Content marketing is a bit of a mystery to many business owners. Content marketing, according to Google's dictionary, is “a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services.”
This might be as clear as mud to new marketers trying to carve their niche out online.
To manage content, it takes some learning, but who has time for that? Ironically, your best learning tool is content. The internet is packed with helpful advice that will get you up to snuff on content. You can access the industry’s go-to info to educate yourself on everything you need to know about content. However, weeding through the repetitive information can be a real time-waster.
Here, we provide a list of solid resources for the content novice to understand content marketing.
HubSpot is a developer and marketer of software products focused on inbound marketing. They offer tools to make social media marketing, content management, web analytics, and search engine optimization easier. They’re like your content marketing institute.
In most cases, your search results will present content from this gem. Their blog has been around so long that links throughout their own content provide further info on related topics. This makes it easy to jump from topic to topic. It also helps you find the logical info you might otherwise miss in your research.
Excellent blogs to read include:
But they’re more than a blog. They’re your ultimate resource with free courses and certifications available. Last but not least, they offer content marketing examples for inspiration.
Who the hell is Neil Patel? He has been dubbed a top influencer by The Wall Street Journal. He is one of the top 10 marketers of today, according to Forbes. He is the founder of Crazy Egg, Hello Bar, and KISSmetrics. He’s just one of those guys who everyone looks at as a leader in the digital marketing industry.
Some good blogs to start with:
You can also find tons of podcasts and videos here. And maybe even more importantly, he has free tools, including:
You’ll be glad you checked him out.
These guys are your go-to for content ideas. They offer a wide selection of tools to help you ace your content. You can use SEMrush data to compare competitive domains. You can also use their tools to estimate keyword difficulty. This means you’ll experience less competition while still using viable keyword ideas.
You can even compare the domains of your competitors to see what they’re up to. Their Keyword Magic tool offers over 2 million keywords to help you zero in on the words suited to your specific needs. You can also create long-tail keywords for keyword-rich content to improve your rankings.
Drift is a conversational marketing platform. It allows you to make meaningful contact with leads. Instead of depending on forms, they create conversations right away. They’re like the king of leads.
You can learn how to leverage effective sales techniques while also gaining ideas for great content. Here’s a mini taste of their learning ops:
They also offer free books on marketing, including:
You can also tap into their ongoing webinars here.
As you begin to learn more about content, you’ll soon see it’s more than just words. Content requires different approaches, with video being up there as a top contender for gaining brand awareness and SEO traction.
As providers of video tools, Vidyard knows everything about video content. If video is an aspect of your content strategy (and it probably should be), you can learn a lot from Vidyard, including:
This really is just scratching the surface, the tip of the iceberg if you will. You can search up the info that makes the most sense for your business needs.
Like Neil Patel, Brian Dean provides valuable insight into the frustrating, complicated world of content, SEO, and digital marketing. His website and newsletter provide you with the information that you need to successfully reach top rankings using nothing but exceptional content.
You can subscribe to the newsletter here. You can also request their Definitive Guide to Backlink Building here and view their SEO Fundamentals here.
Moz is another company born out of need. As the digital marketing world caused upheaval, they provided customers with an easier way to approach SEO to create great marketing. They offer a community where tools, software, and education provide what’s needed for small (and big) companies to succeed.
Their blog is not only home to their brilliant minds but to many industry thought leaders. This provides you with a wealth of discovery opportunities. Some perfect examples include:
Like Neil Patel, they also offer a great selection of free tools.
Content is one of those elements that takes up a lot of time. As you’ll discover, it’s more than a blog. Good content has many moving parts that require constant attention. However, the importance of content marketing today is undeniable. These sources will help you learn about B2B marketing so that you can get in on the action.