Golden Advice from #ContentMarketingShow 2014

Concise nuggets of sage advice from this year’s Content Marketing Show

1. How to Engage with Bloggers – Marcin Chirowski from EF English Town

Problem: Bloggers. “They’re super overwhelmed. Offers, Press releases. Too much. Can’t  respond or filter everything they’re sent.”

Solution: “You’ve got to be honest with those bloggers. Essentially, you need to be very genuine. Start with connecting with them on social. Before you ask them to do anything, listen to what they have to say.”

Three stages of relationship building.

1. Connect on social – easiest option.
2. Arrange meetups, conferences, events.
3. 1-to-1. Meet with them as a brand, individually.

Top tips from Marcin:

• Work with locals. You need their knowledge, language skills and connections.
• Engage before and after your blogger event.
• Be exclusive with the bloggers you work with. “Don’t blast them with emails.”
• Stay connected with bloggers after event.
• Involve bloggers’ audience – use paid social if need be.
• Remember: “There are two kinds of projects: those that exist to create connections, and those that don’t.” Seth Godin

2. Motivational Content Stories from Chelsea Blacker

• Content doesn’t matter if you can’t connect it with ROI.
• When researching, get on the phones. It’s so much harder for publishers/researchers to say no when you’re on the phone.
• Find a universally appropriate angle for your content.
• Get professional researchers involved.
• Think of publishers as partners. Involve them and they will buy in to your project.
• Help internal staff become experts. They’ll work harder for you if you help them.
• Hire experts to help spread the messages you want to communicate. Want to write about nutrition? Hire a nutrition writer.

3. Charlie Williams - Planning Your Content Strategy

• A lot of people have websites but no content strategy – whoops!
• Always ask yourself: Why are we making this content?
• Use the “Five Whys” when creating your content – prevent presumptions.
• WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM YOUR CONTENT? Do you want sales, links, shares, subscriptions?
• Think offline as well – what content do you already have? Brochures, sales letters, etc.
• Put the users’ wants, needs, loves, goals first. “We” are not the target users.
• Find business experts, take them for a drink and ask them lots of questions – what do users actually want content to do? What are their problems, needs, wants? What are the barriers that stop them finding or using your product/service?
• Use SurveyMonkey, Polldaddy, SurveyGizmo to scale your surveys and gather lots of data very quickly.
• Talk to Customer Service and Sales departments. What are the questions/problems that keep popping up.
• Find out what research has already been done by your competition. Add to it. Make it better.
• Use the “Five Whys” again. And then use it again.

4. Lisa Myers – Getting the Most out of Your Creative Team

• It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you are. 
• If you change the way you look at something, what you look at will actually change.
• When you ask someone for their advice, you’re actually asking them what they would do based on their experience, which is not necessarily what is best for you. Always do what works for you.
• Attitude is the most important thing to consider when you’re recruiting creatives.
• Seize talent when you see it, not just when you need it. Be open to hiring people even when you don’t need them.
• Remember: Autonomy, Mastery and Responsibility.
• Give people room to create their own processes and do things their own way.
• Read Drive and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team for ideas on how to manage a creative team.
• Help unlock your team’s true creative potential, and achieve more together.
• Teach your creatives to disagree – teach them that it’s OK.
• Recognition costs nothing. High fives rock! Try it!
• Share the love. Weekly awards, cheers for peers – it’s the little things that make the difference.