Take out your pumpkin carving knives, warm up a glass of hot apple cider, and pop on a scary movie — October’s arrived! In this week’s news, it’s already time to start thinking about next year. Plus, get smart and get the answer to the question you’ve been asking yourself since you got into this content marketing game: “Does content even actually work?” All this and more in this week’s edition of Thursday Trends.
Can You Measure Content Like You Measure Finances?
How to Score Your Content Assets for Long-Term Success via Content Marketing Institute
If you’re familiar with management accounting, then you know that you have certain key performance indicators (KPIs) you track on a regular basis. These KPIs indicate the health of your business, tell you which departments are thriving and which aren’t, and can help you predict future problems before they occur. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have these types of magic numbers in content marketing?
Well, you can. This article from Content Marketing Institute explains how to put together a KPI scorecard for tracking your content marketing and campaigns to achieve long-term success. If you pay attention to the numbers, then you’ll be able to make smart, data-based decisions regarding how you spend your precious content marketing resources. If you do it right, you’ll see a constant uptick in content marketing success over time.
What’s Your Content IQ?
Three Ways Content Intelligence Can Benefit Your Business via MarTech Advisor
Okay, we all know that being smart is smart, and being stupid is, well, not smart. So, there are definitely more than three ways being intelligent will help your business.
This article from MarTech Advisor, however, focuses on just three big ways content smarts improve business. In other words, this is the article that explains why you should put together the afore-mentioned content marketing scorecard. Your business will function better, you’ll reach a greater portion of your target audience, and you’re going to see the difference in your bottom line.
Have You Ever Wondered Why We Do What We Do?
Does Content Marketing Work? via WriterAccess
If you’re not measuring content-related metrics, then you’ve probably wondered on more than one occasion whether content marketing actually works or if you’re just wasting your time making a bunch of stuff called content.
Well, Lynn H. from WriterAccess is here to explain that content marketing does work. (Disclaimer: Lynn was paid to write the article and content marketing doesn’t do actual work, as defined in physics as the energy transfer which occurs when using external force to move an object over a distance.) Content marketing works for your business by helping you reach more of your target market, connect with individuals in the group, and to provide them with brand value. In turn, these customers become loyal because they feel like they develop a relationship with your business. So yeah, content marketing works.
It’s Already the Time of Year, When We Start Talking about Next Year
Top 3 Strategies for Elevating Your Content Marketing for 2020 via Forbes
Happy October! It’s the month when we carve, pumpkins, bob for apples, watch scary movies, and unfailingly begin thinking about the new year. “Why,” you may wonder, “should I care about 2020, when Santa hasn’t even made his 2019 appearance yet?”
According to this article from Forbes, it’s time to start planning your content strategy, so you’re ready to hit the ground running, after the ball drops. For 2020, they suggest putting voice search optimization on your radar, increasing your transparency, and making sure everything you post is interactive, immersive, or experiential. This Halloween, you might want to go trick-or-treating for new content ideas.
Jennifer G is a full-time freelance writer and editor with a B.A. in creative writing from the University of Montana. She enjoys researching and writing creative content to engage readers and developing professional voices for clients across all industries. She specializes in medical, health, veterinary, and financial writing. Having worked nearly thirteen years in finance, Jennifer applies her experience in the banking industry (marketing, social media management, consumer and commercial lending, customer service, accounts, and bookkeeping) to her writing work within the industry.
