The Content Code: Six essential strategies to ignite your ... · Now, multiply that by every digital platform in the world and you’ll start to feel a little dizzy! And while this

TheContentCode

SIXESSENTIALSTRATEGIESFORIGNITINGYOURCONTENT,YOUR

MARKETING,ANDYOURBUSINESS

MARKW.SCHAEFER

ThisbookwasproducedinpartthroughthegenerouspatronageofDellInc.andgShift.Pleasesupportthe

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Copyright©2015byMarkW.Schaefer

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, thescanning,uploading,andelectronicsharingofanypartofthisbookwithoutthepermission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’sintellectualproperty.Ifyouwouldliketousematerialfromthebook(otherthanfor reviewpurposes), priorwritten permissionmust be obtained by contactingthepublisheratinfo@businessesGROW.com.Thankyouforyoursupportoftheauthor’srights.

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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataSchaefer,MarkW.The Content Code: Six essential strategies to ignite your content, yourmarketing,andyourbusinessMarkW.Schaefer-1sted.ISBN-10:069237233

FormyAlphaAudience.Wecreatecontentbutcontentalsocreatesus.Thisisforthosewhoread,think,andgrowwithmeeachday.

OtherBooksbyMarkW.Schaefer

TheTaoofTwitterReturnonInfluence

BorntoBlog(withStanfordSmith)SocialMediaExplained

TableofContents

IntroductionCHAPTERONETheIgnitionSwitchCHAPTERTWOStructure,Strategy,andtheContentCodeCHAPTERTHREEBuildingShareabilityintoYourContentCHAPTERFOUR22PracticalWaystoAchieveContentIgnitionCHAPTERFIVEBuildinganAlphaAudienceCHAPTERSIXBorrowingTrustCHAPTERSEVENTheHeroicBrandCHAPTEREIGHTDistribution,Advertising,Promotion,andSEOCHAPTERNINESocialSignalsandSocialProofCHAPTERTENTheMysteryofAuthorityCHAPTERELEVENTheFutureofContentandIgnitionReferencesAcknowledgementsAbouttheAuthor

Introduction

Each time I’ve written a book, I’ve tried to solve a problem and answer animportantandcomplexquestiononthemindofmycustomers,mystudents,andmyfriendsinthebusinessworld.Mypreviousbookshaveprovidedanswerstoquestionslike…

CanyouhelpmefigureoutTwitter?Socialmediaisoverwhelming…wheredoIstart?HowdoIbeginandsustainablogthatactuallyhelpsmyorganization?HowdoIbecomesignificant—perhapsevenpowerfulandsuccessful—onthe

web?Sofar,sogood.AslongasIencounterbigquestionsthatrequiremorethana

blogposttoanswer,IsupposeIwillkeepwritingbooks.Here’sthequestionattheheartofTheContentCode:

I’maprofessionalmarketerworkingashardas Ican. I’mproducingcontent, engagingonsocialmedia,andspinning rightalongwith therevolving door of every digital marketing innovation and newplatform.Whyismybusinessnotgettinganywhere?

Here’stheshortanswer:Becauseyou’relivinginyesterday’sworld.Thepersistentmyththatsurroundsmuchofmarketingtodayisthatcontentis

king.Andifyoucanjustproduceenoughofthisscintillating,ripped-from-the-headlines, epic and amazing stuff … dripping with keywords, stuffed to theheadlineswith relevance,decoratedwithPinterest-worthygraphicsandvideos,andpodcastsandlisticles…you’llwin.

We’re stuckwithamisconception that themostworthycontent rises to thetop, scorching the search rankings, and becoming a dazzling beacon for eagercustomers.Andatonepoint,thatwasprobablytrue.Earlyintheweb’shistory,thebalancebetweenthecontentavailableonlineandourcapacitytoconsumeitwas grossly out of balance. We were insatiable consumers, spending hoursdiscovering the new information sources coming at us on the emergingWorld

WideWeb.Butthebalancehasshifted.Dramatically.Every company, agency, club, university, non-profit organization, and 13-

year-oldkidhopingtobreakoutasthenextKatyPerryispumpingoutcontent.NearlyeveryonewithaccesstotheInternethasjoinedthecontentcreationparty.Selfies.Videos.Lovepoems.Songs.Infographics.GrumpyCat.

Asyoulookatthefutureofthisbusinesslandscape,thereisnosingletrendthatwillhaveamoreprofoundimpactonhowyoumarket,whereyoumarket,and to whom youmarket than this overwhelming and uncontainable force ofdigitalinformationdensity.

Of course, if you’re currently working in marketing, PR, advertising,customerservice,orsales,youalreadyknowthat.Therealquestionis,whatdoyoudoaboutit?

Answeringthatquestionhasbecomemyobsession.Arewejustgoingtoletthistsunamiofcontenttakeusunder?DoweplaybyFacebook’srulesandhandoverourmoneysowecanreachourownhard-earnedfanswithourcontent?Dowejustsitbyandwatchourgreatworkbecomeade-valuedcommodity?

No.Weneedanswersandideas.Weneedalternatives.Andthat’swhywe’rehere.This isabookabouthope,aboutbreaking throughthismenacingwallofnoise, and winning at marketing now—beyond content, beyond social media,beyondsearchengineoptimization(ifsucha thingevenexistsanymore).TheContent Code starts where your current content marketing plan ends, for asyou’llfindout,creatinganotherblogpostorvideoisprobablytheleastofyourworries.

Creatinggreatcontentisnotthefinishline.It’sthestartingline.Theimperativeforyourorganizationtodayistounlockyourcontent,unleash

it, ignite it, and somehow convert it tomeasurable business valuewithin thisshrillworldofoverwhelminginformation.

I’vespentthelastyearstudyingthisessentialconceptofcontentignition,andithaschangedme.Thereisascienceandpsychologybehindtheactofsharingcontent that is awe-inspiring and beautiful and mesmerizing. People sharecontent for hundreds of reasons, but there is a uniform process behind itinexorably linked to self-image,caring forothers, andevencompassion foranauthororbrand.It’sanastonishinglyintimateexperience,aprecioussymboloftrustandcommunionwithourcontentthatIhadneverconsideredbefore.

I’vealsodiscoveredthat thereis indeedalaunchcodefordigitalmarketingsuccess, a complex cocktail far beyondmere “promotion.” It’s a program thatcannudgecontenttothetop,helpitbecomediscovered,andunlockremarkablenew economic value from the investment made in wonderful posts, pictures,

podcasts,andotherelementsofmarketingcommunications.

Whilemostmarketershaveunderstandablyhadtheirheadsdownproducing

contentandbuilding theiraudience, it’s time to lookupagainandsee thatweneedtobuildathirdcompetency–anignitionplan.

