It’s Day 2 of Content material Advertising World 2011, and fairly frankly I’m exhausted. Yesterday featured a full slate of top-notch shows, adopted by a enjoyable evening of dinner, drinks and a two-hour Q&A with movie maker Kevin Smith (I solely caught the primary half, however as you might already know, I can verify Kev is not any fan of Southwest Airways).
We’ll see how a lot fuel is left within the tank for right this moment’s operating diary, with extra updates (hopefully) coming all through the day.
For a breakdown of yesterday’s excessive factors, take a look at my operating diary of Day 1 at Content material Advertising World.
Day 2
4:18 p.m.: The final session of the week simply obtained out (my apologies to Kevin Smith, who’s scheduled to shut the present. I like ya Silent Bob, however I’ve a airplane to catch.)
So only a fast replace to wrap issues up. I sat in on a session with Ann Handley (@MarketingProfs) and C.C Chapman (@cc_chapman), co-authors of Content material Guidelines. The 2 went excessive 10 excuses for not being prepared for content material advertising and marketing. “Content material isn’t for everyone – it ought to be, however you may not be prepared, and that’s OK,” C.C. stated.
The pair made some significantly attention-grabbing factors on the parable that content material advertising and marketing doesn’t apply to B2B organizations. (C.C. really referred to this notion as “full crap.”) As Ann (appropriately) put it, B2Bs really know extra about their prospects than anybody, and thus have a golden alternative to create content material that may really resonate with their respective audiences. So there!
It was an ideal present total, and I hope you loved the diary. See you subsequent yr!
3:04 p.m.: To begin off the afternoon, I made a decision to pop right into a session titled A Information to Social web optimization Technique for Content material Entrepreneurs. The presenter was Lee Odden (@LeeOdden), CEO at TopRank, who I’ve all the time been an enormous fan of.
The session was nearly stymied by slideshow failure (PowerPoint saved shifting from slide to slip by itself accord), however Lee dealt with it like a champ and got here via with some superior data. (For instance, do you know that there are wherever from 50 to 200 totally different variations of Google’s search algorithm operating someplace on the ‘Web at any given time? I didn’t.)
More often than not was spent wanting on the connection between social media interplay and web optimization. Lee talked about how many individuals are likely to bounce backwards and forwards between social media and search, and the way content material entrepreneurs can reap the benefits of this. For example, potential prospects might go on social media (LinkedIn, possibly) to ask their friends for product suggestions. Greater than possible, they’ll then take these recommendations and plug them into Google to analysis them and determine on which one to buy. After that, there’s probability they’ll then return to LinkedIn to debate the product they selected and why.
As Lee famous, current research present that 48% of shoppers use social media and search collectively when making shopping for choices – a chief instance of why search and social methods have to be linked. Every little thing must be optimized for each, he defined. And by every little thing, he means every little thing. “If it may be looked for, it may be optimized.”
There was much more to cowl within the presentation, together with some nice stuff on find out how to carry out an web optimization audit on your web site. Hopefully we will setup a podcast with him someday quickly to go over that matter in additional element, as I feel it may actually profit numerous corporations on the market.
1:45 p.m.: The lunch session for Day 2 was an attention-grabbing one. A handful of audio system had been every given seven minutes to debate a content-related matter of their selecting. I assumed everybody did a high-quality job, although my two favorites had been segments on content material curation and the connection between content material advertising and marketing and the Muppets (sure, you learn that proper).
Barbra Gago (@BarbraGago), strategist at Left Mind DGA, gave a intelligent presentation on the worth of curating content material that was made up nearly solely of … effectively … curated content material. The day prior to this she shot video of assorted content material consultants discussing the alternative ways entrepreneurs can reap the benefits of curated content material, which included OpenView’s personal Amanda Maksymiw, pictured proper. (Observe: The image doesn’t actually do justice to how large the screens had been. Quickly after the video ended, I posted a tweet asking if that was actually Amanda or the good and highly effective Oz.) Barbra then edited the footage collectively to make a cool five-minute video on content material curation – comprised solely of commentary generated by others on the present. Get it?
As for the Muppet section, simply go forward and phone Andrew Davis (@TPLDrew) of Tippingpoint Labs for the main points. It’s value it.
11:16 a.m.: I made a decision to attempt the manager monitor for the morning’s first breakout session. This one, titled Content material Advertising Metrics: Justifying Content material Advertising Spending, additionally featured a panel. A great a part of the dialogue targeted on the problem of getting firm buy-in and funding for content material advertising and marketing efforts.
Lynne Esparo, VP of Advertising with Nuance Communications, made the purpose that the ROI for content material needs to be actually buttoned as much as succeed, since whereas many senior managers haven’t any downside spending on buyer acquisition, they’re much much less prone to make investments the identical amount of cash into buyer retention. (Which is foolish when you consider it, because it prices a lot extra to acquire a brand new buyer than hold an current one.)
