Over the past 14 years we’ve run a very lean marketing department at TopRank Online Marketing.
An example of this is out of the 3,674 blog posts we’ve published, 2,793 were written by one person. TopRank’s blog received around 1.5 million visitors last year and tens of thousands of social shares, mentions in publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur and Adage as well as numerous business inquiries.
Less is not always more. One could easily argue we have one of the most efficient content marketing and blogging efforts of any digital marketing agency. But the reality is that content marketing is a team effort. It has to be.
We is better than me. Thought leadership and utility for buyers, prospective employees and the media have been the drivers for our blogging for many years. But in order to scale and grow in a meaningful way, content for our company has to come from the company – not just one or two people.
Content leadership and co-creation. That’s why I’ve hired a Director of Content (James Anderson) and am initiating more proactive efforts to work with our team at TopRank Marketing to co-create content together (like our SMBMSP posts) as well as provide more training on blogging and writing for the web.
Content and company culture. I think creating a culture of writing ala Ann Handley or a culture of content ala Rebecca Lieb is essential not only for our business, but for yours too. A handful of people in a content department couldn’t possibly sustain the increasing demands for a quantity of quality content that the market demands.
If you want your content to be great, ask your community to participate! This is why I’m a firm believer in the notion of participation marketing where a brand partners with its constituent audiences internally and amongst the community to create mutually beneficial content.
Walk the talk and walk with us. In the case of TopRank Marketing, we have a constantly evolving editorial calendar that determines what we write about and the content we create. But I’d also like to hear from you what you’re most interested in. Thought leadership? Strategies? Tactics? Interviews? Reviews? Liveblogging? What about original research, more video, audio and interactive features?
Go forth and co-create. As we evolve our own content co-creation efforts to agency team members, clients and partners, we’ll also be more proactive about engaging with our community to create content together.
Your turn! A good start would be leaving a comment below on topics and types of content you’d like to see us cover or that you feel qualified to contribute to.
I know, I know, it’s a big ask these days to leave a comment, so feel free to write it as a tweet and kill two birds with one stone.
Together, I think we can create something amazing that benefits everyone involved!
Would love to hear your perspective on intelligent content. Thanks!
Great topic Mike. We’ve used the phrase “modular content” in the past but intelligent content is definitely an area we’ll pursue – particularly brand examples. Do you have any favorites?
Guess I don’t know enough about it to know for sure, if that makes any sense. Just a new and evolving topic I’d like to learn more about. Thanks!
Yup, excellent. I’d like to see the definitive guide to creating content from sources beyond the marketing department. I too believe it’s a formula for creating more engaging and credible content.
Thanks Barry. We’re just finishing up our series of 30 content marketing tactics articles. The next step is talk about content diversification – sources and audiences.
Lee, timely topic. I’m taking on the task of creating an editorial calendar for our agency’s re-launching brand and brainstorming how we can co-create digital content with our offline partners. I’d love to see an interview series with in-house and agency members who are in the trenches creating content.
Thanks Brent, that’s right on with our 2015 plan 🙂
Lee, I write about social customer service; is this topic in your 2015 plan?
Hi Paolo, our focus on creating great customer experiences will inevitably touch on social customer service, so yes!
Hey Lee!
The post is great and I am personally thinking of following suit, taking on board a lot of your advice. Any more insight on original research would be extremely welcome!
Regards.
My email: [email protected]
My website: http://www.jameshughesonline.com
Thanks for the awesome write-up ! Bookmarked this page for extra articles.
Web Development Company in Ludhiana
And now something completely different… 🙂 How about spirituality in business, in terms of marketing of personal values and 100% personal responsibility?
Your community can be a great resource for content! What are they talking about? What do they want to learn more about? Who do they trust? Give them what they want and encourage them to become part of the process.