Thenewpriorityofcontenttransmissionisacombinationofart,science,andmaybe even a littlemathematicalmagic that includes these six factors ofTheContentCode:

BranddevelopmentAudienceandInfluencersDistribution,Advertising,Promotion,andSEOAuthority

ShareabilityembeddedintoeachpieceofcontentSocialproofandsocialsignals

The beauty of The Content Code is that it’s accessible to anyone andbusinessesofanysize.Whetheryouhavealittletimeformarketingeachweek,oryoucandedicatefull-timeresourcestocontentignition(andthisisbeginningtooccur),thisbookisfilledwithhundredsofideasthatwillhelpyoutriumphinthechaoticinformationmarketplacetoday.

The future is more than copy writing. The future of marketing is copyigniting.

Solet’sgettoit.Let’sdiscoverTheContentCode.

CHAPTERONE

TheIgnitionSwitch

“Changebeforeyouhaveto.”–JackWelch

Lifeusedtobesostraightforwardformarketers.

Even20yearsago,ouroptionswerelimited.AdvertiseonTV,radioorprint.Maybethrowinsomebillboards,PR,andtradeshowsforgoodmeasure.Thosewerethemarketingchannelsinanutshell.That’swheremarketersmaneuvered,every week, every month, and every annual budget cycle … with fewexceptions.

Today,themarketingplatformoptionsarechangingbytheday…andsoaretherulesofengagement!LetmeexplainwhatImean.

Let’s take a quick examination of the evolution of just one popular socialmediaplatform,Twitter.Twitterwasfoundedin2006.Withinafewmonths, itbecameabelovedplatformforcommunicationinshortburstsof140characters.Butvery rapidly,Twitter transformeddramatically—notnecessarilybecauseofany grand strategic business plan, but because businesses and faithful fansdiscoveredsomanyremarkableandusefulnewwaystouseit.

Theubiquitoushashtagwasfirstusedatatechconferencein2007.Slowlyitcaughtonandisnowthepreferredmethodofpromoting,discovering,andorganizingcontent.Twitter(thecompany)hadnothingtodowiththistransformationalinnovation.ManymarketersconsiderTwitterthegreatestsourceofreal-timeresearchevercreated.Somebusinessesareusingadvancedsearchstrategiessoeffectivelytogrowtheirbusinessesthatithasreplacedadvertising.Twitterchats,another“user”invention,havebecomebigbusiness.Acultofself-madeTwitterchatstarsaremakingadecentincomefromsponsoredchats.Twitterhasbecomethedefacto“secondscreen”forTVviewing,

amplifyingcontentandadvertisementstothepointwheretweetvelocityisanimportantmeasurementinthetraditionalNielsentelevisionratingsystem.Tweetsarenowbeingusedforpoliticalpolling,fordefiningconsumersentiment,forcreatingdetailedbuyerpersonas,andevenfortheinspirationtowritenewtelevisionplotlines.Onebloggercountedmorethan300independentapplicationsdedicatedtohelpingyoumanage,measure,andengageonTwitter.

…and the listgoesonandon.Rarelydoesaweekgobywhen there isn’tsome significant, new Twitter-related innovation available for marketers. YoucouldliterallymakeacareeroutofstudyingnothingbutTwitter.

Now,multiplythatbyeverydigitalplatformintheworldandyou’llstarttofeelalittledizzy!Andwhilethisfeverishpaceofchangeissomethingtoreckonwith, it’s not even the biggest worry for marketers. There’s another, moreimportant, mega-trend impacting almost every marketing strategy, tactic, andinnovationinourindustry:Malignantinformationdensity.

Inthebeginning,therewas…notmuchSometime around1987, I pluggedmy first laptop computer into awall phonesocketanddialedupanInternetconnectionthroughAOL.

Doyourememberthatbuzz-screech-hisssoundofadial-upconnection?Thatwas the soundofexcitement! Ivividly recalldownloadingmy firstphotoofagalaxyfromtheNASAsiteandcallingtomywifeandchildrentowitnessthismiracle. A color photograph through the phone line! In only 10 minutes ofdownloadtime!

Inhindsight,thatseemsprettylame,doesn’tit?ButItellthisstorytomakeanimportantpoint.Intheearlyyearsoftheweb,interestingcontentwasscarceand we had lots of time to wait for that download. Grasping all that hashappenedbetweenthat firstbuzz-screech-hissand todayisvital ifyouwant tounderstandthesignificanceofTheContentCode.

Backthen,theseeminglyastonishingabilitytoaccessasinglepieceofdigitalcontent was a thrill. We were starved for content and stared with wonder atanythingwecouldobtainthroughthisnewelectronicconduit.

Fast forward to 2009, the year I became a serious content creator. At thatpoint, the web was still a relatively uncrowded content space. There wereroughlyone-thirdasmanybloggersastherearenow…andevenfewerpodcast

producers, video-makers, Pinterest pinners, Facebook posters, and Instagramphotographers.

The socialmedia/contentmodel for apersonalorbusinessbrandwas easy:Create great content, spend a little effort on search engine optimization andpromotion,andbuildyourbusinesswhenpeoplefoundyourgoodsandservicesthroughGoogle.

Those days are coming to an end, and as you’re about to see, it’s a prettypredictablerevolution.

ThethirddigitalrevolutionSo far, there have been three distinct phases of digital marketing. Theseupheavalshaven’t replacedeachother,but ratherhavebuiltuponprogressandmovedusforward.

Thefirstdigitalrevolutionoccurredatthedawnofthewebinthelate1990swhencompanieslikeAOL,Netscape,andProdigyshookupthenascentInternet.Yourbusinessprioritywassimplygettingout thereandestablishingawebsite.SothedawnoftheInternetcreatedabusinessfocusonPRESENCE.

Onceyouhadasite,itneededtobefound.EnabledbycompanieslikeAltaVistaandultimatelyGoogle,by the late1990syourbusinesspriority turned tosearch engine optimization (and a $30 billion industry was created!). AnemphasisonDISCOVERYwasthepriorityfortheseconddigitalrevolution.

Today,we’refirmlyinthethirddigitalrevolution,whichhasbeenenabledbysocial media and mobile technology. Your business goal in this phase isUTILITY—to help and serve people at their point of need, whether they’relookingforamoviereview,thebestpriceonalaptop,orproductinformationatthepointofsaleinaretailstore.(Andohyes,there’safourthrevolutioninsight,butyou’llhavetowaitforChapter11forthat!)

As each phase progressed into the next, life became more difficult formarketers. If you were a pioneer and had an early website during the firstrevolution,youhadanadvantageuntilyourcompetitorscaughton.Likewise,ifyouwerethefirsttocrackthecodeonSEOinthesecondphase,OhHappyDay!You led the search results as long as your competitors lagged behind. If theyfigureditout,onceagainitbecamemoredifficult,andexpensive,tocompete.

Today, the world has become more difficult for digital marketers becauseyour competitors have also figured out they need to be fueling their helpfulInternet presence with content. If youwere first and dominant in your niche,goodnews,goodnews,goodnews!Butifthenicheisfillingup,you’reprobably

discoveringabusinessstateIcharacterizeasContentShock.Let’sunpackthatideaalittlebecauseitrepresentsthemarketingproblemat

hand:There is just toomuchcontentand tooprecious little time forpeople toconsumeit.Howdoesthataffectyourbusinessstrategy?

