Erika Heald Marketing Consulting

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Content Conversations

Conversations and resources for small business, startup, and solopreneur content marketing and social media.

18 Content Creation Tips and Truths From a Year of Content Chat

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2019 was yet another successful year for the #ContentChat community—we covered more than 40 pressing topics for marketers, welcomed 10 experts to the hot seat, and a handful of us were even able to meet outside the cyberspace at great events like CMWorld and local content marketing meetups. 

Looking back on our chats from the year, we’ve pulled 18 of the best content creation tips and truths of marketing to set you up for success in 2020 and beyond. Check them out below, and comment if we missed any of your favorite marketing tips from this year. 

Truth: Content that is not created with your customer needs in mind is not content marketing. 

The customer should be at the heart of everything you do as a marketer. Whether it’s a press release about your new product, an infographic on your data report, or a webinar discussing trends in your industry, your content should be geared toward addressing the problems of your customers and helping them do their jobs better.

Tip: For any one piece of content you create, have three uses for it. 

One of the best ways to stay budget conscious is to repurpose your work. For any single piece of content, explore the different ways that your customers prefer to be reached and how this content could find new life in a different format. Consider the different channels you could share the content on, or different forms it can take (i.e. a video can be turned into a blog post with an infographic for social). We’ve shared some ideas to get you started in this recap.

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5 Important Steps for a Successful Email Newsletter Launch

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For most of us, the days when just the thought of receiving a new email brought some semblance of joy are long gone. Now, the average office worker receives 121 emails every. Single. Day.

Considered a novelty when it was first developed, email has become a ubiquitous communications channel that has bound many to their inboxes. For years, though, people have claimed that email is losing its effectiveness as a business tool, especially with the rise of social networking sites. Cue the “email marketing is dead” cries that have been heard since the CompuServe years.

The thing is, email is still an incredibly powerful tool for businesses. A 2018 study found that email marketing has more than a 30x ROI (an increase from 2016), which partially explains why 87% of marketers still use email to nurture their audience.

What is “dying”—and rightfully so—are the days of email marketing past, where generic messages were blasted to thousands of people. Today’s consumers expect a superior customer experience, which starts with putting their needs first in every communication you have with them. And that includes your email newsletters.

If you’re looking to start an email newsletter, or need tips and tricks to instill new life into your existing newsletter, follow these steps to flourish and bring joy back to your customer’s inbox (and don’t forget to download our free checklist on what to review before you hit send on your newsletter).

Step 1: Define Your Purpose

Email newsletters are successful when they provide the most value for the reader, ideally combining unique tips, tricks, and insight with research, trends, and current events.

That means if you plan to create a “newsletter” that provides a bucket list of your new blog posts or some collection of industry articles without anything more than a link, you need to rethink your strategy.

When starting an email newsletter, or if your newsletter is not driving the value you had hoped for, it’s important to (re)explore these foundational questions:

  • Who is my brand’s ideal customer?
  • Who is my newsletter’s content being written for?
  • What struggles do these two individuals face?
  • What value can I provide to them?
  • How can a newsletter support my business goals?
  • Do I have time to send a newsletter on a regular cadence?

By answering each of these questions, you can have a better understanding of whether a newsletter is even relevant for your team, if you need one or more newsletters to meet your needs and provide value for your readers, and if you have the time and resources required to sustain a newsletter.

Step 2: Set Goals

With your purpose documented, it’s time to align your newsletter with your business goal(s) and pick the KPIs you’ll track.

An email newsletter can support any range of business goals, and it’s important to keep your top goals top-of-mind so you can appropriately plan your content and be strategic with any calls to action.

