On Words and Business

As you create or perfect your 2012 marketing plan, here are a few tips from Content Marketing Institute contributors.

Some good ones:

• Don’ t wait: write down your ideas when you think of them, with pen and paper or the notepad feature on your smartphone
• Conduct a content audit–by printing it out and reviewing it
• Dragon Dictation for transcribing interviews
• Create an editorial calendar (my contribution–I can’t live without mine!)
• Ask yourself why the audience should care about what you produce

Thanks to Susan Weiner for pulling together this list of favorite writing-related books for writers.

A few are on my shelf. And a few are now on my wish list.

Do you have any trusted writing resources that are missing from this list?

When it comes to finding sources for your content, you don’t always have to start from scratch. You can repackage and comment on existing content to provide value to your readers.

This article discusses some of the basics, including what types of content are best for different kinds of existing information.

Consider doing some analysis of what’s being said about your topic, document an existing process, or selecting and organizing content created by others.

More importantly, what keeps your audience up at night?

When thinking about the decision makers in your audience, think about the answers to the following questions. Knowing the answers will help you target your content marketing program.

• What are the issues that most trouble them?
• What types of products, services, or vendors are they working with now or evaluating for the future?
• What are key events or situations that impact their goals?
• What government or industry regulations affect their work?
• What do they need to do their jobs better?

Do you know what core business goals your product or service helps your customers achieve?

Such as:

• Increased revenues
• Decreased costs
• Improved operational efficiency
• Faster time to market
• Improved customer loyalty
• Increased inventory turns
• Decreased risk
• Improved competitive differentiation
• Increased market share
• Faster sales cycle
• Decreased employee turnover

This is why they’ll listen to you.

Here are four tips before you get started (thanks to Michele Linn at MarketingProfs):

1. Start small. It’s much easier to scale up once you’ve decided the program will work for you. Your customers will notice if you start big and pull back, and they’ll wonder what’s wrong (but never ask about it).
2. Understand opportunity costs. An effective content marketing campaign of any size, takes time and commitment. Figure out if the return on your investment will be worth it.
3. Get help. Same as above–time and commitment. Share the workload and the campaign won’t feel burdensome.
4. Commit. Make a plan and stick to it. Like the shoe company says…just do it.