ContentShockrisesThe content/social media/mobile revolution is entering a mature phase. Thefactorsimpactingyourabilitytocutthroughandbenoticed—namelytheamountofcontentavailableandourcapacitytoconsumeit—areintransition.

Ofcoursethevolumeoffreecontentisexplodingataridiculousrate.Therearemany forecasts out there, butmost center around a 500 percent estimatedincreaseintheamountofinformationonthewebbetween2015and2020.Ifyoucanimagine thevastnessof thewebtoday…well,prettysoonwe’regoing tohavefivetimesthat!Andsomethinkthatnumberislow,projectingasmuchasastaggering1,000percentincreaseininformationdensityinthattimeframe!

Doyouthinkitmightbejustalittlehardertostandoutinthenextfewyears?But wait. Won’t a lot of this information be coming from all of these

connectedsensorsyouhearabout—theInternetofThings,where theroadsaretalking to the trucks and the trucks are tuned to your refrigerator so the storeknowsyouneedmorebeer?Orsomethinglikethat.

No.Expertsbelieveabout75percentof the information increasewillcomefrom brands and individuals. All those selfies and cat pictures have to gosomewhere, right?And theyall compete for attention.Nearlyeverypersononearthisbecominghisorherownpersonalbroadcastchannel.Thisisawonderfulthing for consumersbutonedauntingwallofnoise tocut through for abrandmessage.

Theconsumptionside

Here’sthegoodnews:Everytimetherehasbeenatechnologicalbreakthrough,theamountofcontentpeopleconsumegetsalift.

For centuries, all we had was newspapers and printed books. Then radiocame along around 1920 and the time spent consuming content every daydoubledfromabouttwohourstofourhours.Television,theInternet,anddigitalgaming all captured more attention, at the expense of outdoor and familyactivities.By2011Americanswereconsumingmorethaneighthoursofcontentperday,accordingtoNielsenandothersources.1

The rapid perpetuation of mobile devices put a rocket behind contentconsumptiononceagainbecausenowwecouldconsumeourfavoritepicturesofGrumpyCat,moviereviews,andYouTubevideosfromatrain,astore,eveninthemiddleofacornfieldifthemoodstruck.

Becauseofthemobilerevolution,by2014theamountofcontentconsumedhadbeenpropelledupwardbyanothertwofullhoursaday.Today,adultsintheWesternWorldconsumecontentanaverageof10hoursaday!

There isnoperson reading thisbook,andnopersonyouhaveeverknown,whohaslivedinaworldwheretheamountofcontentconsumedisnotgoingup.Howmuchhighercanitgo?11hoursperday?13?14?

I don’t know. Nobody knows. Some gamers already consume content 18hours a day ormore in one sitting. Is that our future? Sleep, consume, sleep,consume? The point is, we’re approaching a physiological limit to contentconsumption.

Thisintersectionoffinitecontentconsumptionandtheexplosionofcontentavailability is creating a marketing industry tremor I characterize as ContentShock.2Inascenario inwhichcontentsupply isexponentially increasingwhilecontentdemandremainsflat,youhavetoworkalotharderjusttopreservethesame amount of “mindshare” you have with your customers today. And thatscenarioisexactlywhatishappening.

Theevaporationofcontentmarketingasweknowit

Here’s an example of what many businesses are experiencing in the ContentShockage.Amid-sizedsportinggoodscompanyinAmerica’sPacificNorthwesthad carved out a small, profitable niche and served an international group ofcustomers,byfollowingaclassicsocialmediamarketingplaybook:

Theywereconsistentlycreatingavarietyofhelpful,highqualitycontentpieces,manyofthemfeaturingcustomerstories.Theyreachedouttopopularathletesusingtheirproductsandfeaturedtheiradventures,stories,andvideos.TheyactivelyengagedwiththeiraudienceonTwitter,YouTube,andFacebookandhadatleastdoubledtheironlineaudienceforthreeconsecutiveyears.Theyhadinvestedinmorecontentcreationeveryyearandhadevenhiredtheirfirstfull-timecommunitymanager,anextraordinarycommitmentforthesmallcompanywithjust17employees.

Despite their well-conceived marketing effort, their organic reach onFacebook (the number of people who see their content without advertisingsupport)haddeclined90percentinninemonths!Howdidthishappen?A few years ago, if you did a reasonably good jobwith your content and

engagement,youcouldexpectthatFacebookwould“show”yourposttoabout30percentofthepeoplewhofollowyou.Althoughthissuccessratevariesalotbyindustry,organicreachhasdeclinedinacataclysmicfreefallsince2011tothepointwhereitisnearzeroformostbusinesses,includingmycustomer.

Why?Facebook’sexplanationisthatthereisanexcessiveamountofcontent.AnaverageFacebookusercanseenearly2,000storiesintheirdailynewsfeed.That is far too much to consume, so the company uses an algorithm calledEdgeRanktosharplyeditwhatshowsthroughtoyourcustomers.

For a small business that has depended on Facebook to connect withcustomers—andtherearealotofthem—thereareseeminglyonlytwochoices:1)Spendevenmoremoneyonproducinghigh-qualitycontent,hopingitmightsqueak through to a customer’s news feed, or 2) PayFacebook to promote orboostthepost.Eitherway,competingatthisnewlevelcomeswithacost.

But even this strategy of throwingmoney at the problem is backfiring formany.Asmore people seek to buy a limited number of Facebook ads, the adpricesarerising,pushingthepriceoutofreachformanysmallbusinesses.Andevenifyoucanaffordtoadvertise,researchshows3thatusersarenowblindtosponsored, branded content on Facebook. Given the repetitive and typicalbillboard-style/interruptive/insipientnatureofthecontentit'snotsurprising.

AndthatisContentShockinaction.Thisisn’tjustaconsumergoodsproblemoraFacebookproblem.Onestudy

concludedthatbetween60-70percentofthecontentonaB2Bcompanywebsiteisunseen.4Theproblemexists in everydigital channel. Informationdensity islikeablacksmith’shammerpoundingdownonourmarketingprograms,forgingnew ideas and strategies and pummeling the old ways of doing business. It’stimeforsomethingnew.

ImplicationsofinformationdensityIbelievethereareother,lessobviousimplicationsofthistrend.

1.Deeppocketshaveanadvantage.Aseachnewmediachannelemerges,it’soriginally fueled by crude “local” content, but the eventual winners are the

contentcreatorswiththedeepestpockets.Whentelevisionstarted,theairwaveswerefilledwithlocalprogramming(sortoflikethebloggersoftheirday!).Allthe cooking shows, game shows, and variety shows used local talent. Today,corporationshavetakenoverandthereisvirtuallyno“local”contentleftonTV.

Years ago, the most popular YouTube videos were locally produced homemovies.Today,themost-viewedvideosaredominatedbybigbrandsandslickly-producedfilmsandmusicvideos.

Even with Facebook, the great equalizer of the social media world, theexpenseofpromotingcontentgoesupasadvertisinginventorygoesdown.Overtime,low-budgetcontentproducerswillbeedgedoutoftheconsumermindshareiftheydon’tfindnewwaysforward.

