Customer Success

The 7 Keys to Transforming from Marketer to Publisher

February 14, 2012

This is a guest post by content marketing consultant, Stephanie Tilton

More and more marketers are answering the call to become publishers — or at least are open to it. The problem is that many don’t know all it entails to be a publisher. Here are seven characteristics and practices that marketers can adopt to create and publish content that helps attract and engage prospective buyers.

A typewriter

1. Embrace the Fact that You’re “Selling” Information

The heart of a publication is the content. And while some marketers may struggle with this shift in mind-set, it’s critical to start considering your content as the core value you’re providing to prospects. Of course the ultimate goal is to help your organization generate revenues. But the first step is to produce content that is irresistible and relevant to prospective buyers.

 2. Understand Your Audience

You draw in your audience by focusing on themes and concepts that resonate with them — and that you know well. Think about your favorite publication. First of all, you read it because you love the content. And I bet you never feel like the magazine covers topics that are out of its league. That’s because the editor-in-chief and other key stakeholders have done their research to understand what will appeal to you, their target audience. And they’ve hired the right resources to create content that fits the bill. You need to do the same (more on this in a bit).

 3. Stick to the Theme(s) — But Keep it Interesting

You expect your favorite publication to keep its promise and stick to its topic of focus. But you don’t want to read page after page of feature articles. Sure, you probably want to delve into a story here and there. But you likely also want to skim for short tips and quick takeaways, check out photos and easy-to-read lists, and perhaps take a quiz. You may even want to access a digital version of the publication for exclusive content and videos. Keep this in mind as you’re creating your own content. Though you want to keep to the themes you know well and that appeal to your target audience, explore them from many angles, at different depths, and in different formats.

 4. Don’t Let Your Readers Down

You may subscribe to a monthly publication that gets sent to your mailbox, or you might look for a certain publication on the newsstand every other month. Either way, you expect the magazine to be published without fail according to schedule. As you engage prospective buyers with your content, make sure you live up to their expectations by consistently producing content. You do so by planning out your content, and then putting all the pieces in place to make sure you can stay on schedule. This includes recruiting the right people to author the content, and developing an editorial calendar that helps keep everyone on task and accountable.

 5. Make it Worth Reading

Unless we’re talking gossip magazines, you don’t pick up your favorite magazine expecting to see the same content that’s in another magazine, even if it’s on the same topic. As a reader, you want to be educated, entertained, and surprised. Part of that is diving into the unique perspectives of the editor and writers. Another part of it is consuming quality content — you want lively, active copy to transport you to another world, even if only for a brief time. Keep these points in mind as you’re gathering and developing content for your audience.

6. Staff Up Appropriately

Making your content worth reading means you need to have the right people on staff to help you deliver interesting, quality content. Whether you call the position the Chief Content Officer, VP of Content Marketing, or something along those lines, the person at the top of the heap essentially acts as the editor-in-chief. In fact, some would say that content marketing success begins with good editorial.

The following posts on the OpenView blog can get started on the right path:

• Here are the seven habits of highly effective managing editors.

• The editor will need a team to help produce the content. Check out this post for a team structure that has worked well in other organizations.

• And here are ideas on top skills to look for when hiring.

7. Measure Your Progress

Publications need to generate revenues, and usually achieve this through a combination of signing up subscribers and selling space to advertisers. Whatever the business model, a magazine publisher has to develop a revenue goal, continually measure whether or not it’s hitting that goal, and then adjust its strategy as necessary. The same is true of your content marketing efforts. Once you’ve defined your goals — ideally tied to corporate objectives — determine how the content you produce will contribute to that goal. Then measure and report on the results at regular intervals, and make changes if need be to improve the effectiveness.

Did I miss anything? Please share your thoughts on how marketers can move into the publishing role.

 

 

B2B Content Marketing Consultant

<strong>Stephanie Tilton</strong> is the principal consultant of <a href="http://tentonmarketing.com/">Ten Ton Marketing</a>. Stephanie has been immersed in the world of marketing for over 20 years, in roles as diverse as competitive analyst, marketing communications, and product marketing. Harnessing her unique blend of technical knowledge, marketing savvy, and writing skills, she has crafted winning communications for leading brands such as Akamai Technologies, Compuware, EMC, Novell, SAP, SAS, and Symantec.