This blog post has an overview of interview questions and responses. For a full list of interview questions, the ideal responses, and evaluation criteria, download Curata’s Content Marketing Interview Template.

Growth in Content Marketing Jobs

In the past three years there has been an uptick in content marketing related positions available at all levels, from interns to executives. Perusing the available openings on job boards, the most common titles include:

• Content Marketing Specialist
• Content Marketing Manager
• Content Marketing Strategist
• Content Marketing Intern
• Vice President of Content Marketing
• Chief Content Officer (rare)
• Content Marketing Associate

Looking at job trends on Indeed.com reinforces this: the inclusion of “content marketing” in job descriptions has skyrocketed nearly 400% in recent years.

Must Have Content Marketing Competencies

Below are some of the must-have competencies to identify in your next content marketer. These may vary slightly depending upon your organization and what level individual you’re looking to hire.

• Passion and Talent for Content Marketing (and writing). This is number one on my list.  You need to be a great writer and editor, highly creative, able to tell a story, and most importantly—love doing content marketing. Although more detailed questions are provided below, you need to understand if your candidate really loves content marketing, and if they will take the initiative to develop and grow in the role.
• Aligning Content with Market/Customer Needs. Content marketing is the process for developing, executing, and delivering the content and related assets needed to create, nurture and grow a company’s customer base. If you don’t have the capability to understand a market (e.g., be able to listen to customers and influencers, and identify their communicated and latent needs), you simply won’t be able to deliver great, engaging content.
• Understanding What Drives Successful Content. Some of the best writers in the world will never be successful content marketers. A superstar content marketer must understand what drives success in their market and within their organization (e.g., understanding Google search, measuring performance, translating data into insight).
• Maintaining a Consistent Supply of Quality Content. This competency deals a lot more with operations than simply content creation. Producing and delivering great content on time on a regular basis is no easy feat.
• Action-Oriented. Being a content marketer requires working with many people that don’t report to you, and getting them to deliver a product or service that can make or break your own success. This can include content from a product marketer, SEO insight from the digital team, and promotion by the social media team. Your content marketer should have the drive and creativity to do what it takes to get the product (i.e., content) out the door, optimize its promotion, and be prepared to do things differently when required. They need to be able to take a risk when necessary.
• Multi-Tasking. This is the ability to manage many activities and prioritize deliverables in a demanding, fast-paced environment. No doubt there’s some overlap here with being action-oriented, however, the need to be a great project manager cannot be under-estimated—especially for more senior staff.
• Desire and Ability to Work in a [Small/Large] Company. Select which version is best for your organization. There are significant differences between the two environments.
• Understanding and Use of Technology. Take a look at this Content Marketing Tools map and you’ll quickly understand the opportunity and challenge that exists for today’s marketer to tap into the power of new software.

Must Ask Content Marketing Interview Questions

Below are some of the must ask interview questions for any content marketing position, aligned with the competencies described above. Many of the questions are low level and tactical rather than strategic in nature—and more appropriate for a content marketing specialist than a Vice President of Content Marketing.

My philosophy however, is that in order to run a content team and create a content strategy, you need to know how to perform the duties of the team you manage. So I also ask senior level hires these same interview questions. Refer to the Content Marketing Interview Template for a more comprehensive list of interview questions as well as examples of poor, mediocre, and great responses to these interview questions.

Passion and Talent for Content Marketing (and Writing)

What do you enjoy about writing?

• Why it’s important to ask this: Content marketing is a lot more than writing; however, I consider this talent to be a foundational element of a superstar content marketer. You have to love what you do.
• What to look out for: Look for indicators that they have a passion for writing. Understand what drives their passion, what outlets they’ve used to express this passion, and what personal benefits they get out of creating content.

Describe how you determined the style, tone, and voice for a specific piece of content you recently completed.

• Why it’s important to ask this: Your content marketer will need to express a unique voice and opinion in their work. However, they also need to adapt their own style as a function of your company’s needs, the audience, format of the content, person they’re writing for, and so on.
• What to look out for: Look and ask for specific examples of how they modified their style, as well as asking them to identify why this is important.

Provide a specific example of content you created that entertained and/or educated your readers.

• Why it’s important to ask this: Content marketing is about adding value to your readers, such as providing an infographic that educates about their industry, or creating an entertaining video that helps them with their job or career. Your team needs to create content that provides entertainment such as through story-telling or comedy in order to stand out from the crowd, and to capture and sustain their attention.
• What to look out for: Look for examples of their content that told a story, used humor, and/or educated their audience about something other than a company’s products. Bonus points if the candidate has delivered more unique formats of content, such as infographics, podcasts or interactive content. Ask for examples of where they’ve used visual content, including why they were or weren’t successful.

What content marketing blogs do you read?

• Why it’s important to ask this: Is the candidate really interested in content marketing? Do they take personal initiative to educate themselves and grow as a content marketer? Or will they only grow solely through your mentorship on the job?
• What to look out for: See if they mention specific blogs. If they just say, “you know, all of them,” or “the usual ones,” they are likely not reading any.

Describe a situation in which you were given feedback on a content piece.

• Why it’s important to ask this: I certainly want a content marketer to have an opinion about what works and what doesn’t work. However, it’s also important that they can accept critiques about their work and make changes as necessary.
• What to look out for: Understand what type of feedback they received, how it made them feel—and most importantly—what they did with that feedback.

What process do you use when proofreading?

• Why it’s important to ask this: I certainly want a content marketer to have an opinion about what works and what doesn’t work. however, it’s also important that they are able to accept critique about their work and make changes as necessary.
• What to look out for: Attention to to detail and an understanding of proper usage of the english language is key elements of quality content. (Did you catch the three mistakes?) Follow-up questions could include:
  • What are some of your greatest “pet peeves” when editing someone else’s writing?
  • Which style guide(s) do you depend upon? See “Great Responses” in the Content Marketing Interview template.

Aligning Content with Market and Customer Needs

How do you decide which content topics to focus on and what format that content should take?

• Why it’s important to ask this: What drives a person to invest their time and effort into creating content? Is it anecdotal insight such as a hallway conversation with a sales person—which may be a good place to begin investigating an idea, but not the final driver for its execution? Or is creation more data-driven, such as through Google Analytics or insight from a content marketing platform?
• What to look out for: Be wary if your candidate indicates their past content development was primarily driven by what their boss told them to write about; or they have no understanding of what goes into content strategy. A follow-up question could be: “Describe your company’s content strategy, including key steps in its development.”

It’s your first day on the job. Walk me through the steps you’d take to develop a content strategy for our organization.

This is more of a case study type of question, better suited for senior hires. Check out the following eBook as a resource to best understand responses for this question: How to Create a Content Strategy: The Content Marketing Pyramid.

Understanding What Drives Successful Content

What makes content “successful”?

• Why it’s important to ask this: In order to create great content, you have to know how to discern which content is doing well in the first place.
• What to look out for: There are many answers to this question, so this helps tease out what type of content marketer the candidate is. Here are some possible answers:
  • “Traffic”
  • “Repeat visitors”
  • “Retweets and likes”
  • “Search engine ranking”
  • “Comments”
  • “Leads and sales”
  • “It depends”

The more they name off and can sensibly explain the importance of, the better.

Walk me through how you create a blog post.

• Why it’s important to ask this: This is a good question to tease out which parts of the content lifecycle the candidate is familiar with. Do they only have experience with copywriting, or can they come up with blog ideas themselves? Do they stop at writing the blog post, or do they keep promotion on social media in mind as well?
• What to look out for: You should look for a response that captures the whole process from start to finish, from ideation to production to distribution to analytics. A great answer will include specific tools and details. Here’s an example of great and mediocre responses.

How do to decide what to content create?

• Mediocre Responses:
  • My manager tells me what I should write about and gives me an outline.
  • I look at what’s trending and pick an interesting topic.
• Great Responses:
  • I keep a backlog of keywords that people are searching for in Google related to my target topic, and create posts based on the backlog.
  • I set up Google News alerts and a feed reader to look at which topics are trending in the news that relate to my topic area. I come up with spins on those topics to newsjack those stories.
  • I regularly ask the sales team what questions their prospects are asking, and use the responses as fodder for my next post.