Goingbacktomysportinggoodsexample,ifthecompany’scompetitorhadmore financial resources to pay for its content to get through Facebook, thechannel would eventually be closed off to my friends. This wasn’t even aconsiderationafewyearsagowhenthebestcontentwassuretowin.

2.Entry barriers become too high for some to compete. The deep pocketstrend appears in even the smallest market niches. The companies that canoverwhelm themarketwith content can effectively raise the entry hurdles forcompetitors and maybe even block them out of key search results entirely.Essentially,winningmarketerscreateContentShockfortheircompetitors!

So thesecond implicationof this trend is thatbarriers tosuccessfulcontentmarketingwillbecomehigh,perhapsimpossiblyhigh,forsomebusinesses.

3. Informationdensity is an engine for innovation.Here’s themagic of theentrepreneurialeconomy.Whensomethingisn’tworkinganymore,someonewillfindsomethingbetter toreplace it!The informationdensityhammerwill forgenewcontent forms andniche platforms thatwill expose newopportunities forearlyadoptersandinnovators.

The challenges at hand might seem difficult, but this is an era of infiniteopportunity.Youneedtobeclear-eyedandrational,developingyourstrategiesbasedonwhat is,notwhatyouwish things tobe.Howandwhen theContentShockcomeswillvarygreatlybybusiness,byindustry,byalotoffactors.Forsome, itmightbeyearsaway; forothers like the sportinggoodscompany, it’shappeningnow.

Inthehistoryofmarketing,therehavealwaysbeennewfrontiersenabledbytechnological breakthroughs and the visionarieswho act first.What’s the nextareaof innovation topioneerwhen the implicationsofContentShockbecomeunbearable?

TheContentCodeisoneoftheanswerstothatquestion.Thisbookstartswheregreatcontentends.Thereareenoughbooksoutthere

touting the need for amazing content. That’s a given.But epic content simplyearns a seat at the table today. The real power only comes to those who cancreatecontent that connects, engages, andmoves through thenetwork throughsocialsharing.

Research firm eMarketer reports that 83 percent of brand marketers viewsocial sharing as the primary benefit of social media5 because 70 percent ofconsumerssaytheyaremorelikelytomakeapurchasebasedonafriend’ssocialmediaupdates.

That’sapowerfulnumber,whichiswhyit’ssomewhatmystifyingthatnearlyall the marketing industry dialogue has focused on creating more content,creating content more efficiently, automating content, and finding ways tomeasurecontent.Butas theeMarketerstudyshows,brandpower isn’tcomingthroughcontent.It’scomingfromcontenttransmittedbyourtrustedfriends.

Content marketing may start with writing, but the money is made byIGNITING.

And that’swhere the conversationneeds tobenow.Themost breathtakingcontentthatremainsundiscoveredonawebsitehasnomorevaluetoabusinessthan amanuscript for a sensational novel that is locked away from sight in adark,coldvault.

Whycontentisn’tkingHere’ssomethingthatisobvioustoanypersontryingtocarveasuccessfulpathinmarketingtoday:Contentmarketinghaslittletodowithcontentanymore.

Allowmetotellafunnystoryabouthowthisrevelationdawnedonme.My early days as a blogger were fraught with frustration. I believed my

content was as good as anybody else’s, but it wasn’t attracting any readerengagement, let alone business opportunities. Mine was a quiet, lonely littlecorneroftheweb.

Iwas following theBigBloggerBest Practices by publishing consistently,connecting with others to form a community, and writing posts that werethought-provokingandoriginal.Yet,mycontentlanguished.

Inmy blog’s second year, Iwas beginning to findmy voice. I confidentlywroteoriginalpostsoninfluencemarketing,electrifyingdigitaltrends,andnewmarketinginsights.Andstill,myideasweremetwithstone-coldsilence.

At the same time that I was churning out these meaningful posts, Chris

Brogan, an extremely popular entrepreneur who blogs about marketing andbusiness issues, published a post that was exactly 37 words long. For youredificationandentertainment,here’shisentirepost:

“Ifyou’regoingtospeaktopeople,speakTO(orevenbetterWITH)them.Don’tlookatyourslides,readyourslides,andtellmewhat’sonyourslides.Iknowhowtoread.Stopit.Okay?”

That’sthewholething.Whatmadethispostremarkableisthatitreceivednearly400socialshares,or

morethan10sharesperword.Itreceivedmorethan50uniquereadercomments—morereactionsthanthetotalwordsinthepost!Thecommentswereuniformlyenthusiasticandevenincludeddescriptionslike“brilliant!!!!”and“awesome.”

I’mgoingtogowayoutonalimbandsayitwasnotanepicpost.Infact,it’sprettystandardpresentationadvicethathasbeendeliveredsincethedaysofflipchartsandtransparencies.Ifsomeonegaveyouthisadviceinacompanytrainingprogram, youmight roll your eyes and yawn. I’ll even hypothesize thatChriswouldadmithispostdoesn’tteeterintoacategoryof“brilliant”posts!

Years later Chris and I would become friends, but at that moment I feltresentfulandangrythatadull37-wordpostreceivedmorewebtrafficthanmybloghadreceivedinanentireyear.

Whatwasgoingonhere?If the Internet is the great equalizer, ameritocracywhere all goodwork is

rewarded,andifgreatcontentalwaysrisestothetoplikethesocialmediagurusweretellingme,whydidthispostigniteandminedidn’t?Ihypothesizedatthetimethat ifChriswroteapost titled“I’mfeelinga littlegassytoday”itwouldhave been tweeted 300 times. I actually encouraged him to do this as anexperimentbutalas,hedeclined.Theworldispoorerforit.

HowdidChrisgettoaplacewherejustaboutanycontenthepublishedlituptheweb like he’d struck amatch in a fireworks store?Did contentmarketingsuccesshaveanythingtodowithhiscontent…ordidhepossesssomepersonalmagic that I didn’t understand?Was there a secret content launch code Iwasmissing?

I wanted to figure this out! And honestly, if I was going to succeed as amarketingconsultantandteacher,Ihadtofigurethisout.

One of my (few) blog readers reflected my own exasperation in a blogcommentat the time:“Thepeoplewhoclaimgreatcontentalways rises to thetoparealreadyinadominantmarketposition.Forthoseofusstartingout,tryingtoscratchoutapresence,itseemsthatnoamountofworkgetsusnoticed.How

dowecrackthiscode?”Indeed.WhatISTHECODE?Others were beginning to uncover clues to this formula, too. My friend

Marcela DeVivo, an SEO specialist, business owner, and blogger in LosAngeles,expressedasimilarfrustrationwithhercontentfailures:

“Iwroteapostaboutsocialmediaauditsandpublisheditonmyblog.ItreceivednocommentsorsocialactivityATALL.I latersubmittedthe exact same piece to the Social Media Today website. It wastweetedhundredsoftimesandIalsohadsomegreatresponsesacrosstheblogosphere.

