Content marketing is all grown up. With 88% of B2B and 76% of B2C marketers saying their organization uses it, the art and science of content marketing have exploded over the past few years.
Instead of focusing solely on creating content, content marketers now spend most of their efforts on content distribution, analytics, and optimization. Moreover, a documented content strategy has become a major differentiator between content programs that work and those that don’t.
The reason for this is simple.
“Content marketing is sometimes ineffective because people don’t realize what it’s intended to do. Tell your teams who your target audience is, what they are creating, and your measure of success. If you don’t outline it, it’s not fair to expect people to shoot for the same target.” — The Role of Earned Media in Inbound Strategy
When developing your organization’s content strategy, it’s important to stay ahead of the tactics and tools paving the way for tomorrow’s success.
That’s why events like Content Marketing Institute’s annual Content Marketing World are important. With more than 80 sessions and workshops from around the world, #CMWorld packs a year’s worth of content inspiration into four days.
This year’s Content Marketing World kicks off on September 6 in Cleveland, Ohio, The main conference takes place Wednesday, September 7 and Thursday, September 8, book-ended on Tuesday and Friday with workshops and industry labs.
The decision to attend Content Marketing World is an easy one; however, choosing from their selection of panels and presentations is a different story.
While we’ll all be at Joe Pulizzi’s welcome address and enjoy keynotes by Mark Hamill and others, your unique #CMWorld journey will be determined by the individual sessions you attend.
To help you out, we’ve combed through the main conference schedule and chosen our 10 can’t-miss sessions at this year’s Content Marketing World.
Main Conference – Day 1 (September 7)
Content Strategy: Clarity, Constraints, and Common Sense
10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Anyone who caught Kristina Halvorson’s keynote at last year’s Content Marketing World or read Content Strategy for the Web knows this session is the perfect way to kick off day 1.
While content strategy has always been important, more brands are waking up to how important it is. Learn the difference between marketing strategy, content strategy and content marketing during this session, and find out what needs to happen before you start creating content.
How to Create and Manage an Influencer Marketing Program
11:35 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.
That voice you hear in your head telling you whether or not to purchase something? It’s most likely an influencer. The things you read and people you connect with online exert more influence in today’s marketplace than more traditional marketing channels.
The same is true for your customers. Gain your audience’s interest by gaining the interest of your industry’s influencers.
An influencer in his own right, Bryan Kramer will cover how to identify an influencer, incentivize them, and work together to build community and create content.
Social Video: How Companies are Succeeding with Videos on Facebook
12:35 p.m. – 1:20 p.m.
Facebook experiences an average of 8 billion video views each day. From video uploads to Facebook Live, social video offers content marketers an excellent opportunity to boost their brand’s organic reach and social engagement.
During this session, “Queen of Facebook” Mari Smith will cover video marketing tactics, real world case studies, and popular social video tools to help you drive real results on Facebook.
The Worst Advice Marketing Ever Gave to Content
2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
At some point in our careers, we’ve all been on the receiving end of bad advice. And following not-so-best practices will not only waste time and money, it can also tank your content performance.
Rand Fishkin, everyone’s favorite Whiteboard Friday host and Wizard of Moz, digs into common content marketing missteps and offers better approaches for content strategy, creation, optimization, amplification and analytics.
The New Kid on the Block Is Back: Why Earned Media Is Back in the Driver’s Seat
3:20 p.m. – 4:05 p.m.
Ken Wincko, Cision and PR Newswire’s very own Senior Vice President of Marketing, takes the stage on Wednesday afternoon with a fresh look at an old friend: earned media.
Just like your favorite boy band from the 90s, earned media is back and better than ever. And if you want to gain and retain buyer trust, your earned media strategy deserves a bigger seat at the marketing table.
Join Ken to hear how integrating earned media with paid and owned channels increased topline revenue at PR Newswire, and discover how you can use earned media tactics to improve content conversions and deliver true business ROI.
Main Conference – Day 2 (September 8)
How to Get 77% More Traffic from Your Existing Content
10:00 a.m. – 1o:45 a.m.
You spend a lot of time planning, writing, editing and designing content. But what happens after you hit publish and promote it on social a few times?
The bad news: Most of us are missing a huge opportunity by not optimizing our already existing content.
The good news: This session by Vertical Measures CEO Arnie Kuenn will show you how to drastically increase your organic traffic with a Content Gap Analysis.
How to Use Customer Service and Community to Create Killer Content
11:05 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.
Marketers are in the business of creating content that converts customers. However, if you don’t speak with said customers, you’ll never know what sort of content to create.
New York Times best-selling author and renowned business strategist Jay Baer promises a “fast-paced, example-filled, hilarious, and useful presentation” that will show you how to use customer feedback to create content audiences actually crave. As a huge fan of Hug Your Haters, this is definitely on my can’t-miss list.
Optimize the ROI of Your Content Agency Investment
12:05 p.m. – 12:50 p.m.
Agencies can play a critical role in scaling your brand’s content program — as long as you pick the right agency and establish the right framework.
Stop by Lee Odden’s Lunch & Learn and discover how to make the most of your agency-client relationship.
This presentation will explore: setting expectations, finding a common language, improving workflow and understanding the difference between reporting and insights so that your investment in an agency is a profitable one.
Paid and Unpaid Content Promotion and Distribution Methods that Actually Work
1:45 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Cision and PR Newswire have both been long-time proponents of content distribution, so you know we’re excited for Chad Pollit’s session on why content promotion is as critical to success as content creation.
Hear why more brands (including your competitors) are adopting both earned and paid content promotion, and learn how to identify which channels will be best for you.
By taking a look at cutting-edge audience, media, competitor and trend research analysis, this presentation will uncover new ways to grow your audience by converging your owned, earned and paid media efforts.
How to Level-Up Your Writing and Make it Ludicrously Spectacular
2:50 p.m. – 3:35 p.m.
Before you rush off to the afternoon’s Content Marketing Awards presentation, make a point to stop by this session with Ann Handley.
Take your writing “from second-rate to spectacular. From mediocre to remarkable. From boring to brilliant.” In a brand new talk, Ann will unveil advice based on insights she’s gathered since publishing her Wall Street Journal bestseller Everybody Writes two years ago.
If you’re heading to Content Marketing World, we hope to see you there (remember to stop by our Sept. 7 presentation and say hi!). And if you haven’t purchased your tickets yet for Content Marketing World, what are you waiting for? Register online here or purchase tickets at the door.
Author Amanda Hicken is a senior marketing manager at Cision, where she directs the demand generation content strategy for PR Newswire’s and Cision’s blogs. She believes the key to successful content is balancing creativity, analytics and commonsense. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow her on Twitter @ADHicken.
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