A few areas that newsletters can support include:

  • Lead generation: Get in front of prospective customers by creating content that aligns with topics that they are already searching for or invested in. This can include educational content, like how-tos and 101s
  • Lead nurturing: Keep your brand top-of-mind for your audience by offering a steady cadence of additional support materials and more targeted content like buyer’s guides, checklists, and webinars or live-streamed Q&As
  • Thought leadership: Demonstrate the expertise of your brand and any related executives by featuring expert commentary and insight
  • Audience feedback: Enable a feedback loop through your newsletter content by including reader surveys or monitoring the KPIs below
  • Brand voice: Showcase your brand’s unique style and voice with your communication, creating a personality for your brand

Depending on the business goals you assign to your newsletter, there are a few KPIs you’ll want to monitor to quickly identify potential issues with your approach. The main email newsletter KPIs you can track include:

  • Delivery rate or inbox placement rate
  • Open rate (Mailchimp has a great benchmarking guide you should reference)
  • Click rate
  • Opt-outs
  • Subscriber growth
  • Qualitative feedback (survey responses, email replies)

Those are just a few options, and you can explore each of these and more in this post.

Step 3: Pick Your Tools

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to create your newsletter. There are upward of 300 different providers in the email marketing software space, which poses its own challenge of finding the right tools for you. Don’t worry, though, we’ve asked for help on your behalf.

For core email newsletter creation and distribution, a few options that come recommended from our #ContentChat community include:

The above options can come at varying price points, and we recommend staying light on your budget until you have a full understanding of the functionalities you need. There are plenty of free tools to fill in the gaps that your distribution software (or purchased plan) may not provide—check out this list of content marketing tools to make your life easier, including several design tools, sources for royalty-free photos, and software to proof your content.

Step 4: Craft Your Content

Now your foundation is in place, and you’re ready to start writing your newsletter. Use your purpose and goals to guide content decisions, and remember to focus on value for your audience, not cramming every company buzzword or promotion into the newsletter.

Some best practices to follow when writing an email newsletter include:

  • Make your content skimmable: Use bullets, bold font (sparingly), subheads, and different text colors (no more than three) so that your reader can easily browse the newsletter to find the section(s) most relevant to them
  • Use (unique) imagery: Include images or gifs in your newsletter when possible, preferably original photos (but stock photos can work in a pinch)
  • Include a call to action: Encourage your readers to take action based on your content. Whether that’s to sign up for a webinar on the latest marketing trends, read a great industry article, or simply share their feedback with you, your readers should feel compelled to take some action based on your newsletter. Ideally, this CTA will be tied to one of your previously identified business goals
  • Be human, but on brand: If you haven’t, define your brand voice. With that, use your newsletter as an opportunity to be more personal with your audience, but stay true to your brand. If your company is generally more serious in your communications, your email newsletter should be the same way. Don’t try to come across as more fun and embed 50 gifs in your newsletter if that’s not what your readers expect of you
  • Combine outside sources with your commentary: The majority of the content you highlight should not be something your company created. Find outside articles, new data, or interesting conversations happening on social media that your readers would be interested in, and explain why that piece matters with some unique commentary from your brand/brand spokesperson

Before you hit send on that newsletter, though, run through our checklist to make sure your content is actually ready to go (there is nothing like the unique displeasure of sending an email to 100+ people with a glaring typo in your subject line).

Step 5: Always be Testing

Once you start publishing your newsletters, establish a benchmark of the KPIs you selected in Step 2  and track them to see whether your newsletter is meeting the needs of your audience. This can be one of the most difficult steps if you have not carved out time to explore your data and try new approaches.

A/B testing is a critical part of this process, where you will send two versions of your newsletter, each with (ideally) just one variable that has been changed. Everything from your subject line, image use/placement, calls to action, and even your font choice can affect your reader’s experience.

Get the full rundown on improving your content marketing performance through A/B testing so you can hit the ground running with even your earliest newsletters.

Newsletters Built to Last

After completing the above steps, you’re off to a solid start of what will be an ongoing journey of optimizing your newsletter. Being so ingrained in the process can create tunnel vision, so continue to ask your readers for their feedback, listen to their needs, and be open to exploring new ways of creating and distributing your newsletter.

