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As a recent Comms grad I often find myself either constantly questioning my knowledge or in a state of wonder at the ‘real world’. And like so many graduates, the theory I learned at university isn’t always as compatible with the professional working world as my text books led me to believe. In saying that, any doubt that I’ve had has allowed me to appreciate hands-on learning, such as the sessions I attended at Content Marketing World Sydney.
Content Marking World (CMW) is a global conference series that brings together industry experts from across the world. It positions itself as the best event for learning and networking in the content marketing industry, and for me it didn’t disappoint. Maybe it’s my dewy-eyed graduate perspective, or the fact that a lot of digital marketing is now taught at university, but I was able to take away a new set of practical skills for optimising content and blogging.
The first session I attended was run by Arnie Kuenn from Vertical Measures, who provided a list of what you’re already doing wrong - 10 common problems that have a negative impact on content optimisation.
1. Unintentional duplication of content
2. Bad backlinks
3. Over optimisation and cannibalisation of target key words
4. Bad and duplicate title tags
5. Bad and duplicate meta description
6. Poorly optimised images and videos
7. Page load time
8. Poor or thin content
9. Key word mis-focus
10. Blocked pages or entire sites
While in isolation each problem may seem basic, when combined they can have a serious impact not only on the number of page views but also where you’re located in a Google search. Now I’m no expert … but that doesn’t sound like something to ignore. It’s like baking a cake without adding self-raising flour and expecting it to rise. Pretty thrilling analogy, right?! But, in all seriousness, what I took from Arnie’s session was that to ensure your content is visible to your consumers you must make sure you get the basics right.
The second session I attended was run by Jeff Bullas, who writes and runs an industry leading blog. Jeff opened his session by stating that the biggest challenge for communicators is not developing new ideas, but escaping old ones. A little close to home, perhaps? Unlike Arnie, Jeff provided a 10-step system to follow for either creating or crafting a successful blog.
1. Focus – discover your passions and your strengths, what do you want to write about?
2. Target audience – know who you want to and who you are talking to and understand their social personas.
3. Digital platform – choose a platform that suits your needs, however self-managed with a personal domain is often best.
4. Design – not just what your blog looks like, but how it works!
5. Credibility – look to establish yourself both online and offline.
6. Contagious content – two key elements to great content: 1. the content itself and 2. how you market it.
7. Conversion – understand the key elements of your landing page.
8. Social media – use both organic and paid methods to grow your social media presence.
9. Marketing – keep in contact with your readers with weekly emails and aim to create content they will want to share.
10. Promotional partnerships – aim for a win/win agreement and build as many positive relationships as possible.
So there we have it, two different ways to approach a problem and two different ways to find a solution. As a professional, you must always be willing to adapt and change to suit (or capitalise on!) your environment. There’s never just one right way to do something, it’s about finding the one that works best for you, your content and your client.
(By the way, Jeff Bullas has just been guest speaker at an event right here at BlueChip, where he ran through some top tips for Chief Marketing Officers in financial services, so watch this space for more insights.)
You can also download our six-step guide to content marketing for financial services here:
