The Seven Habits of Successful Content Marketers
In the last blog we looked at how important mastering social media is if you want your content to move. This time we look at how important content curation is and how to share others quality content.
Habit #5: The 80/20 Rule, or Curate and Share Content
Pareto’s Law applies to just about everything in life. As with all areas of marketing and business, it also relates beautifully to content marketing, only in this case, it’s about the ratios, 80% theirs : 20% yours.
It is possible to build a big audience on social media if you curate and share carefully-selected, good quality content that somebody else created.
We can’t all be good at absolutely everything, and that includes every kind of content.
You may not be cut out for a podcast or it may not work for your industry. You may not enjoy blogging, but love to get the video camera out and tell stories that way. We all have preferred styles, but our customers will also be looking for different types of content that fit their stage of the buyer journey. They may even have their preferred type of content.
You can fill the gaps in your content marketing skill set with the great content formats that other people have created.
If you do curate (collect with intent) and share someone else’s content, give them a shout-out or better still, share it from their own online platform. Trust me, they will appreciate it. Even if they are a popular blogger, content marketer or influencer, they still need to reach a bigger audience and they will be grateful to you for sharing their content.
It’s also good to engage with other people’s content and it is the first step to connecting with them. There’s a lot of reciprocity in the world of content marketing, because we’re all busy trying to reach our target customers, and they may already sit in someone’s Twitter list.
The 80/20 rule means you don’t have to do it all yourself
especially when there are so many talented people creating good-quality and beautifully finished content on the topics you want to discuss or share. Don’t worry that people will think they are the experts and not you, they’ll just be pleased you found it and shared it.
Remember, though, to always cite your sources! Put otherwise, do not, under any circumstances, pass other peoples content off as your own. Name-check and quote.
Mark W. Schaefer is a “globally-recognized speaker, educator, business consultant, and author who blogs at {grow} — one of the top marketing blogs of the world” – and he advocates the 4/1/1 rule:
The 4/1/1 rule (for every four pieces of other people’s good quality content you share, create one piece that’s informative about you and one piece that’s promotional) Mark W Schaefer
4/1/1 or 80/20, depending on the ratios you prefer, will ensure you never run out of fresh content for your social media feeds.
It has given me a way of personally connecting with all of the key influencers in my industry. The influencers in your industry and target markets could do the same for you, and curate and share your content to their followers, which has terrific value.
Content curation, as with content marketing, is a long-term strategy.
You need to choose your topics, pick your sources and curate and share content. But don’t forget to post, share, like, retweet, favourite, message and comment too. Regularly.
I’ve been curating and sharing other people’s content for the last five years. It has been a great way to grow my social media connections and following gradually, whilst I’ve been busy growing clients’ businesses. If you know that other people have produced really good content, relevant to your target customers and on your core topics, why hold back just because you didn’t create it yourself?
What are the “Seven Habits of Successful Content Marketers”?
Tips and real examples from people who’ve inspired me over the last five years. They demonstrate, by using Content Marketing, how it has worked for the businesses they run.
We hope you’ve enjoyed the 7 Habits of Successful Content Marketers. Why not check out the other blogs in the series:
- Tell them what they want to know – often
- Follow the plan and pick the right tools
- Be efficient – reduce, re-use, recycle
- Master social media, especially TWITTER
- The 80:20 rule: 80% theirs: 20% yours
- Earn Active Passive Income with RITE content
- Find you niche… the smaller, the better
- Measure your content marketing, often
If you like video, check out our recording of this fascinating topic and learn from these amazing thoughtleaders.
Our new online programme Content Marketing Conquered is designed with you in mind. Based on our successful workshop programme and latest strategies, we guide you to the top in 6 easy steps.
Don’t leave without grabbing your free eBook.
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