One of the best ways to write a newsletter is to also be an avid newsletter reader, and below we’ve highlighted some of the best newsletters for marketing professionals to subscribe to. And if you’re looking for more tips on how to successfully manage an email newsletter, check out the #ContentChat community conversation recap on email newsletters.

  • Brafton’s The Content Marketer (click “subscribe” for the form): This is one of the slickest email newsletters you will likely come across—the design is gorgeous, using great graphics as the core design in a grid format, so the content is incredibly easy to skim and find the right resource for you. Sent every Tuesday, The Content Marketer highlights a range of blogs, videos, guides, and more, all focused on helping content marketers perform at their best (think of topics like “What is SEO Writing” and “Turning Conversations into Content”). This newsletter is a great example of delivering high value in as few words as possible.
  • Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide Newsletter: Every Monday Heidi shares an array of, well, actionable marketing tips tied to the latest research and best practices in the field. She distills extensive reports and news articles into bite-sized, ready-to-use tips for all things marketing. She also thanks her new subscribers at the end of each newsletter, which is a fun and personal touch.
  • Bernie Fussenegger’s B2The7 Bits: Bernie hosts #Digital360Chat every Friday, and every other Wednesday he shares his B2The7 Bits. This newsletter is incredible at encouraging conversations, since he links to Twitter threads with thought-starters like “if social channels go away tomorrow, how important do other platforms like email and websites become?” He also has a Featured Friend each newsletter, highlighting someone who has made a positive impact on him that week.
  • Allen Gannett’s newsletter: Allen’s newsletter is unique from the others listed in that he sends two separate emails a week. On Wednesdays, Allen shares productivity and creativity hacks in a very brief note, then on Sundays he shares his “Sunday Brunch” for a more in-depth exploration of the week’s news, innovative or cool new products, and a mix of pop culture. From the first welcome email to each week’s editions, Allen uses a friendly and conversational tone packaged in an incredibly clean email that is easy to skim (he even has a “For Skimmers” section at times).
  • Ann Handley’s Total Annarchy: Ann’s newsletter is sent every other Sunday, and it’s packed with writing tips and marketing ideas, plus she connects current events and trends in the business world with larger marketing principles and ideas. Her occasional “Department of Shenanigans” section gives a much-welcomed chuckle for your weekend (or Monday if you save the newsletter to start your work week).
  • Erika Heald’s The Content Chat Bulletin: Erika’s newly launched newsletter will keep you in-the-know on the latest trends, research, and case studies in marketing. Sent every other Friday, you’ll hear the latest from the #ContentChat community, learn about upcoming marketing events and webinars, and get expert tips on how to stay responsible with your marketing. Plus, Erika has an adorable french bulldog named Kupo who is sure to make an appearance from time to time.
  • Managing Editor’s newsletter: Positioned as a “love letter to all the other marketers out there working at the intersection of brand and publishing,” this newsletter meets that expectation. Each Friday, the newsletter highlights just three to five pieces of high-quality content, recent podcasts, or upcoming events. Each section header is incredibly clever (you’ll find yourself chuckling or at least cracking a smile) and the copy balances brevity with quality so you are only reading things that help you in some way.
  • Christopher Penn/Trust Insight’s In the Headlights: Shared every Wednesday, this newsletter rounds up the most interesting news in marketing and data science that you can use immediately. The “Rear View Mirror Data” section delivers relevant stats and takeaways on key topics (like brand use of Facebook), and the Shiny Objects section highlights great content to visit, organized by category. The newsletter also highlights upcoming events both online and in-person across the US, inviting the opportunity to connect with like-minded pros.
  • Joe Pulizzi’s The Random Newsletter: Sent every other Thursday, this newsletter is a mix of marketing and writing topics, plus a discussion of news that impacts the larger business landscape. Joe frequently references his family and how events in his personal life helped him discover new tools and tricks, so the newsletter reads more like a letter from a friend than a stranger.