Somuch for great content. It’s the exact same article, but sincemyblogdoesn’thaveauthorityorcommunity,itwouldn'thavebeenfoundorreadregardlessofthequalityofmywork.

Ithinkatthispointthefocushastomovefromcontentcreationtowardtheideaofbuildingcommunity,developingstrategiestodistributethecontent,andmarketingtopromoteeverypiece.”

MarcelahitonsomemoresuspicionsthatpointtotheelusiveContentCode:Regardlessofquality, contentmarketing successmustalso includecommunity,distribution,andpromotion.

TheMirabeaumiracleConsider one more example that points to the secrets to content marketingsuccessinaninformationdenseworld.

A few years ago, I was approached by a friendly fellow named StephenCronkforhelponanewmarketingstrategy.Here’sasummaryofhisstory:

HelefthiscorporatejobinLondonandmovedhisfamilytotheProvenceregionofFrance.Intheteethofarecessionandwithnopreviouswine-makingexperience,hestartedanewwinerycalledMirabeau.Hehad600establishedcompetitors—andthatwasjustinProvence!

Thiswasatoughassignment,butIdoloveachallenge,andmostimportant,Ibelieved in Stephen. He possessed an excellent businessmind, an urgency to

learn,andagreatsenseofstorytelling.Ihadtosayyes!Our first step was to determine where he could maneuver in a highly

saturated, low-growth market. We couldn’t afford to be a “me too.” Weconducted a complete market and competitive analysis and discovered thatamong thehundredsofwineries inhis region,noneof themhadameaningfuldigitalmarketingpresence.Atthesametime,hispotentialretailcustomersweretryingtogainafootholdinthesocialmediaspace.Inthisintersection,wefoundouropportunity.

WehadtoscaleacontentmarketingeffortquicklyanddecidedthatStephen’sprimarysourcewouldbevideo.Hewasanaturaloncamera,and the lushandancient countryside of Provence provided an ideal backdrop to explore winemaking,food,history,art,andthelocalcolor.

Stephenconsistentlydocumentedhiswine-makingjourneyinaveryhumanandentertainingway.He talkedabouta labelingcrisis that almostcrushedhisbusiness.Hecreatedentertainingvideosabouttheridiculouspaperworkhefacedfrom theFrenchgovernment,what itwas like to attend an internationalwine-tasting competition, and how the grapes were harvested in the early morningsunlight.Hecreatedstoriesabouthisvillage,hispets,andhisfamily.Hesharedhisanguishashekneltbesidegrapevinesdecimatedbya13-minutehailstorm.Hecapturedthepurejoyofhischildrendancingwhileonafamilyvacation.

Hewasputtingahumanandmodernfacetoastodgy,traditionalbusiness.In addition to producing content, we also had a network strategy and

continuously worked on building a wine-loving audience that was passionateabouthisproductandthestoriesfromhislittlefamilybusiness.Ashisaudienceandengagementmultiplied,Stephenwasabletosharethisdatawithhugewineretailerstoproveapointofdifferentiation.NowinemakerintheregionhadthepresenceandaudiencethattheupstartMirabeauhad.Thestrategyworked,andtheordersstartedcomingin.

Stephenfollowedourstrategytodominatethisunsaturatedcontentnicheandhisprogresswassteady.Butonhis222ndvideo,Stephenfoundthegoldattheend of the rainbow. In just 29 seconds, he demonstrated how to open awinebottle with only his shoe.6 That video has now attracted well over 9 millionviews…oneofthegreatestsmallbusinessvideosuccessstoriesinthehistoryoftheweb!

The viral attention gave a significant lift to all the content on the site.BecauseStephenhadworked so long andhard to provide entertainingvideos,theviralvisitorsstuckaroundtoseewhatelsehehadforthem.Sincethe“shoevideo,” the winery’s “About Mirabeau” video on its YouTube channel hasreceived more than 10,000 new views. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest accounts,

andnewslettersubscriptionshavehadmassivegains.Thetinywineryreceivedimmensemediaattentionfromboththemainstream

press and wine industry bloggers who marveled at Stephen’s authentic andhumanstorytelling:

“ThelessonwannabeCronksshouldtakeonboardis that throughouthis video-creating efforts, he has never sought to use the clips todirectly promote hiswines or the brand.They are all intended to beinterestingintheirowntermsandoftencontainnodirectreferencetothebrandatall.Peoplewhowatchthemaremerelyinvitedtovisitthewebsiteiftheywanttoknowmore.”

ThecluesemergeWhatcanyoulearnfromthis?WerethereelementsofastandardContentCodeembedded in this inspiring success? If thishumblewinemakerwentviralwithhisshoevideo,canyou,too?

There’s no way to predict whether something will go viral, but Stephen’svideo provides more clues to the Content Code: The video was optimistic,entertaining, and practical, and as the wine blogger noted, it wascharacteristically “human.” It also hit big only after Stephen had spent nearlythree years honing his storytelling skills and building an extremely loyalaudiencethatwasabletostartthecontentignitionprocess.

Is it possible to embed some of these elements in your content to tip thebalanceinyourfavor?Isthereasciencebehindmakingcontentshareable?

FromthesethreediversecasestudieswearecollectingsomecluesthatpointtoaunifyingContentCode.

There are four primary uses of social media for business:Monitoring andresearch, responding to customers, amplifying messages, and establishingthoughtleadership.Thelasttwoarecloselylinkedtotheideathatyourcontentactuallyisreceivedbysomebodyontheotherend!Soinorderformostsocialmediamarketingtowork,socialsharing,ortransmission,isessential.

Let’stakeittothenextlevelandspecificallydefinethesixkeyelementsoftheContentCode.Excited?Metoo!

CHAPTERTWO

Structure,Strategy,andtheContentCode

“Ifitkeepsonraining,levee’sgonnabreak.”–BobDylan

ThischapterexamineswhatyourcontentmarketingstrategyneedstolooklikeinthisFormulaOne–fastdigitalworld,andIintroducethespecificelementsoftheContentCodethatareunpackedthroughouttherestofthebook.

Buttokickthingsoff,Ineedtotalkaboutsoup.“Soup?”yousay.“Iboughtthisbooktolearnaboutsoup?”Trustme.Ineedtobringoutthebrothtotellalittletalethatillustrateshow

marketersmustthinkaboutcontentandmarketingstrategydifferentlyinthiseraofinformationdensityandhyper-competition.

MyfriendRobertrunsadowntownrestaurantthatspecializesinsoup.Hehadthe very bright idea to partner with a local car dealership to offer potentialcustomers a free lunch of delicious soup every Thursday (SOUPERTHURSDAY!).Thecardealerfiguredthesmallcostofsomegoodsoupwasanintelligent investment in customer acquisition. And he was right! EveryThursday his store was flooded with people seeking Robert’s soup. Life wasgood.

Butthenacompetingcardealershipdownthestreetwokeupandrealizedtheadvantage of the free lunch offer. The competitor started offering sandwichesandsaladshead-to-headwithRoberteveryThursday.Thecompetitoreventhrewinhiswife’sfamoushome-bakedcookiesfordessert!

