Seven Principles of Content Marketing

Content marketing remains the hottest topic of discussion among marketers and communicators. Even accounting for things like content shock, marketers continue to place a premium on content creation. That said, many practitioners are still looking for the basics, so let’s dig into seven principles of content marketing.

Follow a 70/30 Rule – 70% of content curated, 30% branded.  Why? Because the rest-of-the-world is at least 70% more interesting than your brand; promoting external content builds social capital, makes grateful fans of influencers.

All content should be SHAREWORTHY.  Don’t publish junk. Better to be quiet than to distort the signal-to-noise ratio with garbage.

All content should benefit SEO. Search engines increasingly favor Social Signals, Blended Results, (multimedia) and mobility. Optimize your content whenever possible and appropriate, across all channels and all devices.

All content should be digestible.  Big pieces should be readily and easily broken down into component parts (e.g., a big infographic could be made available in smaller chunks).

Content should be channel optimized (by channel, by device) and distributed synchronously across social outposts. Be everywhere with your content.

Earned Media (MSM or fan-generated) is the best media.  (Really? Yes.)  A reputation for credibility trumps a reputation for creativity: credibility today lends authority to the creative endeavors of tomorrow.  And in our overheated media market, credibility comes from third-party influencers and from peers.

Paid Promotion, deployed flexibly, for the best earned media (primarily) or for the best branded content (secondarily) should be used to extend content lifecycle.  Where it makes sense, Social Advertising should tout user plaudits vs. features/benefits: make the customer the star.

There are more than 7 principles in successful content marketing, of course. And some might argue that these are not even the most important seven.

[cta]