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| TCMA 2016 The Hub, Edinburgh |
Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to attend TCMA 2016, a two day event bringing together the great and the good of content marketing from around the globe. I could blog for years on the people who attended and the inspiration they provided, but I'll start with some tips worth remembering.
1. Being consistent in the content you create makes you unique, builds credibility and ultimately trust
2. Choose how you communicate to attract the audience who need you most
3. Spend more time thinking about how you'll distribute your content once it's produced
4. Create content that addresses problems with solutions, painpoints with remedies, questions with answers and rituals with ideas
5. Use predictive search to see what mainstream searchers are looking for. It shows demand and gives insight
6. Have a goal for every piece of marketing you create
7. When you make a video, treat the viewer like they've been a friend for years
8. Aim for visually pleasing on Facebook - the initial image will attract a viewer to watch more
9. Make the first couple of words in any content reiterate the search that brought visitors to it
10. Be transparent
11. Create Ebooks
12. Become the wikipedia for your industry
13. Commit to creating regular new content for your website and do it
14. Think about the words your audience might use in a google search and make your titles fit
15. Always tell people what they should do next. No call to action = no action.
16. Invest in good images and design. Perception is everything
17. Share every piece of content multiple times, in different formats for each platform
18. Hone your skills to do the right things in the most efficient way possible
19. Build a team around you to do specific tasks, so you're open to opportunities
20. Try running webinars - an hour builds trust and speeds the time to sale
21. You are not your customer. Serve your audience
22. Inject your personality to educate, entertain and inspire your audience
23. Don't sell the thing, sell the dream
24. The biggest missed opportunity is playing it safe
25. Engaging content is far more about brains than budget - show your passion
26. Be bigger, be bolder and aim for fanatical fans
27. Think like a teacher to deliver value (in your audiences terms)
28. Strategy is the plumbing of content marketing - where do you want to go?
29. Make life easier and you'll gain customers. Walk in their shoes.
30. Look for and dominate an unsaturated niche
31. Have an aggressive keywords strategy so Google only looks at you
32. Know who shares your content most and work on delighting them
33. 'I will never let you down' is a differentiator
34. It can take 3 to 5 years to create the awareness that results in sales - aim for reliable reach
35. User generated content is gold
36. Make your brand human
Ready? Go!
