Erika Heald Marketing Consulting

Content marketing that drives business results

Content Chat

#ContentChat is a weekly chat on Twitter and LinkedIn that brings together content creators and content marketers to share their challenges and best practices for solving them.

I took over hosting duties from Lucy Rendler-Kaplan on June 13, 2016. The chat was originated by Jenise Stout Fryatt of Smarter Shift who built up the community over three years.

Check out these recaps from recent chats and join us on Mondays at 12 noon Pacific/ 3:00 p.m. Eastern to join in the conversation.

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Are you a content marketing practitioner or consultant who is interested in being a guest for an upcoming edition of #ContentChat? We’d love to see your topic pitch via our Content Chat guest submission form.

May 4, 2020 Content Chat Recap: How Will You Refine Your Content Marketing Strategy For The Rest Of 2020?

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As communicators, it’s vital for us to stay agile and pivot when necessary to best serve our audiences, and the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many of us to drastically overhaul our 2020 marketing plans. So, where do we go from here with so much uncertainty ahead?

This week on #ContentChat, the community discussed how we are shifting our marketing plans in response to the crisis. Read below for the full conversation, including the KPIs we’re using to define success, what we’re doing about our in-person event strategy, and how we are continuing to provide value for our audiences.

Q1: How has COVID-19 and the resulting shelter-in-place mandates changed your business/industry? And how has it affected your content marketing to date?

The full effects of COVID-19 continue to unfold, but in these first months, we’ve seen an understandable shift toward digital platforms and content types. Social media, in particular, has become a focus for companies of all sizes, especially given that the news media landscape has faced significant turbulence during the pandemic.

Industries and individual businesses are facing varying degrees of disruption because of the pandemic, and we have seen an increased interest in freelance communications support.

Most, if not all, content is now approached through the remote work lens. It is best to provide content that helps your audience navigate this situation, preferably in a positive and uplifting way.

Sensitivities are heightened and there are new considerations for content creators. Consider using visuals that complement the principles of social distancing.

At a minimum, review your content KPIs to see what is responding best with your audience during this time. If possible, consider surveying your audience so you can even further understand their needs.

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April 27, 2020 Content Chat Recap: Creative Content Reuse As A Core Part Of Your Content Marketing Strategy

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When planning your content marketing strategy, do you think through multiple ways you can use any single piece of content? If not, you should. By repurposing your content for multiple channels or formats, you can more effectively meet the needs of your audience while also balancing your team’s resource constraints, making it a winning strategy for any content marketer—if approached the right way.

This week, the #ContentChat community discussed the value of reusing content and traded tips on how to effectively recycle content without seeming stale. Read the recap below, and use #ContentChat on Twitter if there is a piece of content you’re trying to repurpose and would like the community to share ideas.

Q1: Is upcycling, recycling, or repurposing content a consistent component of your content strategy? If not, why not—what has been holding you back?

Let’s kick things off with some clarification. For today’s chat, upcycling/recycling/repurposing means taking a piece of content in its original form and then turning it into something else.

The vast majority (93%) of our poll respondents are content recyclers, with only a handful of folks using a one-and-done method.

Repurposing content is an efficient use of your team’s time (especially if you’re a small team with limited resources), and you’ll likely see greater traction from your content if you are presenting it multiple ways.

Despite the inherent benefits of content recycling, there are several potential hurdles in the process. For example, you may not have access to the design resources needed, or your content may be spread across too many topics (making repurposing difficult as you are always moving on to a new topic).

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April 20, 2020 Content Chat Recap: The PESO Model 2.0 And What It Means For Content Marketers

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“If you aren’t using the PESO model for your communications work, and measuring the meaningful metrics that help an organization grow, you will not have a job in 10 years.” – Gini Dietrich

This week, #ContentChat was joined by Gini Dietrich (@GiniDietrich), founder, CEO, and author of Spin Sucks, to explore PESO model 2.0, a strategy for executing integrated marketing programs that streamlines your team’s efforts, amplifies your results, and helps you to better connect with your audiences.

Read the full conversation below, including how marketing and communications pros can use the model to break down siloes and more effectively communicate the ROI of their efforts. If you’re hoping to learn more about the PESO model, Gini explains how to implement the PESO model, no matter your team’s size, in this post.

Q1: First things first @ginidietrich: What is the PESO model, and why did you initially create it?

Gini created the PESO model (paid, earned, shared, and owned media) to help explain the work her agency does. After being published in her book Spin Sucks, the model gained popularity in the field.

Half of our poll respondents are familiar with the model, but it is new for the other half.

Some points of clarity: The order is “PESO” simply because it is easier to remember. A company can prioritize any of the letters first.

Shared media includes promotion, distribution, and content curation.

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April 13, 2020 Content Chat Recap: Self-Care For Content Marketers

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Marketers can easily become consumed by work, constantly churning out new content or campaigns at an ever-increasing rate to keep up with audience needs or company goals. But when we only focus on what we can do for others and define our value on what we can provide, we lose sight of ourselves and our own needs.

