Summary: Content Marketing Strategies on #SEOchat

When putting your content marketing strategy together, what kind of things should you consider?

@shuey03: I like to first define who I am going to be speaking to. I split up my content into silos: potential customers – suspects we are already talking to – current customers – and then SEOs.
@NateClosser: Audience (what they want to know and what channel works best), Business Objectives, Where Your Authority Niche is.

@mitchmonsen: I’d say audience is the premier consideration for content strategy. Got to know who you’re after. Your content has to solve a problem. Does it fill a knowledge gap? Does it make something easier to understand?
@tannerpetroff: Definitely agree w/ @mitchmonsen. Daniel Tosh knows exactly how to reach his audience – most important. http://bit.ly/P8FEw9

@justacio: What content can you provide that will add value to your target audience. Sounds obvious but it’s often overlooked.
@shuey03: Right? don’t throw up content just for contents sake. It darn well better be good content or risk being beat up by the one they call Panda.

@kenjansen: Great resource Content Strategy for the web by Kristina Halvorson (book)

@kenjansen: Make a list of the FAQs and write content to answer them.

@dan_patterson: Just something to throw out there: content strategy also depends on the kind of content you’re using. Also to consider: is this content for the site itself or content that’s mainly meant for distribution? 2 very different things.

Once you determine the audience, how do you determine what types of content to build (video, graphics, etc)

@vinceblackham: Content audits are critical before doing any kind of content marketing. Know what works, don’t go blind.

@kenjansen: I write first and then add photos graphics afterwards as an update to the page.

@scott_dodge: Identify what was successful for others, and make it better. Great preso from @RossHudgens here: http://slidesha.re/HdHkqg .

@justacio: Also, what kind of subject matter experts do u have who will contribute on a sustainable basis? And how – video? Blog? Twitter?

@tannerpetroff: Find out what the audience is sharing or if there’s a gap in content you can adequately fill.

@shuey03: You also need to have content goals – For example: I want this to get X number of links or X number of mentions in roundups, etc.

‏@jenastelli “Content” is so broad – not only defining you audience, but figuring out where they hang out (+1 analytics, yay)

@scott_dodge: Definitely – work in the Digital Marketing and Measurement Model by @avinash – http://bit.ly/zB9Cio

What tools do you use to find out what your competitors are doing with their content marketing and if it’s effective or not?

@mattgratt: I use social crawlytics. Then I use screaming frog + majestic or OSE data.
@shuey03: What metrics do you look at to determine which piece of content is more successful than others?
mattgratt I look at social engagement and shares, comments, inbound links, and if I like it or not. (Last one is not scientific.)

@andrewseocom: I analyze the whole picture: competitors’ social, on-page and traditional media efforts. MajesticSEO and Blekko as well.

@mitchmonsen: Social signals are usually a good indicator of the content’s performance. http://sharedcount.com is good for that.
@andrewseocom: Although, social signals can be artificially inflated. Engagement is a better metric, IMO. By “engagement”, I measure number of comments on content itself, interaction on social channels, and even external links to it.
@yankeerudy: I would say engagement includes any additional resulting content – comments, RT w/comment, blog replies, etc.
@avalaunchmedia: Needs to be a legit combination of both. The other side of it too is how is that piece ranking? Is it ranking well for a competitive term? Is it sending traffic?
@mitchmonsen: In the end, all metrics can be gamed. It takes a good human eye to thresh out real performers instead of running on pure numbers.
@jessesem: Agreed. Social metrics aren’t engagement. Users buying your products or services is the real mark of success.
@shuey03: Revenue is one metric of engagement that cannot be faked.
@jenastelli: Ugh hate the term ‘engagement’ unless it means a ring on a finger. Usually I measure by shares of content url.

@jessesem: bit.ly is still the best.

@justacio: There is no perfect social metric. Measure yourself by comments, Likes or views & risk posting bombastic content w low value.

@mattgratt: I also do this for all of my competitors and create a “% popular” metric so I can compare across different competitor sites.

@dan_patterson: Don’t forget to check and see if the campaign actually produced REAL results. Shares are one thing, $$$ is even better. Naturally this depends on the goals of the site and campaign, but thought it was worth throwing in.

If you have a really killer piece you want to have go viral, what do you do to seed that content?

@mattgratt: Content goes viral in a community. Build relationships w/ people in that community before you publish and ask your new friends.

@jenastelli: Like sharing @inboundorg (hopefully someone else decides to share it before I do) & I tweet @ people I think will like it.

@andrewseocom: Seed the content by creating the content with virility in mind. Conduct interviews, use multimedia, build relationships. Involve others in the creation process. When it’s a collaboration, everyone is invested in the content’s success!

@mitchmonsen: Speak directly with those you want to share your content most. Automated outreach won’t seed as effectively.

@vinceblackham: Relationships and community push a good piece into something viral. You need good accts/friends as much as good ideas.

@tannerpetroff: Get the content in front of the “right” people who share in the right places. If it’s really killer, they’ll do the rest.

@shuey03: I like to ask others opinion on the content before it goes live… gets them bought into the piece & much more likely to share. I’m still seeing a lot of success using paid stumbles… they lead to more tweets, likes, and links!
@scott_dodge: Paid stumbles work pretty dang well. Reddit offers sponsored links as well.
@mattgratt: Reddit ads can do work for the right kind of thing – bacon, ron paul, narwhals, tech, etc.
@vinceblackham: Stumbleupon is still an excellent source for traffic. They eat up viral content.

@jessesem: Focus on creating content for long-term customers. Not enough people track engagement over months/years.

@jenastelli: In terms of seeding content, has anyone tried using Triberr? Curious to hear any experiences with it esp for B2B.

@vinceblackham: There’s a new blog post on @SEOMoz about FB promoted posts. Insightful. http://mz.cm/Mb3CqI

Any opinions/case studies on the types of content that goes viral most often? (video, infographics, memes, whatever)

@mattgratt: In b2b markets, cheat sheets, case studies, and templates all do pretty well.

@justacio: Video but that’s a tough nut for most to crack. Infographics are on fire lately and can be catered to a tighter niche IMHO.
@getSTAT: I think it really depends on the demographic. Video seems to go viral for the general population.

@ResponseMine: Infographics seem to be doing quite well at the moment because of the dynamic presentation.

@andrewseocom: Depends on the demographic. I’ve had success with “intstructographics” on Pinterest in the home/recipes category.

@andrewseocom: Great insights by @marketingsherpa about how to implement a solid content strategy: http://goo.gl/kthnP

What tools are out there to help with research and creation of content?

@justacio: Tools – creating quality video is shockingly accessible to masses. $1k for HD camera, a Mac w iMovie & you’re in business.

@mitchmonsen: Tools. This! http://bit.ly/NljBqr So awesome.

@vinceblackham: I like @paddymoogan’s custom Google Search to make sure I’m not duplicating content/ideas #infographics http://bit.ly/QcHZv4

@mitchmonsen: Screen capture and iMovie. Really all there is to it. Screencasts ftw.

@andrewseocom: ComScore (http://www.comscore.com/) is great for statistics if you’re building a graphic. Also, monitor referral traffic in Analytics during the promotion process, and give extra attention where needed.

@vinceblackham: Also, as @wilreynolds says, throwing a “how to” or “DIY” + “keyword(s)” into @ubersuggest pumps out tons of great ideas!

@mitchmonsen: My favorite super-secret tactic for idea generation is to look at the most popular questions on a topic on Quora.

@tannerpetroff: I use easel.ly for infographic creation. Have used other tools (& Photoshop) before, but this one is simplest for me to use.