Think Like a Publisher

In a recent blog post, I discussed the importance of making sure your home (on the web) was ready to entertain guests (generate leads).

If you’re past that point and are in the process of assessing your digital marketing efforts (or lack of) to investigate new ways to build influence and attract clients, undoubtedly you’ve run into the term content marketing.

Simply put, content marketing is creating and publishing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined target audience - with the objective of driving profitable action.

Think About It

How do you find useful information to make decisions?

Sure, you might call somebody you know (a “go-to person” on the particular subject), but if that’s not an option you (or someone who works for you) probably jump on a search engine, blog site you’ve bookmarked, or social network.

Well, according to Nielsen, that’s what you might do .  The recent study revealed for the first time ever, blog sites and social networks are visited by three quarters of global consumers who go online - an increase of 24% over last year (Google and Bing were #1 and #2 respectively).

Are the people you’re trying to reach any different?

Maybe your prospective clients have been online today searching for you (or someone like you).  Imagine for a moment, when they found “you” they spent 15, 30, 45 minutes consuming your online content (then contacted you).

This is the power of content marketing.

How To Adopt a Publishing Model

In almost every introduction to content marketing, you’ve undoubtedly heard (or read) phrases like, “you are the media” or “think like a publisher.  Most people, however, have a hard time conceptualizing what this means or how they can successfully apply the concept in their business.

Here are the 4 crucial steps to consider:

Mind-Set

Often, the first step (or obstacle to overcome) to publishing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage your target audience is changing your mind-set on “what you do” as a business.

Companies that have made this mental leap see themselves as ‘publishers’ (first) who just happen to sell stuff (or provide services).  They create content that teaches and inspires action.  As a result, they build a tribe of profitable and loyal repeat clients.

Most importantly, however, small to mid-sized enterprises who change the way they think about content output start delivering content through multiple outputs and creators - i.e. tweets, videos, photos, podcasts, blog posts.  Instead of just one output, there might be 5, 10, or even 20 pieces of content being created by multiple people in the company at the same time.

What if the entire company told your story online?

Listen

As a rule, when someone mentions “Fruition Interactive” online we want to know about it so we can comment.  However, listening also helps to make better decisions on the kind of content that is important to your clients.

Set up Google alerts to target keywords that are important to your brand. Next, identify the blogs, social networks, and other places where your clients (readers) might hang out.

Now just watch and listen.

Recruit an internal champion

Adopting a publishing model for your business won’t just happen.  You need an internal driver.  Find someone internally to champion this initiative (someone with real passion for using social media). This person will be your lead trainer and evangelist.

Find content rock stars

Speak to your employees and determine their interest in becoming content creators.  Set up the tools for each of your employees and develop a social media policy that will help employees tell your story.

Train each employee how to write effectively for the web and share their experiences through the web and social media.  Next, consider recruiting key content creators (bloggers and subject experts) from your industry to align with your publishing brand (web site and media properties).  Most organizations have just a few key content creators, why not have an army.

What did I miss?

About the Author:

Mitch Fanning is the VP of Strategy & Business Development for Fruition Interactive.  He’s spent 10+ years (and put in his 10,000 hours) working with businesses of all sizes, from global brands to Canada’s fastest growing Internet companies ranked in the PROFIT 100.

Photo credit: purdman1