8/20/2019 Playbook 4
1/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY1
The Ultimate Content Strategist
Playbook No. 4:
Engaging and Building an Audience
Copyright © 2015 Contently. All rights reserved. contently.com By Joe Lazauskas
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
2/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY2
I. Introduction 3
II. The Magical Email Newsletter 6
III. Organic Social Media 11
IV. Paid Content Distribution 16
V. SEO 23
VI. Conclusion 26
Table of Contents
http://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdf
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
3/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY3
Four years ago, I ound mysel on a plane o
Zurich, drunk on Air France wine and oblivious o he
ac ha I was abou o learn a very hard lesson
in conen markeing.
I was 23 and excied or he mos badass projec
o my young career. I was par o a small bu alened
eam o young wriers and documenary filmmakers
asked wih creaing a real-ime documenary
abou five young enrepreneurs fighing or social good
a a young leadership conerence. From inerviews
we’d conduced over he previous ew weeks we knew
hey had plans o rally heir peers and he powerul
world leaders in atendance. The plan was or our eam
o capure i all as i unolded, posing updaes across
social and on a slick sie we’d buil in jus 20 days.
Things wen beter han we could have ever imagined.
Our five young proagoniss, all aged 17 o 21, were
ineciously charismaic; he group’s leader in paricular,
Sizwe, had he power o make us swoon.
Sizwe quickly became known as he Souh Arican
Barack Obama or his uncanny resemblance o
he presiden and powerul oraory skills. He wased
no ime making big speeches and rallying he oher
atendees o spark a global movemen. We capured i
all via video, blog poss, and wees, polishing
each piece o conen and pushing i ou as quickly
as possible. Though our salaries and expenses
were being paid by he corporae conglomerae bank-
rolling he conerence, we el like we were working
or Sizwe’s movemen. Beter ye, we el like we were
making somehing worh reading and waching. By
he end o he weekend, we were on a serious work
high: There were concree plans or a global movemen,
and a number o powerul leaders had rallied around
our young sars.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
4/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY4
The projec el like a huge success. There was exci-
ed alk o keeping he documenary going or years o
come, and I was pumped a he prospec o helping
lead he ediorial operaions o a mini-revoluion. Bu
wihin a week, he whole hing was deemed a colossal
ailure and shu down. You see, while we had creaed
a on o grea conen, no
one had acually seen i.
I was a deadly misake.
We’d ailed o build any sor
o real conen disribuion
or audience-building
sraegy, and i cos us a
huge opporuniy.
I was a hard-learned lesson—one ha a lo o brands
and publishers have learned over he pas ew years.
I you build i, hey probably won’ jus magically come.
Insead, you need o work your ass off o ge hem
here and keep hem coming back.
Edelman Chie Conen Sraegis Seve Rubel goes as
ar o sugges ha brands should hink abou conen
disribuion firs, and everyhing else laer.
“Brands need o pu disribuion hinking ahead o con-
en developmen, which sounds compleely backward.
The hisory o he conen indusry is
make somehing grea—and ha bar’s go-
ing up by he way—and hen hink abou
how you disribue ha grea hing,” he
said. “Wha BuzzFeed and ohers have
augh us is ha you need o hink abou
all o he differen pahways ha people
ake o find grea hings. You need o
ideniy wha hose brands do, and wha hose conen
creaors do, o ge heir conen ou here. I should no
impede your creaiviy, bu i should inorm i.”
I was a deadly misake. We’d
failed o build any sor of real
conen disribuion or
audience-building sraegy, and
i cos us a huge opporuniy.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
5/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY5
In our Ulimae Conen Sraegis Playbook series so ar, we’ve
covered—sep-by-sep—how o evangelize a conen program, creae
a killer conen sraegy by ideniying an underserved audience,
and saff and launch your conen program so ha you can publish
high-qualiy conen quickly and efficienly. Bu he mos imporan
work—geting people o read, and keep reading, your conen—has
jus begun.
Here, in our ourh Ulimae Conen Sraegis Playbook, we’ll dive
ino a deailed overview o how o build an audience or your brand
publicaion. You’ll find insighs rom some o he mos successul
brand publishers on Earh, as well as rom our own experience growing
our audience enold o over 200,000 readers in he pas year.
