Author: Jodi Harris

Jodi Harris is the Director of Editorial Content & Curation at Content Marketing Institute. As a content strategy consultant, Jodi helps businesses evaluate their content needs and resources; build infrastructure and operations; and create compelling stories to be delivered across multiple media channels and platforms. Follow Jodi on Twitter at @Joderama.

Company News

By jodimedia published August 8, 2018

Why You May Want to Rethink Data, Privacy, and Content

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Did you follow the #PlaneBae saga as it jumped from social media channels to national news item? If so, you saw the turn it took from lighthearted love story to a much darker reminder of the unexpected ways our digital footprints affect our (and others’) lives.

Unwanted social media exposure is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to digital privacy concerns. With health insurers peeking at our online activities and AI algorithms analyzing online behaviors to assign everything from article preferences to loan or job suitability to prison sentences, protecting personal data is something everyone should be concerned with.

This concern should also extend to the work we do as content marketers. Changing privacy laws in Europe and, now, the U.S. have given us compliance-driven motivation to be more vigilant and transparent in our handling of consumer data. (See the privacy law recently passed in California.) But it’s the trusted relationships we hope to build with our audiences that give us even more compelling reasons to care about those who willingly share their personal lives with our brands.

Company News

By jodimedia published July 25, 2018

Does Your Health Care Content Hold the Cure for Customers in Crisis?

health-care-content-customers-in-crisis

In 2015, I arrived in Cleveland for Content Marketing World in good health and good spirits, full of energy and excitement about the week to come. A few hours later that enthusiasm turned to panic, as my focus completely shifted to a sudden, sharp pain that woke me in the middle of the night in my hotel room.

Within 12 hours, I personally learned some lessons about the role health care content marketing can and should play in the lives of consumers. If your health-related organization is looking to improve your content marketing prognosis, here are some ideas based on my experience of tracking down vital information in a situation I never anticipated.

Company News

By jodimedia published July 11, 2018

How Content Can Ring Up a Better Retail Experience

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If you want to significantly disrupt consumer shopping patterns, it doesn’t hurt to invent a sales holiday.

That’s just one of the many retail marketing takeaways to learn from the success of one of retail’s most powerful forces of nature: Amazon. The so-called “everything store” launched its members-only one-day shopping extravaganza, Prime Day, in 2015 and has continually chipped away at the post-Thanksgiving Black Friday’s sales supremacy.

Content Creation / Content Marketing Examples / Content Marketing World / Social Media / Video

By jodimedia published June 22, 2018

How to Take Your Travel Content on a Better Trip

travel-content-on-a-better-trip Editor’s note: In case you missed this post last year, we’re bringing it back and adding some fresh content too.

I’ve heard there are people who believe that “getting there is half the fun.” But to me, everything that happens between my decision to leave my house and my lying on a beach chair with a fruity drink in my hand is just stress-inducing static and delayed gratification.

To reduce the friction I’m likely to experience when I embark on a trip, I rely on the advice and assistance that travel experts provide online. And, judging from the sheer number of content creators who operate in this space, I’m not the only one.

Content Creation / Content Ideas

By jodimedia published June 5, 2018

How to Train Your Brain to Be Creative: Lessons for Marketers

train-brain-creative-lessons-marketers

For many years, I worked alongside a talented content marketer who often insisted she just wasn’t “a creative person.” Though there was plenty of evidence to the contrary (I won’t embarrass her by sharing details), she refused to believe her brain was capable of generating big, innovative ideas or turning them into groundbreaking storytelling.

Rather than argue with her, I thought I’d prove her – and, by extension, any other marketer who thinks crafting imaginative, one-of-a-kind content is a task best left to “artistic types” – wrong once and for all.

Content Creation / Content Marketing Examples / Findings from CMI Research

By jodimedia published May 22, 2018

How to Win at Content Marketing [New Playbook]

2018 playbook - Cover

To the uninitiated, a content marketing initiative can seem like an old-school, Dungeons and Dragons-style quest. You continually roll the dice in hopes of earning enough trust, credibility, and experience to persuade your audience to embark on a journey alongside your brand.

Of course, performance should never be left to chance. Every creative asset you produce needs to be supported by strategic decisions – from crafting ideas into a cohesive message to selecting the content types and distribution formats that let your ideas work their magic. Choose unwisely and even your strongest content assets might fail.

Content Creation / Content Marketing Examples / Content Marketing Tools and Technology

By jodimedia published May 8, 2018

How to Build a Branded App (and Never Look Back)

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When was the last time you downloaded a mobile app that became an indispensable part of your daily routine? What about one with content so compelling you didn’t want to put it down?

Now, when was the last time that app came from a brand marketer?

Apps have become such a commonplace feature in our lives that we might overlook how much power they can wield – and how much branding value they can provide – when used strategically as a content marketing platform.

Measurement and ROI / Templates and Checklists

By jodimedia published April 23, 2018

Road Map to Success: Monitoring and Measuring Your Content’s Performance

roadmap-success-measuring-monitoring-content-performance No matter how creative, memorable, or popular your content pieces may become, every asset you create and share will ultimately be judged by the impact it makes on your business’ bottom line.

While it can be tempting to think about measurement only after all other tasks are complete, you should recognize by now how critical it is to have the right data on hand to inform every phase of your content marketing approach. That is why it’s a good idea to establish sound measurement practices from the start of every program, enabling you to track, analyze, and optimize your content’s performance on a continual basis.

Content Distribution and Promotion

By jodimedia published April 9, 2018

Road Map to Success: Content Distribution Essentials That Win Eyeballs

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No matter how much time and care you put into building your strategy, outlining your editorial plans and processes, or crafting persuasive, engaging, high-quality copy, your brand’s potential for success often lives or dies by your distribution and promotion choices.

Content Creation / Content Strategy / Managing the Editorial Process

By jodimedia published March 20, 2018

Road Map to Success: Creating the Content of Your Audience’s Dreams

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In 1995, Steve Jobs was interviewed by Robert Cringely for a PBS documentary, Triumph of the Nerds. During the on-camera discussion, the future Apple CEO reflected on the notion that generating big ideas isn’t the same thing as being able to bring them to life in a valuable way. As he said, “There’s just a tremendous amount of craftsmanship in between a great idea and a great product.”