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.

May 23, 2022 Content Chat Recap: 2022 Content Chat Summer Reading Challenge

May 29, 2022 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

What have you recently read or listened to that helped you as a marketer? Everything from books and blogs to podcasts and online courses can spark new ideas and inspire business innovation—and we want to help you on this quest for knowledge.

Each year we host a #ContentChat Summer reading challenge, where we share our favorite resources that keep us at the top of our game as content marketers. In the below recap, you’ll find all our recommendations, and don’t forget to download our Summer reading challenge worksheet to organize your list.

What is one thing you’d like to learn this Summer but aren’t sure where to start? Let us know in the comments so we can crowd-source some ideas for you!

On today’s #ContentChat, we’re sharing resources to help each other put together a content marketing Summer Reading list. Here’s a handy template for you to use to jot down your ideas! pic.twitter.com/aBhtpW2Pc3
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 23, 2022

Q1: What is the most recent #marketing, #contentmarketing, or business book you’ve read that we should all add to our Summer reading lists?

These books deserve a spot on your bookshelf (or in your digital library).

A1a: I am about to start reading “Futureproof” by @kevinroose, which was recommended to me because of all the time I spend in the #futureofwork world with my content creation.#ContentChat https://t.co/3kuBv29mI4
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 23, 2022

A1b: Some of the best marketing books I’ve recently read are:
– 2nd edition of “Content, Inc.” by @JoePulizzi which is so inspiring for my creator endeavors
– “The Referrable Speaker” by @DrewDavisHere which I got after seeing him talk about his speaker process#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 23, 2022

A1: We recommend Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares, it’s a great read for start-up entrepreneurs 📚 ~Julie #ContentChat
— Nimble (@Nimble) May 23, 2022

Reading the book @HumorSeriously and it’s brilliant! #ContentChat
— Irina Graf (@themiceblog) May 23, 2022

Alek, I just saw this tweet. My recommendations are:
• Adam Grant’s Think Again
• Kindra Hall’s Stories that Stick
Newsletter recommendations:
• @amandanat’s The Menu
• @nicoletabak’s Social Media Detox #ContentChat
— Masooma | Content Writer (@inkandcopy) May 25, 2022

A1: I’ve been reading a few great books:
– Everybody Writes by @annhandley (a new edition is coming soon)
– Building a StoryBrand by @donaldmiller
– Content Inc. by @JoePulizzi
Next up: Grammatically Correct by Anne Stilman & RE:Think Innovation by @CarlaJohnson #ContentChat
— Alek Irvin (@AlekIrvin) May 23, 2022

A1a.: Joe joined #ContentChat last year to discuss his book. Check out the recap here to see what you’ll learn! https://t.co/6ABWQhBrqz
— Alek Irvin (@AlekIrvin) May 23, 2022

A1b.: And I highly recommend The Experience Maker by @DGingiss. He also discussed his book on #ContentChat (recap here): https://t.co/bWaSupa3Qv
— Alek Irvin (@AlekIrvin) May 23, 2022

Q2: What are your favorite #podcasts about marketing, content marketing, or business topics that you always learn something new from?

May 16, 2022 Content Chat Recap: 2022 Marketing Agency Roundtable

May 19, 2022 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Marketing strategies changed drastically in the switch to all-remote work, and the return of in-person activities requires a mid-year pivot. In this #ContentChat recap, the community explores how their clients’ needs have changed and what marketing activities we expect to gain traction.

Q1: Let’s start with a quick celebration. What recent client project(s) are you most proud of? Can you share a link?

The community has a lot to celebrate, including a Fast Company article placement, website redesigns, rebrandings, and growth in their brand networks.

