Social Media & Content Marketing Strategy Planning for 2014

Originally delivered to the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council for the monthly Social Media Marketing Forum on January 31, 2014.

Includes a basic overview of content strategy, marketing, and planning; how to create an editorial calendar; how to brainstorm and repurpose content; and other planning tips and resources.

Transcript

1. Kaitlin Carpenter @suchthekaitlin Social Media & Content Marketing Strategy Planning for 2014
2. Our Goals for Today • Reviewing content strategy, marketing, and planning • Setting goals for your content • Creating your 2014 editorial calendar • Finding ideas • Creating and repurposing content • Additional resources and ideas to keep your content marketing fresh and effective @suchthekaitlin
3. “Content marketing is the only marketing left.” – Seth Godin @suchthekaitlin
4. @suchthekaitlin A Seemingly Effortless Mix of Content
5. We’re Going to Assume a Few Things . . . • You know content marketing is valuable. • It will take time, resources & dedication. • It needs to be relevant, high quality & channel-appropriate. • Your content needs to be technically accessible across devices. • You need to track its effectiveness the best you can. • There’s more you need to put together to be successful, including: ◦ Content style guide ◦ Audience personas ◦ Publication, distribution & promotion plans @suchthekaitlin
6. Content Strategy The “how” A repeatable framework for content development Don’t duplicate effort in silos @suchthekaitlin Content Marketing The “why” Creating & delivering content to drive consumer actions Planning The “whats” and “wheres” Content style guide Audience personas Ideation Your editorial calendar And more http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/10/content-strategy-content-marketing-separate-connected/
7. @suchthekaitlin
8. Setting Goals for Your Content • Start with your organizational goals • Visualize the best possible outcome • Refine it into something you can track • Break into monthly or quarterly focuses • Test & optimize @suchthekaitlin
9. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” @suchthekaitlin
10. @suchthekaitlin Creating Your 2014 Editorial Calendar Ideas Structure with time & topic-based breakdown Align multiple tactics Form mini-campaigns Accountability Assign responsibility Avoid redundancy Goal Alignment Start with organizational marketing calendar Work toward organizational goals Define direction of your content
11. @suchthekaitlin Creating Your 2014 Editorial Calendar • Tools • Templates • Structure: ◦ Post type ◦ Topic • What if there’s breaking news? • Keep backup posts • Schedule regular brainstorms
12. @suchthekaitlin Creating Your 2014 Editorial Calendar Monday Guest Blog (type) Recipes (topic) Wednesday Advice & How- Tos (type) Health (topic) Friday Video Case Study (type) Chefs (topic)
13. @suchthekaitlin Creating Your 2014 Editorial Calendar S M T W T F S Tweet Facebook Podcast Email Frequency: Days of week and time of day
14. @suchthekaitlin http://www.pamorama.net/2013/11/03/essential-content-marketing-editorial-calendar-template/
15. @suchthekaitlin http://www.pamorama.net/2013/11/03/essential-content-marketing-editorial-calendar-template/
16. @suchthekaitlin http://www.pamorama.net/2013/11/03/essential-content-marketing-editorial-calendar-template/
17. “Meticulous planning will enable everything a man does to appear spontaneous.” -Mark Caine @suchthekaitlin
18. @suchthekaitlin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDSc0V3AEnk
19. Finding Ideas • Play to your strengths • Start with what you know • Keep an idea bank • Ask questions • Answer FAQs • What’s #trending? @suchthekaitlin http://www.copyblogger.com/get-ideas/
20. Finding Ideas • Monitor your industry & competitors • What’s your “Purple Cow”? • Answer these three questions: ◦ What questions is no one in your industry willing to answer? ◦ What does nearly everyone disagree with you about? ◦ What do you believe will happen in the future that other people consider impossible or unlikely? @suchthekaitlin http://www.copyblogger.com/get-ideas/ http://sisarina.com/blog/you-die-what-happens-to-your-business
21. Creating & Repurposing Content @suchthekaitlin “4-1-1” http://www.copyblogger.com/influencer-plan/ • Define your repurposing rule ◦ Turn top content into feature emails ◦ Make it a series ◦ Follow up on previous content (and link back) ◦ Refresh something that had traffic/impact • Use a content ratio, like the 4-1-1 by Andrew Davis, author of Brandscaping Content from influencers, Relevant to your audience Sales Content Sales
22. Let’s brainstorm @suchthekaitlin
23. Additional Resources & Ideas • Things you can do today ◦ Put your blog or channel URL in your email signature ◦ Finding influencers: wefollow.com, muckrack.com, klout.com ◦ Connect your content and keep your audience engaged. Link to related content, “other articles you might like”, subscribe to our email, you might like to download this whitepaper, etc. • Track your success ◦ Track clicks (Google URL Tracking tool builder, Bit.ly, Ow.ly, Buff.ly etc.) @suchthekaitlin
24. Additional Resources & Ideas Cont’d • Don’t reinvent the wheel. There are some great resources out there, including: ◦ Content Marketing Institute: http://contentmarketinginstitute. com/2013/06/essential-content-templates-checklists/ ◦ Copyblogger.com ◦ Contently.com ◦ Onboardly.com ◦ Bufferapp.com ◦ Hubspot.com ◦ Moz SEO guide: http://moz.com/blog/the-web-developers-seo- cheat-sheet-2013-edition ◦ Content strategy overview: http://www.imediaconnection. com/content/33363.asp#singleview @suchthekaitlin
25. Thanks! Questions? @suchthekaitlin