Content is Currency

Developing Powerful Content for Web and Mobile

Jon Wuebben

• Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9781857885736
• eBook ISBN:
  9781473644601
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: E-Commerce
• Index: Business

In the digital age, content is no longer confined to the written page. It is spread across web and mobile, taking the form of podcasts, webinars, widgets, and blog posts. Powerful content tells the story of your product or business, but it means nothing if it's not written well, optimized for search and social media, and properly marketed. In Content is Currency content strategist Jon Wuebben explains the fine art of content development by utilizing the latest Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media Marketing (SMM) techniques, and provides you with the tools and strategies you need to get your online content noticed.

PART I

Content: It’s the Currency

CHAPTER 1

What Is Content Marketing, Why Do You Need It, and How Do You Maximize Its Effectiveness?

Now you know what to expect from Content Is Currency, but how will the lessons apply to your company? How can you capitalize on the information? It all starts right here, with the fundamentals of content marketing.

Readers of this book will no doubt reflect a wide range of online marketing capabilities, from the rookies who are starting their very first business to the more experienced marketers who are seeking a few new strategies or insights into the latest techniques. We’ll assume that most people reading this book are at the novice level, so as to not miss anyone. From what I’ve seen out there in the business world, gleaned from speaking, consulting, and working on websites, 80 percent of businesses know only a limited amount about web and mobile content and how it affects them, no matter what they may think they know. The good news is that there is an upside to being in this situation. Your biggest online success is in front of you!

In the past seven years, I have had Fortune 100 companies as clients, and even they have made mistakes with web content. Yes, it’s true. Just because you are large and well established doesn’t mean you have your finger on the pulse of content marketing. Number one on the list of challenges for these large companies? Not using metadata and keyword research correctly. Number two? Not believing in the power of social media. More to come on these points.

One of the first things we learn about website development is that simply building a website or establishing your social media presence does not ensure that people will come. You have to register your website with the search engines. You may need to open an account on Google Places. You’ll want to build inbound and outbound links. For your social networking activities, you’ll need to reach out to others in your community, provide value to the group, and stay involved. And yes, you have to create compelling, value-added content and get it distributed—smartly.

So, we’ve established what web and mobile content are and that you need them, but what is content marketing? Content marketing is the act of sharing tips, advice, and other value-added information as a means of converting prospects into customers and customers into loyal, lifelong, repeat buyers. Utilizing the power of opt-in permission to deliver content via e-mail, RSS feeds, social media channels, and other methods, your goal is to become a valued resource for hundreds and thousands of people who, in time, will want to buy what you sell. Over a period of weeks, months, and years, you’ll build a solid relationship with them and earn their trust. You don’t want to sell them once and never see them again. You want to make a friend—a friend who enjoys buying from you—for life.

So, there you go, plain and simple. That is content marketing in a nutshell. But, how do you make it work for you? Stay tuned … it’s all here.

Marketing in the Pre-Internet Days

It’s been said many times before in practically all the important online marketing books out there, but we need to mention it here as well: the historical context of this medium called marketing. What did companies use in the years before the Internet? Most common were “interruption” marketing techniques such as television commercials, radio ads, or direct mail pieces, which tended to annoy many people and were difficult to measure. Today, these traditional media vehicles, including print advertising, are in decline. And the reasons are self-evident: it costs too much and doesn’t connect with prospects as well as it once did.

Back in the day, the large corporations that owned popular magazines and newspapers were essentially database companies that collected detailed information about their subscribers; as a result of this power, they could get top dollar from companies that wanted to advertise. The best web and mobile companies are now doing the same thing, but with much more customer data—right down to the things they like to do in their spare time. It’s a marketer’s dream!

As you’ll see, content marketing is very different from the interruption techniques of the past, and involves delivering requested information with independent value that creates trust, credibility, and authority—and, in the end, more sales and more satisfied customers.

Content marketing is about doing lots of things right: having a blog and establishing a platform. Check. Having a social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other sites. Check. Providing free content in exchange for contact information. Check. Getting people on your autoresponder list and regularly sending them informative tips and advice about things that are important to them. Check that, too. In essence, you want to leave no stone unturned, showing up everywhere and anywhere your prospects may be hanging out online (and on their mobile devices, too). Wherever they go, there you will be as well, with their permission, of course. They won’t be able to miss you. And you won’t be able to miss them. Casting a big net that covers every area of your target sea will help you find all types of fish you’ve never seen or even thought you’d see. And that’s the key.

