Erika Heald Marketing Consulting

Content marketing that drives business results

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March 23, 2020 Content Chat Recap: Staying Creative And Productive While Working From Home

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Countless marketing professionals have started working from home in response to COVID-19, and for many this is the first time that their house is now their office. While having a minute-long commute, no official dress code, and access to all your usual comforts are notable perks of working from home, staying productive can present unique challenges that even a decades-long office tenure could not prepare you for.

In this #ContentChat, we share our top tips for staying creative and productive while working from home, including what to keep at your desk, the tools you need, and the playlists that are keeping us motivated.

Q1: First things first. Right now, how motivated and productive are you feeling when it comes to working from home? On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being “OMG so productive” and 1 being “I am watching Netflix in my jammies”.

Even those who are used to working from home are less productive because of the pandemic. This is due to the severity of the emergency, the economic uncertainty, and because more people are working from home or staying home than usual.

That said, many of our community members are able to stay productive at home during these trying times.

Evaluate your campaigns and assess if they are still relevant/appropriate. If you’ve found your pipeline has come to a halt, consider activities that are valuable during a crisis, such as developing/implementing a business continuity plan.

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March 16, 2020 Content Chat Recap: Content Marketing During Times of Crisis

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In times of crisis, business as usual is no longer an option. Whether it’s a contained internal incident, a local emergency, or even a global pandemic like we see with COVID-19, any crisis scenario means that brands must reassess their strategy and place heightened importance on their customer needs.

In this #ContentChat, we discuss ways to manage content marketing during times of crisis, including when to shift your editorial calendar, how to handle paid social advertising, best practices for caring for your audience during trying times, and how marketers can support their local communities.

Check out the recap below, and if you have further questions or are looking for support during this time, please comment below or message Erika and we will do whatever we can to help.

Q1: Where are you tuning in to #ContentChat from this week?

A majority of our members joined #ContentChat from home, and we can expect more people to work from home soon.

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March 2, 2020 Content Chat Recap: How To Make Content Marketing Work In Highly Regulated Industries

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Highly regulated industries like healthcare, financial services, and pharmaceuticals are notorious in the communications space for stifling creativity, requiring professionals to prioritize legal compliance over a compelling narrative in their content. But despite the perceived challenges, marketers in these industries have a prime opportunity to create valuable content that both engages their audience and further differentiates their brand.

In this #ContentChat, Ahava Leibtag (@AhavaL), founder and president of Aha Media, shares how you can make content marketing work in highly regulated industries, including tips for partnering with legal and compliance, recommendations on the type of content you can create in a regulated industry, and ways to encourage employee brand advocacy.

Check out the recap of our conversation below, and if you’d like to learn more on the topic, read the takeaways from our past chat on creating interesting content for conservative industries.

Q1(a): Certain industries have significant regulations around their communications with the public, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and financial services. Does that mean content marketing is impossible for those industries?

Content marketing is possible for any industry given that one of its core purposes is to build relationships with an audience.

Marketers in regulated industries have additional considerations to navigate, including the need to closely partner with legal and compliance teams.

Remember that all companies in these industries are bound by the same regulations, so marketers have to get creative and be flexible to stay ahead of the competition.

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February 24, 2020 Content Chat Recap: Tips For Creating Unique Blog Visuals Your Audience Will Love

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Even the most well-written blog posts will have a difficult time gaining traction without compelling visuals. Whether it’s your blog header image or a chart that dissects an important concept, each graphic you include is a chance to further engage your audience, provide value to them, and solidify your brand recognition. Yet, so many blogs include generic stock images that leave audiences unintrigued and uninterested in reading your content.

In this #ContentChat, Orana Velarde (@OranaCreative), social media and community manager for Visme, and our community discuss the importance of a blog post’s header image, the elements of an effective blog visual, and the tools you need to make the process a breeze.

Q1: What is the role that a blog post’s header image should play?

A blog post’s header image is vital in helping someone decide if they want to read the post. The header image should be inviting, related to the blog’s content, and reflective of your company’s branding.

Keep social media in mind when setting up your header image. Select the header image as the post’s featured image and also include it in your metadata to maximize its inclusion in social posts. Orana shares some tools that can help in this process.

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Is It Time For a LinkedIn Personal Brand Refresh?

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The potential value of social media for both personal and professional reasons is hard to deny given its ease of access and billions of global users. Through social media, people can connect easier than ever, share ideas and content at a massive scale, and build their professional brand to unlock new business opportunities.

But, all too often, content marketing professionals join a social network with the best intentions and eagerness tap into these benefits, are active for a week or maybe a few months, and then let the account sit for eternity (or until the site deletes it like Twitter does.)

You may never think twice about those inactive accounts, but they can actually hinder your personal brand. At their best, outdated profiles are confusing and potentially annoying for customers, clients, or colleagues that were hoping to reach you on that site. At their worst, these dormant profiles can lead to lost connections and business opportunities.

While it’s not necessary—and probably not recommended—for you to be on every social media channel, it is important for you to at least maintain your brand on the channels you are on. And many business professionals find LinkedIn to be most beneficial for personal branding, given its unique profile elements that are meant for showcasing professional roles and achievements.

With that in mind, let’s explore how to put your best foot forward on social media, the core elements of a LinkedIn profile, and how you can use each section to maximize your branding potential.

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February 10, 2020 Content Chat Recap: Turbocharging Your Social Media Content Curation and Promotion

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When curating social media content, many marketers know to use the 80/20 rule: Just 20% of your content should be promotional, while the remaining 80% should engage your audience by helping them do their jobs better or providing information relevant to their interests. The process of finding and selecting relevant content to highlight is more important than you may think, though, especially since the content you share can be a direct reflection of your brand’s credibility.

In this #ContentChat, longtime community member Paula Kiger (@BigGreenPen), editor of the SmartBrief newsletter, took the hotseat to share tips for finding the best sources for content curation, including how to identify influencers in your space, ways to optimize content for different channels, and the tools you need to work efficiently.

Q1: If you’re just starting out with curating content for a new topic or publication, how can you identify the best sources for curatable content?

Before looking for sources for curatable content, you need to understand your audience, their interests, and where your brand overlaps with those interests. Ideally, you should have a list of keywords and topics that are relevant for your audience that you can then use as the foundation of your search.

Find experts or thought leaders on those topic(s) that your audience is interested in, and explore the content that they are creating, sharing, or linking to.

One way to find these experts is by looking for trade or niche publications that regularly discuss these topics of interest.

Tools like BuzzSumo, SEMrush, and Right Relevance can identify widely shared content or most-searched topics for you to then explore relevant publications or experts.

LinkedIn, especially with its Pulse articles, is another place to find experts, as well as a few of the highly regarded outlets and companies that Vraj identified.

View this process as a journey, not a one-and-done exercise. After you identify your initial list of content sources, create lists or follow experts on Twitter, subscribe to newsletters, and sign up for Google Alerts so that you are constantly being fed new potential sources.

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