What steps do you take when you actually create your content?

• Mediocre Responses:
  • I write my blog post in Word and then post it when it’s ready.
• Great Responses:
  • I write my blog post in Word, add hyperlinks to at least three other pieces of content on our site that we’ve published, and add at least one hyperlink to a third party resource.
  • I ensure there’s an associated featured image for the post by going to a stock image site.
  • I always make sure there’s a clear call to action at the end of each post.
  • For quality control, I make sure at least one other person has proofread it before publishing.
  • I optimize the title for a target keyword by looking at what terms people are searching for in Google.

After you have published your content, how do you promote it?

• Mediocre Responses:
  • I publish my content on WordPress, and then tweet it out as well.
• Great Responses:
  • I publish the post on our blog using WordPress.
  • I then schedule a minimum of four tweets at different times of the day in HootSuite.
  • I email coworkers to retweet and share my post as well.
  • I ask the demand generation team to include it in the next email newsletter to our database.

How do you know if your content has performed well or not?

• Mediocre Response:
  • Usually I just know if it’s done well or not.
• Great Response:
  • I look at Google Analytics after a few days to see how many page views it has received.
  • I search on Google for the target keyword I was optimizing for to see if it ranked in the first page.
  • I look at the Twitter counter on the post to see how many tweets cite this post.

How does Google rank content?

• Why it’s important to ask this: I am always surprised by how few marketers at any level understand how Google really ranks content. Though you’re not interviewing for an SEO position, content marketing is intrinsically tied to search engine optimization; everyone should know the basics when creating content.
• What to look for: You don’t need a candidate to know the PageRank formula, but rather the basic premise behind Google’s ranking algorithm, along with other auxiliary factors that help with SEO. For example, many naive marketers think Google ranks content largely on meta tags and keyword stuffing. In reality, Google primarily ranks content on inbound links, and the authority of the sites doing the linking. It’s a bonus if a candidate can mention other contributing factors such as the text of the hyperlink, the title tag, keywords in the URL, and others.

What are some good ways to get other people to link to your content?

• Why it’s important to ask this: The candidate may understand Google ranks content based on inbound links, but they also need to know how to accumulate inbound links.
• What to look for: A good content marketer knows how to get links by producing great link worthy content, and promoting it in a clever manner. Here are some good responses to the questions:
  • I interview influencers, not only because they have good things to say, but because they promote the resulting content to a large audience as well—and some of those people will end up linking back to my interview.
  • I include content others can reuse. For example, I may create a quick infographic that other bloggers may want to curate or include in their own posts, with a link back to mine.
  • I write long form content so I have the most comprehensive and authoritative post on a particular subject, which tempts others to link to me as the reference source.

Take Home Assignment: Produce an original writing sample

• Why it’s important to ask this: Many candidates may come in with writing samples from the past, but they may not accurately reflect the candidate’s capabilities. For example, the sample may have been proofed by a manager. Furthermore, it doesn’t accurately assess whether the candidate can create content that relates to your specific industry and topics.
• What to look for: I typically ask candidates to download one of our eBooks and summarize them in a 400 word blog post to bring to the second round interview. Things I look for from the resulting sample are:
  • Grammar, spelling, and attention to detail. Did they care enough about the job to proofread the post?
  • Title of the post. Did they come up with a creative title for the post? Is it SEO optimized? Or did they just copy the title of the eBook?
  • Call to Action. Did they include a call to action to the full eBook at the end of the post?
  • Paragraphs and structure. Is the post quickly skimmable? Or is it a wall of words?

Similar to interviews for other positions where candidates are asked riddles, the candidate may not use these skills every day on the job, but all of the above interview questions help tease out if they are cut out to be a well rounded content marketer.

The Interview: Where to Go From Here

Even if they make it through all the above interview questions with flying colors, it does not necessarily mean they’re a fit. It’s important to screen for cultural fit, and to make sure they have a good work ethic.

If they are a strong candidate on these fronts, as a hiring manager it’s your turn to answer some of the candidate’s interview questions: Why should they work at your company? How is your vision for content marketing any different to any other marketing department out there?

Employers: What do You Think?

Since being a professional “content marketer” is a relatively new role, we would love to hear which interview questions you have found to be effective. Please let us know in the comments below.

Content Marketers: Come Work at Curata

If you think you are cut out to be a content marketer, come work at Curata! There’s no better place to be a content marketer than at a company that serves content marketing departments of all sizes, big and small. Apply now to be our next content marketing superstar. 

We look forward to meeting you and grilling you on the above interview questions (although you now know the answers we’re looking for). For a full list of interview questions, ideal responses, and evaluation criteria, download Curata’s Content Marketing Interview Template.

Job Market Overview

Content marketing jobs have grown over 350 percent since 2011. The highest concentration of content marketing jobs are in Massachusetts, New York, and California. While some say the forecast for content marketing roles is bleak, others predict content marketing roles will grow and responsibilities will shift to include changing technologies and story-consuming preferences.

Examples of content marketing skills expected as a requirement in the next fives years include augmented and virtual reality, chatbot marketing, and live video. As responsibilities and skill sets grow for content marketers, so do their salaries.

Content Marketing Salary Survey

Creative salaries are increasing. When determining your content marketing salary, consider years of experience, location, and industry. Top resources for calculating average salary include:

• Robert Half Creative Group Salary Guide: A personal calculator supplements this guide. Enter your experience, industry, and location to receive a custom salary range. According to Robert Half, the national average content marketing salary for managers in 2017 is $70,000 to $103,000.
• Glassdoor: Glassdoor gives national and location-specific content marketing salary information. Glassdoor also provides data on company-specific compensation.  According to Glassdoor, the national average salary for content marketing managers is $68,348.
• PayScale: PayScale breaks content marketing salary into subcategories including commission and bonus and can produce a custom salary report based on your experience and skills. According to PayScale, the national average salary for content marketing managers is $64,776.

Quick tip: Want a nice pay bump? Change your title to content strategist. They made between 81k and 104k in 2017.

How to Get a Raise

Asking for a raise requires courage and preparation. Though the average content marketing salary is increasing and the interest in content marketing is growing, many teams are choosing to hire contractors instead of full-time employees or try their hand at supplementing with technology rather than full-time hires. Here are a few things top-content marketers think you should do to help impress your boss and get a raise.

Work Outside of Work

If you’re new to the content marketing space and trying to break in, the best thing you can do to get hired with a competitive starting salary is do content marketing as part of a passion project. Interested in tap-dancing animals? Create a website and grow an audience. We also suggest practicing answers to these questions.

In a similar vein, create notoriety for yourself prior to interviewing. Here’s why:

Develop More Skills

Another challenge in advancing your content marketing career is developing the variety of skills required to succeed. Expanding on these will help in getting a raise.

Arnie Kuenn, CEO of Vertical Measures | @ArnieK

“There are many different roles in content marketing, all requiring different skill sets. But there is one thing I recommend anyone involved in content marketing do to make themselves more valuable to their organization; that is to truly understand your brand’s customer journey so that you can build a strategy that puts the right (optimized) content in front of your customer at the right time. If you become an expert at that, you will be unique within your organization.”

Skills required for content marketers outside writing include html, Google Analytics, programming, marketing strategy, content strategy, thought leadership and brand development.

ROI

Many experts agree one of the best things you can do for a salary bump is prove you’re returning the investment the company is making on you.

Lee Odden, CEO at Top Rank Marketing | @leeodden

“The smartest thing a content marketer can do to increase their salary is to make a clear connection between content marketing strategy, tactics implemented and increased ROI. Marketers are an investment and there’s no better reason to increase that investment than a proven increase in return.”

Quick tips for making the ROI argument to your manager:

• Use numbers: you’re asking for a numerical increase in your content marketing salary. It only makes sense to use numerical reasons to support that increase.
• Track against larger marketing and company goals. Your company is looking to increase revenue, prove your content is helping with this.

Barry Feldman, Author of 'The Road to Recognition' | @FeldmanCreative

“Prove you’ve earned it by help the person that’s responsible for deciding what your salary is find the money. Do everything you can to demonstrate how your work drives the traffic, leads and sales that affects the top line and/or decreases the marketing costs that affect the bottom line.”