Cam Brown (@CamBrown1), CEO at King Fish Media, famous that the rationale for this (as ordinary) is that it’s so tough to measure the success of content material methods for current prospects (the place as measuring success based mostly on the variety of new prospects is clearly a lot simpler). A few of the metrics he makes use of to find out content material worth embody issues like elevated cart measurement (“Did we get them to begin shopping for extra?”) and the speed of product returns.
The panel additionally included content material guru and creator of The NOW Revolution Jay Baer, who shared his personal really useful metrics:
- Consumption metrics (readership measurements)
- Sharing metrics (social media, backlinking)
- Lead technology metrics
- Gross sales/retention metrics
He added that corporations which might be simply getting began with content material advertising and marketing ought to begin with a targeted method to make sure they get essentially the most worth and greatest outcomes. “What I discover with corporations that haven’t traditionally embraced content material, they sometimes fall within the entice of, ‘We obtained to be publishers!’ In order that they find yourself placing all their eggs in that one basket,” Baer defined. “However nobody desires to learn your large whitepaper and stuff like that. Content material success isn’t about pondering massive, it’s about pondering small.” Liked this quote, because it echoes the identical theme many have argued this week — do one factor very well first, then transfer on to the larger stuff.
He continued by citing the significance of getting your content material on the market on different websites, since extra widespread spots like SlideShare or YouTube actually have a better attain than your individual weblog. “Don’t be a content material Grinch,” he stated to these people who get queasy on the considered setting their content material free exterior of their very own websites. I’ve struggled with this myself, however from a pure branding perspective, I’ve grown to just accept that sharing is crucial. Simply make sure to institute methods for getting folks to return to your web site ultimately, even when the very first thing they see from you is hosted someplace else.
9:36 a.m.: I’ve been to numerous occasions like these, and attendees are all the time dragging somewhat bit on Day 2. CMW ’11 is not any totally different, as most of the people listed below are struggling to match the passion of Day 1 after a protracted day of classes (and a fair longer evening of partying, for a lot of). The sluggish begin was not misplaced on our host Joe Pulizzi as he welcomed the attendees to the primary panel of the day. “Congratulations all of you for getting up so early to see this superior presentation!” he hollered to the sleepy eyed lots.
Fortuitously, the opening panel was one, that includes Brian Clark (@copyblogger) of Copyblogger fame and Michael Stelzner (@smexaminer), founding father of SocialMediaExaminer.com. The 2 chatted about a few of the methods they’ve used to construct profitable companies on the again of content material. When requested about their components for fulfillment, Brian careworn the significance of staying “reader-focused and reader-friendly” when placing collectively your content material roadmap.
“We’re in an consideration battle,” he defined, citing the necessity to examine reader behaviors and eye research to assist hold that spotlight targeted on you. Brian famous the low-attention spans of readers, which is why usability is such a crucial a part of the content material creation course of. Michael agreed, saying {that a} high quality visible design and structure is crucial to their technique as a method of serving to the content material, web site and model stand out and entice readers and potential prospects.
The idea of design has really come up fairly a bit on the occasion, as many session leaders have pointed to the significance of being visually interesting when competing for consideration. This actually pertains to web site design, however from a content material perspective, creating articles which might be simply digestible usually comes all the way down to the usage of sensible structure and design practices. Brian talked about how easy ways like subheads and bulleted lists throughout the textual content go a great distance towards making your content material easier to devour. It additionally helps to keep away from what we former journalists check with as “an excessive amount of grey” on the web page (i.e. massive blocks of textual content with nothing to attract the reader’s eye – form of like this diary entry).
The 2 additionally mentioned a few of the methods they use for deciding what to put in writing about. Brian made the case that social media is likely one of the best advertising and marketing instruments at our disposal with regards to studying what individuals are serious about. Michael mentioned his staff’s choice for reader surveys as a method of producing concepts and matters. For these serious about surveys, one tip each panelists really useful was to incorporate open-ended questions – a significantly better method to study one thing new about your readers than in the event you merely present a number of alternative solutions for them.
It was begin to the day from two of the most effective within the biz, and On-line Advertising Institute’s Aaron Kahlow (@AaronKahlow) did a high-quality job moderating for a crowd that was clearly in want of a second cup of espresso.
For a breakdown of yesterday’s excessive factors, take a look at my operating diary of Day 1 at Content material Advertising World.
You could find extra info on content material advertising and marketing and editorial practices on the OpenView Labs web site. You can even comply with Brendan on Twitter @BrenCournoyer and discover extra from the OpenView staff @OpenViewVenture.
