guest post by Bill Flitter, Founder/CEO, dlvr.it
Bill Flitter
As every company is now a media company, we are told to think like publishers. What does that really mean? Come find out at Dlvr.it’s third annual Content Marketing Strategies Conference, May 7-9, 2013 at The Claremont Hotel Club & Spa in Berkeley, CA. New this year is the collaboration between dlvr.it and Business Wire as co-hosts.
This boutique conference will bring together thought leaders for three days of intense discussion, strategy workshops and case studies. Participants will gain practical “how to” advice on content marketing SEO, content distribution optimization, content ROI, and learn from case studies by brands including Red Hat, New Belgium Brewing, FOX’s hit show Glee and much more.
Dlvr.it and Business Wire guarantee that you will walk away with an action plan to kick-start or enhance any content marketing program no matter how large or small.
At the conference you will learn:
- How Cisco Systems measures content marketing ROI
- How to create viral content people will talk about
- How to effectively engage users across multiple channels with limited content
- How to effectively use Google+, LinkedIn and the visual web to drive reader engagement and sales with content marketing
Here’s a sample of some insights and tips from the expert speakers at the 2013 Content Marketing Strategies Conference:
From Arnie Keunn, President of Vertical Measures, SEO expert, frequent speaker and author on content marketing:
What we’ve concluded from all the changes in the past 2-3 years in the world of content marketing is that Google really wants to convince you of one thing: creating great content is the way to go. That being said, SEO is still just as important. You must optimize, optimize, optimize: your content, image tags, videos . . . everything! Then you need to promote it. Distribute it. Get backlinks to it. Professional SEOs understand this and are implementing these tactics better than anyone out there right now.
From Maria Ross, Founder of Red Slice, brand strategist, author and speaker on brand strategy:
Being consistent means identifying and articulating the key things for which you want your brand to be known, and ensuring you deliver that promise through everything that you do. Brands get into trouble when they promise one thing but fail to consistently deliver it through every single customer touchpoint. You can’t possibly be all things to all people so choose wisely and focus on those messages.
From Scott Frangos, Founder & President of WebDirexion, chief optimizer and speaker on Google+:
Even as more features are added to Google+, marketers have yet to wrap their strategic and tactical minds around ways to take full advantage of the existing G+ system. Here are four initial brainstorms:
– Use a community(s) to build interest for a Google hangout on a business topic, then stream the hangout live and save it on your YouTube channel.
– Build your circles wisely, then use the post to circle emails and calendar scheduling to invite the right people to an online or offline event. Be careful here — all the SPAM cautions apply.
– Authors and thought leaders — brand your Google+ location with a personal URL — mine is ScottGooglePlus.info
– Have a smart surf of “Google “Ripples” to see what people are buzzing about and listen to prospects, competitors and colleagues about a particular post, topic and website.
From Lindy Roux, Principal Content Strategist at Siteworx on content strategy:
Businesses often don’t fully realize the amount of content they actually need to create, review and ultimately map for their website. With the investment your company is making in redesigning your website, why risk your site’s success by not properly addressing the content? To prevent this, I highly recommend that content be considered a managed risk, just as any other component of website development.
From James Citron, CEO & co-Founder of Mogreet and mobile marketing expert on B2C mobile distribution:
When content is shared to consumers by MMS, brands have the option to include prompts to share the received information across social channels. And there are major benefits to the brand for including social sharing in messages. First, it empowers the customer to share the amazing, exclusive branded content with their friends and family. Secondly, it activates word of mouth marketing, increasing the trust factor dramatically. Content shared by friends is much more likely to convert into higher database opt-ins than content shared by a brand, alone.
From Marilyn Cox, Director of Marketing Communications at Cincom on content development:
Oftentimes content is created by marketing, with very little input from sales. Sales is left without an understanding of what content is available, why it was developed, and how to properly position the information. The work of content creators can be incorrectly used, or left dormant. Very little activity and engagement results from the hard work of many. Both camps are left frustrated and rendered ineffective. Marketing must learn to align and collaboratively develop content with their sales organization. Content should educate and empower sales.
From Kerala Taylor, Digital Engagement & Marketing at KaBOOM!, writer and publisher on content creation:
You can write blog posts daily, load them with all the perfect keywords, and rush to cover trending topics, but at the end of the day, your efforts will be in vain if no one is visiting, sharing, or talking about them. When creating content, one of the simplest but most effective questions you can ask yourself is: Would I share this with my friends?
From Rob Fuggetta, Founder & CEO of Zuberance, brand advocacy expert and author on content marketing:
Are you leveraging your highly-satisfied customers (AKA “Brand Advocates”) to generate product reviews, videos, testimonials, and more? If not, you’re missing a major content marketing opportunity. Content created by Advocates is highly trusted and influential. According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers trust peer recommendations. Only 53% trust content that you create and post on your website.
From Carla Johnson, Principal of Type A Communications, brand engagement expert, speaker and author on creating content:
Take time to identify the people with whom you want to connect and understand them intimately. By creating personas, both sales and marketing will identify and understand common characteristics of a group of people with whom you want to connect. It outlines their perspectives, fears, drivers, and content needs.
From Josh Turner, Founder of LinkedSelling and B2B marketing expert on LinkedIn content marketing:
LinkedIn status updates can be an effective way to stay top of mind with prospects, clients, referral partners, and centers of influence. Yet most people are completely missing the boat on how to execute an effective content marketing program on LinkedIn. Using tools like dlvr.it you can automate a substantial portion of your updates. If you’re trying to reach prospects all around the country or even globe, then it’s impossible to hit them with manual updates at all the necessary times of the day.
To learn, hear more from and engage with the above speakers register now for the 2013 Content Marketing Strategies Conference. There a few tickets still available and we are pleased to be able to offer them to you at a 50% discount. At only $347, this is a fantastic deal for a 3-day conference. Simply register today and use the discount code BWIRE.
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire 