ALON G T HE WAY, WE ’LL COV ER FOU R M AJOR TACTI CS:
1. Email newsleters
2. Organic social media
3. Paid conen disribuion
4. SEO
Le’s ge sared.
http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/03/the-ultimate-content-strategist-playbook-evangelizing-content-and-setting-yourself-up-for-success/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/10/the-ultimate-content-strategist-playbook-no-2-strategy-and-roadmap/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/26/the-ultimate-content-strategist-playbook-no-3-staffing-and-launching-your-content-marketing-program/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/26/the-ultimate-content-strategist-playbook-no-3-staffing-and-launching-your-content-marketing-program/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/10/the-ultimate-content-strategist-playbook-no-2-strategy-and-roadmap/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/03/the-ultimate-content-strategist-playbook-evangelizing-content-and-setting-yourself-up-for-success/
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
6/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY6
2. The Magical Email Newsletter
The biggest weapon in brand publishers’ arsenal has
been around since Bill Clinton got his first Hotmailaccount: the email newsletter. It’s given birth to many a
new media empire, and it remains the most effective
audience-building tool that you have as a publisher,
allowing you to drive loyal readers back to your site day
after day.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
7/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY7
Tomas Kellner has buil GE Repors ino one o
he hotes ech publicaions around, wih over hal a
million monhly readers. And hough his conen
regularly goes viral on Reddi and Tumblr, he really
perks up when he alks abou email.
“We love email,” Kellner gushed. “I may sound old-
school, bu email subscripion is really a hard-
wired link o your audience. For us, email subscribers
are an exremely valuable audience ha we wan.
Every day 15,000 people ge he blas rom GE Repors
ha a new sory is ou.”
When Kellner came over o GE Repors rom Forbes,
building GE Repors’ newsleter was his firs mission.
“We sared wih zero subscribers, jus like anyone else,”
he explained. “Wih any brand, really, you sar wih
employees, and hen you build he lis rom here.”
For he pas six years, how many email subscribers
a sory drives has been one o he mos imporan
merics or GE Repors. Talk o mos successul
publishers and you’ll hear a similar senimen.
“Email is huge,” said Neil Pael, a serial enrepreneur
who’s buil audiences o over 100,000 monhly visiors
or hree separae blogs: KISSmerics, Quick Sprou,
and Crazy Egg. “In erms o disribuion, i’s he bigges
hing you can do.”
Pael’s blogs are filled wih real esae devoed o
collecing email addresses; usually, he’s offering
somehing in reurn, like ree access o his “Advanced
Guide o SEO.” I pays off. For one o Pael’s blogs,
email accouns or 28 percen o all raffic—and his
doesn’ even ake ino accoun he second wave
o raffic as hose readers who came rom email share
his poss wih heir ollowers on Facebook, Twiter,
and LinkedIn.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
8/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY8
This wave o readership is an incredible phenomenon, and i’s one ha
we experience every day a The Conen Sraegis. Our daily email
newsleter drives housands o readers o our sie every day. Simply pu,
he email newsleter is he old-school engine ha could.
Simply pu, he email newsleter is he old-school
engine ha could.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
9/27
Here’s a quick look a he effec an email newsleter has on driving readers o your publicaion:
EMAIL NEWSLETTER
BLOG TRAFFIC!
THEY’RE LOVING IT
EVEN. MORE. BLOG.
TRAFFIC. GUYS.
OMG EVEN MORE
BLOG TRAFFIC!
THEY LOVE IT TOO!
TWITTER SHARES
EVEN MORE
TWITTER SHARES
EVEN MORE
FACEBOOK SHARES
NEW EMAIL
SUBSCRIBERS
EVEN MORE
LINKEDIN SHARES
FAC EB OOK SH AR ES L IN KE DI N SH AR ES
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
10/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY10
This may seem incredibly obvious, bu a lo o brand publishers
ail o develop a dedicaed newsleter or heir conen. I’s one o he
mos common misakes new brand publishers make.
