It was a fun week in the world of content marketing. In fact, we’ve been looking forward to this week’s roundup since Tuesday. That’s how pumped we are. So without further ado, we hope you enjoy our favorite articles from the week:
The buyer’s journey has changed. Nowadays, buyers wait to engage with sales until they’re as much as 90% through the purchase process. Content marketers have been talking about this trend for awhile. In fact, we created an entire comic book about it. With sales blocked from engaging with the buyer, marketing is now responsible for a much larger portion of the lead-to-revenue cycle. But how do they reach their new revenue-driven goals? Enter marketing automation fueled with buyer-centric and educational content. Via Lori Wizdo’s Forrester Blog
Photo Credit: The Drum
Not so long ago, the phrase “social media guru” appeared in Twitter profiles and About pages galore. But just as these terms started to disappear, columnist Justin Pearse noticed the same unfortunate phraseology infiltrating content marketing. Content marketing ninjas and gurus, beware. The digital marketing world doesn’t need more buzzwords. As Justin points out, “we just need a strategic understanding of content across every marketing discipline.” Via The Drum
Speaking of buzzwords, Chris Brogan wrote a guest post on Copyblogger addressing our favorite buzzword: why, content marketing, of course. In his post, he covers the key differences between content marketing and branding. Unless you’re a huge organization, the goal for your content shouldn’t be brand awareness. Instead, each piece of content should drive toward a business goal. That, dear friends, is content marketing. Via Copyblogger
Content is a key focus for organizations in 2013 (and snagging a larger percentage of the budget), and because of this shift, marketing departments are starting to look a little different. Not only are they structured more like media companies, but we’re seeing new titles pop up everyday. But how do you create the volume of content needed to sustain a multi-channel marketing strategy? Gareth Chase has an idea. Enter the next big role: Content Marketing Manager. Via Social Media Today
BONUS: Marketo put out a fantastic Content Marketing Cheat Sheet. Share it with your editorial team. Tape it to your wall. Put it under your pillow while you sleep. Whatever you need to do to take advantage of this great information.
Enjoy your weekend!
Did we miss something that wowed you this week? Please share it in the comments.