A1: I’m going to have to go with working with the amazing + inspiring @jerrehian on her recent Fast Company post: https://t.co/yLBzmQyRwG https://t.co/MkOoCEb0gE
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 16, 2022

A1b: It’s also exciting to see the @Ripple website redesign I worked on live! #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 16, 2022

It’s always exciting to see a new website or overhaul go live.
Then there’s the google analytics anticipation to be sure you didn’t make the #SEO overlords angry. #ContentChat
— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) May 16, 2022

Website builds can be so fun! Especially when you know they’re a massive improvement. We’re working three or four of them as we speak. #ContentChat
— John Cloonan | Audacity Marketing (@johncloonan) May 16, 2022

A1: I’d have to say our ongoing in-depth blog content in a difficult industry has made me proud. We’ve been blogging for a collections agency weekly for over 7 months. https://t.co/zW0WEUsupY #ContentChat
— John Cloonan | Audacity Marketing (@johncloonan) May 16, 2022

A1b: Though we’re also on the cusp of launching two rebrands, which of course I can’t show!#ContentChat
— John Cloonan | Audacity Marketing (@johncloonan) May 16, 2022

A1: We’ve managed to add some new members to our content distribution network.
Come join free! All agencies welcome.https://t.co/8VIRnapH8G
#ContentChat
— Sweepsify (@Sweepsify_) May 16, 2022

Q2: How have your clients’ marketing needs changed this year? What is top-of-mind for the business executives you partner or speak with?

May 9, 2022 Content Chat Recap: How To Build Instant Authority With A Content Anchor Strategy

May 16, 2022 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

If you try to reach everyone through your content marketing, you will likely fail to meaningfully engage or delight anyone. Instead, your content should center on clear pillars and anchors that effectively convey the value you can provide—not random acts of content.

In this #ContentChat recap, Kami Huyse (@KamiChat), CEO of digital marketing and public relations agency Zoetica Media and host of Smart Social Secrets, joins the community to discuss how to build instant authority with a content anchor strategy (or, as Kami’s team calls it, a Cornerstone Content Strategy that uses Content Pillars). Read the below recap to learn:

Why content anchors are an important part of content marketing
How to get started with mapping a content anchor strategy
Our favorite tools to assist with keyword identification and measuring the success of our content marketing

Q1: What is a content anchor?

Content anchors give your audience a clear understanding of your expertise and topics of interest. Your content anchors should support your main platform.

A1 a I am old-school, content anchors serve the same purpose as do content categories for a blog. They give a clear understanding about your expertise to both people and bots so they know if your content is for them #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/gb1W7iqOBj
— Kami Huyse | Social Media Strategist 🎯 (@kamichat) May 9, 2022

A1b I also think about content anchors as the legs of a stool, supporting your main platform. Example: I am a social media consultant, so my anchors are Clarity, Connect, Create, and Calibrate. All of my content and services revolve around these topics #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/5cY3nnjLEr
— Kami Huyse | Social Media Strategist 🎯 (@kamichat) May 9, 2022

As Erika explains, a content anchor is often a piece of content that is widely shared and becomes a cornerstone for your content marketing campaign.

A1: A content anchor is a piece of content that becomes a cornerstone for your content marketing program. It’s those pieces that get all the backlink, pageviews, engagement, and act as the hub for your primary content topics. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 9, 2022

A1b: i.e. if you were making a highlights reel showcasing the most exemplary/definitive pieces of content your brand created, those anchor pieces are what would be in it.#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 9, 2022

A1: I believe the content anchor consists of the key pieces of content that best sum up your brand/showcase the best of your brand ~Julie #ContentChat
— Nimble (@Nimble) May 9, 2022

A1. Content anchor is the piece that literally keeps the ship “brand” presence afloat. It is unique, aligned to your audience’s needs & brings in the maximum traction #contentchat
— Mahima Kini (@Mahi2weets) May 9, 2022

Q2: Why is it important to use content anchors as part of your content marketing strategy?

May 2, 2022 Content Chat Recap: How To Make Your Content Marketing More Inclusive

May 6, 2022 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Every word or image you use when talking to your brand community can reinforce or strongly detract from your brand’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. But creating inclusive content is more than following a guide and using specific words. It requires you to deeply understand your individual community members and the many facets of their identity and life.

In this #ContentChat recap, Michelle Ngome (@MichelleNgome), award-winning inclusive marketing consultant and founder of Line 25 Consulting, joins the community to discuss how to make your content marketing inclusive. Read the below recap to learn:

How to audit your content inclusivity
Common mistakes brands make when creating inclusive content (be sure to avoid these!)
Ways to encourage and support diverse team members across your brand

Q1: What is inclusive content?