Suddenly,RobertandhisdealershippartnersawSouperThursdayvisitsdropdramatically. Most customers abandoned his modest soup menu for thecompetitor’s tastier offering. The dealership owner turned to Robert and said,“Lookwhat’shappening!Thesoupisn’tworkinganymore.Weneedsomethingbiggerandbetter!Steaks!Lobster!Adessertbuffet!Startingthisweek,youneedtobemakingepicgourmetfood!”

NowhowwasRobertgoingtodothat?Hehadlimitedresourcesandaone-

burner stove in his kitchen that could only handle soup! And would theescalationstopthere?Wasthisasustainablestrategy?

ThecontentarmsraceandtheunsaturatednicheIn this little parable, you can begin to see parallels to a saturated contentenvironment.Attempting tobeepicenough tosucceed inahighlycompetitiveenvironmentcomesat acost.Similarly, as thecontentarms raceheatsup inaparticular niche, it may not be a sustainable strategy for all businesses …althoughcustomerscertainlyLOVEallthefreestuffcomingtheirway!

By theway,Robert thesoupmaker isn’toutof thegame.Hecanfindnewmarkets for his soup. He can look for newways to deliver his soup. He canrepackage his soup so people can consume it in new places.But one thing isclear:Whateverthestrategy,inahighlycompetitiveenvironment,thestatusquoisnotgoodenough. Ifyou’re facingapossibilityofcontent saturation inyourmarket,youneedtobethinkingofwaystochangethegame.

Although the world is facing an incredible content glut, this doesn’tnecessarilymeandoomandgloomforeveryone.Inmanyindustries,there’snoglutatall.Consumersarestillstarvingforhelpfulnewcontenttoservethem.Ifyou’reinoneoftheseniches,youprobablydon’thavetoworryaboutContentShockforsometime.Infact,yourjobistocreateit!

WithouttheContentCode,theonlysustainablecontentstrategyhasbeentofindanunsaturatednicheandoverwhelmthewebwithsomuchqualitycontentthat search engines discover only you. Effectively, you’re creating ContentShockbycrowdingoutyourcompetitors.Thestrategyisthissimple:

1. Findanunsaturatedniche.2. Consistentlyproduceavolumeofquality,helpfulmaterialaimedata

relevantaudience(orpersona).3. Neverstopproducingcontent.

Dominatinganicheearlyhas extremely important long-termvaluebecausethe search engines will continue to recognize and reward the authority yourwebsite accrues for a long time. One pioneering blogger told me that afterdominatinghisnichewithcontentforsolong,hecouldprobablyremainatthetopofmostsearchenginesforyears…evenifheneverwroteanotherblogpostagain.

TheContentSaturationIndexMarcusSheridan,anentrepreneurandcontentmarketingthoughtleader,createdatheoreticaltermtodescribethiscondition--“contentsaturationindex.”1Whilehissocialmediadrugofchoiceisblogging,hisexperiencerelatestoanycontentform.Hedescribedinapost:

“Themorecontentanindustry/nichehaswrittenaboutit,theharderitisforablogtomakeheadwayandfindsuccessinthatfield.Andwhenanindustryhasverylittleonlinecontentavailabletothemasses,itcanoftenbegobbledupwithinalmostnotimeatall.

“Letmegiveyouanexampleofbothextremes. InMarchof2009, Istarted blogging for my swimming pool company. At the time, lessthan 20 percent of our website traffic was ‘organic’ (free throughsearch).TherestcamefromPPC(PayPerClick)and‘direct.’Withinsix months—and after blogging 2–3 times a week—there was asignificantshiftinournumbersandtheorganictrafficstartedtogrowdramatically. It was also during this time we started to experiencemoreleadsandsalesbecauseofthisnewfoundtraffic.

“Within18months,thebloghadelevatedthewebsitetoanelitestatusintheswimmingpoolindustry…Thissuccessalsoenabledustocutall of our old-school advertising and go 100 percent ‘all-in’ withblogging/contentmarketing.

“None of this would have been possible had the Content SaturationIndexoftheswimmingpoolindustrynotbeensolow.Inotherwords,because so many ‘pool guys’ had zero interest in producing greatcontentontheirwebsitestoteachthemasses,itleftafieldwideopenforsomeonelikemetocomeinandhaveacompleteharvest.

“On the reverse side of the coin, let’s take a look at my efforts toestablishmyself in thedigitalmarketingspace. Ina field focusedonblogging, marketing, and business tips, you can imagine just howmuchcontentiscurrentlyoutthere.Thenumberoffolkswritingaboutthis stuff is growing by the day, which is one reasonwhy somanybloggers and businesses struggle to stand out in the fields ofmarketing,self-improvement,sales,etc.

“I startedThe SalesLion blog inNovember of 2009.At the time, Inaturally figured I’d just walk right in, just as I’d done in theswimmingpoolindustry,anddominate.BoywasIwrong.

“For the firstyear, thisbloggrewvery little. In fact, it reallywasn’tuntil Iwokeup and startedworkingmuchharderonmynetworkingthatthingsfinallypickeduparoundthebeginningof2011.Luckilyforme,Iwasn’tdependentonTheSalesLiontopaymybillsduringthistimeperiod;otherwiseIwouldhavegonebroke.”

How do you know whether your particular niche is actually saturated?Christopher Penn, an analytics expert and author ofThe Marketing Blue Beltprovidesananswerinthissection:Afree,butsomewhatinaccuratemethod,andtheexpensive,accuratemethod.

Free,somewhataccuratemethod

Let’sstartwiththebasic,humblesearchengine,adecentplacetobeginbuildingyourContentSaturationIndex.Openupaspreadsheettokeeptrackofthings,orapadandpaperifyoupreferanalogsolutions.Next,typeinyourindustryandthe word blog. Be specific. We'll use Marcus Sheridan's industry, swimmingpools,asanexample:

Wow–more than 8million results. That's a lot of content out there aboutswimming pools. Content Shock has occurred for this niche. The space issaturatedattheverytoplevelofcontent.Butlet’sdigdeeper.Whatiftherewereanichewecouldspecializein?Howaboutsaltwaterswimmingpools?

Only 8,680 results. This result is several orders of magnitude better for a

moredefinedniche.There'sopportunitythere,ifwe'rewillingtospecializeinitbecause the saltwater swimming pool space isn’t saturatedwith content.Nowrepeatthissearchforaseriesofotherpossiblenichetopicsthatcouldrepresentpotential markets for your business, such as in-ground swimming pools,fiberglasspools, concretepools, above-groundswimmingpools, andanyotherrelevant term. Soon, you’ll have a general sense of where you have theopportunitytomaneuver.

Expensive,MoreAccurate

Many subscription social media and SEO tools can do an even better job ofaccuratelyassessingthecontentavailableinaspecifictimeperiod.Thisismorevaluablethanthesearchengineresulttechniquebecauseyoucanseehowfastaparticulartopicisacceleratingtowardcontentsaturation.

