So You Wanna Be a Rock Star? Simple Ways to Create Content that Rocks!

So You Wanna Be a Rock

Star?

Simple Ways to Create Content

that Rocks!

What is content marketing?What is content marketing?

What is content marketing?What is content marketing?

Stuff that goes on your website…er, album.

What is content marketing?What is content marketing?

Why do businesses do it?Why do businesses do it?

Lead generation 71.3%Thought leadership/market education 49.9%

Customer acquisition 45.0%Brand awareness 41.0%

Lead nurturing 35.4%Website traffic 27.8%

*Source: B2B Content Marketing Trends Report by Spiceworks

How does it work?How does it work?

Who can be a rock star?Who can be a rock star?

Anyone!

Be an expert.

Be a thought leader.

Elevate your company brand or your personal brand.

What do you do?What do you do?

Who has a blog? Social media presence?Who struggles to find topics to write about?

Do you end up not posting because of this?

Moreover, how many things do you not read because they are BORING?

So you want to be a Rock Star?So you want to be a Rock Star?

…at least, a content Rock

Star?

Key Characteristics of Rock Stars:

• Defined personality

• Write about what they know

• Connect with their audience

• Use different channels to distribute their music

PersonalityPersonality

Find your voice. What

is the tone of your

blog or social media

profiles?

GOAL:

Be authentic

Be a resource

PersonalityPersonality

• If your brand was a person, what kind of personality would it have?

• If your brand was a person, what’s their relationship to the consumer? (a coach, friend, teacher, dad, etc.)

• Describe in adjectives what your company’s personality is not.

• Are there any companies that have a similar personality to yours? Why are they similar?

• How do you want your customers to think about your company?

*Kevan Lee writing in Fast Company

Mailchimp: http://mailchimp.com/about/style-guide/#voice-and-

tone

Cool voice, man.Cool voice, man.

MailChimp is:

• Fun but not childish• Clever but not silly• Cool but not alienating• Informal but not sloppy• Helpful but not overbearing• Expert but not bossy• Weird but not inappropriate

Cool voice, man.Cool voice, man.

The cool, trendy hipster with a social conscious.

Cool voice, man.Cool voice, man.

The interesting industry expert.

“The key to songwriting is just to be able to observe, and put yourself in situations to be around people, and let those ideas come to you.”

– Eric Church

What will you write?What will you write?

Finding InspirationFinding Inspiration

What to write about?

Things you know.

• How-to’s and tutorials

• Actual clean up jobs

• Advice for selecting service providers

• Top mistakes you see people making

Callaway Golf's YouTube Is a Hole in OneCallaway promotes itself on YouTube, with excellent

content that isn't overly salesy or promotional. Videos include how to hit a bump and run and 

vertical centers of gravity in golf drivers.

Finding InspirationFinding Inspiration

Finding InspirationFinding Inspiration

bossplow.com

Good stuff!

Finding InspirationFinding Inspiration

What to write about?

Things happening around you.

• Current events (e.g. “Red Carpet” awards, elections)

• Related interests and activities (e.g. pro-bono work,

community events)

• Upcoming classes or educational resources for

consumers

Finding InspirationFinding Inspiration

What to write about?

Calendar Events

• Weird and Wacky

Holidays

Finding InspirationFinding Inspiration

What to write about?

Engage directly with your

audience.

• Answer questions

• Conduct interviews with local

personalities or experts

Finding InspirationFinding Inspiration

Remember, it doesn’t have to always be specifically about your product or service.

Still Stuck? Still Stuck?

Connecting with the AudienceConnecting with the Audience

Present information in fun, engaging ways.

”At a cocktail party, you wouldn’t walk up to someone and say, ‘Hey, I’m

Dave. My stuff is 20% off.’

What you do is ask questions, tell stories, listen, and relate to people.”

Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Media

Writing the lyricsWriting the lyrics

Pretend you’re writing to your favorite

customer.

Hey, Al. What’s been going on? I swear, every

holiday season I see the same issues as

people try to keep their floors clean for

holiday parties. It seems like if homeowners

just did X, Y and Z, we could prevent half of

these issues!”

Writing the LyricsWriting the Lyrics

Okay, a few rules.

Embrace brevity: Short paragraphs (3

sentences, 6 lines) with no more than 25

words in a sentence.

Fancy doesn’t work: Lose the jargon. Why

“utilize” when “use” works just fine?

Emphasize text: Use BOLD and ITALICS to

highlight key points.

Writing the LyricsWriting the Lyrics

White Space is Good: Too

much text is exhausting.

Use Subheads: Help people

skip to parts they find most

interesting or relevant.

Picture This: Illustrate your

points or posts with images.

Writing the LyricsWriting the Lyrics

•Video

•Infographics

•Audio

•Memes

•Links to other

resources

Schedule Your TourSchedule Your Tour

Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.

Newsletter/FOCUS

THANK YOU!Prepping for Thanksgiving Dinners – Stop the Stain

HOLIDAYSHoliday Parties: Protecting Your Floors from Traffic and Stains

WINTER FLOORCAREKeeping Floors and Indoors Healthy during winter

SHOW YOUR FLOORS SOME LOVE!

Blog Tips, Top Nov. Stains, What We’re Thankful for

Top December Stains, Floor Protection in the North Pole

Indoor Air Quality and Floorcare, New Studies, Asthma and Floors, 15 Resolutions

Floor care products we love!

Social Contest: Guess this Stain

Top Gifts Resolutions, protecting floors

Contest: What Floor Surface Do you Love the Best?

Schedule Your TourSchedule Your Tour

Make a Set ListMake a Set List

Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Friday

Weekly Blog Post

5 Things You Can Do Now to Make Your Floors Say Thank You after Thanksgiving

Social (FB and Twitter)

Prepared for the holidays? Link to Blog

Guess this holiday stain

Reminder: Time to schedule your carpet cleaning!

Holiday stains: Which have you had?

Get 10% off your next cleaning with your best #holidayfails

November 17-21 2014

Define Your Distribution PlanDefine Your Distribution Plan

1. Post the content to your website.

Define Your Distribution PlanDefine Your Distribution Plan

2. Distribute the link through your communication channels.

BenefitsBenefits

• Improve SEO• Build awareness

• Build better relationships and improve customer

retention• Generate leads

• Your 15 minutes of fame!

3. Win awards!

Rockstar ResourcesRockstar Resources

Grammarly: Your personal grammar coach (a plug-in for Word and Outlook)

ProWritingAid.com: An online writing coach that flags errors in your writing

Wordcounter: Helps make sure you’re not using the same word over and over and over

Portent.com: An idea generator! Input a topic and let portent go to work.

Ubersuggest.org: Another idea generator!

Rockstar ResourcesRockstar Resources

For Photos:

Creative Commons (http://search.creativecommons.org)Comfight (www.compfight.com)

Free Images (www.freeimages.com)Unsplash (www.unsplash.com)

Are you

ready?