Know of another great newsletter for marketers? Let us know in the comments!

Exhibit, Speak, Attend, or Skip? Industry Conferences 101

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Finding the Right Industry Conferences and Events to Participate in

In an age where seemingly everything has gone digital, there is still an innate charm—and incredible value—in attending industry events and conferences.

Don’t just take my word for it—Bizzabo’s 2019 Event Marketing Report found that 84% of company VPs and C-Suite execs believe in-person events are a critical component of their company’s success. Further, 63% of those respondents planned to grow their total event budgets by an average of 22% in the next year.

An increase in budgets does not mean that wallets are any easier to open, though, and leadership teams demand a clear and enticing ROI for any event activities.

This means that marketers need to be ever-diligent in selecting only the best events for their company’s needs. We’ve put together a framework and process you can follow to evaluate your conference participation opportunities and put your limited events budget toward the events with the most upside for your marketing efforts.

Determining Your Conference Approach

Depending on the extent of your company’s previous conference involvement, you may have an inbox overloaded with event opportunities, or you’re starting from scratch. Either way, your approach should include a mix of exploring inbound opportunities, plus seeking out new options.

There are many ways for you to get involved at an industry conference, the most common of which are:

  • Sponsoring: Event organizers are constantly looking for companies to financially sponsor their events in exchange for an enhanced or exclusive presence at the event. These often come with a hefty price tag, but the benefits—including getting your logo and spokesperson in front of your ideal customer audience— could justify the costs.
  • Speaking: Often the most coveted opportunities, speaking slots are highly competitive (unless you have the money to sponsor). Don’t let that discourage you, though! There are many opportunities, including solo presentations, co-presented client/customer case studies, fireside chats, panel discussions, or workshops. And as long as you meet the conference’s speaker submission deadlines, your hat will be in the ring.
  • Exhibiting: Often tied to a sponsorship, exhibiting at a conference gets your company a presence on the show floor to engage with the attendees. While this has the most opportunity for direct lead generation, many savvy marketers are shifting the focus of their booths away from high-pressure sales tactics and toward creating a branded experience.
  • Attending: Simply attending a conference is often the most cost-efficient route, and still allows for access to most (if not all) of the main programming. If it’s an industry event, you can still work on influencer and media relationship building. Or, if it’s a consumer event, you can create content that reflects what you learned at the conference.

Each option has its own pros and cons, but whichever route you choose, you need to have clearly defined goals. Our #ContentChat community shared their top KPIs for events in our conversation on How to Make That Industry Conference Worth Your Marketing Budget Dollars—check out that recap to see how your peers define event success.

Finding Conferences to Attend

With your preferred involvement and overarching goals in mind, you can then start looking for opportunities. Most conference speaking slots fill at least three months before the event—a year in advance for large, international conferences—so all proactive research should be for a minimum of one quarter out for exhibiting, and 12-15 months for speaking opportunities.

Here are the best ways to find new conferences to attend:

  • Keep your friends close: Ask your colleagues for their recommendations, both in person and on social media
  • Keep your competitors closer: Research your competitors to see where they have been speaking and exhibiting
  • Turn to the news: Identify the publications your ideal customer regularly reads and check to see if they host conferences (Forbes, TechCrunch, and Business Insider are just a few with excellent, consistent programming)
  • Search it: Find outlets and sites like Techmeme Events or Industry Dive’s publications for more industry-relevant opportunities

Assessing Conference Opportunities

Once you start finding events, things can quickly get jumbled. We recommend creating a spreadsheet (you can even use ours if you’d like!) with the key details for each opportunity for you to decide whether or not to attend.