In ruh, he echnology sack needed o make his all work is ridic-
ulously simple; i’s more PB&J han Ialian sub. A Conenly, we use
MailChimp o build and send our newsleters, and Sumo.me’s Lis
Builder and Scroll Box ools o inelligenly collec email addresses.
Boh MailChimp and Sumo.me come wih well-designed emplaes ha
are easy o se up—no coding required. Pael uses Maropos or boh.
There are a lo o effecive echnologies ou here or building your email
newsleter, each wih is own advanages and disadvanages.
The imporan hing is ha you pick one and sar building your lis.
An email newsleter is he oundaion o your audience-building effors.Wihou i, all he oher audience-building echniques we’re going o
discuss don’ work nearly as well.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
11/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY11
3. Organic Social Media
Last year, Adobe Marketing Cloud released a hilarious
commercial that poignantly captures the way a lot of
marketers do social. Two dorky marketers are in an
elevator with a couple of hipsters. “Yo bro, you on Woo
Woo?” one of the hipsters asks.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
12/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY12
“Are you kidding me, bro? Everyone’s on Woo Woo.”
The wo markeers go ino a panic, and sorm ino heir
office barking a heir eam o go all-in on Woo Woo.
“I wan sponsored Woos! I wan argeed Woos! We
wan o be all up in your Woo Woo eed!” one orders.
“We need an ehnically ambiguous Woo Woo masco!”
he oher declares.
Meanwhile, he hipsers are back in he elevaor.
Are hey sill on Woo Woo? “Nah man, my mom’s on
Woo Woo.”
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
13/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY13
Anyone who’s goten caugh up in he sorm o
exciemen over flash-in-he-pan social neworks like
Meerka and Ello know ha his is all oo rue. I’s
all oo easy o ge caugh up in whaever new plaorm
is inspiring 1,000 TechCrunch hink pieces on any given
week. I’s also easy or brands o ge caugh up in social
media in general and
lose sigh o he goal
a hand—in his case,
driving readers o
he publicaion you
jus creaed.
The simple ruh is ha
brands ofen inves a
on o ime and money
ino social media wih unrealisic expecaions o wha
resuls hose effors will deliver. They’ll assemble gian
social media eams and pump big money ino buying
Facebook ans and Twiter ollowers. They’re assuming
ha i i you have 100,000 Facebook ans and anoher
100,000 Twiter ollowers, geting 100,000 readers o
your blog should be a piece o cake, righ? Wrong.
Lae las year, Forreser released a ascinaing repor,
“Social Relaionship Sraegies Tha Work,” which
showed ha brands were
reaching only a small
percenage o heir Facebook
and Twiter ollowing: less
han 2 percen o ollowers saw
an average pos, and less han
0.1 percen ineraced wih is
conen. While a newsleter
sen o 100,000 subscribers can
easily resul in 10,000 readers
wihin a ew hours, a Facebook or Twiter updae sen
o he same ollowing is likely o produce less han 70.
While a newsleter sen o 100,000
subscribers can easily resul in10,000 readers wihin a few hours, a
Facebook or Twiter updae sen o
he same following is likely o produce
less han 70.
http://blogs.forrester.com/nate_elliott/14-11-17-facebook_has_finally_killed_organic_reach_what_should_marketers_do_nexthttp://blogs.forrester.com/nate_elliott/14-11-17-facebook_has_finally_killed_organic_reach_what_should_marketers_do_next
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
14/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY14
Bu paradoxically, social media is an incredibly
powerul orce on he web, driving over 30 percen oall raffic o conen sies. As Shareaholic noed in
is end-o-year analysis o over 300,000 websies
ha reach over 400 million people, Facebook is paricu-
larly dominan, driving nearly 25 percen o all raffic
on he Inerne. Tha’s insane.
This presens a paradox or brand
publishers: Barely anyone sees updaes
rom brand accouns, ye social media
is an incredibly imporan source o raffic
or publishers o all kinds. So how can
brand publishers inves in social media in
a way ha helps heir brand publishing
effors?
