The new book on internet marketing we’ve recently published, “Optimize“, has been very well received and I’ve been doing a number of interviews and speaking engagements (as you do) around it. One of the most common questions I hear concerns the challenges of implementing an integrated “optimized and socialized content marketing” approach within an organization.
This is a reasonable question, because while it makes sense that content, SEO and social media (as well as email, online PR and advertising) should work together, the challenge for many corporate marketers and communications professionals is how. That’s where a good approach and plan come in to play and Optimize is a blueprint for such a plan – in particular, when it comes to optimizing and socializing content. Here are a few key considerations for integrating these high impact online marketing tactics:
The challenge of optimized integration. When SEO is owned by marketing and public relations runs social media and content creation is shared across multiple departments, integration of those tactics across a company’s content efforts can be a challenge. What brings things together are:
- Leadership support through common goals
- Identification of how an integrated approach will help each individual group as well as the company overall
- Training, process and tools/technology to enable integration of tactics
Find the low hanging fruit for an integration project and share the results upstream and horizontally. Make sure that as different departments work together to integrate Social, SEO and content (as well as other online marketing tactics where appropriate) that there is a feedback mechanism in place for those involved to see that they are having an impact. Even if it’s not specific to them, showing a trend line of how something like website traffic, or share of voice or leads and sales have improved during the time integration best practices are in place can be very motivating.
Make sense?
This week I’m in Belgium on my continued travels to spread the good word about an “Optimized State of Mind” and integrated online marketing. On May 3rd I’m giving a keynote presentation at Fusion Marketing Experience “Digital Marketing Integration: the Mix of Social, Search and Content“. Details on this keynote:
The sheer volume of content produced and shared by connected consumers is overwhelming. With independent search, social media and content marketing efforts, brands are hard pressed to find an effective model for integration.
The search and social web are reliant on content and it is through more effective content marketing that brands can cut through the noise to meaningful customer engagement and sales.
This keynote will outline key trends in the relationship between consumers and content by understanding Discovery, Consumption and Sharing preferences and how a content marketing strategy that integrates the best of SEO and Social Media can boost Digital Marketing effectiveness.
On May 4th I’ll be doing a workshop at Fusion Marketing to put those key integrated concepts into action: “Setting up a Winning Customer-Centric Content Marketing Strategy”. Details on this workshop:
Who are your customers? What do they care about? What content do you need to create in order to guide customers through the sales process from attention to purchase to advocacy? Get answers to these questions and more with a customer-centric content marketing strategy.
Improving content marketing isn’t about creating more content. It’s about content that’s meaningful vs. mechanical for customers that also inspires engagement and business outcomes. Effective content marketing helps brands reach more people ready to buy, refer and share. This workshop will provide the framework for an Optimize and Socialize approach to content marketing to attract and engage customers across the buying cycle.
Granted, I’m looking forward to a weekend in Antwerp and Brugge but I’m also excited to give these strategic and tactical presentations that exemplify the key messages of Optimize. Since the vast majority of our readers are not in Belgium this week, please be sure to check out future speaking events in the right sidebar of this site.