HereisanexamplefromtheSysomosMAPmonitoringtool,examiningjustblogs by search topic for the last calendar year. “Swimming pools” is the

dominanttopicofcontentcreation,whilesaltwaterswimmingpoolsrepresentsawideopenmarkettoestablisha“shareofvoice.”

Sysomos MAP and other high-end monitoring tools can provide excellent

estimatesofjusthowmuchcontenthasbeencreatedinyournicheinadefinedperiodoftime.Butthenit’suptoyoutodetermineastrategyandwhetheryouhave the resources to actually createContent Shock for your competitors in abusinessniche.

SaturationGuidelines

So what constitutes “saturation?” As these examples show, the higher theinformationdensityinaniche,themoredifficultitwillbetocreateoutstandingcontent that will shine through on its ownwithout investment in distribution,promotion, andadvertising.Hereare roughguidelinesoutlinedbyPenn,usingGooglesearchresultsasanindexforrelativesaturationlevels.

Iftherearefewerthan10,000pagesofreturnedsearchresults,fullspeedahead!There’sanopportunityforyousincethereislowcontentdensity.Between10,000and100,000results,expectsomeresistance,butit’ssurmountablewithminimalinvestment,exceptionalcontent,andimplementationofsomeoftheContentCodefactorscoveredinthisbook.Iftherearebetween100,000and1millionsearchresults,expectsignificant

resistance.Competingthroughcontentalonewillbedifficult.ApplyingContentCodestrategiesmightbetheprimarymeansofrisingabovethislevelofsaturation.Aresultproducingmorethan1millionpagesofcontentrepresentsathoroughlysaturatedniche.Unlessthecontentbecomesaproductinitsownrightthroughsignificantinvestment,ContentShockexistsinthisnicheandislikelytoburyevenexceptionalcontentcreationefforts.Inthissituation,theContentCodestrategieswouldbetheonlypossibilityofstrategicleverage.

Examining the relative saturation in your niche is crucial to understandinghow the Content Code formula will or will not work for your market. It’sextremelydifficulttounseatsomebodyinthesearchenginerankingiftheyhavedominatedaniche,evenifyou’redoinggreatwork.Butit’snothopeless.

Of course the strategies in this book are going to work well in anenvironment where the content competition is still relatively low. If you’refortunateenoughtoalreadyownanunsaturatedcontentniche,chancesareyou’lldominate thesearchenginerankings too,and theContentCodewillwiden thegapbetweenyouandthelaggards.

However,ifyou’rebehindinyourmarketandyou’refeelinglikeit’s“gameover,” the Content Code can provide you with an ignition strategy and anentirelynewopportunitytomaneuver.

WinninginthefaceofinformationoverloadLet’s takea lookathowacontent ignitionstrategycanwork ineven themostdesperatemarketingsituations.

Iwasaskedtoprovideamarketingstrategyforaclientinanextraordinarilydifficultsituation.Thewell-knownglobalbrandwasenteringanewmarketwithhighcontentsaturationdominatedbythreeestablishedcompetitors.Intermsofcontentmarketing,oneleadingcompetitorhaddominatedeveryplatform,everysubject, and every content style to the point where trying to compete seemedhopeless.

Theclientcalledmeintodocontentmarketingtriage,andafterafewmonthsof intense research and deliberation, I presented three tactics to provide thiscompanysomeroomtomaneuver.

1.Focusonsub-categories.

Thecompetitorhadoverlookednewdemographicsubsetswhowerecomingintothe market and eager to use their products. When I did research on thesesegments, I found a wide open opportunity. The competitor had no contenttargeted to thesepersonas.Wesetaboutdominating theunder-servedchannelswithamazingnewcontentservedupespeciallyforthem.

2.Exploredifferenttypesofcontent.YouTube first floated the idea2 that different typesof content,when combinedtogether in an ideal mix, are extremely successful in building an engagedaudienceforthelong-term.Thethreetypesofcontentare:

Hygienecontent:Thisisthecontentthatservesthedailyhealthofyouraudience.Thiscontentmakesthemawareofyourbrandandhelpsthemconnecttoyouwhentheyneedyoumost.Thisisthespecific,short-formcontentthatismostlikelytoturnupinorganicsearchresults.Anexampleofhygienecontentisaseriesofhow-tovideosfromado-it-yourselfstorelikeHomeDepot.Hubcontent:Whilehygienecontentmightgetsomebodytoyoursite,hubcontentisintendedtokeepthemthere.Thiscouldbeaseriesofarticlesaboutamorein-depthtopic,orperhapsaserializedstory,thatmakespeoplewanttogodowntherabbitholeandstayonyoursite.Thiscouldalsobe“evergreen”contentthatpeopleseemtoloveandreadmonthaftermonth.AnexampleofhubcontentistheaddictiveandthrillingadventurevideosproducedbyAdidasOutdoorfeaturingdaredevilathletesusingtheirgear.Hubcontentliftssubscriptionstoyourcontent,spursengagement,buildsbrandinterest,andmayevenleadtobrandloyalty.Herocontent:Herocontentissomethingbrilliant,dramatic,andboldthattranscendsthenormalday-to-dayInternetofferings.Thisisthecontentthatcreatesviralbuzz.AfamousexampleistheepicvideosNikecreatedtocelebratetheWorldCup.Themostrecentone,“WinnerStays,”playfullycapturestheschoolyardfantasyofyoungsoccerplayerswhomorphintotheirfavoriteglobalstars.Thistypeofcontentisdifficulttoproduce.Nikewasintentionalinspendingmillionstocreatethisherocontentwiththegoalofcreatingmassivebrandawarenessanddominatingtheconversationaroundtheworld’sbiggestsportingevent.Thevideoreceived100millionviews.

We’ll be exploring these “3H’s” of content and how they relate to socialsharinginChapter8,butfornowit’simportanttounderstandthateachtypeof

contentplaysaroleintheoverallbrand-buildingplan.Onewaytocarveaplaceforyourselfistocreatecontentinacategoryyourcompetitorsmightbemissing.Inthespecificcaseofmyclientbattlingthreebigcompetitors,welearnedthatthere was an opening in the hygiene content category that would allow us tocaptureanichethatleadstosearchenginetraffic.

3.Focusonsocialtransmission.Here’s themistakemost companiesmake:Theycheck theboxoncontent andthenforgetaboutignition.AsIintroducedinChapter1,contentisn’teffectiveifitdoesn’tmove.Peoplehavetoseeit,engagewithit,shareit—oryou’rewastingyourmoney.Byputtingtheemphasisonexposingyourcontentinsteadofsimplyproducingmore,more,more,youcreateapowerfulnewmarketingcompetencyintheinformationera.

Thisiswherewe’regoingtospendourtimefortherestofthisbook.You’llbecomeanexpertonthiscomplexcocktailofideasandinsights,promotionandproduction,audienceandaudacity…thatgetsyourcontenttoexplodethroughthiswallofinformationdensity.

