When it comes to any trade, the best practice is to learn from the best. So, who better to learn about content marketing from than Joe Pulizzi — the Founder of Content Marketing Institute — when it comes to turning your content into revenue?
Joe’s keynote presentation at Pubcon Pro in Las Vegas today focused on becoming a content brand and all that it entails.
Nine Content Brand Takeaways from the Godfather of Content Marketing:
1. Find a niche where you can be the leading expert in the world
This is what Joe calls ‘The Sweet Spot.’ It’s located at the intersection between knowledge or a skill area that you have and your key customer’s pain point. He used the example of John Deere, where they created content around agriculture and technology specifically for farmer’s trying to improve their operation.
2. Develop your content mission
Not to be confused with a general statement like ‘To create content that improves the lives of every possible customer in every possible way,’ the mission statement should be simple, yet specific to your audience. This is called the Content Tilt.
Joe used an example from Indium Corp, an industrial soldering equipment company. Their target audience was engineers, and they created a simple, yet effective mission statement: ‘Helping engineers answer the most challenging industrial solder questions.’
Their content then stemmed from that mission, resulting 工作职能邮件数据库 in their ‘from one engineer to another’ content series. For your mission statement, follow this formula:
Determine your core target audience
Identify what will be delivered
Focus and define the outcome for the audience
3. Focus on one content type, platform and deliver consistently
One of the recurring and most important themes of Joe’s keynote was consistency. Consistency is what will make you successful. There are plenty of options for where and how to publish your content, but he created a simple formula for creating a base of content which the rest will naturally stem from:
The base =
1 content type
+ 1 main platform
+ consistent delivery
+ long period of time
You don’t have to do everything. Pick one type of content, on one main platform and NAIL it. Whether it’s on your blog, your podcast, in a newsletter — create a consistent cadence and experience.
Joe Pulizzi at Pubcon 2018 Photo by Lane R. Ellis
4. Don’t build your house on rented land
When you build your audience on a platform you don’t control, you’re taking a risk. For example, when Facebook changed their algorithm, brands that had build up millions of followers found themselves in a sticky situation. The same can go for any platform you don’t own.
It’s ok to build your audience on other platforms, but your primary call to action for those followers should be a subscription to an owned property or list. For example, if you have a healthy, engaged YouTube following, start adding calls to action for them to subscribe to your email newsletter or your own blog. This mitigates the risk of frequently changing algorithms making a large impact on your bottom line.
5. Build an audience of opt-in subscribers
If you have a blog, add a subscribing functionality. Direct users on your website to subscribe to your email list. Of course, keep in mind that you need to offer content that aligns with their needs to move the needle on these subscriber metrics. And then, deliver that subscription content consistently.
6. Create an amazing e-newsletter and a remarkable download
An engaged subscriber base is incredible and has great value for your business, but your job is to give them a reason to open those newsletters you’re sending. The key to this is great content. Does your newsletter not only look great, but offer interesting, relevant and helpful content that your subscribers actually want to read?
This can come in the form of a downloadable piece of content — maybe that’s an eBook, some industry research, or a helpful template that helps your readers solve a business problem. This kind of asset should always stem from your mission statement.