Erika Heald Marketing Consulting

Content marketing that drives business results

Content Chat

#ContentChat is a weekly twitter chat 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.

 

April 12, 2021 Content Chat Recap: How To Build A Craveable Brand Through Content Marketing

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Most brands continue to explore new ways to reach and engage their communities, especially given the shift in customer needs during the pandemic. Audiences expect greater levels of empathy and authenticity than before, but the emergence of Dark Social channels makes it harder to track customer conversations and understand their needs. So how can brands break through to their customers? And how can businesses develop deeper community relationships that weather even the greatest industry turbulence?

In this #ContentChat, we’re joined by Jessika Phillips (@JessicaPhillips), founder of NOW Marketing Group, to discuss how companies can build a Craveable brand—one that keeps our communities wanting to come back for more—through content marketing. Read the full recap below, where we share the challenges that marketers face in reaching their communities in 2021, the importance of a brand manifesto to explain your brand’s greater purpose, and the ways that you can leverage a brand manifesto to create personalized and audience-focused content.

Q1: What challenges do marketers face in understanding and reaching their communities and ideal customers in 2021?

Marketers face a range of challenges in 2021. Most conversations and interactions now happen online, which means brands need a way to track, reach, and engage their virtual communities.

Buyer habits have shifted this past year, so brands need to reassess their target personas and these buyer needs.

Which ties to an increased focus on social listening.

But Dark Social, or conversations happening in private or niche communities, is on the rise. This makes it difficult to fully understand our audiences.

And not to mention the struggles of efficiently collecting and making sense of your data.

This increase in online activity also means that customers expect more online resources and assistance, like chatbots and FAQs.

A common thread is that communities feel more dispersed before and marketers need to stay focused in their efforts.

And Rebekah makes an excellent point: Most often, marketers get in their own way. Brand communities look for genuine interaction, solutions to their challenges, and a sense of belonging.

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April 5, 2021 Content Chat Recap—Community Conversation: What Marketers Want From Email Newsletters

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Marketing to consumers and business decision-makers is certainly a challenge, but marketing to marketers is a uniquely difficult task that may leave even less room for error. Increasingly since the pandemic, brands have used email newsletters to convey empathy, provide value and support to their audiences, and reinforce their brand voice through consistent newsletters. But how should brands approach email newsletter marketing to marketers?

In this #ContentChat community conversation, we discuss what marketers want from email newsletters. Read the full recap below, where we share what type of subject lines compel marketers to click on an email newsletter, why marketers unsubscribe from email newsletters, our advice for marketers looking to launch a new email newsletter, and more.

Q1: As both a marketer and a consumer, how do you feel about email newsletters? Are you actively looking for more? Trying to whittle your list down?

Several of our community members are actively looking for valuable newsletters. They want unique perspectives, well-curated resources, and content that sparks conversation.

When approached well, newsletters are an incredibly powerful way to strengthen your community relationships.

Marketers are short on time and turn to email newsletters for interesting and useful content that they can’t get elsewhere.

If a marketer did not willingly sign up for your email newsletter, they are likely to unsubscribe.

Review your email newsletter subscriptions at least twice a year to keep your inbox streamlined.

And Derek shares a few guiding principles for email newsletter content:

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March 29, 2021 Content Chat Recap: The State of Agile Marketing in 2021

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According to the AgileSherpas 4th Annual State of Agile Marketing report, 51% of marketers say they’ve used at least some parts of an Agile marketing approach to boost their marketing results. The advantages of an Agile approach can include increased customer satisfaction, better resource utilization, and an overall more effective team, but how can marketers begin their Agile journey? And in what ways can marketers refine their Agile practices?

In this #ContentChat, we’re joined by Andrea Fryrear (@AndreaFryrear), president and co-founder of AgileSherpas, to discuss the state of Agile marketing in 2021. Read the full recap below, where we leverage her team’s latest research to explain what an Agile marketing team is, how to overcome the hurdles of implementing an Agile approach, and general tips to build a successful Agile marketing team environment.

If you’re looking for more information on Agile marketing, Andrea has generously provided 10 FREE codes for the AgileSherpas Introduction to Agile Marketing self-paced course. Just head over to the course page and use code CONTENTCHAT at checkout to redeem.

