How to grow your content marketing audience by 30%

In a career spanning 25 years, Kathie has marketed products ranging from insurance to t-shirt transfers. She got her start in traditional direct marketing, and has successfully transitioned to focusing on content marketing. Kathie is currently the Content Marketing Strategist for Stahls’ Transfer Express, a leader in the apparel decorating industry. In her spare time, Kathie does freelance photography and wastes an inordinate amount of money and energy on Cleveland sports teams. You can connect with her on LinkedIn, where she frequently shares actionable advice on content marketing and improving company culture.

(This interview was created as a part of the Special Interest Group workshop for the AMA Northeast Ohio).

Chris: Let’s dive right in shall we? What is the most common issue with today’s content marketing programs?

Kathie Kinde Clark: I think the biggest problem is that people have this sort of Field of Dreams vision: “If you build it, they will come.” People don’t realize that great content is not enough. You have to pay attention to keywords and SEO, the technical side or back end of content marketing. The back end isn’t as glamorous, but I’d argue that it’s just as important, if not more important. You also have to pay attention to promoting the content. There is still this mentality: “If I’m doing paid ads, it’s about the product itself.” We need to make a shift in this mindset: The content is a product, and that you need to put some ad dollars behind it.  

Chris: What is the first thing you review when inbound programs aren’t driving the leads they should be?

Kathie: The first thing that I would check is that everything is technically correct. It’s surprising how many times I find errors with a link, like it goes to the wrong place or it’s simply broken. The second thing I would look at is if the content is appropriate for the audience. I ask, “Are we trying too hard to push product, or are we serving solutions to our customers and prospects?” More often than not, the program is too self-serving rather than having more of a service mentality.

Chris: What are the metrics you care about most?

Kathie: Revenue! Yes, it’s a long road to see that revenue – you’re looking at 18-24 months before content marketing really starts paying off – but at the end of the day, we have to be driving revenue. The second thing I look at is list building. Too many marketers make a huge mistake by relying too much on social media properties and their engagement metrics. I follow the Joe Pulizzi mantra, “Don’t build on rented land.” So I am always looking at my list to make sure that I’m doing enough to ensure that it is growing. 

Chris: As I mentioned before, I cannot say enough good things about Joe and what he’s helped create. That being said, let’s move into some video talk. How can B2B companies utilize video marketing in 2018?

Kathie: Companies getting started with video often overthink video at the beginning.

The two easy wins for B2B, and even B2C companies, is how-to video and using video in a course. First, companies can retain customers or ensure continuous engagement by making and distributing how-to video content. By explaining how to use their products, customers will look to the company for solutions. The other easy win that I’ve become increasingly fascinated with, which just got validated by a content survey we did with our customers, is to parlay your video content into an online course. I suggest looking into something like Udemy to create an online course with a certification. Of course, it would have to be appropriate for the business, but I’m seeing more and more course creation.

Chris: Now that is fascinating to me. How about the live video trend? What role do you think live video will play in the future?

Kathie: I’m a little leery of the live video trend, and it goes back again to the whole putting all of your eggs in the social media basket. Too many marketers make a huge mistake by relying too much on social media properties and their engagement metrics. As I mentioned, I like to avoid building on rented land. So, I would take advantage of the way live video’s set up today, particularly on Facebook, but I would be ready to make a quick shift, because Facebook is already interjecting ads in the middle of regular videos. It’s probably only a matter of time before they disrupt Facebook Live videos. 

Chris’ Final Note: Content marketing is a commitment, a way of life you could say. By planning and then following through with the plan, you can create long-lasting value for your audience. Since reading and applying Content Inc by Joe Pullizzi, I have seen my role as a marketer transform into something new and wonderful.

More about Kathie Kinde Clark

Linkedin – Twitter – Vociferous Marketing

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