I’s prety simple. The secre is ha he majoriy o
your social media raffic will come when oherpeople—such as your email subscribers or influencers
you inerview—share your conen, no when you
share your own conen. Your number one social media
prioriy should be creaing conen ha people can’
help bu share.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
15/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY15
A Conenly, or insance, 37.6 percen o our readers his year have
come o our conen direcly rom social media. Tha’s no because wepos incredibly viral social updaes—i’s because we inves our ime
and resources in creaing compelling conen ha’s shared over
600 imes on average. Tha doesn’ mean you should abandon your
own social updaes. Wihou a doub, you should be acive on he
plaorms where your readers are sharing and alking abou your con-
en. For us—as or mos markeing pubs—ha’s Facebook, Twiter,
and LinkedIn. For your brand, i migh be a differen combinaion o
social neworks. Jus don’ le hose effors ge in he way o creaing
conen ha people wan o share.
The secre is ha he majoriy of your social
media raffic will come when oher people—
such as your email subscribers or influencers
you inerview—share your conen, no whenyou share your own conen.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
16/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY16
4. Paid Content Distribution
It’s time for the obvious question: What do you do whenyou’re investing money in creating great content, but
your email list is still small and your social channels are
only driving a small amount of readers?
The answer: You invest in paid content distribution.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
17/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY17
For brand publishers spending $400 on an aricle, spending an exra
$50 o ensure ha wice as many people see ha aricle jus makessense. And righ now, here are a plehora o companies popping up o
help brands acquire an audience cheaply and effecively.
In ruh, every publisher is always hungry o grow heir audience.
I know we are a Conenly. We have 200,000 monhly readers oday,
bu we wan a million. And ha means
we have o go o where hose poenial
readers hang ou online.
“Ulimaely you’ve go o reach people
in he venues where hey’re choosing
o spend ime,” said renowned conen
markeing exper Jay Baer. “I everybody’s spending ime on Facebook,
you have o reach hem here. The key is, whaever you’re doing on
Facebook, use ha o ge hem over o your own world, o ge hem o
subscribe o your email or somehing else ha’s a litle bi more reliable
in erms o your messaging.”
A Conenly, ha’s exacly he approach we ake.
For brand publishers spending $400
on an aricle, spending an exra $50
o ensure ha wice as many people
see ha aricle jus makes sense.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
18/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY18
We have 15,000 ans on Facebook, bu our organic
reach sucks due o Facebook’s penalizaion o compa-nies. We’re lucky i our Facebook poss reach 500
people organically and generaes a ew dozen clicks.
However, as I deailed in a recen pos and will plagia-
rize here, we’ve figured ou how o use Facebook in
a powerul way ha’s made i a hugely valuable pla-
orm or our conen eam.
We es ou mos o he sories we pos on Facebook
wih an unpublished Facebook dark pos. Basically,
we pay $5 o $10 o deliver each sory o a arge audi-
ence o markeers and see how i perorms. And i
i perorms really well—like our recen inerview wih
Seh Godin—we pu more money behind i. (We have
a relaively small budge or his kind o hing, so we
spend i careully.)
The CPC or hese poss ypically ranges rom $0.15
o $0.20, which acually undersells heir cos effecive-ness, since he numbers doesn’ accoun or he organic
reach and clicks ha occur when readers share your
sponsored Facebook pos. Our Facebook sponsored
pos or our Seh Godin inerview, or insance, was
shared 449 imes, which resuled in 800 addiional
clicks and an organic reach o over 18,000.
Bu we’re no jus buying clicks; we’re also invesing
in our long-erm audience. The new readers we’re
driving o he sie sick around, spending nearly hree
minues engaging wih our sories on average—and
per Charbea’s daa, readers who spend hree engaged
minues wih a sory are more han 50 percen likely
o reurn wihin a week. Addiionally, we ry o make
sure hese readers reurn by promping hem o sign up
or our daily newsleter, and nearly 5 percen do.
