Why Content & Curation is Critical to Business with @CC_Chapman [@InboundNow #14]

David Wells
David Wells

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describe the image C.C. Chapman, author of Content Rules , joins us for another episode of Inbound Now !

C.C. is the founder of DigitalDads.com, a marketing consultant and frequently speaks at industry events on the topic of content marketing.

In the show we talk about:

  • Why producing content for your market is more important than ever.
  • How to get started in the content marketing game.
  • How curating content can be a powerful way to help supplement your content creation efforts and share valuable information with your community.

For the full transcript of the show and the audio, head over here: How to use content marketing and curation for your business

The Shift

Companies need to start thinking about themselves as content publishers.

"One of the first rules we laid out was you need to embrace that you’re a publisher."

This is a critical piece of inbound marketing success and we cannot stress that enough.

The content that you are creating online is what is going to bring in more organic traffic and help build your companies position as thought leaders in your space.

Offer Something of Value on Your Site

Your brochure-ware website will not cut it anymore. You need a site that is the hub (no pun intended) of your industry that keeps prospects and customers coming back into your site.

Provide useful and valuable information that answers questions your would be buyers are searching for.

Creating (Good) Content Is Hard

Creating content has to become a major part of your company and it's not a one off project. It's a continual process that you can refine over time.

"The hardest thing is you really need to figure out what you want to create. Because let’s face it, content is a beast. Once you start doing it, to do it right, this is not a one and done thing. This isn’t, oh, we’re going to set up the website and then forget about it. This is something that has to become part of your core DNA, that you keep doing on a regular basis"

Perfection Is The Enemy of Shipping

Far to many people wait strive for absolute perfection when creating content.

This drags out blog posts, puts off that video being produced 8 months into the horizon, and nothing gets shipped.

Not every piece of content will be the Mona Lisa, especially when starting out. These imperfections and rough spots when first getting into producing a piece of content helps share your companies authenticity with the world and shows a more human side to your business.

How Do Your Customer Consume Content?

Ask yourself this question before you being creating different pieces of content.

How does your target audience consume content? In what scenarios do they commonly find themselves in? Do they typically have a long commute? Does your content need to be snack sized or can it be consumed in a longer time frame?

Reimagine Don't Recycle

Repurposing content is key. Ask yourself "What else can we do with this?"

Thinking about what content you are going to produce doesn't have to be rocket science. Start with a big idea and break it into smaller chunks OR start with smaller ideas and piece them together into something bigger.

Do a content audit of the pieces of content you have right now and tackle the beast one way or another. 

Content Curation

"Content curation is a great way, especially for small businesses or companies who don’t think they have the time to create all their own content, to pull together relevant content and share it with your community"

Pulling together the top resources from your industry can be a great way to supplement the content you are producing.

Make sure you are linking back to the originals and by all means try and add in your 2 cents as to why you are sharing the content. This is both to avoid penalties from Google and to add value and context to whats being shared.

Remember, content curation is not a replacement for content creation !

Metrics For Content?

Emily Evelina: Could you ask how to measure content value when clients are so hooked on SEO metrics? You talk about this in the book, what are some core metrics to keep an eye on?

"The key part is figuring up front how you’re going to measure. Say, for the next three months, we want to increase . . . one of the things I say is don’t say we want more views. Say we want to increase our viewership by 10,000 or whatever the number is. Pick the number that’s right for you. But then you can look at it and do it short term, look at three months. We want to increase our readership by X. Then you can look and go, “Did we hit it or did we not? How can we ramp it up even more?” “Oh, look we did do this with like no budget. What if we add some budget, what could we do then?”Content takes a while to get going.

Connect with CC Online

CC blogs regularly over on CC-chapman.com and you can tweet him @cc_chapman

For more about the book see: Content Rules

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