Inclusive content represents the diverse communities and subgroups that your company serves.

A1: Inclusive content is defined as creating marketing content that represents the diverse communities that your company serves. Consider different subgroups in your target market. Are they represented in your marketing material? #ContentChat
— Michelle Ngome 🇨🇲 (@MichelleNgome) May 2, 2022

A1: Inclusive content involves representing people from all walks of life, not just the most common demographic ~Julie #ContentChat
— Nimble (@Nimble) May 2, 2022

A1: Inclusive content is content that includes all people, not just a specific group, or the largest group. #ContentChat
-Jake https://t.co/J39nRqVWqd
— Advance Digital Marketing (@Advance_Digitl) May 2, 2022

Language and imagery directly affect your content’s inclusivity.

A1: Inclusive content refers to marketing content that uses language and imagery that helps all the members of your brand community feel welcomed and seen. #ContentChat https://t.co/bnapA80jpH
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 2, 2022

Q2: What are the common mistakes that brands make regarding trying to create more inclusive content?

April 25, 2022 Content Chat Recap: How To Create A Brand Style Guide For Content Marketing

May 1, 2022 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Brand style guides can fast-track your content marketing and empower any content creator to create on-brand content. However, many teams create style guides that address only niche needs, or they fail to document their style altogether.

In this #ContentChat recap, Maddy Osman (@MaddyOsman), founder and SEO content strategist at The Blogsmith, joins the community to discuss what a brand content style guide should include. Read through the below recap to get our free brand style guide templates and learn:

How long a style guide should be
What to include in your brand style guide
How to get started with defining your brand style

If you’d like to learn more from Maddy, order your copy of her book Writing for Humans and Robots: The new Rules of Content Style (available July 18, 2022).

Q1: What is a brand style guide, and why is it essential for content marketing teams?

A brand style guide explains how your brand communicates with its community, and why.

1b) A brand style guide is a reference your writers and editors (and clients) can use to understand how and why to do things a certain way on behalf of the brand. The style guide can also capture brand values like inclusivity. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/2qGfEMSRTv
— Maddy Osman (@MaddyOsman) April 25, 2022

A1. A brand style guide is an internal document that defines how your brand presents itself to the world. It guides internal and external creators so that content is on brand and consistent across all communication platforms. #ContentChat
— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) April 25, 2022

A1: A #styleguide explains how your company speaks with and presents itself to your community. Style guides help your #contentmarketing team stay consistent and efficient, no matter what they’re creating or how familiar they are with your brand. #ContentChat
— Alek Irvin (@AlekIrvin) April 25, 2022

Effective brand style guides create consistency in your content.

A1: It stops your content from looking like a ransom note. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/WZHLhgTMvd
— Melissa Chiou (@melissaC_says) April 25, 2022

1a) A brand style guide creates consistency which leads to higher quality. It helps everyone on the team get on the same page. Most impactfully, it reduces time wasted on edits. #ContentChat
— Maddy Osman (@MaddyOsman) April 25, 2022

A1 A brand’s style guide is the blueprint for how the brand is portrayed – visual, audio, tonal, etc
Having one of these ensures that all content created for the brand is consistent no matter who on the team creates it
-Alyx#ContentChat https://t.co/44vNWgoj6D
— Charlie & Alyx – Charlie Appel Agency (@ColfaxInsurance) April 25, 2022

Consistency is so important. Many style guides start from a similar place (like AP Style) but should be customized for the individual brand’s needs! #ContentChat
— Maddy Osman (@MaddyOsman) April 25, 2022

A1. OMG this is so so important for everyone to be able to create content consistently and uniformly #ContentChat
— Shruti Deshpande (@shruti12d) April 25, 2022

Some brand style guides cover just visual considerations, however, we recommend you create a more holistic guide (more on that below).

A1: Brand style guide covers the logo, brand colors, fonts used, and what kind of imagery/graphics are used. Humans are very visual typically so it’s important to develop a coherent brand visual ~Julie #ContentChat
— Nimble (@Nimble) April 25, 2022

A1: A brand style guide covers the Logo, Brand Colors, Fonts, and use cases for the brand’s creatives #Contentchat
— Sweepsify (@Sweepsify_) April 25, 2022

Visual styles are so important. Some brands stop at writing guidelines but that’s a mistake! #ContentChat
— Maddy Osman (@MaddyOsman) April 25, 2022

… while other brands stop at the logo. ☹️ #ContentChat
— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) April 25, 2022

Q2: What details should a brand style guide include? How long should the document be?