Crucially, hese new subscribers end o be more
engaged han our lis as a whole.
http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/04/yes-facebooks-organic-reach-is-terrible-but-youre-crazy-if-you-delete-your-page/http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2014/08/26/facebook-dark-posts/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/06/you-need-editors-not-brand-managers-marketing-legend-seth-godin-on-the-future-of-branded-content/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/06/you-need-editors-not-brand-managers-marketing-legend-seth-godin-on-the-future-of-branded-content/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/06/you-need-editors-not-brand-managers-marketing-legend-seth-godin-on-the-future-of-branded-content/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/06/you-need-editors-not-brand-managers-marketing-legend-seth-godin-on-the-future-of-branded-content/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/06/you-need-editors-not-brand-managers-marketing-legend-seth-godin-on-the-future-of-branded-content/http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2014/08/26/facebook-dark-posts/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/04/yes-facebooks-organic-reach-is-terrible-but-youre-crazy-if-you-delete-your-page/
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
19/27
Here’s wha he whole hing looks like:
SPONSORED POST
ORGANIC
REACH
CONTENTLY
NEWSLETTER
CONTENTLY
PRODUCT PAGES
ADD ITI ONA L
SHARES ON TWITTER,
LINKEDIN, ETC.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
20/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY20
So hrough Facebook ads, we're geting engaged readers who are likely
o reurn. We're geting email subscribers who will probably comeback. We're bringing ons o new people o our sie who migh op o
find ou more abou Conenly's services. In ha ligh, he $0.15 CPC
invesmen sars o look like a seal. And we haven' even considered
he ac ha hose new readers end o share our sories like crazy
on Twiter and LinkedIn, who will in urn drive even more readers and
email subscribers o our sie.
Bu Facebook sponsored poss aren' he bes venue or everyone. Many
Conenly cliens use Oubrain's disribuion services hrough Conenly,
and ypically see a CPC under $0.25. Twiter—while significanly
more expensive per click han Facebook or Oubrain in our experience—
may provide superior resuls or some in he media, markeing, and
ech indusries. And while LinkedIn has CPCs approaching $4, he abiliy
o arge based on job ile and company makes i an invaluable
plaorm or hose looking o arge a small bu significan audience.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
21/27
No mater wha plaorm(s) you use or paid conen disribuion, you can supercharge your audience
growh i you use hem correcly:
PAID CONTENT
DISTRIBUTION
READS
AWES OME CON TEN T
ON OWNED SITE
EVEN MORE
TCS TRAFFIC &
NEW READERS
SIGNS UP
FOR NEWSLETTER
SHARES ON
SOCIAL NETWORKS
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
22/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY22
As always, i’s worh keeping in mind ha his only works i your conen
is so good ha people wan o subscribe o your newsleter and share iwih heir nework. Bu i i is, he effecs can be magical.
For sep-by-sep insrucions and ricks on how o be incredibly effecive
on each plaorm, check ou our recen e-book, “Paid Conen Disribu-
ion 101: The Beginner’s Guide o Geting More Eyeballs on Your Sories .”
http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/31/the-beginners-guide-to-paid-content-distribution/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/31/the-beginners-guide-to-paid-content-distribution/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/31/the-beginners-guide-to-paid-content-distribution/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/31/the-beginners-guide-to-paid-content-distribution/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/31/the-beginners-guide-to-paid-content-distribution/
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
23/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY23
5. SEO
Despite all the trend reports declaring search dead
in the age of social, that’s far from the case. According toShareaholic’s last search traffic report, search still
drives about a third of all traffic to publishers’ sites (a bit
more than social, although it’s likely social has caught
up by now). No matter how you cut it, search remains an
important part of any successful content strategy —a channel that, like social, will drive readers and new
email subscribers.
https://blog.shareaholic.com/search-visit-value-06-2014/https://blog.shareaholic.com/search-visit-value-06-2014/
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
24/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY24
I you haven’ rehough SEO his decade, well, i’s
probably ime o dich any preconcepions. A lo
o people sill hink ha good SEO means aggressive
keyword suffing, bu ha’s been compleely unrue
since he release o Google’s Panda algorihm in 2011.
Insead, SEO in 2015 is abou one big hing: qualiy.
“I hink here’s sill a lo o [misguided] belie around
quaniy over qualiy,” said Rand Fishkin, co-ounder o
Moz. “The vas, vas majoriy o links and shares and
amplificaion signals o
all kinds are going o only
he op 5 or 10 percen o
conen ha ges pu ou. There’s no a whole lo o val-
ue in wriing a decen blog pos anymore. [There’s no a
lo o value] unless you can be prety exraordinary.”