Q1: What is an Agile marketing team? How is it different from an agile (lowercase) team?

Lowercase agile teams are fast and adaptive, but this is often by accident or necessity. These teams are often stressed and inefficient with their time, despite their perceived agility.

Capital “A” Agile teams follow a mix of frameworks and best practices to stay efficient and effective.

A documented marketing strategy is a necessity for agile and Agile teams. Agile teams are best prepared to pivot from this plan to benefit the customer or address a change in business priority.

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March 22, 2021 Content Chat Recap: How To Build An Executive Thought Leadership Platform

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Thought leadership has been proven to be valuable for companies. Half of business decision-makers say that thought leadership content influences their purchasing decisions, and 42% are even willing to pay more to work with an organization that produces thought leadership. However, many teams are misaligned with their thought leadership approach, or they simply don’t know where to begin.

In this #ContentChat, we discuss how to build an executive thought leadership platform. Read the full recap below, where we explain what is thought leadership, the qualities that make for a great brand thought leader, the key elements of an executive thought leadership platform, and more.

For further tips and resources, check out this piece that explains how to identify your thought leadership topics and what to include in your thought leadership profiles.

Q1: What is thought leadership? Can a brand be a thought leader?

Erika defines thought leadership as the process of taking a subject matter expert, creating content from their unique perspective, and turning them into a recognized and valued industry resource.

Through that lens, brands technically cannot be thought leaders. However, brands can build a reputation of cultivating thought leaders.

What is the difference between an influencer and a thought leader? Influencers simply have an audience they can activate, but influencers do not always have a unique point of view.

“Thought leadership” is thrown around loosely in the industry, which has caused confusion as to what is and is not thought leadership.

Thought leadership requires meaningful relationships with the people that thought leaders are trying to reach.

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March 15, 2021 Content Chat Recap: Email Marketing Hacks That Drive Results

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Are your email marketing efforts falling flat? Audiences are flooded with a sea of emails each day, which means that your emails need a way to stand out—and there are a few behavioral science principles that may help!

In this #ContentChat, we’re joined by Nancy Harhut (@NHarhut), co-founder and chief creative officer of HBT Marketing, to discuss email marketing hacks that drive results. Read the full recap below, where we discuss how to write compelling email subject lines, ways to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity for your community, and other tips to drive action from your email marketing.

Q1: What type of subject lines work best for email marketing? What are some “eye magnet” words that instantly grab attention?

Per Nancy, the best subject lines have news, urgency, and “ignore at your peril” elements. Some effective eye magnet words include “today,” “introducing,” “alert,” and “action required.”

“Free” used to trigger spam filters but is now a top-pulling subject line word.

Experiment with question, how-to, and list subject lines. 10 is an especially effective number because it’s easier for our brains to process.

Emojis also draw attention, just be sure that they align with your brand voice.

Use your customer data to tailor subject lines whenever possible. Some audiences respond well when their name is included in the subject line, but not all people will be receptive to this tactic.

The main thing is to experiment with different ideas and track your success. Conduct A/B testing to find the best way to approach your audience. Learn more about A/B testing here.

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March 8, 2021 Content Chat Recap: Small Content Marketing Team? Here’s How to Drive Big Results

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Content marketers often wish they could add members to their team, equating more people with greater potential results. While there is an inherent advantage of having more people on your content team, the reality is that even a team of just one or two can drive equal—or even higher quality—results compared to a large team. So how can they do it?

In this #ContentChat, we’re joined by marketing consultant and editor of the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) blog Ann Gynn (@AnnGynn) to discuss how small content marketing teams can drive big results. Read the full recap below, where we share what a minimum viable content marketing strategy should include, tools to boost the efficiency of your work, and resources to help bolster your marketing skills.

Q1: What skills are essential for an in-house content marketer with a small (or no) team? What skills can be outsourced as needed?

In-house content marketers should be skilled in strategy development, project management, editorial planning, and community management.

An in-house content marketer must have a deep understanding of their organization, its services or products, the internal dynamics at play, and the overarching business goals. They must also be aware of how their organization fits into the wider industry in which they operate and the competitive landscape.

Outsource marketing skills related to content creation and promotion as needed.

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