If you start to feel like a publisher with all this content marketing stuff, well, then you’ll know that you’re doing things right. Like it or not, everyone is a publisher in today’s business world. You business veterans out there, just take a look at all the marketing activities you have done up to this point—it feels a lot like publishing, doesn’t it? Like a magazine or television station, you need to produce content—all types of content—for your consuming prospects. Before, you were just a provider of products and services. Now, you are a trusted expert resource for your customers!

How do you create compelling content? By focusing on delivering relevant, valued information that people will notice. When you do this, you’ll generate trust, credibility, and expert status in your particular industry, and people will come to you when they are ready to buy. That’s it. Some people will be attracted to your content immediately. Some will only want the free stuff. Others will be “just looking.” And some will have the big bucks and want to spend it with you (hopefully).

And what about this thing called SEO, or search engine optimization? You may have heard it mentioned, but how does it fit into the content marketing world?

Search engine optimization is the practice of using a variety of techniques to improve a company’s ranking of all its content types on search engines. These techniques may include editing or adding to HTML code, working with site navigation features, employing linking strategies, and including compelling web page content.

The words and phrases you choose in your copy, the clips you choose for your videos, and the way you sound in a podcast all contribute to the overall picture of your web success. But you have to tag and optimize them so they don’t go unnoticed.

And what about SMO, or social media optimization? It’s equally important. Below is Wikipedia’s definition, which I think is solid¹:

Social Media Optimization (SMO) or Social SEO is the methodization of social media activity with the intent of attracting unique visitors to website content. There are two categories of SMO/Social SEO methods:

(a) Social media features added to the content itself, including: RSS feeds, social news and sharing buttons, user rating and polling tools, and incorporating third-party community functionalities like images and videos

(b) Promotional activities in social media including: blogging, commenting on other blogs, participating in discussion groups, and posting status updates on social networking profiles

It all starts with setting up your profiles on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other social media sites. SEO and SMO will be a big part of the content you develop. They are tools in your online marketing tool chest, and you’ll want to use them consistently so search engines and social media networks pick up your content. If you produce great content, but the search engines can’t “see” it or those in your social networks aren’t spreading it, well, that would just be a big ugly shame, wouldn’t it? Yep.

Why Do You Need Great Content?

Well, besides what we’ve already mentioned, great content ensures your long-term success and helps build your brand. What is brand building? It’s the notion of establishing a familiar presence, having a standard way of doing things, and establishing a certain level of confidence in the minds of your customers. They’ll always know what they’re going to get with you, and in return for that peace of mind they’ll spend their money with you. You need great content because great brands always communicate very well. They don’t just keep pace, they set the pace. And really well-produced web and mobile content can do that for your business. Think Starbucks. Think Apple. These companies are leaders for a reason. Through their powerful brands, they are champions of content and content marketing.

Effective web and mobile content also capitalizes on “pull” marketing techniques and the power of being where people are searching, which can clearly revolutionize your business, especially for those who are still operating from a “push,” or pre-web, strategy. Effective content is powerful because it’s one of the most important elements of Google’s search algorithm (as well as Bing’s and Yahoo!’s); if you produce content that the search engines deem important, they will reward you for it. And let’s not forget the social media networks and mobile devices. The same goes for them.

Content also makes you really interesting. It puts you in the driver’s seat. You set the pace for your industry. People come to you for editorials and feedback, and your content establishes you as an authority. The media will want you. Your clients will want you. People will retweet your tweets, “Like” you on Facebook, and give you a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon. They will want to come to your party. Doing content right is a no-holds-barred, one-way ticket to industry dominance.

And guess what? You usually get to name your price when it comes to selling your goods and services to these satisfied content consumers.

Maximizing Its Effectiveness—The Content Marketing Machine

In my seminars and talks, I frequently mention the “three pillars” of web content success: content, design, and usability. Essentially, these pillars are what your content says, how it looks, and its ease of use. This is a good place to start with what I call your content marketing machine, otherwise known as your total content marketing effort. It relies on certain inputs and steps that build upon each other and slowly but surely create a perpetual, automated lead-generation and business-growth mach...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I Content: It’s the Currency
• Part II Content for the Web
• Part III Content for Community and Mobile
• Index
• Footnotes