Though virtually every business, in any industry, stands to benefit from incorporating content into its marketing arsenal, it’s not exactly a discipline that can be managed with anything even remotely resembling a one-size-fits-all approach. With myriad options, considerations, and choices to be made for every content marketing effort, it can be a challenge for anyone to be confident that they’ve found the right content strategy to meet their unique business goals and editorial missions.

CMI asked a few of the experts who will be presenting at this year’s Content Marketing World to share their answers to the question, “What are the first strategies/tactics you recommend for new clients who want to get started with content marketing?” Here are their recommendations for getting a content strategy right from the start:Continue Reading

When it comes to measuring marketing effectiveness, virtually every content marketer and brand defines success in its own terms — based on its own preferred benchmarks, tools, and adopted formulas, as well as its own strategic goals and mix of content formats. But though industry-wide measurement standards may remain elusive and subjective, content marketers function under one uniting principle: that, in the eyes of their executives, their efforts will be judged against their ability to prove ROI.Continue Reading

We all have our favorite content tools that we use to keep up with the demands of online marketing and brand storytelling. But with new technologies and platforms coming on the scene practically every day, even the most digitally savvy pros can use a recommendation now and then to help them choose which ones are worth working with, and which ones are best left in iTunes’ land of misfit apps.

CMI asked a few of the experts who will be presenting at this year’s Content Marketing World to share their answers to the question, “What new tools and/or platforms have you discovered that are making your work as a content marketer more creative, interesting, enjoyable, or easier?“Continue Reading

There has been talk in our industry about the benefits of doing “less,” i.e., whether it is a good content marketing strategy to develop fewer content pieces overall, or to create content for fewer platforms, in order to conserve resources and place greater emphasis on each content effort you are producing. In terms of content marketing best practices, it’s a topic that has recently inspired some passionate debate among our contributors and readers (as well as from CMI’s own Joe Pulizzi).

We thought it would be helpful to add more voices to the conversation, so CMI asked some of this year’s Content Marketing World speakers to weigh in. In addition to sharing their perspectives on the issue, our experts also provided some recommendations to help content marketers keep up with the constant demand to produce “more, more, more.”Continue Reading

One of the most exciting characteristics of content marketing strategy is also one of its biggest challenges: It’s always evolving, and often at breakneck speed. New platforms and channels launch practically every day. New data produces new insights, which in turn spur the development of new tools and technologies for more effective content creation and delivery.Continue Reading

We get it — you’re overworked. There are three new projects on your desk that have to be done RIGHT NOW. Your department is a few Tweets short of weekly mandates, and everyone else is on vacation. The CEO wants his own blog, but he can barely type the word “cat”.  And every time your boss needs something that involves writing — an email to the team, her quarterly report presentation to the C-Suite, a response to a negative Facebook comment, etc. — she turns to you, the content marketing person because, hey, “You’re just better at words than I am” — even if the task is nowhere near the job you were hired to do.Continue Reading

Industry conferences are among the most informative, engaging, and entertaining of all business-related experiences. But you will certainly miss out on all the valuable learning and networking opportunities they offer if you have trouble finding the venue, can’t keep up with trending discussion topics, or get overly stressed about the work that’s piling up on your desk while you are away.Continue Reading

While content marketing, as a discipline, truly began long before the advent of digital publishing technology and social media, the tools we have at our disposal today have provided us with content options that are virtually as unlimited as our imaginations.

So what tools do the experts consider essential to their processes for strategic content planning, creation, and management? We asked a few of our Content Marketing World speakers to share  a few of their top recommendations. Continue Reading