Content Marketing

Content marketing is the planning, creation, promotion and measurement of content for a specific audience and intended to inspire a business outcome. With over 90% of B2B and B2C marketers engaging in content marketing, it’s more important than ever to make sure your content stands out from the crowd.

As the only blog to be named #1 content marketing blog three times by Content Marketing Institute, TopRank is dedicated to helping marketers understand the opportunities, best practices and current trends in the world of content marketing.

Browse our content marketing articles to find tips, guides, expert interviews, conference liveblogging and best practices.

B2B Marketing Spotlight: Jay Baer on Employee Generated Content #mpb2b

Lee Odden on Sep 19th, 2019
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Interviews, MarketingProfs B2B Forum

It was back in 2010 at SXSWi that I was in the blogger lounge networking with other social media savvy content creators and thought leaders like Brian Solis, Chris Heuer, Amber Naslund, Chris Brogan and Rohit Bhargava, when I met a fellow marketer who shared a metal bottle opener as his business card.

What a brilliant idea! Package your identity around something useful to trigger conversations.

Fast forward to 2019 and Jay Baer has continued to carry that message of utility, talk triggers and clever marketing savvy to his online media empire of Convince & Convert that includes an award winning blog, a network of podcasts, professional speaking, training and consulting.

B2B Marketing Spotlight: Jay Baer on Employee Generated Content #mpb2b

Content Marveling: Wonder and Astonishment in Marketing

Lane Ellis on Sep 11th, 2019
Content Marketing

Two little letters. On the surface that’s all separating your standard issue “marketing” from the extraordinary and entirely different practice of “marveling.”

At TopRank Marketing, “Content Marveling” is the practice of bringing greater wonder and astonishment to traditional content marketing, and can be applied in both the worlds of direct-to-consumer and enterprise business-to-business, to engage and delight your audience.

Marketing efforts spending huge amounts of paid placement advertising, ever-more-ludicrous click-bait headlines and tactics, and even illicit black-hat methods are all used to simply get us to pay attention to marketing messages.

Among senior B2B marketers, a sizable 82 percent view content as important for achieving marketing goals, however only 48 percent believe their content is somewhat effective — or even ineffective, according to recent study data.

Content Marveling: Wonder and Astonishment in Marketing

#CMWorld 2019 Recap: Top Insights & TopRank Marketing’s Favorite Moments

Kelly Hogan on Sep 10th, 2019
Content Marketing, Content Marketing World

It’s always fascinating when thousands of marketers, many of whom are competitors, can come together for a week to share ideas, innovations, and advice with one another to grow their business and push the boundaries of their industry. Content Marketing World 2019 was no exception to this act of selfless sharing. It was my first time attending and between the thought-provoking content, industry-leading speakers, and generously engaging attendees, I certainly hope it’s not my last.

At TopRank Marketing, we made it our mission to ensure our readers would share in the benefit of our attendance. Below are the ideas, people, and moments that we were grateful to experience last week, all of which are summarized for your consuming pleasure below. We hope that similar to our conference experience, you walk away with a notebook chock-full of ideas to grow your content marketing programs. Enjoy!

#CMWorld 2019 Recap: Top Insights & TopRank Marketing’s Favorite Moments

How to Drive Better Content Marketing Results with Integrated Marketing Teams: Top Tips from NewsCred’s Shafqat Islam #CMWorld

Joshua Nite on Sep 10th, 2019
Content Marketing, Content Marketing World

Here’s a wild new idea: Consumers expect immediate, consistent, on-brand experiences across channels.

Just kidding about the “wild” and “new” parts. Most marketers likely have the phrase embroidered on a pillowcase by now. It’s fundamental.

But if we know that consumers demand an omnichannel experience… Why are so many marketing teams stuck in silos?

NewsCred Co-Founder and CEO Shafqat Islam believes this siloed structure is what’s holding marketers back from their omnichannel dreams. Integrated marketing requires integrated teams. During his Content Marketing World 2019 session, Shafqat shared how NewsCred reorganized to deliver better results.

Key takeaways: Integrated marketing is better for consumers and brands, modern marketing is collaborative, risk-taking content teams are best suited to drive transformation

Image courtesy Shafqat Islam & NewsCred.

How to Drive Better Content Marketing Results with Integrated Marketing Teams: Top Tips from NewsCred’s Shafqat Islam #CMWorld

Create a Stellar Audience Experience By Slowing Down with These Tips from Ann Handley #CMWorld

Ashley Zeckman on Sep 9th, 2019
Content Marketing, Content Marketing World

You know a conference session is going to be good when literally hundreds of marketers are turned away due to an already packed room. And you know a session is going to be great when the amazing Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs, takes the stage and is visibly bummed that she didn’t get the chance to connect with those marketers.

Part of Ann’s magic is her ability to make herself and her content very accessible. She accomplishes this by sharing stories that are personal to her, things she observes in everyday life that inspire her inner marketer. And her session at last week’s Content Marketing World 2019 was no exception.

Create a Stellar Audience Experience By Slowing Down with These Tips from Ann Handley #CMWorld

April Henderson on Data-Driven, Empathetic B2B Content #CMWorld

Joshua Nite on Sep 6th, 2019
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Content Marketing World

Forrester’s April Henderson started her Content Marketing World 2019 session with a classic cautionary tale:

Johann Rall was fighting for the British at the turning point of the Revolutionary War. The night before the Battle of Trenton, he was out celebrating at the home of a local Loyalist merchant. That merchant had seen General Washington amassing his forces and knew the attack was coming.

