Visual stories have structure. They have beginnings, middles, and ends. They are about people – or at least humanistic souls – and they argue for a theme, or a moral, or a point by adhering to this structure.Continue Reading
Author: Robert Rose
Robert is the founder and chief strategy officer of The Content Advisory, the education and consulting group for The Content Marketing Institute. Robert has worked with more than 500 companies, including 15 of the Fortune 100. He’s provided content marketing and strategy advice for global brands such as Capital One, NASA, Dell, McCormick Spices, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Robert’s third book – Killing Marketing, with co-author Joe Pulizzi has been called the “book that rewrites the rules of marketing.” His second book – Experiences: The Seventh Era of Marketing is a top seller and has been called a “treatise, and a call to arms for marketers to lead business innovation in the 21st century.” Robert’s first book, Managing Content Marketing, spent two weeks as a top 10 marketing book on Amazon.com and is generally considered to be the “owners manual” of the content marketing process. You can follow him on Twitter @Robert_Rose.
By robert-rose published
November 18, 2021
Why Visual Storytelling Demands More Than Just Images
By robert-rose published
November 3, 2021
Are Inbound Marketing and Content Marketing Still Different in 2021?
For the first time in a long time, I was asked what the difference is between inbound marketing and content marketing. My answer wasn’t as up-to-date as it could have been, so I did a little digging.
Gather round friends, it’s been a hot minute since we’ve talked about inbound marketing.
Almost exactly 10 years ago, my pal and CMI founder Joe Pulizzi wrote an article, Inbound Marketing Isn’t Enough. I was credited as a co-writer. Truth be told, we were on a bit of a rant then about the misperceptions of the content marketing approach.Continue Reading
By robert-rose published
October 21, 2021
3 Disruptions To Know To Prepare for the Future of Content and Marketing
Our annual content marketing research was released last week, and as CMI’s Stephanie Stahl wrote, “(C)ompanies are waking up to the power of content marketing due in part to the pandemic.”
I say, “Yes, and …” through the lens of our consulting and advisory work with more than 30 brands over the last 18 months.
In spring 2020, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella famously said, “We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.”
Since then, we’ve seen at least three major disruptions that help us spot where we may be headed. And identifying the implications of these disruptions may help you develop your strategies to be ready for the future of content and marketing.Continue Reading
By robert-rose published
October 20, 2021
Measuring Content Marketing Impact: How To Set Objectives That Matter
Welcome to the wonderful world of content marketing analytics.
I hear you saying, “I was told there would be no math in marketing.” The good news is that all kinds of tools will help you do all that math.
The bad news is none of these tools will help you understand what the numbers mean for your business.
In marketing, there are no standard rules for what defines success. The measurements – or metrics – that mean success at your company may indicate failure at mine.Continue Reading
By robert-rose published
September 15, 2021
Solve 3 Puzzles in 1 Content Strategy [Video Series]
Welcome to the wonderful world of puzzles.
Move the word “content” around to form marketing content, content operations, and content marketing, and you get a picture of how your company uses content.
But the secret to creating a clear picture – a content strategy – is that you’re not solving for one puzzle. It’s three. Still, the best way to solve them is to dump all three boxes of pieces onto the table. Then put them all together piece by piece by piece.
Only then can you see the whole picture of content strategy at your company.Continue Reading
By robert-rose published
August 18, 2021
Personal Content Experiences Matter More Than Personalized Content [Video Series]
It’s like the restaurant owner at that little Italian place down the road that you’ve been going to for years. You and your family walk in. They give you a huge greeting, take you to a front-window table, and bring over coloring books for the kids.
That’s personal. And it’s the best kind of marketing because it delivers you the optimal experience – one that keeps you coming back for more.Continue Reading
By robert-rose published
August 9, 2021
Try These Storytelling Structures To Build, Strengthen, or Repair Your Brand
Updated August 9, 2021
What are your brand’s stories? #ApostrophesMatter
One of the more controversial topics in marketing is how much control any company has in its “brand.” On one side of the argument are those who say brand control is an illusion. The thinking here is that not only do you not have control over how your brand is currently perceived, you never had any say in it.Continue Reading
By robert-rose published
July 28, 2021
Providing the Best Answer May No Longer Be the Best Strategy for SEO [Video Series]
Welcome to the race for position no. 1.
Except in this race, we are not the cars. We are not the drivers.
We are the racetrack. And we are competing to be the first choice for every car and driver.
The race is search. The most frequently chosen car? Google, which commands almost 88% of the global search market.Continue Reading
By robert-rose published
July 21, 2021
Beyond the PDF: Why B2B Content Marketing Demands an Evolution
Predicting the “death” of a media-related technology will get you in trouble most quickly. The next worse trouble-making prediction? Saying there will be no replacements at all.
Watch me try to stay out of trouble.
Our journey starts in 1995.
By robert-rose published
July 20, 2021
How To Make a Better Case for Content Marketing in 2021
It feels like we’ve been here before.
[Quickly checks archive.]
Ahhh, yes. We have. We’ve built the business case for content marketing here. And here. And here.
But here’s an interesting anecdotal tidbit for you. The overriding purpose behind establishing a content marketing strategy has changed as we round the bend of the third quarter of 2021. Continue Reading
