I was delighted to interview Ann Handley, Author of Content Rules (buy now on Amazon) recently on how business coaches can create great content that builds their brand and gains a loyal following. Ann is one of the leading experts in the world – maybe even the universe! – on content marketing.
Hi Ann, thanks for taking the time to chat with me about content marketing. Let’s start by considering what you mean by “content”?
“Content” is one of those amorphous, vague kind of words, isn’t it? But when we talk about “content” in Content Rules, we’re talking about all the stuff you create as part of marketing your business. So the pages of your site, your product pages, your website FAQ page, and so on… as well as whatever you create to grow your business: A blog, webinar, podcast, newsletter and so on. It’s also whatever you create on social outposts like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+.
But more simply — and more meaningfully — we describe “content” as anything you create and share to tell your story.
Why is creating content for your marketing important nowadays?
Because not creating content is selling your brand short. You can rely on the marketing techniques like advertising, radio or TV, yellow page ads and so on. You can beg or buy coverage from media properties, too. But why not take advantage of the ability to publish your own content directly, and speak directly to your customers? That’s a fantastic and unprecedented opportunity. What content offers is, essentially, an exciting opportunity.
What should the content try to achieve for a) the creator and b) the consumer?
Your content should tell your story. It should be rooted in who you are — your brand values, your promise, what makes you unique, and what you are all about. As we talk about in Content Rules, your content should be the soul of your brand.
I know that sound high-minded, but it’s really not: Think of how your product or service lives in the world: How does it help people do their jobs better, shoulder their burdens, ease their pain, help them succeed in or enjoy their lives? Your content should give your product flesh and bones.
That’s important because the consumer doesn’t want to know about your product. Instead, he or she wants to know how your product can help them. It’s a subtle difference of three little words — “can help them” — but an important one.
Looking at the diverse ways of delivering content, could you suggest how someone decides the best way to deliver useful information to their target market? (eg. video, blogs, Facebook page, podcast)
Well, I wish I could give you a single easy answer. But the truth is that the right vehicle — or vehicles — depends entirely on who you are trying to reach, and where they are. You’ll only know the answer to that by talking to them (either directly, or through surveying) or by wading into the pool and seeing for yourself where everyone is. Is your audience on Twitter? Facebook? Do they respond to videos? Are they a mobile audience? Are they early adopters who are all over Google+?
That said, the best hub for your content is usually a blog that lives on your own website. Blogs have come a long way from their early roots — a lot of sites are run off of a blogging platform and lack that telltale “bloggy” look. So a business can customize the look and feel of their blog to mirror their main site pages.
The advantage to using a blog as a content hub is that a blog is relatively easy to update, even if you lack a geek gene. (As I do.) It’s a handy place to centralize all of your content efforts.
I liked your idea of how you can work from the Big Idea to the smaller chunks or create a big impact from the collation of smaller chunks. It seems to allow great flexibility of action. But the underlying meesage seems to be to have a coherent message. Given that businesses ultimately want to sell their product, should that message steer people towards a solution or is it just about building a following and an authentic interest?
Yes. I don’t mean to be cheeky — but really, it is about both. You want to steer interesting folks toward your product or service while staying top of mind and helping them along the path to buying. I heard a quote recently I really liked: If you sell someone something, you’ve made a sale. But if you help someone, you’ve created a customer for life. Serving is the new selling, and content can help you accomplish that objective.
What advice do you have on formulating a message worth listening to?
To look at what you do from your customer’s perspective, not your own. As I said above, it’s about talking about your customers — not yourself.
It’s also about telling your story in a compelling way. I could write a whole book about that. (Oh wait. I did.) ; )
Again I found your publishing plan a useful guide to my activity, could you briefly describe the varying levels of content that one could deliver daily, weekly, monthly and so on.
Well, there’s an entire suggested schedule in the book, but I sometimes feel a little awkward laying out a specific schedule because (as we say), the best schedule is really one that’s sustainable for you. As you hit upon: The important thing for any company is to simply create a plan, a publishing schedule, or (as we say in journalism) an editorial calendar. Create a regular schedule you can adhere to first, preferably with various timelines in mind (daily Twitter posts or Facebook updates, for example, balanced with weekly blog posts, and perhaps a quarterly ebook or white paper). Again, the frequency is less important than simply laying out a plan and schedule, and sticking to it. And quality. I’m a big proponent of creating good content – not just any old thing….
With so much information available how does someone avoid being just more background noise?
That’s a great question. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt talks about how every two days, we’re creating as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2008. That’s a lot of STUFF, right? So how do you stand out?
The key is to create the kind of content that truly resonates with your buyers or would-be buyers: Content that shares a resource, solves a problem, and just doesn’t shill your products. Again, how can you help? That content will always be compelling to the right kind of people — in other words, the people you are trying to reach.
What key advice would you offer to anyone starting out in content creation (other than buy your book which is a must!)
LOL.. thank you. I have two pieces of advice: First, always start with a goal. Why are you creating content? What do you hope to accomplish? Getting a bunch of Twitter followers isn’t a goal. But driving signups for your newsletter might be. So answer that “why” question first, because it helps inform everything else.
Second: Play to your strengths. I talked to a lot of companies who say, “Sounds great! But I’m not a writer….” The thing is: You don’t have to be an amazing writer to create awesome content (although if you are — I love you already). Rather, you have to have a passion for your brand and figure out the best way to communicate that passion. Are you an awesome conversationalist? Consider a podcast. Are you comfortable in front of a camera? Maybe a video series is key for you. In other words, you don’t have to be all things for all people, especially if you are a small business owner or solopreneur doing this on your own.
What do you see as the coming trends in the market place?
I see more and more companies embracing content as a cornerstone of their marketing — which is awesome. I’m thrilled that so many see the value in creating and sharing content, and I especially love that so many business-to-business companies are using content as a way to loosen up and be a little more human in the way they do business. That’s a pretty major shift for a lot of previously buttoned-up B2B companies.
As an adjunct to that, more companies are exploring storytelling as a component of their marketing. That makes sense, because they are looking to frame their content in compelling ways, through the power of story. My co-author C.C. Chapman can’t wait for the day when we see companies installing Chief Storytelling Offiers!
About Ann Handley
Ann Handley is a 12-year veteran of creating and managing digital content.
Ann is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs (www.marketingprofs.com), which provides marketing know-how for business people through a full range of online media, and the co-author of the best-selling Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts,Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business (Wiley, 2011) (www.contentrulesbook.com).
Previously, she co-founded ClickZ.com and was an journalist for the Boston Globe as well as a writer and editor for a host of other publications, including those magazines in the back of airline seats.
Currently, she writes for MarketingProfs as well as its blog, the MarketingProfs Daily Fix (www.mpdailyfix.com), a blog in the top 20 of the Advertising Age Power150. She can also be found at the Huffington Post (www. huffingtonpost.com/ann-handley), American Express OPEN Forum, and her personal blog Annarchy (www.annhandley.com). She writes a monthly column for Entrepreneur magazine. On Twitter, she has more than 100,000 followers @marketingprofs (twitter.com/marketingprofs)
