How many new blog posts or web pages does your company publish every week? 5? 3? 1? Inconsistent? Do you really expect to scale web traffic, conversions and community if you don\u2019t consistently show up? If you do, you\u2019re dreaming.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s simple, let\u2019s not wrap it in buzzwords: organize around content. For a majority of companies your digital marketing is screwed if you\u2019re not functioning any other way.<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t rely on a limited set of pages any longer<\/strong><\/p>\n In fact, smart companies haven\u2019t for years. As\u00a0search and social\u00a0continue to integrate tighter those sites that have a\u00a0continually\u00a0expanding archive of useful, sharable content just keep getting rewarded while static websites continue to get more dusty and irrelevant. There\u2019s just no reason for us to share static web pages with our networks or a reason for users to return to them.<\/p>\n Users are getting smarter<\/strong><\/p>\n Years ago I started noticing that Google search queries\u00a0were getting longer. This was really exciting for me as a digital marketer \u2013 it meant that yes, in fact people were getting smarter about search (hey, if I\u2019m more specific with my query, I get better results!). What does this mean? If this trend continues, your 1 and 2 word queries that filled your marketing funnel for years are going to dry up, while the tail continues to broaden. Demand Media\u00a0organized themselves\u00a0around this years ago, and they\u2019re still ahead of the curve of most marketers. Don\u2019t get out-executed in your category by the answer factory.<\/p>\n Most of your competitors are still\u00a0getting content marketing wrong<\/strong><\/p>\n What is the\u00a0first\u00a0<\/em>thing that happens to me every morning? Do I brush my teeth? No! I wake up and have a bit of a surreal moment that it is 2011 most companies still haven\u2019t pivoted their marketing to embrace the fact that\u00a0every company is a media company.\u00a0Then<\/em>\u00a0I brush my teeth. All joking aside, your competitors are definitely failing at web content. It isn\u2019t going to be such an easy opportunity simply to execute properly forever, but it still is today. Get organized around content and you\u2019re probably already ahead.<\/p>\n Content shouldn\u2019t be such a big deal<\/strong><\/p>\n Mitch Joel wrote a great post this week wondering if a brands next big move\u00a0will be a journalism department? I\u00a0responded\u00a0on Twitter with the comment, that only the smart ones will. Call it a journalism department, or just call it the future of marketing: content shouldn\u2019t be so difficult for brands. Not just journalists:\u00a0marketers<\/em>\u00a0should be able to create well researched, compelling stories efficiently (and daily).\u00a0Get in a rhythm with it and it\u2019s not so tough. I am willing to bet right now you think content is more difficult than it has to be. It\u2019s easy: make an editorial calendar, create processes, tap your passionate team members, create a feedback loop to continue motivation, and\u00a0iterate and refine.<\/p>\n Microcontent only takes you so far<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, your brand is probably sharing other people\u2019s interesting content on sites like Twitter or Facebook. Great. That can help, and in fact once in awhile I\u2019m impressed a company shared a link with me that\u2019s thought provoking and useful. But at the end of the day I am always left impacted more by the original creator of that content. It might help me view a brand as more of a source for interesting information, but it doesn\u2019t necessary position them as a definitive leader in their industry. There is a difference. Links and microcontent\u00a0only take you so far.<\/p>\n Things you already know<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, put\u00a0people behind content,\u00a0create context,\u00a0have an attractive design,\u00a0make it sticky\u00a0\/\u00a0worth sharing\u00a0and\u00a0promote it. That stuff should all be understood by now. But organize around content\u00a0first<\/em>, then back out your mix from there. Every CMO and marketing VP should demand this of their team: publish something new\u00a0and unique\u00a0<\/em>every day. Be updated.<\/p>\n Businesses basically have a choice in the new marketing: they can be a part of the daily conversations in their industry, or not. There is no in between.<\/p>\n I know this stuff seems obvious. To Future Buzz readers it is. But to the marketing world as a whole it is to some, but not to many others.<\/p>\n The\u00a0digital divide\u00a0is still very real: don\u2019t wait to take advantage of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How many new blog posts or web pages does your company publish every week? 5? 3? 1? Inconsistent? Do you … <\/p>\n