Pam Didner, B2B Marketing Consultant | @PamDidner

“Make an effort to demonstrate the value you add to the company and other marketing teams. Then, be strategic and articulate the benefits of content marketing to upper management. It’s Do, Show and Tell!”

www.pamdidner.com

Andy Crestodina, Co-Founder of Orbit Media | @crestodina

“Your boss wants to measure ROI, so the skill that has the biggest impact on your perceived value (and therefore your ability to command higher pay) is Analytics. Be the person who can show which actions drive results and which investments are a waste of money. You’ll hold the key to marketing insights …and to a bigger paycheck.”

www.orbitmedia.com

Gini Dietrich, CEO of Arment Dietrich and author of Spin Sucks | @ginidietrich

“Show results! While we certainly can prove attribution, if you can show how your content marketing efforts tie to business results, you can ask for that raise. Start with attribution. Move to lead nurturing. And then to the jackpot at the end of the rainbow—a boost in revenue. While content marketing works in tandem with other sales and marketing efforts, if you set up your reporting to show how your efforts brought the lead in, nurtured them, and helped them make a decision to buy, attribution goes to you. Use it the next time you ask for a bump in your salary.”

If you aren’t sure if you’re generating ROI for your organization, you’re not alone. Before asking for a raise, take some time to develop an ROI measurement process your manager supports. Also start getting feedback from the sales team or customer success. If other teams can anecdotally support your claims that your content is helping them close and retain revenue, all the better.

Bernie Borges, Podcaster, CMO of Vengreso | @bernieborges

“A content marketer who directly and indisputably helps the sales team create more qualified sales conversations has the best chance of earning more compensation.”

Stay Current

Ann Handley, Head of Content at MarketingProfs | @MarketingProfs

“Stay curious and keep your skills current. ABS (Always be sharpening!) your content knowledge and skills.”

Todd Wheatland, Author and Speaker, Global Strategy at King Content | @ToddWheatland

“Most people avoid recognising what it is that motivates them, and asking for what they want. It doesn’t matter if you’re an outstanding performer; if you don’t make it clear to your employer what’s important to you, then you are going to lose out comparatively to those that do. Once you’ve found the courage to do that – and let’s face it, most people never will – it’s important to have a sense of both the external market value of your capability, and the reality within your current organization. In my experience, avoid at all costs making it about ‘I could be earning more money somewhere else.’ Stay focused on your current role, the work you’re delivering and the impact you’re having. Make it easy for someone to say Yes – show clearly that you understand what’s important to the overall organization, and how you’re quantifiably driving towards that metric.”

Carla Johnson, Keynote Speaker, Author, Storyteller | @CarlaJohnson

“The best thing a content marketer can do to bump up their salary is to get curious. There are lots of skills a person can learn, but that’s a reactionary approach. That’s seeing where they may get behind the curve and then catching up.  Curious people find opportunities everywhere. They dig into the world around them, understand why ideas and experiences work or inspire the, connect that back to their work and generate great ideas one after the other. Ideas that work within the constraints of the working world. This is how people contribute ideas that excite others and help brands stand out from the crowd. Bosses are strapped for time and have a ton on their plate. But deep down, they always want to deliver the best, most creative work possible. When you consistently make your boss’s job easier and look great at the same time, you become the golden child. And that will always bump up your salary.”

No matter your location, years’ experience or the content marketing salary you’re trying to reach, there are a few things you can do to help get you there.

Improve your marketability by showing off your marketing chops both on and off the court, in and out of the office. Create and grow an audience in your free time.

Make yourself a “multi-sport” athlete. Expand your expertise beyond just writing and into SEO, coding, design, email, paid marketing and more.

Exceed your numbers. If you’re lucky enough to be part of a content marketing team that already has an understanding of how to measure content marketing, then do your best to assure you’re exceeding expectations when it comes to achieving ROI. If your team doesn’t measure ROI for content marketing efforts, create and install a process.

To find out more on how to take the next step in your marketing career, download Curata and LinkedIn’s eBook: The Ultimate Guide to a Content Marketing Career.

This trend has been with us for years. According to an October 2016 TrackMaven blogging report:

Over the last five years, the average number of blog posts published per brand per month increased by 800 percent. However, over the same time the average number of social shares per post (from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest) decreased by 89 percent.

From content creation to content curation, marketers are encouraged to keep ‘em coming as part of their content strategy. But by whom?

Other marketers.

Has anyone asked readers about their preferences in regards to the content flood? I couldn’t find any stats regarding reader satisfaction with content published, or the percentage of content actually read, as opposed to just shared.

It seems uncontroversial to acknowledge that readers feel overwhelmed by the volume of content they’re exposed to every hour of every day. One result of this content flood is that the majority of published content reaches fewer eyeballs, and/or holds them for less time.

We only have so much attention, and it’s a numbers game—the more pieces of content being published daily, the less attention each gets.

That leaves marketers in a predicament. Should you keep increasing your publication rate, knowing that most pieces get very little attention, if any?

There is another option: to hold against the winds of quantity, and think of a different content strategy.

Quantity Tramples Quality

Imagine if your favorite artist released a new album every two months. Even if they maintained their quality control, you’d probably be bored with them in less than a year. But it’s likely that the fifth (or maybe even the fourth) album of the year would almost certainly be crap. There’s only so much we can produce without wearing out. (Curating other’s high quality content is the savvy way to keep a consistent publishing schedule without wearing out. Check out The Definitive Guide to Content Curation for more.)

Woody Allen is a classic example. He can’t stop himself from writing and directing a film every year like clockwork. The last year he skipped was 1981. With due admiration for Allen’s work ethic and vast ouvre, in the last two decades he had more than a few misses. Quantity eventually tramples quality.

Which brings us back to content strategy. Over-creating content doesn’t serve a strong purpose other than feeding our self-made content machines. If the remarkable Woody Allen can’t create a great film once a year, why do we, a bunch of marketers, think we can create a meaningful, insightful, original, and interesting piece of content every single day?

Introducing the Mega Post

I want to argue for a content strategy that utilizes a mega post. Unlike the daily post, the mega post is heavily invested in. It is well researched, written and revised with care and attention, and most importantly, arises from very specific circumstances:

1. When you have something meaningful to say
2. When this meaningful thing hasn’t been said by others yesterday, or last week

On top of easing the content flood, and allowing every piece of content to get more attention and respect, the mega post serves three purposes simultaneously:

1. Creating a social buzz
2. Driving traffic to your website
3. Generating inbound links

The mega post can be informative in nature, but is distinguished from evergreen content by having an element of newsworthiness. No, we aren’t news reporters and we’re not going to uncover the next big scandal. When I say ‘newsworthy’ in relation to content marketing, it echoes the two circumstances I mentioned above.

An original, impactful thought is by itself newsworthy in our industry. It’s something folks want to read, share, and quote. And insightful, researched, original content is great for repurposing and atomizing into smaller chunks, to form the foundation of an entire content strategy.

You Don’t Need to Choose

I’m not arguing for the abolishment of all daily posts. There is certainly a large audience for the informative, actionable content so prevalent today. “5 Tactics for…”/“10 Hacks for…”/“How We…”/Best Practices of…” These are valuable insights and tools that we constantly share with each other, and that is very cool of us. Really. I learned a ton from reading stuff other marketers write online.

So there’s a place for both mega posts and daily posts in any content strategy. But we need to adjust the balance. We need to tip the scale more towards mega posts.

Understanding the mega benefits of the mega post is a good place to start. Curata used its analytics software—Curata CMP—and found that Curata’s long form blog posts generated 29 times more leads than short form blog posts did.

The Value of the Mega Post Content Strategy

Coming up with the idea for a mega post is no walk in the park. I read through all of Google’s first page results for “content ideation” and realized that “idea” isn’t the right word for a mega post. Ideas are for daily posts. Usually, you can’t brainstorm your way to a mega post. You need to crush into it; to either have a singular thought, or something in your environment reveals itself to you.

Still, you should put “mega post” in your editorial calendar (and check out this Ultimate List of Content Marketing Editorial Calendar Templates to find the perfect calendar for you). If it’s something you are aware of and aim for, deadline pressure will improve your chances of coming up with one.

