11 Tips for Creating a Successful Content Marketing Strategy

Last week I was in Cleveland, Ohio, speaking at Content Marketing World 2013, which with 1,700 attendees is easily the largest content marketing conference around. During my 45-minute talk to a small group of these folks, I outlined how to create a financial content marketing strategy that works by sharing some of the key learnings I’ve gathered throughout my career. Truthfully, those lessons apply to creating a successful content marketing program in any industry, so I thought it would be useful to share them here:

1. Get sharply focused on one customer segment and your very best buyers within that segment.

2. Hire a managing editor who will act as the CEO of your content program and who has the following characteristics:

3. Build a content creation community to further help scale your content creation and delivery efforts and to augment your team, which will include:

4. Create high-impact content that’s easily discoverable, speaks to your target buyers, aligns with your brand aspirations, drives conversions, and fosters engagement.

5. Recycle, repurpose, and repackage so that every piece of content you create does at least double if not triple duty. At OpenView, for example, we recycle our articles, blog posts, videos, podcasts and other smaller content assets into eBooks.

6. Focus on conversions so that every piece of content you create drives your buyers one step closer to making a purchase.

7. Amplify your distribution through multiple points of contact so that you are using all of the right channels to reach your audience.

8. Establish a content rhythm so that you are publishing content on the consistent basis necessary to build momentum and generate sustained interest. For example, here’s what OpenView’s content rhythm looks like:

9. Institutionalize your content marketing by establishing and documenting processes that will allow you to be more consistent, transparent, and efficient.

10. Measure everything that you do, capturing and analyzing key metrics around your content creation and delivery, impressions, conversions, and website performance.

11. Hold frequent retrospectives to help your team stay energized and focused on continuously improving your content marketing efforts.

If you haven’t been to Content Marketing World before, I’d strongly encourage it to anyone in the field regardless of what your industry is. It’s a great opportunity to hear from fascinating speakers (Jay Baer, Joe Chernov, and Ann Handley to name a few of my favorites), network with colleagues from around the world, and even rub shoulders with celebrities like William Shatner, who provided the closing key note.

Check it out next September. This is one conference you don’t want to miss!