April 18, 2022 Content Chat Recap: How To Use Instagram for Content Marketing

April 19, 2022 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Most B2B brand marketing teams prioritize Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter for reaching and engaging with their communities through social media. Instagram, however, can also be an effective channel to humanize your brand and drive engagement through video and photo content—you just need to understand the site’s unique features and how to blend them to maximize your success.

In this #ContentChat recap, Sue B. Zimmerman (@SueBZimmerman), Instagram expert and business coach, joins the community to explain how to use Instagram for content marketing. Read through the below recap to learn:

How to find and use the best hashtags for Instagram
Why Instagram Reels are a valuable content marketing opportunity
How to avoid the common Instagram content marketing mistakes

Q1: What are the key features and ways to share content through Instagram that content marketers should know about?

There are four main ways to create content on Instagram: feed, stories, live, and reels.

A1a Instagram is a village and there are now 4 neighborhoods to create content – Feed, Stories, Live, Reels #ContentChat 👀 > https://t.co/osMgEVrWFU
— Sue B. The Instagram Expert📲 (@SueBZimmerman) April 18, 2022

I LOVE thinking about Instagram this way. Each of these features is pretty unique. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) April 18, 2022

The channel thrives on photo and video storytelling. Mix all four post types to drive engagement and increase the likelihood you’ll reach your target audience.

A1: We talked a bit about this last week in a Twitter Space but photo storytelling.#ContentChat
— Sweepsify (@Sweepsify_) April 18, 2022

A1: All of them! Posts, stories, reels, and live. A combination of the four will often drive higher engagement. #ContentChat
— Social hour (@socialhour_com) April 18, 2022

A1
-Stories(Heighlight them)
Reels
IGTV
Posts
Use hashtags to increase reach#contentchat
— Amna Aslam (@amnaaslam20) April 18, 2022

Instagram Reels can be especially effective to boost your reach.

A1: Instagram is a great way to start and grow a community! Also, Reels are where it’s at! The reach you can get with Reels has a lot of potential ~Julie #ContentChat
— Nimble (@Nimble) April 18, 2022

A1 Instagram has 4 features for sharing content
Video and photo posts (the Feed)
Reels
Stories
Live
From personal experience, Reels have been the most viewed and engaged with content over everything else I’ve made
-Alyx#contentchat https://t.co/Vl6EebX9Oo
— Charlie & Alyx – Charlie Appel Agency (@ColfaxInsurance) April 18, 2022

Our kitten’s Reels have done *so well*. Because who can resist floor in action? #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) April 18, 2022

I’ve seen my homesteading related (and cooking especially) related Reels regularly getting over 1000 views, which is HUGE visibility compared to what I normally see on the Feed
And who can resist kittens?!
-Alyx#ContentChat
— Charlie & Alyx – Charlie Appel Agency (@ColfaxInsurance) April 18, 2022

Instagram direct messages (DMs) are a valuable way to build a relationship with your followers.

A1b Instagram DM is my favorite feature where you can get more intimate w/ your followers by using the VM + DM video feature > wanna see it in action send me a DM mention #ContentChat https://t.co/H8lgURTzmN
— Sue B. The Instagram Expert📲 (@SueBZimmerman) April 18, 2022

And Instagram guides are an area of opportunity for everyone.

A1c Instagram guides are underutilized and can be a great resource bc they have their own unique URL https://t.co/6D1duToLu1 #ContentChat
— Sue B. The Instagram Expert📲 (@SueBZimmerman) April 18, 2022

I’m intrigued! Can anyone post a guide or is this a limited access feature? #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) April 18, 2022

Anyone can post a guide … I have a step by step video on YouTube showing you how > https://t.co/cCfUeB3g1T
— Sue B. The Instagram Expert📲 (@SueBZimmerman) April 18, 2022

Q2: How does Instagram’s feed algorithm work?