Content Marketing Strategy: More than a Dozen All-Star Professionals Reveal Insights and Tips

More than a dozen experts share their content marketing strategy insights and tips within the pages of Bruce Clay’s and Murray Newlands’s new book, “Content Marketing Strategies for Professionals” (buy it on Amazon here) — the ultimate guide to developing your own content marketing strategy for any content creator, marketer or social media manager that wants to stop wasting words.

In addition to Clay’s and Newlands’s experience-driven and field-tested knowledge, “Content Marketing Strategies for Professionals” taps into case studies, articles and anecdotes from internet marketing powerhouses, renowned for their savvy in content strategy, marketing, public relations, media and SEO. The content marketing all-star lineup includes:

• Chelsea Adams
• Jordan Armstrong
• Michael Brito
• Lisa Buyer
• Jonathon Colman
• Andy Crestodina
• Alyce Currier
• Ric Dragon
• Kristi Kellogg
• Virginia Nussey
• Lee Odden
• Trent Partridge
• Adam Sutton

Read on for sneak peek of what content marketing advice each of these experts revealed in “Content Marketing Strategies for Professionals.” Among the contributors? A Webby Award winner, CEOs, journalists, authors, brand managers and even a Dragon.

The Content Re-Imaginer: Lee Odden

Repurposing Content and Collective Social Wisdom

Is your brand “sitting on all types of content and digital assets that could (be) repackaged, repurposed or curated into usefulness?” If it is, Lee Odden has outlined a strategy to maximize efficiency, capitalize on consumers’ short attention spans and build SEO relevancy. Odden writes:

“Using a template, you might have customizable expressions or paragraphs according to specific verticals or customer segments that accentuate unique benefits, data and customer goals. Then a skilled copywriter would review and make final adjustments versus writing from scratch about something that is essentially the same but meant for a slightly different market.”

Lee Odden is the author of “Optimize” and CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, an agency focused on search, social media, PR and content marketing.

The Facebook Strategist: Jonathon Colman

Prove the Value of Your Content with an Audit

Jonathon Colman provides a step-by-step process to evaluate the performance and quality of your site’s content. He explains what data is necessary and how to compile it, then how to make “honest, qualitative judgments about your content.” Colman writes:

“Go through each of your pages and examine them against your brand. Do they live up to your brand tenets and core values? Are they simple enough for your target audiences to use and understand? Do they inspire trust and build community? Do they meet the spirit of your voice and tone?”

For more than 15 years, Jonathon Colman has helped people and organizations build, find and use the best stuff on the web. Colman is a content strategist at Facebook and a Webby Award winner. Learn more at JonathonColman.org.

The Content Chemist: Andy Crestodina

Google Authorship: How to Do It and How It Affects SERP Rank

A Google Authorship rich snippet is a valuable commodity – Andy Crestodina highlights the benefits of implementing Google Authorship snippets and shares the steps to set it up. He also explains why Google Authorship is important for guest bloggers, as well. Crestodina writes:

“Think of Authorship as a ‘digital signature’ that verifies online profiles, puts a face to a name, and closely ties search marketing with social media. It was created to help people identify more relevant content, and — since relevance always takes precedence in search engine results pages — it tends to have a ranking advantage over content created anonymously.”

Andy Crestodina is a web strategist, co-founder of Orbit Media, and author of “Content Chemistry: An Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing.”

The Business Builder: Michael Brito

Your Content Strategy: Defining Paid, Owned and Earned

Michael Brito teaches you how to leverage converged media. First learn what separates paid media and earned media, and why combining the two types of media results in an amplified campaign. Brito writes:

“While each of these channels play a critical role in your content strategy, the real power is when you can integrate two or more of the channels into one campaign or initiative. This is referred to as converged media. The same thinking has led to the recent surge in ‘native advertising.’ Sites such as Buzzfeed, Crave and Forbes are capitalizing on the opportunity to mobilize their lean but hungry editorial teams to create paid content for brands that lives alongside the site’s original content.”

Michael Brito helps transform brands into media companies by implementing content strategy, scaling community management and integrating paid, earned and owned media. Brito is the author of “Your Brand, The Next Media Company.”

The PR Pro: Lisa Buyer

Content PR Secrets: How to Optimize Events

Lisa Buyer calls for brands to look at events as opportunities to attract record engagement – from those attending and those not attending by “including the media, bloggers, and high influencers.” Buyer recommends thinking of an event like a journalist, and looking for every opportunity to broadcast an event. Spread the buzz of any event by “optimizing, socializing and publicizing” through live tweeting, liveblogging, video interviews, image sharing and more.

“Whether it be a conference, grand opening event, product launch, or some other gathering, there’s a lot of opportunity that can be found in news-jacking your own event. Plus, strategically curating images and videos to publicize events can also create a great social PR library and historical timeline … The trick is to start the process before the event, keep it going throughout the live experience, and then continue on after everyone’s gone home.”

Lisa Buyer, author of “Social PR Secrets,” is the president and CEO of The Buyer Group. Buyer was named one of the Top 40 Digital Strategists for 2013.

The SERP Slayer: Ric Dragon

Case Study: Ford Company Taking Content Seriously

Social media presence and content creation are major initiatives. Ford has been a household name since 1903, and Ric Dragon takes a deep dive into Ford’s content marketing strategy, focusing on the fact that advertising and content are separate entities and sharing insights from Scott Monty, Ford’s global head of social media. Dragon writes:

“Content is playing a key role (in Ford’s marketing and social media campaigns). As Monty told me, ‘Our marketing is moving away from a campaign mentality, to an “always-on” mentality. That requires a lot of content.’”