I will use a post from my employer, BrightInfo, to illustrate how a mega post isn’t planned in the generic sense of the word, but arises from circumstances. Regardless, it needs a strong guiding hand and tons of hard work.

I will also illustrate how the three benefits of the mega post—buzz, traffic, and links—come into play.

Background: How a Mega Post is Born

Let’s do this in bullets:

• We came across a post titled something like, “How we got featured on SlideShare’s homepage and had a gazillion views.” It was a convincing, actionable post.
• We decided we wanted to be featured on SlideShare’s homepage too.
• Upon further research we concluded that we need strong content, wrapped in a unique concept, that was visually captivating in order to get the editors’ attention. (The SlideShare homepage is curated by humans.)
• A few weeks to zoom in on a promising concept: a collaboration with Dribbble designers for an illustrated guide titled “The Content Journey.”
• A few more weeks to write it, and to contact dozens of designers on Dribbble to interest them in the project.
• Finally settled on 14 designers. Each got a portion of the text to work on. This took a few more weeks.
• A couple of weeks of post-production and we were ready.

Adjusting Mid-Stride

The thing is, this isn’t even the mega post. It’s a mega post we planned for, but the real mega post was born out of the work on the deck.

We noticed the SlideShare homepage went stagnant. No new “Today’s Top,” no new “Featured.” A month went by—nada. We wrote to them. They replied that all was well, and encouraged us to try and get featured.

We thought, “That’s weird.”

We decided to proceed with our detailed plan to get featured, even though it was obvious there was something fishy going on with SlideShare. Why? Because of two reasons:

1. We had an impressive deck in our hands
2. If it didn’t work, we could write about How We Didn’t Get Featured

We went ahead and published the deck on SlideShare and followed our plan of distribution. (See The Ultimate List of Content Promotion Tools for the best content distribution tools on the market.) We constructed our plan meticulously, using multiple resources that had done it before and written about it.

The distribution worked great—better than anticipated—and we got thousands of views in a few days. There were hundreds of social shares, and five high-level marketing blogs republished the deck.

We didn’t get featured on SlideShare’s homepage though. Two months later it remained stagnant with no change in the featured decks.

So we started working on a post titled “Is LinkedIn Killing SlideShare?” This turned out to be a true Mega Post.

Voila! Buzz, Traffic, Links

You want and expect buzz and traffic from every post. They’re the fundamental drivers of content. If your content can’t create a buzz, and the buzz doesn’t generate traffic to your website, why write in the first place?

There are of course other goals for content creation. To educate, establish thought leadership, elevate brand awareness. But if content doesn’t generate traffic, marketers would need to come up with a different tactic to spearhead B2B marketing.

A mega post should create a spike in your traffic metrics. Something like this:

Buzz leads to traffic, and buzz starts with a strong headline. We’re not going to get into clickbait and headline crafting; enough has been written about these two subjects. Let’s just say that the Oxford Dictionary defines clickbait as “content whose main purpose is to attract attention and encourage visitors to click on a link to a particular web page.” Please remember that the size of expectation is proportionate to the size of disappointment—and folks don’t forgive easily.

Free Promotion

Besides a strong title, authority figures in your industry can also greatly help with social buzz. Some refer to it as influencer marketing. Without it, we would never have managed to create the perfect Twitter storm that erupted around our mega post. Not to mention the massive sharing we got on LinkedIn itself (the irony!).

As the previous Google analytics screen grab illustrates, the storm lasted quite a few days and sent traffic to our site in volumes we were unaccustomed to. This was in large part due to the fact that we grabbed the top spot in Inbound.org’s Sunday Mail two weeks in a row. They stamped our submission with a “newsworthy” top banner, and that made a big difference.

What truly separates the mega post from a daily post is backlinks. Sites will link back to your mega post because, as mentioned earlier, it’s newsworthy—it’s worth repeating. Websites and publications want to share it with their audience, and will swallow their pride if they’re not the one who came up with it.

The After-Effect of Backlinks

The value of backlinks far exceeds that of buzz and traffic. Obviously backlinking won’t happen without buzz and traffic; it also doesn’t work the other way around.

The difference between buzz and backlinks is like the difference between being handed a corn cob, and inheriting a parcel of land planted with corn.

Your website benefits from the backlinks generated by a mega post long after the buzz and traffic subside. Backlinks are the foundation of any B2B SEO content strategy as far as positioning your website and brand as an authoritative resource. The more high quality third-party websites link back to your post, the more trust Google places in it as a reliable source. When users search for information and your mega post appears among Google’s top results, this is as good as it gets online.

How do You Generate Backlinks?

This question is as old as the Internet itself. If buzz creates traffic which leads to backlinks—you might assume that backlinks happen naturally to validate your mega post. They do, but you can magnify this process considerably with effective content distribution.

While you’re getting ready to publish your mega post, conduct research on third-party blogs and publications that cater to your industry, and shoulder-industries. (These are any industries that might find your post interesting, given subject matter overlap.)

After the post is published, send an email blast announcing the publication and suggest they cover the “news” for their audience. Offer to provide any additional information they might request that is relevant to their readership.

Most publications appreciate a quality, original, well-researched and reasoned piece of content. All content marketers are chasing their tails for quality content. If it comes to their doorstep, they’re generally receptive.

Rein in Content Creation

According to CMI, 55 percent of B2B marketers aren’t sure what effective content is. And TopRank Marketing finds that 60 percent admit to struggling to produce engaging content. There’s no nice way to put this: more than half of marketers are creating content that by their own admission, isn’t engaging or effective.

It isn’t hard to speculate about the reason why.

The pressure to keep pace means B2B content marketers often turn out hurried, thoughtless, throwaway content far more often than they want to.

It’s time to call back the troops and adopt a more restrained and thoughtful content strategy. One that results in not just “content,” but meaningful content that can delight your audience. Refocus your resources away from constant short form content, towards more in-depth long form content, and you’ll reap the marketing rewards.

If you’d like to find out more about the mega post and the pyramid content strategy, join myself, Assaf Dudai, and Curata’s director of content marketing, Mitchell Hall, for the webinar: How to Create a Traffic Magnet.

Covering a wide span of industries—both B2B and B2C, there are websites, individual blog posts, posters, magazines, photo essays, a tool to find anyone’s corporate email address, a book, holiday guides, a tool to measure the strength of your brand, and an eBook. Read on to find out what these experts consider to be excellent content marketing ideas.

DOUG KESSLER
Creative Director, Co-Founder, Velocity Partners @dougkessler
One of my favorite B2B content marketing examples is CMO.com by Adobe. It’s a great example of serving your audience first and worrying about turning it into revenue later. By doing that, they’ve created a valuable media property that would take millions to buy. Tim Moran, the editor-in-chief, has done an amazing job with the site (I interviewed him in a post called How Branded Content Is Done)—it just keeps getting better.

DAVID MEERMAN SCOTT
Marketing & Sales Strategist, Keynote Speaker, bestselling author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR and Newsjacking @dmscott
I love how Quark Expeditions uses content: they understand how important it is in today’s environment to educate and inform, instead of interrupting and selling. Here’s a video of mine that talks more about it.

ANN HANDLEY
Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs, Author of Everybody Writes and Content Rules @MarketingProfs
One of my favorite content marketing examples of all time is from the Humane Society Silicon Valley, and its “marketing” of a little jerk of a dog named Eddie the Terrible. So much of their content marketing is great. But this one is truly spectacular (and low-budget): http://www.annhandley.com/2014/12/16/eddie-the-terrible-ridiculously-good-writing/

JOE PULIZZI
Founder & CEO, Content Marketing Institute, Author of Content Inc., Speaker & Entrepreneur @JoePulizzi
John Deere’s The Furrow magazine. Created in 1895 to help farmers be more productive, The Furrow is the largest media property in the agricultural industry, with 1.5 million subscribers in 40 countries and 14 different languages.

RAND FISHKIN
Founder and former CEO of Moz, Author, and Co-Founder of Inbound.org @randfish

10X Content refers to content that is ten times better than the best result that can currently be found in the search results for a given keyword phrase or topic.Some combination of the following criteria is necessary to qualify as 10X: provide a uniquely positive user experience; deliver content that is some substantive combination of high-quality, trustworthy, useful, interesting, and remarkable; be considerably different in scope and detail from other works on similar topics; load quickly and be usable on any device or browser; create an emotional response of awe, surprise, joy, anticipation, and/or admiration; achieve an impressive quantity of amplification; solve a problem or answer a question by providing comprehensive, accurate, exceptional information or resources.