Self-care is crucial for staying fresh and performing at our best, especially when there are significant stressors in your life like family turmoil, health ailments, or global crises. This week, the #ContentChat community discussed what self-care means for them and shared tips for restoring the balance between work and life. Read the full recap below, which includes ways to prioritize your self-care, practices all marketers should stop doing to support their wellness, and the resources that are helping us on our self-care journeys.

Q1: Let’s get things started by defining self-care, and why it’s something content marketers in particular need to be thinking about right now.

Exact definitions aside, self-care is about making choices that are meant to protect your wellbeing, which encompasses both your physical and mental health. Definitions can vary, so check out what self-care means to our community:

Every person should practice self-care, especially during troubling times like we are facing. If we stop focusing on our wellbeing, we are more likely to become stressed or anxious, and those negative feelings carry into every interaction we have. By practicing self-care, you can more easily identify and address things that are causing you negative feelings.

With our current pandemic, most of us have faced a disruption we never thought possible. Many marketers are faced with rebuilding their plans while also coping with the general state of our world. This can take a heavy toll on us, which is why self-care is important to keep us from slipping into negative thought cycles or habits (such as complete social isolation).

Also, marketers must stay on top of the latest trends and news to best provide value to their audiences. Given that we are experiencing information overload, a lot of which is negative news, this is incredibly taxing for marketers. Self-care can keep us focused and able to create quality content without sacrificing our wellbeing.

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April 6, 2020 Content Chat Recap: How Innovative Companies Are Reinventing Virtual Events

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As businesses and society continue to grapple with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that the world will never operate the way it once did. The events industry, in particular, is in turmoil, with decades-old institutions like the Churchill Club ending their events series, and companies are facing tough decisions on how to navigate events in a socially distanced world.

This week, the #ContentChat community was joined by Brian Fanzo (@iSocialFanz), a digital futurist keynote speaker, to explore the shifting events landscape. Read the full recap below, which includes advice on how to decide if your event should go virtual, the tools you need to successfully run an online event, and the trends that will define this new era of events.

Q1: Many conference and event organizers are having to decide if they should cancel, reschedule, or take their upcoming events virtual. What criteria can they use to evaluate if a virtual event would be a good fit?

In-person events will almost certainly be nonexistent through 2020, likely stretching well into 2021. You should not plan to host an in-person event for at least another 9 months, pending ongoing guidance from public health officials.

This is an opportunity to reassess the value of your event and see how you can reinvent that experience virtually. This pressure to innovate and redesign event experiences will shape the next era of events.

For any event to be successful, it has to provide value to its audience. As such, one way to assess whether your event should go virtual is by surveying your prospective attendees to assess their needs and interests.

Events with a heavy networking focus will be trickier (but not impossible) to replicate digitally, but more traditional event components like keynotes, panel discussions, and even brainstorming can be handled online.

And there are plenty of content types to explore that can create an engaging and interactive online event experience.

When planning your event, ask yourself these questions: What are the goal(s) of the event?

How much interaction do we want during the event, and can we manage this online?

How will we keep an online audience focused? This could involve exploring different session lengths and the way you deliver the content.

How important is the timing of this event? If the topic can wait until after the virus is contained and there is significant value in holding the event in person, consider postponing.

Do we have the capability to record and post sessions afterward? This can greatly extend the value of your event because you can couple those recordings with blog posts and social media content following the event.

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March 30, 2020 Content Chat Recap: Why Marketing Needs To Say Buh-Bye To April Fool’s Pranks

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Brands have joined in on the April Fool’s festivities for decades, pranking their audiences in an attempt to spread joy, build relationships, and ultimately stay relevant. The problem, though, is that over the years it seems that creativity has dwindled, pranks are falling flat, and many marketers are left wondering: “Should my company do an April Fool’s joke?”

In this #ContentChat community conversation we are joined by longtime community member and friend Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo), marketing director and strategist at SuperDeluxe Marketing, to weigh the pros and cons of brand April Fool’s jokes, with an added element of how to approach pranks in times of global crisis. Read through the conversation below, and comment with your take on whether brand April Fool’s pranks should end.

Q1: Brand April Fool’s Day pranks. Are you a fan of them, or do you think they are past their prime?

60% of our poll respondents feel that brand April Fool’s Day pranks are past their prime, 27.5% take the opposite stance, and 12.5% are undecided.

Of those that are against brand April Fool’s pranks, some feel that these activities have been irrelevant for several years. Often, the “jokes” feel like a rushed attempt to hop on the April Fool’s bandwagon without having a legitimately delightful and entertaining idea. Or, even worse, the jokes come across as offensive or distasteful.

In part, the issue with brand April Fool’s jokes is that many companies do not have an established identity of being fun or quirky (which is OK). The audiences of these brands could be confused or even feel alienated receiving a prank from a brand that otherwise is buttoned up in its communications.

That said, many marketers are still excited at the potential of April Fool’s jokes. This year with the global COVID-19 pandemic, though, brands must approach their jokes with extreme caution—on one hand, there is a need for entertaining (and distracting) content, but there is increased risk this year with heightened sensitivities.

Instead of doing an April Fool’s joke, brands could instead focus on providing insightful and genuinely helpful content for navigating this pandemic.

Or, there are a variety of other themes that brands can follow in April that don’t involve pranks.

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