Ann Gynn edits the CMI blog. Ann regularly combines words and strategy for B2B, B2C, and nonprofits, continuing to live up to her high school nickname, Editor Ann. Former college adjunct faculty, Ann also helps train professionals in content so they can do it themselves. Follow Ann on Twitter @anngynn or connect on LinkedIn.
Creating inclusive content doesn’t require your brand to make a major statement on social justice or take a big stand on a hot topic.
It does require you to think differently, recognize what you don’t know, and use words more purposefully. But the extra effort is worth it.
A digital-first content marketing strategy doesn’t mean digital only.
That’s the lesson from TD Ameritrade Institutional (TDAI) and its content agency, Imagination, which were recognized as the Best Content Marketing Program in Financial Services by the 2020 Content Marketing Awards. (TD Ameritrade was acquired by Schwab in fall 2020.)
Most content marketing teams are small.
About half of B2B and B2C marketers report content teams of one or fewer full-time employees, according to CMI’s annual research.
With few hands on the content marketing deck, everything your team does should perform.Continue Reading
No one could have predicted 2020, so why should content marketers spend time thinking about what might happen in 2021?
2021 is going to arrive – no matter what COVID-19 is doing (or not doing) – before you know it. And you need a plan that lets you prepare as best as possible for the year ahead.
We asked this year’s Content Marketing World presenters for their top 2021 predictions. Interestingly, their forecasts have evolved from the standard (i.e., more virtual reality, growing role of voice, more selective audiences) to reflect the effects of 2020.
Challenging times can mean challenging budgets.
In CMI’s recent B2B research, 69% of respondents expected budgets to stay the same or decrease through the end of 2020.
No matter what happens with content marketing budgets, one thing looks certain: Organizations will scrutinize every dollar spent in 2021.
Once upon a time, measuring content marketing success was a challenge because it relied on assumptions and fuzzy conclusions.
The birth of the digital world – where many aspects of content marketing could be tracked and measured – was supposed to change that. It did, kinda. But it created a new problem. There’s now so much that can be measured, not everyone agrees on which numbers matter the most.
Should you let content marketing “rules” rule your content marketing?
That’s a resounding no from 23 experts presenting at Content Marketing World 2020.
But they aren’t advising you to break the rules just because you can. Breaking rules successfully requires thinking and exploration. Here is their carefully considered advice on which content marketing “rules” are crying out to be broken.
What do you do when your usual business model can’t work?
These three organizations turned to content marketing.
One found a viral hit when it promoted its new business service model.
Aristotle had it right:
“Quality is not an act, it is a habit.”
At least that’s what you can conclude from the advice of Content Marketing World 2020 presenters who shared things to improve the quality of your content marketing.
Are your audiences and teams seeing things?
If not, your content marketing won’t be as successful as it could be.
The CMI blog’s top five articles on visual content illustrate the value of “see-able” content, whether the viewer is a search engine, audience, or content team member. (This is the last in our summer series highlighting the top five articles based on our site categories.)
