Content Marketing Tips from Jason Falls

We're currently on the 5th out of 8 days in the Content Marketing section of our 31 Days to Growing Your List challenge. In the most perfect of timing, Jason Falls was speaking today on Content Marketing at the PRSA Nashville luncheon.

So of course I went, grabbed a spot at
a table right upfront, and enjoyed Jason's insights live and in person.

I took notes there, and thought I would share them with you. There was one tip in particular (actually a stat) that really got my attention...

The venue for this event was really nice. It was held at Bound'ry in downtown Nashville on the 3rd floor. The event was hosted by PRSA Nashville, with a special invitation to Nashville Social Media Club members - which is how I heard about it.

Content Marketing Tips from Jason Falls

I managed to down quite a few notes on my iPad, so I'll just share those with you in a quick list. First though, an interesting point. While Jason was speaking he mentioned The Cluetrain Manifesto. I've heard several people recommend this book but have never read it.

While he was talking, I grabbed my Droid X and opened the Kindle app, purchased the book (I got the 10th Anniversary Edition), then also sent it to my iPad (the two devices sync via the Kindle app, which I love!).

It makes for a good example of how easy online shopping is, and these days: mobile shopping. No matter where you are or what you're doing, you can whip out your smart phone and make a purchase, then go back to what you were doing - all in under a minute or two.

Let me say that another way: No matter where your customers are, or what they're doing, they can whip out their smart phone and make a purchase on the spot. 😉

It's also a great example of how well personal recommendations work, particularly when they are made conversationally and contextually...

Highlights from Jason's talk:

• What does your market need to know?
  Deliver it to them in a compelling way.
• People don't share "meh". They share awesome.
  Note: they define awesome.
• Good content marketing is not about you.
• What does your market think is really cool?
• Email is content. Re-purpose it into an FAQ or into blog posts.
• Quote snippets of your longer content pieces in tweets, as tips in newsletters, as short topical blog posts. Then link back to the original longer content piece.
• Gurus make up rules. Forget the rules. There are no rules except to deliver what your market wants.
• Different social media channels require different forms of communication. Define your audience for each channel. Define your objective for each channel.
• Get likes and comments on Facebook updates to rank higher in the content stream, and to avoid being filtered out of the stream.

Questions To Ask Yourself When Developing A Content Strategy

• How can I make them smarter?
• What do my buyers need to know?
• What knowledge will help them do their job better?
• What knowledge will relieve their stress or pain points?
• What would capture their attention?
• What types of content would they enjoy most?

• What content resources do I have?
• What expertise do I have?
• What tangible items can I share?
• Who can I interview?
• What topics can I have fun with?

• What results do I want from my Content Marketing strategy?
• How do I want people to feel after consuming my content?
• What action do I want readers to take?
• What is the value of that action? How will I measure ROI?

Jason also defined the various content channels, and how they best work together - or not. For example, it annoys friends or fans when you feed your Twitter stream into Facebook. That content contains hashtags and @ references that aren't relevant on Facebook.

Different things work better on different channels. For example, witty on Twitter but serious on LinkedIn. Entertaining on YouTube, conversational on Facebook.

➡ As I've mentioned a number of times before... blasting the same content across every single medium simultaneously, over and over, is boring to your readers. And lazy on your part. A true Content Marketing Strategy ties everything together, and ultimately leads the right people to the right place in the right way.

Hot Tip! Community & First Time Visitors

One thing in Jason's talk that really stood out to me was a statistic he shared regarding blogs. The stats came from a study across multiple niches, so the numbers are a standard metric across the board.

The lead-in was that bloggers tend to cater to their communities - their active readership. The stats though, prove that approximately 80% of your readers are first-time visitors. Only 20% are "community".

He made the point that you could argue the 80/20 rule of focusing on "the 20 that count". But the real question to ask yourself here is this: Am I catering to first-time visitors in a way that encourages them to become part of my community?

I can't tell you the number of times I've had people visit my blog and then tell me later that they still had no clue what I do or what my blog is about (for them). That point was really driven home with Jason's stats today...

It makes sense to put something in place to grab the attention of first-timers so that you can strategically lead them into your content and encourage them to become part of your community.

I Left With More Than Just Awesome Tips...

At the end of his presentation, Jason gave away a few books. I won one, Social Location Marketing by Simon Salt, for being the person who traveled farthest to attend the luncheon.

I only traveled 80'ish miles, but it was a *very* local event - LOL.

What a cool win!
I don't have the first clue how to use things like FourSquare or Groupon, much less use them for marketing. I really look forward to digging in and learning more on the topic. 😀

Jason Falls is an excellent speaker by the way. If you ever have a chance to sit in on one of his sessions, I'd highly recommend it. This is the 3rd time I've heard him speak, and it's been great every time!

Best,