What keeps you up at night about your content marketing program? I’ll bet one of your top concerns is how to prove its value to the company.

There’s also a good chance other stress-inducing concerns include your tech stack and/or your team. Well, guess what? Your peers – even at brands lauded for their content approach – struggle with the same issues.

At the recent Intelligent Content Conference, Robert Rose, CMI’s chief strategy advisor, questioned the leaders of notable content brands about how they tackle the issues. Their advice during the keynote panel Let’s Get Real: What Does It Take to Run an Enterprise Publication may help you take on your tough challenges – and maybe even get some sleep.

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“We’re in the middle of a believability crisis.”

On the surface, author Rohit Bhargava’s observation in the keynote talk of CMI’s virtual ContentTECH this year doesn’t bode well for content marketing.

After all, to attract and retain an audience, we need people to believe the content we’re creating.

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How do you define content? Does everyone on your team agree with your definition? Do the people on other teams define content the same way?

Sure, there’s a dictionary definition for content (in fact, multiple definitions for multiple usages). A Wikipedia entry offers two slightly different definitions in its first two sentences.

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Is there anything left to say about how to put together a content calendar?

Between Content Marketing Institute writers and guest contributors, we’ve covered basic content calendar tips (including templates and examples) thoroughly over the years.

But as your organization’s content marketing maturity increases, you may outgrow your existing approach.

How will you know?

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You’ve almost certainly heard this quote: “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.” But do you know who said it?

Turns out, a lot of people. Steve Jobs attributed it to Pablo Picasso. A quick Google search shows variations attributed to many thinkers of varying levels of fame, including:

• Igor Stravinsky – “A good composer does not imitate; he steals.”
• William Faulkner – “Immature artists copy, great artists steal.”
• T.S. Eliot – “The immature poet imitates and the mature poet plagiarizes.”

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Have you hit that moment in the holiday season yet?

You know, when the fairy dust has settled to the floor next to bits of dried pine needles, crumbs of joyously consumed (now vaguely regretted) treats, and the hair of the dog that may or may not have bitten you (but almost certainly needs a walk).

I tend to get that bah-humbug feeling a couple of days before the new year brightens things again. If there’s one thing that never fails to cheer me, though, it’s unsolicited advice.

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How often do you read the weekend posts on Content Marketing Institute the day they’re published? We can tell from traffic the answer is “sometimes” for many of you.

Before I joined the CMI editorial team in September, the same was true for me. The daily alert went to my work inbox, which I monitored on the weekend only for urgent communications. Most of the time, as valuable as the CMI articles are, they didn’t qualify as urgent.

Instead, like many of you, I reviewed them when my attention shifted back to work.

So, it should come as good news that starting this month we’ll help free up your inbox on the weekends.

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Still feeling frustrated by your content marketing program? Trust me, you’re not alone.

Yes, nearly 65% of B2B marketers report they’re having more success with content marketing this year compared with last, according to the latest CMI research. Taken with last year’s similar result, that’s a positive trend.

But let’s take a moment to acknowledge the 35% who haven’t gotten there yet.

And to admit that “more success” doesn’t mean our collective frustration is resolved.

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