Here’s my favorite most recent content marketing examples that qualify as 10X:

http://blog.froont.com/9-basic-principles-of-responsive-web-design/ 
https://maptia.com/davidheath/stories/burma-an-enchanted-spirit
https://www.voilanorbert.com/

MICHAEL BRENNER
CEO, Marketing Insider Group, Author of The Content Formula  @BrennerMichael
Here is one of my favorite recent content marketing examples. In full disclosure I’m on the board but wasn’t paid for the consulting I did:

https://marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/non-profit-content-marketing-plan/

Why I love it:
This is a non-profit with very little marketing budget and almost no resources. But by tapping into the power of the impact they are having on the world, and the emotional stories of their target audience, they achieved massive content marketing success, including a 10X increase in new “customers” with no investment of budget and a tiny portion of their staff’s time.

How they did it:

At Healthy Kids, they super-charged their blogging efforts with employee perspectives, “profiles” of successful community coordinators, they partnered with organizations who were sharing healthy smoothie recipes for kids from popular sites such as Mom Junction, and they curated content from the CDC on how to maintain kid’s health through running.

HEIDI COHEN
Chief Content Officer, Actionable Marketing Guide @heidicohen

Hands down, my favorite piece of quality content is The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to LinkedIn. Kudos to LinkedIn’s Jason Miller (with help from Lee Odden and his Top Rank team).Miller believes as a marketer you should create big rock content around the conversation you want to own. He built The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide brand (within a brand) beyond its original LinkedIn focus. Other guide iterations concentrate on other marketing conversations including thought leadership and content marketing.

Miller spins McDonald’s “value meal” into the “quality content full meal.” The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide delivers on its promise. It’s easy-to-read, consistently branded, and taps into high profile influencers. He carves each piece of big rock content into serving after serving of high value, contextually relevant information. (Hat tip: Rebecca Lieb for the Thanksgiving content analogy.)

Why The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide To LinkedIn is quality content:

• Continues to be relevant. First created in 2014, this big rock content was updated in 2015 and 2016. Why create new content when you can update and improve existing content? (Ask your team this question. This is why I believe content marketing planning starts with an audit!)
• Is the cornerstone for additional portions of content. The guide provides multiple servings of useful content (100+ pieces according to Miller). Further, Miller expanded the Sophisticated Marketer’s Guides to related marketing topics. Talk about long term planning! (Key point: This isn’t set your content strategy and leave it alone.)

Qualifies prospects. The guide not only owns the LinkedIn conversation, but also gets potential prospects into the sales pipeline. The main piece of big rock content is gated. Even better, the same landing page and URL remain constant. Prospects are further pushed down the funnel with the download.

BARRY FELDMAN
Owner, Feldman Creative, Content Marketing Consultant, Speaker, Author @FeldmanCreative
The Road to Recognition is a soon-to-be released book by myself and Seth Price. It’s an exciting example of so many things you can accomplish with content marketing.

You see, it began as an infographic that went viral and evolved into guest posts, SlideShares, interviews, and speaking opportunities. Its popularity suggested we’re onto something big. Its topic—personal branding—begged for more, something epic. And that something is the book.

The book is mega-collaborative affair too, featuring many guests. As the story of the book unfolds you’re going to see every conceivable kind of social media and content come from it. So this is the story of market research, repurposing, collaboration, influencer marketing, social media marketing, and much more all rolled into one.

Want a preview? A new infographic charts the course for accelerating your personal brand.

ARNIE KUENN
CEO at Vertical Measures, International Speaker, Author of Content Marketing Works: 8 Steps to Transform Your Business @ArnieK
I really like the direction Home Depot is going with their content (disclosure: The Home Depot is an SEO client of ours). The Home Depot was fortunate enough to get a large budget to build out their content over the last few years, and I am happy to see they have not wasted it away. They continue to improve all of their product pages, but I especially like their various resource sections on the site. For example, the holiday season is upon us and they have produced some very helpful content like their Holiday Guides. Within their holiday guides they have many specific guides, like how to choose the best artificial Christmas tree for your home. I like solid, practical content, and this fits the bill.

SHERRY LAMOREAUX
Senior Editor, Act-On Software @SherryLamoreaux
One of my favorite content marketing examples is the famous oyster ad that reputedly was David Ogilvy’s first after launching his own little agency. You know the one… the 1950 Guinness Guide to Oysters. Reading it, I am informed and amused, and I am pleased that Guinness thinks enough of me (and my kind) to write such an ad so well. Well, Guinness, perhaps I’ll try one of your stouts the next time I’m in an oyster bar. I want to like you back. And in retrospect, I see how many “rules” Ogilvy broke. He had to be going on intuition. What a brilliant guy.

I love Brian Clark’s commentary on the oyster ad too (published on Say Daily on February 27, 2014). I especially like his authenticity discussion, because it touches on continuity: Online conversion optimization studies repeatedly show that people expect continuity in the information trails they travel. And for some reason, continuity fascinates me.

ROBIN GOOD
Keynote Speaker, Startup Adviser, Publisher – MasterNewMedia  @RobinGood
One great example of content marketing is OnBrandGrader.com. Why? This 100% free tool scores the effectiveness of any website across Consistency, Message, Usability, and Accessibility, while providing a valuable report with specific advice and tips. It is a content marketing tool devised by Bynder, a company specializing in branding and corporate identity.

The art of curating a company’s best advice and wisdom into an automated tool which provides immediate insight and advice to potential customers is, in my opinion, the best way to get lots of visibility, while increasing authority and credibility in any market niche.

Content marketing doesn’t have to be an article at all costs. Content can be repurposed in a million different ways. Thus, directories, catalogs, and instant feedback tools are some of the most effective ways to provide high value and immediate usefulness while being original and providing something altogether unique.

Whether you’re a seasoned content marketing professional or only new to the field, we hope this collection of content marketing ideas helps you improve your content! If you’re interested in furthering your content marketing career, download Curata and LinkedIn’s new joint eBook: The Ultimate Guide to a Content Marketing Career. Packed full of original research, data, and analysis, it outlines the state of the content marketing sector today, the qualifications and capabilities required by the sector, and best practices for great content marketing.

What is a Content Conversion Funnel?

Great content attracts traffic, but it takes a lot of hard work to produce. You certainly don’t want your audience to just leave and never come back, given that nearly every person who lands at your website is a potential customer.

The idea of a Conversion Funnel is that you start with a broad audience at the top of the funnel; all of whom, in theory, could be your customers. As they move down the funnel, the pool of potential customers grows smaller as less likely buyers are weeded out, leaving only those most likely to purchase.

In the end, some convert: they buy your product or pay for your service. Your goal is to have a clear strategy for guiding your prospects through this funnel.

There are different ways to go about this, but the one I’d like to talk about is the PRISM framework. Here’s how it works.

• P for People: First you need an audience. If people aren’t aware of you, everything else is irrelevant. No one will consume your content, subscribe, or purchase your product.  

• R for Relationships: We buy from those we trust. A great way to initiate a relationship is to offer your audience value in the form of free, engaging content.

• I for Inbound Traffic: If there’s value, people will come for it. If you share valuable content on social media, people will visit your website where the action takes place.

• S for Subscribers and Social Retargeting: Most people won’t purchase the moment they land at your website, but don’t lose them. Capture their details and stay in touch with email and social media.

• M for Monetization: Once you have subscribers in your funnel you can work to monetize them.

Building a Relationship With Content

This requires first of all, that you produce great content and promote it. Then people discover it, engage with it, and share it with others. There are many ways to build an audience, including advertising, social media, partnerships, PR, and so on.

If you provide someone with value and engage them, that’s typically enough for them to feel at least some kind of relation to you and your brand. People are aware of you; they take you seriously.

If they find your content useful and see there’s no catch, this inspires a level of trust. With enough trust, they’ll give you their email address, or follow you on social media to get more of your content.

This creates a communication channel. Nurture this relationship by providing your audience with more value from consistently engaging content, and keep building trust.