Ric Dragon  is CEO and chief strategist for DragonSearch, a leading niche player in Internet marketing. He is the author of Dragonsearch Online Marketing Manual and Social Marketology.

The SEO-Minded Media Manager: Virginia Nussey

SEO Content Curation in Post Panda World

Finding the time to invest in a content marketing strategy can be a challenge for small and midsized businesses that manage their own media. For businesses looking to more content without sacrificing quantity, Virginia Nussey shares guidelines for curating content. By curating content properly (repackaging it with added value), businesses can increase publishing frequency by generating relevant content with SEO ranking potential. Nussey writes:

“Text should be unique – duplicate content offers a website no value. Google filters duplication from search results. Readers are unlikely to read duplicate content or share it with their networks. A general length guideline is 200+ unique words of editorialized content per curated story.”

Virginia Nussey is Bruce Clay, Inc.’s content manager. She has worked for the company since 2008 as a writer, blogger, industry reporter and communications strategist.

The Video VIP: Alyce Currier

6 Steps to Help You Build a Constant Video Stream

Video is integral to content strategy. According to Bruce Clay, the importance of video is only going to increase in 2014. More than ever can content marketers make use of Alyce Currier’s tips on creating quality, consistent videos. Currier shares how to maximize your production, remove creative barriers, schedule effectively, build trust and more. Currier writes:

“Just like blogging, video isn’t something you should do once and then be done with. To make it work, you need to figure out how to make video over and over again … Don’t start with your front page video! Instead, address some smaller friction points with video so you can experiment with lower-pressure content. For example, answer a support question that you get all the time, or make a video to accompany a blog post.”

Alyce Currier is the content strategist at Wistia. Discover more video production, marketing, and concepting tips from Currier in the Wistia Learning Center.

The Social (Media) Butterfly: Kristi Kellogg

Who’s an Influencer?

Kristi Kellogg explains why social influence scores matter and breaks down how Klout and Kred — two leading apps that measure social influence — work. Kellogg writes:

“Influence is determined by a myriad of engagement factors, including shares, mentions, likes, retweets, number of followers, and quality of followers. It’s not, however, a race for followers — a high Klout or Kred score comes from quality of interaction, not quantity of interaction.”

To learn more, see how to use Klout and Kred for improved online interactions.

Kristi Kellogg is a content writer at Bruce Clay, Inc., journalist, and community manager. Her articles appear in newspapers, magazines, and across the Internet. Get the whole story at www.KristiKellogg.com.

The Viral-Minded YouTube Strategist: Jordan Armstrong

Connecting Brands and YouTube Stars

Jordan Armstrong reveals his strategy for earning traffic on videos. Armstrong recommends that brands identify YouTube stars in your niche and working with them, and therein tapping into their already-established network. Armstrong explains:

“Companies and content creators/video publishers must work together in the right way. It’s the company’s job to creatively seek opportunities for YouTubers. It’s the YouTube publisher’s job to consistently create authentic and engaging content for their viewers. YouTubers who focus on working with the right companies and who stay open-minded about new opportunities always set new trends. Work with the right influencer(s) in your vertical … Focus on your marketing and identifying those YouTubers.”

Jordan Armstrong is a YouTube strategy expert, marketing consultant and entrepreneur.

The Data-Driven Content Writer: Chelsea Adams

How to Save Your Marriage with Content Marketing Strategy

Chelsea Adams shares her belief that the tenants of a successful marriage are the same tenants of successful content marketing. Learn how this creative view of content marketing can lead to a healthier content marketing campaign characterized by communication, authenticity, ethical behavior and goal setting. Adams asserts that Internet marketers need to:

“Realize how completely human content marketing is, and that every aspect of it needs to be approached with a “by humans, for humans” mentality.”

Chelsea Adams is a senior content writer at Bruce Clay, Inc. and SMX liveblogger.

The SEO-Focused Photographer: Trent Partridge

How a Fashion Gig Got Me Started with Image Marketing

As both an Internet marketer and a photographer, Trent Partridge shares his unique insights on optimizing photos so they top the SERP. Partridge shares his proven strategy for optimizing images and the results of one of an image campaign for a South Beach fashion show:

“Overall the organizers saw 23% of visits coming from image search, 10% from external links, and the gain of two power clients who said they found the organizers either through image search or an external link.”

Trent Partridge has been in the Internet and social media marketing industry for more than 14 years. Partridge is the author of “Internet Marketing for Music Artists, Models and Entertainers” and “MyPropFolio Social Media Workbook.”

The Persona Whisperer: Adam Sutton

Targeted Persona Strategy Lifts Sales Leads 124%

The better you know and understand your audience, the better you can tailor your content (and campaigns). When you’re looking to generate and convert leads, persona research is key. Sutton outlines the basics of persona research and shares the results of a case study. Sutton writes:

“Content quality is in the eye of the beholder. You have to understand the audience before you can “wow” it with great blog posts, white papers and webinars.”

Adam Sutton is a senior reporter with MarketingSherpa, a research firm specializing in tracking what works in all aspects of marketing.

If you want to take your content marketing strategy to the next level, “Content Marketing Strategies for Professionals” is the book for you. Got a content marketing question that just can’t wait? Share it in the comments, and one of our contributing experts will answer.

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