3 Pillars for Content Marketing Excellence

This article was previously featured in the B2B Buzz. Subscribe here for emailed newsletters weekly: https://bit.ly/3uYPpKn

As marketers one of the most important tools that we have to tell our brand story is content marketing. But content marketing is a herculean task if done right. A good content marketing program takes into account the three pillars that make up content marketing excellence.

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Connect with the Reader

As with most editorial programs, keeping in mind your audience is paramount for successful engagement and subscriber growth. But more importantly, in today’s fast paced attention overload world the next real step for solid content development is connecting with your reader more empathetically. That is, not only make the writing engaging, but also deliver value in every piece of content.

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This is especially true with B2B marketing programs you need to give your readers something each time you engage their time. This is the quid pro quo. Their time, your brand engagement.

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Be Modular

Successful brand and content marketing programs use a modular approach for content development. For example, for the B2B Buzz, our writers —including yours truly :-) — we have a modular style that allows for a couple advantages. For one, our framework provides excellent SEO since the terms that we are looking to index to are generally in our title, first paragraph, etc. Secondly, we are are able to syndicate our content in a way that aligns with our distribution strategy (both paid and organic) such that our authority increases.

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But one of the best advantages of writing modularly is the ability to make every piece of content extensible. For example, I could write an entire chapter on modularity for a book on B2B marketing. In fact, this concept of modularity is part of every B2B marketing strategy deck that I’ve written for clients over the last decade. Probably close to 750 decks and counting.

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It’s a barbell

Lastly, content marketing is a barbell. That is you will have low volume, high quality pieces on one side and then you have high volume low quality on the other. This barbell, then allows for your authority in the world of SEO and content syndication to grow using quantity. And use the high quality content for tentpole activities in your marketing efforts (e.g., PR, Event Speaking).

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The key to the barbell strategy is that the same editorial themes are included for both sides. Simply put, you should have one editorial calendar across both content categories that share themes, insights and graphics. This is an important way to grow your content engagement and ensure your content shows up in places beyond your site.