Two things happen from this. First, if you offer value to someone, at some point they’ll want to pay you back. They’ll purchase your product, or at least share your content. Second, as trust grows, they’re more likely to purchase. There’s no reason not to believe your product will be of high value to them if they’ve already gained so much.

But how do you make a sale happen?

Lead Generation Funnel: Get Them to Sign Up

First convert your audience into leads. Then keep building the relationship by offering more value before eventually asking for a sale, such as by offering a free trial or discount to try your product.

There are several ways to convert an audience into leads. One is to use lead magnets. A lead magnet is downloadable content, such as an eBook, report, or content upgrade that you offer in return for an email subscription.

Email remains the most efficient marketing channel there is. According to a study from the UK’s Direct Marketing Association (DMA), email has an average ROI of $38 for each $1 spent. In fact, 20% of companies generate over $70 for each $1 they spend.

Not everyone signs up, but the fact they were on your website and read your content builds brand awareness. Those who don’t sign up are ideal candidates for retargeting.

Retargeting tools like AdRoll, Perfect Audience, or Retargeter—and even Facebook and Google allow you to pixel your audience and target them with ads outside your website. These ads should bring them to your landing page, where you can then convert this audience into leads.

The Webinar Funnel

Webinars are another great way to convert traffic into leads, for two reasons. Firstly, if someone takes time out to watch your content, they’re already highly qualified as a potential customer. Secondly, webinars are personal, and people are more likely to buy from other people.

You can use webinars as lead magnets or market them separately. The key here is that a webinar has to solve a specific problem your customers have that’s related to the same problem your product or service solves.

For example, if your product helps people lose weight, attract the right audience by running a webinar about workout routines or particular forms of dieting.

Webinars shouldn’t be salesy. If people sign up to learn about something, they feel cheated if all they get is your sales pitch. However, absolutely use this opportunity to offer a trial, discount, or to ask them to try your service.

The Sales Funnel: ABC, Always Be Closing

The sales funnel is a different version of a lead capture funnel, and can be used as an extension of a lead capture funnel to convert existing leads.

The diagram below shows how you convert leads and prospects into customers. Some prospects are ready to buy right away, so why not have that option in place?

Ask for a sale, and if they convert—go for an upgrade. If they don’t convert, use retargeting to bring them back.

If they do convert but won’t buy an upgrade, use retargeting again. The simple premise here is that once someone has made a purchase with you, they’re 10 times more likely to buy more. Once they’ve provided you with their personal information and credit card details, trust is already established.

Getting Started: Here’s What You Need

All the above may sound complicated, but remember—building a funnel happens piece by piece. Here’s a simple checklist of skills and resources you and your team need to make it happen.

• Content Creation: Without great content for ads, blogs, videos, or lead-gen guides, there’s no traffic, no brand awareness, no trust, and no leads.
• Content Funnel Optimization: Content marketing isn’t a static practice. With each piece of content you put out, optimize it so you can get more social, organic traffic.
• Content Promotion: If nobody knows about it, nobody will read it. Learn how to build relationships with influencers, how to optimize content for social sharing, what the best time to send your email newsletter is, and so on.
• Advertising: To effectively target your audience, you need knowledge of advertising tools such as Facebook ads, to be able to write great ad copy, and to optimize campaigns for the best possible ROI.
• Social Media: Conversations generate engagement and build relationships. Social media is where to make those conversations happen.
• Conversion Funnel Analytics: No one wants a leaky funnel—and you’ll never know you have one if you don’t measure it.
• Marketing Tools: Knowing which tools are the best fit for your needs gives you an incredible edge. Spend time finding out how to set them up and use them.
• Email Marketing: Nurturing leads requires an email marketing provider. Look for ease of use and analytics when making your choice.
• Payment Provider: To sell, you need to be able to accept payments.

Summary

Every content marketer needs a tight, high functioning conversion funnel. Designing, building and optimizing one requires continuous improvement.

Aside from creating great content, to perfect your conversion funnel requires paying attention, continuously adapting, and being prepared to ask for help. What are your tips for setting up and optimizing a content conversion funnel? Let us know in the comments.

Businesses using SlideShare presentations as a part of their content marketing mix will soon see changes to the platform.

According to a blog post published by SlideShare Product manager, Amit Sawhney, SlideShare will discontinue PRO accounts (formerly $19/month or $49/month, depending on the plan) and make many PRO features free for all users.

This comes after a small period of time when SlideShare did not allow users to upgrade to a PRO account. If you’ve tried to upgrade recently, you may have been met with the following message:

However, starting in September new features will be introduced to all users each month. These four features are:

• Video Uploads– Host videos such as tutorials, conference recordings, webinars, or Product demos.
• Private Uploads– Upload presentations and share them exclusively with people who have received a link.
• Profile Customization– Create custom banners and curate presentations that your audience will find useful.
• Analytics– Track engagement for specific presentations and view traffic sources. This will be the first feature that will be released in September.

What happens to existing PRO users?

PRO users, who already have access to all of these features, will be able to keep using them during the rollout process. As a note, monthly subscribers have not been charged since May 2014 and annual subscribers will be eligible for a pro-rated refund.

But what about leads?

Perhaps the most coveted PRO feature — LeadShare — will not be available to non-PRO users until Early 2015, and it will be at a price.

LeadShare allows users to collect the emails of people who download presentations and insert lead capture forms within presentations.

This feature will become a part of LinkedIn’s Enterprise Solution starting next year.

Why SlideShare?

With the introduction of these newly free features, the benefits of tapping into the power of SlideShare are even greater for boosting your content marketing efforts.

Content marketers can use SlideShare to:

• Reach 60 million visitors per month 
• Reuse and repurpose existing content into SlideShare presentations using the content marketing pyramid For example:
  • Break down a bulleted blog post into a series of slides with visuals
  • Extract key messaging or steps from an eBook
• Gain brand recognition and awareness with Profile customization (similar to other social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook)
• Track results and optimize future presentations for success
• Understand where traffic is coming from and cater future presentations to these specific audiences and personas
• Embed presentations into many existing social media and CMS platforms, such as Twitter, LinkedIn and WordPress.
• Collaborate and streamline workflow within a large company with private uploads

Take a look at the following posts to learn the best practices of creating SlideShare presentations. (One tip? Keep presentations brief!)

• SlideShare Pro Features Go Free by ClickZ
• 6 Presentations Design Dos and Don’ts by SlideShare
• 7 Ways to Optimize SlideShare Presentations for More Traffic and Leads by Hubspot
• SlideShare Best Practices by CopyBlogger

For further inspiration, here are some of our favorite SlideShare presentations:

To learn more ways to repurpose your existing content in SlideShare presentations, see our guide to using the content marketing pyramid.

Marketers are a busy group of professionals, no doubt. However, regardless of the availability of webinars, virtual events and Google Hangouts, we still get a lot of value from good old fashioned in-person interaction at an event. That being said, I’m still very cautious as to where I allocate my time as a CMO throughout the year for in-person events; as well as the time and resources of my team and my organization. Therefore, each year, I pull together a list of marketing events to consider; focused specifically on content marketing as well as general marketing.

I’ve included this list below across a couple of categories. If you think I’ve missed an event or if you’d like to add insight about your experience with one of these events, please do so below in the comments section. I’ve also included the name of the organization managing the event and the estimated number of attendees since these help me to assess the value of the event.

Couldn’t make it to the following events this year? Check out our recaps to see what you missed.
Social Media Marketing World:

• Phil Mershon’s Content Marketing Guide to SMMW
• 20 Content Marketing Experts to Meet at SMMW
• The Ultimate Social Media Marketing World Wrap-Up

The Marketing Nation Summit

• Content Marketing Perspective of Marketo’s Marketing Nation Summit

Spoiler alert! Tomorrow afternoon our CMO, Michael Gerard, will be hosting a webinar, Content Marketing Tactics 2014: Creation, Curation and Syndication, going over the results of our third annual content marketing benchmarks study. This study surveyed over 500 marketers on what they’re planning for their 2014 content marketing strategy. Get details on what strategic maneuvers are being made by content leaders and how you can implement these tactics to separate yourself from the pack. Join us tomorrow at 1:00pm EST and find out how to navigate the content marketing jungle.

