Learn the 4 steps to creating a content marketing plan, with our content planning template and the RACE Framework

To help you develop a content marketing plan or review existing methods, I thought it could be helpful to share some of the planning techniques applied in our Content Marketing Learning Path. Take these 4 steps to create a content marketing plan today: Step 1 Review current use of content marketing. This is a classic SWOT analysis where we have given examples of problems with content marketing programs that are often forgotten. Step 2 Content marketing objectives and KPIs This uses an efficient planning table I have developed for summarising digital plans on one page. Here, as the example shows, it links objectives, strategies, and KPIs across the customer lifecycle shown as the RACE Planning approach. Step 3 Content Gap analysis…

How do you run content marketing campaigns for your business in 2021 when the competition is fiercer than ever?

Content marketing has been proven to produce amazing results for businesses. For instance, a good content marketing plan will generate you three times more leads at a 62% lower cost than traditional marketing. Coming into 2021, knowing that we face a difficult economic recession, now it's more important than ever to leverage content marketing to improve your ROI. [si_learning_path_module_shortcode_block id=139221] But there's a little problem: how do you run content marketing campaigns for your business in 2021 when the competition is fiercer than ever? Frankly, the first task you need to perform is to create a content marketing plan. With a good plan in place, you can take the first step to achieve content marketing success next year. Unsurprisingly, CoSchedule found that marketers who proactively plan their projects or campaigns are …

Google Search Console Insights combines Google Search Console and Google Analytics to introduce a new SEO platform for content marketers

If you regularly use Google Analytics and/or Google Search Console tools to evaluate and optimize your marketing (and if you don't - here's some starters for you!), you may have heard about this integrated new insights platform update from Google.

What is Google Search Console Insights?

Still in Beta mode, Google Search Console Insights is a new platform which allows content marketers an integrated overview of how their content is searched for/discovered (GSC) alongside insights about the audience and their behaviour (GA).

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[si_guide_block id="6160" title="Download Premium Member resource – Google Analytics setup audit" description="This popular template is indispensable if you're serious about the accuracy of your Analytics and applying data-driven marketing to improve results for…

Words aren’t enough, you need to step out of the box when it comes to engaging the audience

Do amazing marketing campaigns always come from huddling around a whiteboard as a team or working in isolation, or even worse staring at a screen for hours upon end - Agree or not? Definitely Not! I mean if this is the scenario, then how would every major social network, including Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter, make themselves better day in day out. You have to work on the go to come up with a fantastic idea. [si_guide_block id="85104" title="Download our Free Resource – Top 10 common content marketing mistakes" description="Our free content marketing mistakes guide reveals the most common mistakes, but more importantly, what to do about them. "/] If we talk about marketing in the earlier days, SEO was all about getting higher rankings by using all text, with no focus on visuals. This…

Webinars are great for generating quality leads, building trust with an audience, reaching more people, and converting more leads into customers

In an increasingly competitive market where consumers get hit with content from all sides, webinars allow you to offer them more value than other, more traditional forms of online content (blog posts, infographics, etc.). According to research from the Content Marketing Institute, 43% of B2B marketers use webinars platforms, and 55% use webinars as a key content distribution vehicle. Ascend2, meanwhile, has found that webinars are the second most effective type of gated content resource for lead capture purposes, trumped only by download offers, and Demand Gen Report has found that along with research reports and emails, webinars are the most effective tactics for lead nurture.

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Top tips for making a quick but effective content audit

One of the common themes I continually revisit in my work and writing is the proliferation and abundance of content. For brands looking to use content, and content marketing more specifically, to reach and engage prospects and customers, they have to think very carefully about the value and utility of their efforts and how this benefits their audience to generate action. There are many great resources and links to in-depth content audits, including Smart Insights’ 360 content marketing audit Quick Win. These are essential for anyone looking to conduct a detailed evaluation of a brand’s current content situation to make changes and recommendations. However, in this post, I’d like to highlight just five simple steps and techniques that I have personally found useful for making a quick assessment. This can often be useful for digital marketers looking to…

Leads are often hailed as the lifeblood of a business – and while not everyone will agree with that statement, leads are extremely important to the success and growth of your business

There are all kinds of lead generation activities, such as email marketing and social media marketing, but one of the top sources of leads is content marketing – especially, blogging. In this blog post, I’m going to talk about the reasons why blogging is one of the best lead generation tools for businesses – and if you’re convinced, make sure to check out the Quick Win here to learn all about how exactly you can use blogging for lead generation. [si_quick_block id="125491" title="Blogging for B2B lead generation" description="Check out this Quick Win here to learn about all of the different ways that you can use blogging to generate leads, grow your business in the process, and find…

5 techniques to use SEO data to make better content marketing decisions

Did you know that 91% of marketers use content marketing as an approach in their organizations?  It’s clearly gaining momentum. But not all is sunshine and roses. The same survey also showed that 48% of marketers believe that their content marketing strategies are either average, fair, or poor. Image via SEMrush That brings us to the question: What can marketers do to drive content marketing ROI? The answer lies in leveraging SEO data. To create an effective content marketing strategy, marketers need to take a closer look at their SEO insights.  In this article, let’s take a look at how you can amplify your content marketing efforts through SEO insights.

5 techniques…

How to write briefs that deliver great design work

In an increasingly crowded world, design work is key for businesses as they fight for mental availability through distinctiveness and clear branding. As businesses put design at the heart of their processes, there is a growing need to deliver great design briefs that work. In over fifteen years of writing design briefs, great ones, average ones, and bad ones, I can unilaterally state that if a design brief is rubbish, packed full of non-essential information, with gaps in critical parts and devoid of emotional hooks, even the best designers are going to struggle to do great work. [si_guide_block id="22067" title="Download our Business Resource – Website design and build briefing template" description="We’ve created this template to help client-side digital marketing and e-commerce managers brief a website design and build project to either an in-house team or to a digital/web design partner."/] No one starts to…

One of the best ways to keep people on your website longer and build up trust and conversions is through great content

Getting people to trust and ultimately buy from your business is a long process. It starts by getting people to visit your website, but traffic is not enough. You also need to give people a reason to stick around for longer so they can ultimately convert. One of the best ways to keep people on your website longer and build up trust and conversions is through great content. [si_guide_block id="85104" title="Download our Free Resource – Top 10 common content marketing mistakes" description="This guide gives recommendations for marketers responsible for managing and improving content marketing who want to develop a more strategic approach."/] In this blog post, I’m going to show you how to leverage content to keep people on your website longer.

Why it’s important to keep people on your website for…