{"id":14077,"date":"2016-05-02T13:00:36","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T17:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.shareaholic.com\/?p=14077"},"modified":"2016-05-02T16:52:37","modified_gmt":"2016-05-02T20:52:37","slug":"content-marketers-reveal-secrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shareaholic.com\/blog\/content-marketers-reveal-secrets\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Content Marketers Reveal Their Secrets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want to get people sharing,\u00a0grow your fans,\u00a0make money,\u00a0or know who\u2019s reading your content?\u00a0Add\u00a0Shareaholic for your site<\/a>.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

On the Shareaholic blog, we want to provide our readers with a place where they can learn about content distribution and content marketing.<\/p>\n

But we’re just one company. And I’m simply one content marketer.<\/p>\n

So, we got in touch with 10 other marketers to learn about their most successful content marketing strategies. And here, I’ve packaged those conversations into actionable advice for you!<\/p>\n

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Here are their best tips:<\/p>\n

1. Start with the audience<\/h3>\n

Rachel Parker,\u00a0President and Owner of Resonance Content Marketing<\/a>,\u00a0suggests “knowing who they are, what they need, what keeps them up at night, what makes them laugh, what inspires them, what makes their lives easier.” As a business that works with Fortune 500 companies to solopreneurs\u00a0to grow profits through content, she knows her audience well. One of her most successful blog posts is 7 Content Marketing Lessons from South Park<\/a>. And it’s easy to see why — it’s fun, educational, and it’s got South Park. It’s perfect.<\/p>\n

2. Talk about your competitors<\/h3>\n

Jonathan Bechtel,\u00a0CEO of Health Kismet<\/a>, doesn’t cower away when competitors are nearby. He not only acknowledges their existence, he talks about them. “I review\u00a0their products, interview their CEO’s, and create buying guides<\/a> that help\u00a0people compare their options. It’s *not* intended to [be] inflammatory, and\u00a0people really like it because it’s informative and actually helps customers\u00a0identify with us because they respect that we’d talk so fairly about people\u00a0we’re competing with.”<\/p>\n

\"Content<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Build great content (but don’t do it alone)<\/h3>\n

Steven Weldler does content marketing with national car donation charity Kars4Kids <\/a>(I’m sure you’ve seen their billboards<\/a>). “Content marketing is first and foremost about building great content. A\u00a0great tip is to get experts in the target industry invested at the beginning\u00a0of the process by asking for their opinions and input. Also, find a\u00a0freelance writer that writes often on your topic, offer them a small fee to\u00a0do the outreach for you to their existing network of contacts.”<\/p>\n

4. Make it free (sort of)<\/h3>\n

Zach Heller, the director of marketing for the New\u00a0York\u00a0Institute of Photography<\/a>, says he “recently launched a new content marketing\u00a0campaign aimed at providing free photography tips to people who are\u00a0interested in photography, with a goal of enrolling more students in our\u00a0online photo courses.” Fortunately, content marketing doesn’t mean you just give and give and give without measurable returns. In fact, Heller’s results are “better than expected. In the last 3 months, we have seen a 20% increase in organic traffic to our articles, and we’ve enrolled an additional 5-10 people per month who first visited an article page.” Given that the courses cost between $399 – $1499 each, these are pretty good results.<\/p>\n

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5. Think of it as an art form<\/h3>\n

Jenn Lisak, Director of Content Strategies at DK New Media<\/a>, says “Content marketing strategy is as much an art form as it is a process; when\u00a0working with a client on an infographic or a whitepaper, I have to pay\u00a0attention to target audience, aligning the messaging with the brand,\u00a0appealing to different types of learners and personality types, and whether\u00a0the curated content is going to resonate with our desired buyer persona.” One project Lisak is proud of is an infographic<\/a> they created for client Right On Interactive. Why was it a success? “65% of people are visual learners, and that is a big reason why videos, infographics, whitepapers, etc. have become more popular over the past couple of years. We generally try to create an infographic for a general overview of a topic, then expand upon those topics in whitepapers or videos to capture leads.”<\/p>\n

6. Make it consistent<\/h3>\n

Vladimir Gendelman’s goal was simple. As the\u00a0founder of\u00a0Company Folders<\/a>, Gendelman wanted clients to visit the site more regularly “as oppose to yearly visits when they need more folders.” What did he do to bring his visitors back? “[I provided]\u00a0helpful and entertaining bi-weekly blog posts<\/a>, free design\u00a0templates<\/a> that are released weekly and a Folder Design Gallery<\/a> where they\u00a0can showcase their work and get inspired by others.” And it was a success! A majority of the site’s visitors engage with the content he publishes.<\/p>\n

\"pillars<\/a><\/p>\n

7. Use content to build credentials<\/h3>\n

Scott Armstrong, a Partner at Brainrider<\/a>, tells Shareaholic, “If you market and sell based on your subject matter expertise then content\u00a0can help you tell and credentialize your story.” At Brainrider, Armstrong works with clients such as\u00a0Pitney Bowes, Cbeyond and YellowPages. If you’re starting out, you can get a free B2B marketing plan template<\/a> to\u00a0map out your marketing.<\/p>\n

8. Create a survey<\/h3>\n

Abbi Whitaker of The Abbi Agency<\/a> surveyed 100 mommy bloggers<\/a> with two goals in mind. “#1\u00a0to connect with mommy bloggers on a more personal level by asking them\u00a0about their preferences and habits and #2 by providing much needed\u00a0information to CMO’s about how mommy bloggers like to work, what they like\u00a0to work on and who they like to work with.” The results included a feature on PR\u00a0Daily, 250 + eBook downloads and new business for The Abbi\u00a0Agency.<\/p>\n

\"storytelling\"<\/a><\/p>\n

9. Tell meaningful stories<\/h3>\n

Eric Allen, Content Marketing Director of Blue Wheel Media<\/a>, worked with client 6 Pack Fitness to grow the 6 Pack Bags blog by highlighting “transformation stories”. Tomi Ann Butler was 41 years old and 200 lbs; a year later, she was competing in bodybuilding competitions and felt better at age 42 than she did when she was 21. Here’s her story<\/a>\u00a0which brought in 6,200 page views in March 2013 alone. If that’s not a story worth telling, I don’t know what is.<\/p>\n

10. Create a mix of content types<\/h3>\n

Kari Rippetoe, a Content Marketing Manager at Search Mojo<\/a>, chooses her words carefully. Although a webinar Search Mojo broadcast on the power of LinkedIn Ads for B2B lead gen<\/a>\u00a0has been a hands-down success (year-to-date it’s their most visited webinar), she makes sure to note, “While webinars work really well for us, other types of content (like whitepapers or infographics) may work well for other companies.” She adds, “I would also advise creating a mix of content types that appeal to buyers on different levels, such as short-form vs. long-form, videos vs. blog posts, whitepapers vs. webinars. And don\u2019t be afraid to test out new things!”<\/p>\n

What are your best content marketing strategies?\u00a0p.s. If you’re a content marketer, digital strategist or blogger \/ publisher, We’d love to chat! We’re\u00a0@shareaholic<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Image sources: Beth Kanter<\/a>, Saad Faruque<\/a>,\u00a0hannes.a.schwetz<\/a>, David Armano<\/a>, Shane Snow<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Shareaholic<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Want to get people sharing,\u00a0grow your fans,\u00a0make money,\u00a0or know who\u2019s reading your content?\u00a0Add\u00a0Shareaholic for your site. On the Shareaholic blog, we want to provide our… 
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