In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek of some of the results!

• 71% of marketers will increase their investment in content marketing in 2014
• 43% of businesses have an executive who is directly responsible for their content marketing strategy
• Content marketing leaders are aiming to create only 65% of content, replacing the remainder with curated content from various thought leaders and syndicated content
• 48% of marketers are curating from third party sources at least once a week, 16% are curating daily
• Social media, blogs and newsletters are the top channels for marketers to share curated content

(Find out how to get curated content out to multiple platforms with one-click.)

Register for the webinar tomorrow to see the rest of the survey results and how you can shape up your content strategy to become king of the jungle.

Sheridan demonstrates a lack of understanding of what curation really is, and furthermore, he is confused by how it benefits marketers.  Instead, he advocates for solely creating content, and not curating other people’s content.

Here are areas where the Sales Lion is just flat wrong.

Content Curation can establish you as a Trusted Source

Sheridan comes from the world view that your marketing must be all about me, me, me.  Your content marketing must be only your voice, focused on only your brand.  In his post, Sheridan asks a series of rhetorical questions, that are actually very easy to answer:

“But when your website consists mainly of articles from other sites, how in the world will that establish YOUR company as the trusted and expert voice at what you do?”

In the buying cycle, buyers make a decision by consuming three types of content: Peer content (produced by other buyers), Expert content (produced by third-party subject matter experts like trade publications and analysts) and lastly, vendor content (the content that you produce as a part of your own content marketing).

Marcus is is saying that as a content marketer, you should only provide your buyers with your vendor content. There are a few issues with this:

• Buyers trust vendor content the least. Vendor content is normally seen as partisan, biased even when created with the end buyer in mind.
• Buyers will go elsewhere for expert and peer content. Left to their own accord, buyers will go find other resources online for a fuller, more comprehensive understanding.  They may search on Google, or find other subject matter sites.

Marcus’s thought process goes something like this: Once buyers come to your site, they will not go anywhere else before making a purchase.  Therefore, it’s only a marketer’s loss to profusely link to third party off-site content.  Linking to third party content can only hurt conversion rates and will drive people away from your brand.  Therefore curation is an “ineffective waste”.

But the foundation of his argument is flawed. Unless you are selling a low consideration, commoditized consumer purchase like a phone calling card, once buyers come to your site, they will go elsewhere as part of the purchase process.  They will visit other vendor sites. They will read reviews by other buyers. They will search online to see what experts think.  This whole process, in fact, may take weeks or months depending on how high consideration of the purchase is.

By carefully and regularly curating content from around the web, you can establish yourself as a trusted and expert starting point for your buyer’s online journey as it pertains to your topic area.  Read more about this area at STOP Egocentric Marketing.

Content Curation can help you generate leads

Next in Sheridan’s article he asks a few other rhetorical questions to cast doubt on curation:

“How will it generate leads? How will it help you earn new customers?”

But the answers are quite simple as to how curation can help generate leads and customers.  As you become a trusted authority, by being an information resource for your buyers, they become not just leads but high quality leads.

Here’s how it usually works:

• A good content curator, who regularly publishes content on a specific topic, becomes a reliable, reputable and comprehensive source of information.  For real world examples, see the Content Curation Lookbook.

• A loyal and dedicated audience begins to rely on the curation as a vital source of information.

• In order to stay on top of the curated content, the audience subscribes to the curator either by joining an email newsletter list, subscribing to an RSS feed, or following the curator on a social media channel.  You can read more about why subscription metrics are so important for curator.

• Now that the curator has their audience’s attention, the curator can draw them closer to their brand through mid-funnel content, or even more aggressively by entering their email address into a marketing automation lead nurture program.

Not only does this work extremely well in terms of lead quantity, but it greatly improves the lead quality as well.  Why?  Because individuals who come in through curated content are genuinely interested; and over time they become genuinely educated about your topic by being exposed to relevant content.  Here’s a recent case study in Marketing Sherpa about how one company increased their list size and lead quality solely through curation.

Curation can Lead to Conversions

Marcus’s next criticism of curation goes as follows:

“Furthermore, can you imagine anyone ever saying, ‘I came to your site and I loved everyone else’s content so much that I decided to do business with you…’?”

Yes, I can not only imagine this, but I have seen companies win business through curated content.  Tooting your own horn through your own content is not optimal — it’s egocentric and not credible to a buyer.  Contrast that with a curated approach where your original content is juxtapositioned with third party content that validates your point of view.  If an analyst, or a trade publication has the same perspective as you, that makes you all the more credible — and can lead buyers to do business with you.  Your audience will appreciate the value of differing perspectives, the curated content can support your own marketing message, and you will be in a better position to support a strong supply of content on a regular basis at a reduced cost.

For further reading, here’s a whole eBook The Open and Shut Case for Content Curation with the benefits and ROI of curation.

Google likes Content Curation

Sheridan tries to create some FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) about curation by citing a Google video about webspam content violations.

But the video is completely out of context. The video never talks about curated content.  Instead it talks about syndicated content.  There’s a very large distinction between the two that Marcus fails to understand.

• Aggregated and syndicated content — typically done through automated means is shunned by Google because it adds little value to the end reader and is often irrelevant to the topic at hand.

• Curated content is valued by Google if done right. A good curator is selective about what she or he publishes.  A good curator doesn’t just copy and paste, they also add annotation and commentary. And a good curator is ethical and doesn’t use the full text of the original content.

In fact, just a few months ago, Google’s own SEO guru, Matt Cutts created a video where he explicitly extols curation and its value, while simultaneously chastising aggregated content.

Why the Sales Lion Needs to Come out of His Den

I recently published a blog post about the 4 Steps to Content Marketing Enlightenment (you can see the gist of it in the graphic below).

The Sales Lion is on step two right now, the Egocentric: Content Out marketing strategy.  He has done a great job educating and inspiring many marketers (including myself) about the virtues of content marketing through his own amazing success selling fiberglass pools.  He encourages marketers to create content that’s focused on the buyer, by polling sources like your sales team, or looking at your search analytics for questions that your audience may have.

But beyond that, he’s falling short.  Enlightened marketers realize that while buyer inquiries need to be answered by your brand, your buyers will ultimately look for answers to those same questions from other market perspectives as well.  If you can bring those points of view into your own content, into your own site, and incorporate them into your own voice, you will help guide your buyers.

The only way to do that is by coming out of your own den, recognizing that you’re not the only one with a valid viewpoint, and curating others’ voices as well.

1. Joe Pulizzi, Founder, Content Marketing Institute

Joe is the driving force behind the Content Marketing Institute and is the author of several books including Get Content, Get Customers and Managing Content Marketing. His newest book, Epic Content Marketing, comes out in September.

What to talk about: Joe has a wealth of institutional knowledge about the practice of content marketing. If you have a challenge related to content person, Joe is a good person to ask. He also knows everyone in the industry so he can likely introduce you to whomever you want. You also might have a good discussion about “content marketing  mission statements.” and picking a topic for your content marketing efforts. Also, he loves talking about all things “orange.”

2. Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Online Marketing

Lee runs TopTank Online Marketing, one of today’s most well-known SEO agencies. He’s consulted leading B2B companies including HP, McKesson, BT, Marketo, StrongMail, and PRSA and keynoted numerous events such as Online Marketing Summit and Social Media Junction.

What to talk about: Lee is a great resource about anything related to the intersection of content marketing and SEO. At the recent Content 2 Conversion conference in New York, a short but interesting side discussion with him helped spur some thoughts resulting in a blog post about Google + authorship for content curation.

3.  Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs

Ann is an interactive marketing pioneer, having cofounded ClickZ and now working as chief content officer at MarketingProfs. She’s also the co-author of Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business. In addition to writing on marketing and business for MarketingProfs, Ann pens a monthly column for Entrepreneur Magazine. She also wrote the foreword for our How to Feed the Content Beast eBook.

What to talk about: Ann knows the ins and outs of gaining customer intel and creating a solid content marketing strategy. In particular, if you are looking at restructuring your organization for content marketing, she has some great thoughts on what the ideal org chart should look like.

