharewithothers.Is itsomethingworthyoftheir remarks? If so, it's probably remarkable. Before you publish yourcontent,gobackandaskyourselfifit’suniqueand/oruseful.

6AlwaysdeliverqualityAnygoodwriter knowswhenwhatheor she isproducing is goodwork, orjust churning out corner‐cut content.We get that feelingwhen something’scomplete. It’s either all there, or not quite right. I’ve done it before; we allhave,publishedsomethingnotentirely“done.”

Part of ensuring quality is being certain your contentcarries thevoiceofyourbrand.Avoidbeinggenericatall cost. Good story telling, design, perspective, layoutand visual impact can sometimes turn good to great.Refertoourfreebloggerchecklistasoneofthetoolstoensurewhatyou’reproducingisvaluable,qualitywork.

7BeconsistentTwopointshere.Thefirstistostressthatconsistencyis key, and thenext, somepractical advice onhow toachieve it. Study after study is now recognizing thatconsistencyandfrequencyofcreation,distributionandoptimizationofcontentisthesinglebestpracticethatdrives traffic, promotes conversion and fostersengagementwithyouraudience.

Continuously creating and broadcasting content can be a challenge. Here’ssomeexamplesofwhatI’vefoundworks.

1. One idea,several iterations.Youcanrepurposegoodcontent,withadifferentperspective,correlation,orsetofinstructions.

2. Collectandcapture ideas likeasponge.Capturethoughtsand ideasfornewcontentonaregularbasis.

3. Syndicate content. You needn’t write all content for it to be unique.Collectingcontentthatcomplementsathemeortopicandaddingyoureditorialtoitisworthycontentcreation.

4. Regularlypublish.Writing and publishing an article once or twice amonthisreallynotenoughtobuildasustainablefollowing.Peopleareshortontime,andliketogotoafewplacestogetgoodcontent.Beoneofthoseplacesbypublishingonaregularbasis.Ifyou’renotgeneratingcontent a minimum of three times a week, you’re missing a hugeopportunitytobuildafollowing.

5. Outsource.Don’tbeafraidtoaskforhelp.Eventhelargestcompaniesin the world are using outside partners to create compelling,remarkablecontent,andyoucantoo..

If you’re still thinking, “I don’t know that I’mup forwriting content formywebsite,” then that’s okay. If you have a lot on your plate, partnering yourcontent creation and marketing strategy with a trusted content writingservicecanbeasmartandstrategicmove.Ifyou’relookingtohireaprofessionalcontentwriting

service,eZdiacandeliverqualitycontent,saveyoutime,andgenerateresults.Contacttheirhelpfulteamat:http://store.ezdia.com

AbouttheAuthor

Andre Bourque (Social Marketing Fella) is a SocialMediaMarketingandContentMarketingconsultant.Heworks with brands to provide strategy, tools, andcontenttoincreasebrandauthorityandreach,andyieldnew customers. Andre is a featured blogger on SocialMediaToday,andacontributingwriterforTechnorati.He reports on social media marketing trends,technologiesandeventsintheSanFranciscoBayArea.

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