Here are a few areas you should consider:

  • Cost: This is one of the biggest factors, so ensure you understand all of the costs associated with the conference opportunity.
  • Date and location: Research where a conference is being held, as well as the timeline so you can budget for travel, or align the activity with pre-scheduled trips for your team.
  • Attendees: Research the past attendee counts (often available on the conference site or in news articles about the event), as well as the job title/role of the attendees. This will help you determine if you’re reaching your key audiences, and the right spokesperson(s) for the event. Remember that the quality of attendees is more important than the quantity of attendees—some of the best business opportunities can come from events of only 100 people.
  • Conference tracks: The conference site will often list speaking tracks or topics to be explored. Use these as guardrails for the types of speaking opportunities you propose.
  • Media attendance: Beyond industry professionals, journalists are also attending events, presenting an opportunity for you to be seen on stage (if you’re presenting), or for your representatives to network with the journalists during the show. Search conference hashtags on social media and look for past news coverage on the event to see if there is a media presence.
  • Past speakers: See who presented at the event in previous years, with a particular focus on their job title, company, and their talking track. This can ensure you propose the right representative from your company to attend.

Once you have all of the potential events in your tracker, you can then more easily weigh your options to identify a select few events to pursue. Some teams use a scoring system to stay objective when assessing events. To do so, assign a numerical score to the areas listed above (any scale can work, we recommend one through five), and add them up to get a total event score.

However you decide to stay organized, keep your company goals in mind when making choices, and start small if you are unsure of the right path to take.

Event Best Practices

With your event strategy in place, your team is set to start lining up opportunities! If you are aiming for a speaking slot, stay patient as you may receive a few declines before your first congratulations.

Whether you’re speaking, exhibiting, or attending, your first few conferences can be dizzying if you don’t know what to expect. Read our #ContentChat recap on How to Get the Most Out of Attending an Industry Conference to walk in like a pro, or check out some of the highlights—including a number of other great industry conference tips—below:

Why Social Media Guidelines Are the Key to Unlocking Startup Employee Brand Advocacy

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SOcial Media Guidelines for StartupsIt’s no surprise that social media can help your company grow, and startups especially can leverage social media to accelerate their success from a young company age.

Research has shown that nearly 61 percent of startups implement social media marketing strategies, largely thanks to its low-cost nature. Even further, those startups identified customer acquisition and customer retention as main results from their social media efforts, meaning there is a direct impact on the company’s bottom line through social.

From your company’s early days, your employees can be your most loyal social following, helping to aid in your social success through their own authentic posts.

The problem, though, is that too many companies simply assume that their employees know what is/is not acceptable on social media, and the companies neglect to create any written rules or procedures for team members to follow.

Even if your team is full of tech-savvy digital natives, you cannot assume that everyone is familiar with all the social bells and whistles, or what you want them to do on social—you need to provide guardrails, in the form of social media guidelines, for them to follow when engaging in brand-related matters on social.

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4 Steps To Start A Smart Guest Blogger Program

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Blogs are increasingly important to companies for lead generation and nurturing. HubSpot even found that 55% of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority.

With growing content needs, marketers may be inclined to invite guest bloggers to contribute content, thinking it will save time and fill a content gap. Although guest bloggers are a great option that can yield tremendous value for your brand, they are not right for every blog, and they can be more resource-intensive than you think.

If you’ve been considering a guest blogger program, use these four steps as the foundation to assess if your blog is ready for guests, and how to get your guest blogger program off to a good start:

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4 Ways to Share Company Content in an Authentic and Meaningful Way

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You’re not alone if you are unsure how to support your company on social media.

More than 20% of workers don’t know if their company wants them to share relevant company news or brand updates, 15% are afraid to post the wrong thing, and another 15% simply don’t know what to share to support their company’s social media efforts.

The fact is that not only does your employer want you to engage with their posts and share their content, an active social presence can also greatly benefit your career. Social media is an easy tool to expand your professional network, provide access to new opportunities, and increase your company’s sales effectiveness.

In a few easy steps, you can start building an active social presence that helps you become a brand champion and expand your professional horizons. [Read more…] about 4 Ways to Share Company Content in an Authentic and Meaningful Way

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