4. Russell Sparkman, President & CEO, Fusionspark Media

A frequent speaker on the topics like content marketing for journalists, storytelling across media platforms, and other content marketing topics, Russell is a jack of all new media trades including photo, video, information architecture, and project management. He co-founded Fusionspark Media with his brother in 1999. Since then, the company has created content strategy and custom content production for industries including conversation and the environment, business, travel, and healthcare.

What to talk about: If you need creative ideas on how to tell a story on multiple platforms, Russell is likely bursting with ideas. Just for fun, ask him about his blues trio, Deja Blooze. He also runs a smaller, lesser known, but more intimate content marketing conference called Content Marketing Retreat every year in his hometown of Whidbey, an island off the coast near Seattle.

5. Todd Wheatland, Vice President of Marketing, Kelly Services

Based in Paris, France, Todd has worked in the human resources and workforce consulting space for the past 15 years. Now he leads marketing and thought leadership for Kelly Services, has written several books on recruiting and marketing, and speaks at events around the world.

What to talk about: Todd is knowledgeable about many areas of marketing but he is one of the experts when it comes to marketing using slideshare. In fact he knows so much about it that he recently wrote an entire book called The Marketer’s Guide to SlideShare. If you are considering marketing more with content on SlideShare, Todd is the right guy to talk to.

6. Joe Chernov, Vice President of Marketing at Kinvey

When the Content Marketing Institute names someone a “Content Marketer of the Year,” it’s clear that person knows his stuff. Joe is CMI’s 2012 Content Marketer of the Year and a frequent speaker on content marketing and social media at conferences and universities around the world. When he was running content marketing at Eloqua, I co-presented on a very popular joint webinar with him about what content to consider at each stage of the marketing funnel.

What to talk about: As Joe’s accolades and awards show, Joe knows content marketing inside and out.  He has led the development of many creative content pieces at Eloqua, and has continued that at Kinvey.  If you’re writing an eBook in the near future, he’s a great resource to bounce ideas off of.

7. William Shatner, actor, philanthropic, author, producer

Yes, that William Shatner of Star Trek fame will be speaking at Content Marketing World. In addition to his work onscreen, William has authored 30 books, breeds American Quarter horses and contributes to numerous philanthropic projects including the March of Dimes Canada.

What to talk about: If you can catch his attention, talk to William about his charity work. And if you’re a big Star Trek fan, a few behind-the-scenes questions couldn’t hurt. William Shatner is not only an actor but also a producer, director, writer and horse breeder (yes, you read that correctly. Read here for more information.) All these have one thing in common, the creation of content. William has mastered the art of creating content throughout all kinds of mediums.

8. Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler

As a global content strategist, Scott helps organizations improve the way they create, manage and deliver information. You’re likely to see him tweeting profusely during any of the sessions he attends with a tool setup that looks like a NASA command center.

What to talk about: Scott is on top of all the latest online tools particularly when it comes to social media. Ask him about ebook production, web content strategy, or any aspect of social media.

9. Michael Kolowich, Founder and CEO, KnowledgeVision

Michael is a former Lotus, Ziff-Davis, and AT&T executive who founded seven high-tech ventures including Ziff-Davis Interactive (ZDNet). An Emmy-winning creative talent with WGBH-TV, he’s currently editor of Rich Content Daily and CEO of KnowledgeVision, a system for online presentation technology.

What to talk about: Michael has a deep knowledge of all things tech and digital media (particularly video production), so fire away.  He’s also a pilot, so pick his brains about planes and aerodynamics if you’re into that.

10. Carla Johnson, Principal, Type A Communications

A frequent speaker and consultant to the Content Marketing Institute, Carla writes about marketing for CMI, CCO Magazine, CMS Wire and BMA Buzz, among other places. Her clients include Motorola Solutions, VMware, Encana Oil & Gas, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

What to talk about: Carla has a ton of insight on B2B marketing and content marketing as well strategies for telling stories that connect with people. She also has a great talk track on how to cut the “bull” from your content marketing that you may be interested in.

11. Jay Baer, President, Convince & Convert

This marketing powerhouse has consulted with 29 of the Fortune 500 and was named one of America’s top three social media consultants by Fast Company magazine. Jay’s forthcoming book is called Youtility: Why Smart Companies are Helping Not Selling.

What to talk about: Jay is all about hype-free marketing so bring your favorite examples of this concept in action and prepare to be impressed by Jay’s expansive knowledge. If you listen to his weekly podcast, Social Pros, so much the better.   Last year at Content Marketing World, he had a great talk on content marketing metrics.  If you’re struggling with how to measure your content marketing efforts, Jay can offer you a few pointers.

12. Michael Brenner, Vice President of Global Marketing & Content Strategy, SAP

In addition to his work for SAP, Michael is the author of B2B Marketing Insider and a Forbes.com contributor. To prior to his work at SAP, he held positions in field, product, and corporate marketing at the Nielsen Company and led marketing at two other companies.

What to talk about: Aside from Michael’s role at SAP, another little known fact is that he is one of the co-founders of the popular Business2Community site.  Michael is a good person to turn to if you’re looking for thoughts on how to launch and create a new onlien destination or resource as he has done many times in the past.

13. Robert Rose, Chief Strategist, Content Marketing Institute 

As an early web visionary, Robert developed some of the first Web strategies in the country for clients such as Mediamark Research and CTAM. He’s helped companies including AT&T, Staples, and Petco tell their story online and co-authored Managing Content Marketing with Joe Pulizzi.

What to talk about: Robert is especially passionate about brands using in their content marketing to stand out, so bring your best examples to discuss. He’s probably also up for conversations about digital media and software-as-a-service technology.

14. Heidi Cohen, President, Riverside Marketing Strategies

Having worked in a marketing consultancy role and in-house at brands including Citibank and Bertelsmann/Bookspan, Heidi has created integrated, direct, digital and social media marketing programs for a diverse array of industries. She’s also taught graduate-level marketing at NYU, Rutgers, and CUNY.

What to talk about: Heidi is great at simplifying complex marketing concepts and translating them into actionable tips, so ask her about mobile marketing, editorial calendars, or a marketing challenge you faced recently.

15. Arnie Kuenn, President, Vertical Measures

A frequent speaker at marketing conferences and author of Accelerate! The Convergence of Search, Social & Content Marketing, Arnie has held executive positions in the marketing and new technology realm for the past 20 years. He’s also a founder and past president of the Arizona Interactive Marketing Association (AZIMA).

What to talk about: Strike up a conversation with Arnie by mentioning trends in SEO, social media, or content marketing. He’s also an avid basketball and football if you’re hoping to make small talk.

16. Rohit Bhargava, Founder, Influential Marketing Group
An independent marketing expert, Rohit focuses on bringing humanity back to business. He’s authored three books, including the recent best-seller Likeonomics: The Unexpected Truth Behind Earning Trust, Influencing Behavior, and Inspiring Action. Rohit is also a professor of Global Marketing at Georgetown. Rohit also wrote a foreword for our recent Content Curation Lookbook.

What to talk about: Rohit is passionate about discussing the power of likeability and how individuals and brands can build deeper and more trusted relationships. He’s also known for his highly visual and engaging presentations.

17. Pawan Deshpande, Founder & CEO, Curata

Sorry, I had to plug myself, but I have attended Content Marketing World since it’s inception and have met an slew of interesting people.  My favorite thing about content marketing is that it brings together people from the media and content realm, marketers, and technologists all into one location.

What to talk about: In particular, I am passionate about content curation. I am conducting a lunch & learn session on How to Fuel Your Content Marketing Engine with Curation: A Step-by-Step Method with Real-World Examples. During this session we’ll review companies who are successfully using curated content in their marketing strategies.

BONUS 18. Rob Yoegel, Content Marketing Director, Monetate

A content marketing expert with history in publishing, Rob “gets” content marketing more than your average marketer. The recipient of multiple content marketing awards, Rob has mastered the art of getting content marketing processes set up for his organizations.

What to talk about: Aside from his love of “bubble hockey,” ask Rob about how to best get started with content marketing at your organization, advice on how to set-up and implement and get your team on board. Also look for him on twitter @RobYoegel

If you’re attending Content Marketing World and would like to meet, you can meet me by attending my lunch & learn session, swinging by the Curata booth, we’ll be at Booth #30, or just send me a message at @TweetsFromPawan.