Did you watch this year’s Emmy awards? I slogged through it in hope of finding some inspirational messages about storytelling.

I came away disappointed, save for this gem from Alex Borstein, who won best supporting actress in a comedy for her role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Alex told a brief yet poignant story of her grandmother “Nudgy,” who escaped near-certain death in a Nazi concentration camp by asking one question: “What happens if I step out of line?”

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Editor’s note: Technology is essential to content marketing success. But the complexity around tech selection and use often leaves businesses struggling to keep pace with innovation. To bring clarity and understanding, we’re hosting a series of conversations with thought leaders in this space.

Marketing automation is often viewed as a panacea for all of a content marketer’s greatest challenges. After all, these solutions offer tremendous potential to scale your content creation and delivery, engage audiences at the precise moment of intent, continually track and optimize your content’s performance, and even integrate with artificial intelligence technology to provide added insights to shape your strategic decision-making.

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Editor’s note: Technology is essential for content marketing success. But the complexity around tech selection and use often leaves businesses struggling to keep pace with innovation. To bring clarity and understanding, we’re embarking on a series of conversations with thought leaders in this space.

Generating demand for your products and services is what great content marketing is about. But it’s not necessarily easy. Delivering high-quality content that drives action takes a lot of time and a consistent effort. With so much competition around, promising leads can suddenly drop off your radar – and out of your purchase funnel – at any given moment for a zillion reasons.

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Editor’s note: If you don’t evaluate its effectiveness, how do you know your content’s value? That’s why we’ve updated this guide to help you measure your content marketing program.

No matter how creative, memorable, or popular your content is, every asset will be judged by the impact it makes on your business’s bottom line.

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Editor’s note: The essentials of content marketing always evolve. That’s why we’re updating our go-to how-to guides on strategy, planning, and creation. Today we refresh the distribution version. And the next – and final – one is measurement. 

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.

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Editor’s note: Content creation isn’t simple. That’s why we brought back this guide with new resources and helpful reminders for inspiration and implementation.

In 1995, Steve Jobs was interviewed by Robert Cringely for the PBS documentary The Triumph of the Nerds. The future Apple CEO reflected on the notion that generating big ideas isn’t the same as bringing 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.”

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Editor’s note: A strategy without a tactical plan is useless. We’ve updated this guide to make it easier to develop or enhance your implementation planning. 

Unless today is your first day as a content marketer, you’re aware of how essential a documented strategy is to achieving content marketing success. It’s one of those mantras you’ve heard being chanted again and again throughout every corner of the industry until you simply can’t help but accept it as truth. It really is that important.

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Editor’s note: A successful content marketing program starts with a documented strategy. We’ve updated this guide to help you with the latest resources – and still essential criteria – for crafting a strategy. 

Anyone who grasps the fundamentals of content marketing knows that the concept isn’t all that complicated – consistently provide something of relevant value to your target audience in the hope they ultimately will return the favor.

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