Todd Defren’s PR-Squared blog is a good read for industry developments. I last mentioned the blog here two years ago — wow where does the time go?
Content marketing has gone mainstream since that post, and last week Todd published seven basic rules for how to do it well. It’s a logical list and I follow most of them while executing on behalf of my clients.
I’d suggest one edit, and one addition to the seven offered. The 70% curated/30% original content split suggested isn’t what I shoot for with clients. I want my clients producing high quality, original content that takes an interesting and defensible position in their specific market vertical. Referencing other content has a place in the editorial calendar — we call those “rapid response” posts. But the more original the content, the better for meeting business objectives.
The other principle I’d add is reaching out to third party contributors of content. It validates your content to reach beyond your own subject matter experts, and it is an effective way to connect with influencers in your niche.
I liked that Todd called out promoting your own earned media. A certain level of earned media results can be expected from a well executed content marketing strategy, as I talked about earlier in the year.
What edits would you make to Todd’s list? The only mortal mistake today with a content marketing strategy is not having one.
I’m learning a lot from you Chris! I’m about to become president of a non-profit regional theatre company that needs to step up marketing beyond the traditional model into social media. This article and others, while directed more to business, has some great parallels for the arts. I’m sharing with others.