So what did the merchant do? He created relevant content! He wrote Rall a note and slipped it across the table. Rall nodded, put the note in his pocket… and continued his evening of revelry. The British were caught unawares, and the tide of the war began to turn. That lack of content engagement might be how America won the war.

April Henderson on Data-Driven, Empathetic B2B Content #CMWorld

Zari Venhaus’s Framework for Gaining Executive Buy-In for Marketing Technology #CMWorld

Kelly Hogan on Sep 5th, 2019
Content Marketing, Content Marketing World

I had the pleasure of sitting in on Zari Venhaus’s session at the second day of Content Marketing World 2019 where she laid forward a process to present martech business cases to senior leadership. She entered the room with a high level of energy and passion for the topic, making her an engaging speaker from the second she took the stage.

After a quick bit about the company she works for, Eaton, which is a $22 billion power management company, she dove into a marketing technology business case she undertook as their Director of Corporate Marketing Communications.

She insists she was not successful her first time creating a martech business case. It took living through many failures and successes to reach the process she uses today. Now, she feels ready to share those lessons with an audience like us so we do not have to suffer through the same trial and error.

Zari Venhaus’s Framework for Gaining Executive Buy-In for Marketing Technology #CMWorld

Lee Odden Shares His Secret to Content Marketing Fitness #CMWorld

Joshua Nite on Sep 5th, 2019
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Content Marketing World, Marketing PR Conferences

Let’s face it: Too many of us are yo-yo marketers.

We deploy a campaign the way someone might approach a fad diet: With nothing but our initial enthusiasm to keep it going.

And like a fad dieter, we get results… for a little while. Then the campaign runs out of steam and we’re back at square one.

Wouldn’t it be nice if those initial successes could last? If we could go from “fad diet” marketing to lean, mean marketing machines?

At his Content Marketing World 2019 session, TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden laid out a blueprint for how to do just that.

Not only is Lee a champion of always-on marketing that gets sustainable results over time, he’s also achieved a dramatic physical transformation in the past year. He’s lost 65 pounds and just finished his first half-marathon.

Lee Odden Shares His Secret to Content Marketing Fitness #CMWorld

Carlos Abler Details How Content Marketing Can Contribute to the Greater Good #CMWorld

Joshua Nite on Sep 4th, 2019
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Content Marketing World

Can content marketing make the world a better place?

Let’s dial that in tighter: Can brands, businesses, make the world a better place?

And can they do it while making money at the same time?

According to content marketing leader Carlos Abler, not only can brands provide social value, they must – and, not for nothing, it’s in their best business interest to do so.

In his session at Content Marketing World 2019, Carlos shared a blueprint brands can follow to find the convergence of business value and social value.

How Can We Make Content More Valuable to Customers?

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Content needs to be customer-centric, it needs to have value, and it needs to be relevant to the customer’s needs. Most content marketers could recite a similar mantra in their sleep. So if we all know better, why does content consistently miss the mark?

Carlos Abler Details How Content Marketing Can Contribute to the Greater Good #CMWorld

Ghosted: What’s a Content Marketer to Do When Your Audience Goes Silent?

Nick Nelson on Sep 4th, 2019
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

The all-encompassing digital takeover has completely changed the way we communicate and interact as people. Naturally, in our professional realm we tend to tie this back to marketing, but the reality applies to just about every aspect of human relations.

This includes dating and courtship, of course. The terms of engagement (so to speak) have transformed wildly. Whereas romance still can and does sprout through chance meetings, or encounters at the bar, or mutual college friend circles, it’s increasingly common for these fated connections to take place through online matchmaking sites and dating apps. (I would know — I’m marrying an amazing gal this weekend who I originally met on such an app!)

Ghosted: What’s a Content Marketer to Do When Your Audience Goes Silent?

50 Content Marketing Influencers and Experts to Follow 2019 #CMWorld

Lane Ellis on Sep 3rd, 2019
Content Marketing, Content Marketing World

Content Marketing World 2019 is upon us. As the largest content marketing conference in the world, CMWorld brings together a stellar array of talented professionals who are filled with curiosity for future trends, marketing knowledge, and aspirations for new successes. For the past 11 years leading marketers from all over the world have gathered in Cleveland, Ohio for one of the world’s strongest content marketing event, and this year is set to be the biggest and best yet.

Readers of our blog know we have a long history with the conference starting at the beginning, with nine years of speaking and attending along with seven years of partnering with the Content Marketing Institute to develop speaker and influencer content marketing campaigns.

50 Content Marketing Influencers and Experts to Follow 2019 #CMWorld

16 Can’t-Miss Acts at the Greatest Content Marketing Show on Earth: #CMWorld 2019

Joshua Nite on Sep 2nd, 2019
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Content Marketing World

Come one! Come all! Come several! Come few!

Step right up! Don’t be shy! You there in the back, with the funny hat, step right up! You over there with the earrings and the weird mustache, come on in! There’s room for everyone under the Big Top, and it’s time for the Greatest Content Marketing Show on Earth!

That’s right, Content Marketing World is mere days away. There is no more exciting place for a content marketer to be next week than Cleveland, OH(sure, it would be great if it were in Hawaii next year, but Cleveland is not without its charms). There’s a lot to look forward to: The opening night festivities! The keynotes! The sessions! The potential to see amazing marketing geniuses do bad karaoke!

16 Can’t-Miss Acts at the Greatest Content Marketing Show on Earth: #CMWorld 2019