The good news is ha i you’ve ollowed he seps
laid ou in our firs hree playbooks and developed
a sraegy o creae original, high-qualiy conen
in a high-ineres area relevan o your brand ha’s
currenly being underserved, you have a very good
sho a being in ha op 5 o 10 percen o conen
ha’s ou here.
“Insead o ocusing on keywords, ocus on conen,”
Ambar Shrivasava, a veeran developer who is now VP
o produc managemen
or Tuor.com and he
Princeton Review, old The
Conenly Sraegis. “Really ry o map ou conen o
your arge audience. You wan o hink abou
your audience and wha’s imporan o hem insead
o creaing pages buil or keywords.”
SEO in 2015 is abou one big hing: qualiy.
http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/24/seo-isnt-dead-its-just-different/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/24/seo-isnt-dead-its-just-different/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/24/seo-isnt-dead-its-just-different/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/24/seo-isnt-dead-its-just-different/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/24/seo-isnt-dead-its-just-different/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/24/seo-isnt-dead-its-just-different/
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
25/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY25
Essenially, i you’re creaing conen ha’s unique, generaing
value or he reader, and earning links rom people who find i ascina-
ing, you’re in grea shape. “SEO is a process—he way hings earn
atenion, how hey are amplified, who amplifies hem, how hey earn
links, wheher hey’re argeed a hings ha people acually search
or,” Fishkin explained. “Wheher hey solve hose search queries is
he user experience you provide.”
According o Cyrus Shepard, Moz’s direcor o conen and SEO, Google
is beginning o esimae ime on sie, which means ha sories ha
capure a user’s atenion or longer will ge a boos in Google’s rankings.
Google is also opimizing or sies ha load quickly and are opimized
or mobile. Like wih everyhing else we’ve discussed, SEO comes down
o puting your audience firs and elling grea sories.
“Saring wih audience firs and finding where i resonaes” is wha will
work in 2015 and beyond, said Shepard.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
26/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY26
O all he seps you ake as a new publisher, audience-
building is probably he mos challenging—bu i
also migh be he mos un. I’s he poin when you
ruly sar connecing wih people and begin o see
he angible reurns o your conen markeing effors.
Bu i’s also a challenging ime because even wih
he mos aggressive effors, i can ake monhs or even
years beore you sar
o build he audience o
your dreams.
“Wha you have o undersand is ha he companion o
conen markeing,” said Baer, “is elongaing your ime
horizon or success.”
In oher words, building a conen brand akes ime, bu
he rewards are huge.
Conclusion
By his poin in our Ulimae Conen Sraegis
Playbook series, we’ve learned how o evangelize con-
en, build a conen sraegy and roadmap, saff
and launch our publicaions, and build an audience.
Bu one big piece o he puzzle remains: measure-
men. Tracking he success o each acic you use and
opimizing accordingly is crucial. In doing so, you’ll
creae a sysem ha ensures he
coninual improvemen o your
conen markeing effors.
In our nex and final Ulimae Conen Sraegis Play-
book, we’ll cover everyhing you need o know abou
conen measuremen and opimizaion. By he end,
you’ll be sure o one hing: There’s no limi o how big
and powerul your new brand publicaion can grow.
Building a conen brand akes ime,
bu he rewards are huge.
8/20/2019 Playbook 4
27/27
ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK
CONTENTLY27
Want more insights into the
state of content marketing?
For daily insights, subscribe to our online magazine,
The Content Strategist.
And if you’d like to talk to someone about Contently’s services,
please reach out to us at [email protected]
or visit contently.com.
contently.com
http://contently.com/strategist/http://../Library/Caches/Adobe%20InDesign/Version%2010.0/en_US/InDesign%20ClipboardScrap1.pdfhttp://contently.com/http://www.contently.com/http://www.contently.com/http://contently.com/http://../Library/Caches/Adobe%20InDesign/Version%2010.0/en_US/InDesign%20ClipboardScrap1.pdfhttp://contently.com/strategist/