TheeconomicsofignitionInaddition toprovidingnewstrategicoptions, the sixelementsof theContentCodecanprovidemeasurableeconomicbenefitsinatleastfourways:

1. Youwillrealizeexponentialgainsinthereturnonyourinitialinvestmentinqualitycontent.

2. Youwillfindwaystoproducenewcontentmorecost-effectivelybybuildingindata-based,high-probabilitysuccessfactors.

3. Youwillcreateauniquecompetitiveadvantagebyestablishingacorecompetencyincontenttransmission.(It’slikerunningyourmarketingprogramonrocketfuelwhileyourcompetitorsarestilltryingtolightamatch.)

4. Youwillavoidadvertisingandpromotionalcoststotheextentthatyoucanincreasebrandawarenessthroughmoreeffectiveorganiccontenttransmission.

ThesixelementsoftheContentCode

We’ve established that great content is rarely enough to assure success.Greatcontentissimplythetablestakesneededtoearnaseatatthetable.I’mnotgoingtocovertipsandtricksaboutwritingfortheweborcreatingepicvideos.Thosetopicshavealreadybeeneffectivelycoveredinmanyotherplaces.We’reheretoplownewground.

Sohereisthestartinglineforthisrace:Youneedgreatcontent.Letmerepeat:Youneedgreatcontent.Butthenwhat?This is where the Content Code takes over. Content that rises and is

discovered throughsearch isamixtureofart, science,andmagic that includesthesesixfactors:

BranddevelopmentAudienceandInfluencersDistribution,Advertising,Promotion,andSEOAuthority“Shareability”embeddedintoeachpieceofcontentSocialproofandsocialsignals

Now,ifyou’repayingcloseattention—andI’msureyouare—thefirstletterofeachpieceoftheContentCodespellsoutBADASS.

I consider this a giddy coincidence and perhaps the highlight of myprofessionalcareer.I’mtemptedtoendthebookrightnowasI’msurethereisnothingIcanwrite thatcanever top this. Ibetyoudidn’tsee thatcomingdidyou? You should send me a selfie right now with the look of surprise andamazementonyourface.#BadassSelfie

Okay,timetosettledown.Wemustgetbacktothetopicathand,forthisisaseriousbookforseriouspeople.WhatdoesthisBADASSthingreallymean?

Provided you start with great content (did I alreadymention that?), if youcommit to continuouslyworkingon these six factorsyou’ll begin to crack thecode. Although the six factors have been written about in bits and pieces bymanytalentedexperts(whomIcallontohelptellthestory),thisisthefirsttimetheentireContentCodehasbeenassembledinacohesiveway,inonebook.

Inthechapters thatfollow,wewilldiveintoeachof thesefactors indetail,but the overall recipe for how you execute your plan is up to you. You see,there’snosimplestrategythatfitseverybody…

AbusinesscompetingtoselldiscreteitemsinaneCommerceenvironmentwillwanttoemphasizebrandbuildingandsearchoptimization.Alawyer,managementconsultant,oraccountantwillprobablywantto

focusonestablishingauthorityandalarge,engagedaudienceconsistingofconsumersoftheirservices.Acompanyinahighlycompetitiveinternationalmarketmayneedtospendmoneyonpromotionandadvertisingtogettheirmessagethrough.Anindividualstartingablogmightseekatruebalanceofallsixfactorsbutconcentrateonwritinghighlyshareablecontentandbuildingaheroicpersonalbrandthatleadstofanaticsupportersandbusinessbenefits.

Sothebestwaytouse thisbookis to takeadive intoallsixpoolsandseewhatfitsforyourparticularsituation.Youdon’tnecessarilyneedtoworkonallsixfactorstomakeprogress.Pickoutoneortwothatfityourbusinesssituationand capabilities, and you certainly will be better prepared for the future thanyourcompetitors!Mostoftheideasinthebookareaccessibletocompaniesbigandsmall.

While the BADASS thing is awesome and perhaps a useful mnemonicdevice,Iactuallystart thedeepdiveonthissubjectofcontentignitionwithan“S”—shareability—because I believe it’s vital enough that nearly everybusiness, brand, or individual needs to work on it. Building shareability intoyour contentmay be themost important concept in the book. After all, whatgoodisallthatcontentifpeoplewon’tshareit?

CHAPTERTHREE

BuildingShareabilityintoYourContent

“Ifaninfographicispublishedandnoonesharesit,diditevenexist?”–BrianSolis

Welcome to Chapter 3. This is one bold and sassy chapter. It’s the barbecuesauce of book chapters. It’s a chapter with a topic so gigantic, it takes twochapterstocoveritall!

In this episode of TheContent Code,we’ll look at the fascinating reasonswhy people share content and howwe can use that insight to ignite our ownwork. The next chapter continues the discussion of shareability with anastonishinglistofpracticaltipsandtricksyoucanstartusingrightnow.

The concept of shareabilitybuildsupon important tenets from the first twochaptersofthisbook,sohere’saquickreview:

Businessresultsonthewebdon’tcomefromcontent;theycomefromcontentthatmoves.Evenifyourcontentisgreat,there’snoguaranteeitwillrisetothetopinanincreasinglycompetitiveworld.Explodinginformationdensityeffectivelynegatesmanytraditionalmarketingstrategiesandincreasesthecosttoremaincompetitive.ImplementingelementsoftheContentCode(BADASS)willgiveyourcontentthebestchancetocutthroughthenoiseandbeheard.

Theheartof thebook, thefirstelementof theContentCode,beginswithacriticallyimportantideaofshareability,whichisactivelybuildingthepossibilityforignitionintoyourcontent.Iwanttobeclearthatsharingisdifferentthana“Like,” a comment, or a “Plus 1.” Content transmission is what you’re after.Spreadingtheword.Buildingthebuzz.

Itmaybe true thatmost frequentlysharedpostsalsogeta lotofLikesandcomments,andtherealsomanypoststhatarefrequentlyLikedbutbarelyshared.

AleadingreasonthatpostscanbeLikedbutnotsharedisthatapersonmayLikeaposttosupportapolitical,theological,orphilosophicalviewthatmayupsetageneral audience if it is transmittedbroadly.Wegenerallydon’twant tomakepeopleuncomfortable,sowedon’talwaysshare.

Liking lightlybondsuswithother likersof that thing.Butwhenwe share,we’re virtually shouting, “I’m in this club and Iwant to show theworld!”Asyou’reabouttosee,thiskindofcommitmentisn’tnecessarilyeasytoachieve.

Content thatmoves on thewebmay ormay not have anything to dowithquality,oreventhecontent!Whydoyoutweetalink,postavideotoFacebook,oremaila link toyour familyandfriends? Is itbecausesomebodydidavery,very good job with search engine optimization? Is it because the video hassuperbcinematography,orthewritinginablogpostisscintillating?Perhaps…butchancesarethereasonismoresubtle…andsurprising.

Understandingwhy people choose to share content sheds light on howyoucan adjust your strategy and carve out a competitive edge by embeddingshareabilityintoeverythingyoucreate.Thinkaboutcontentyourecentlyshared.Whydidyoudoit?Doanyofthesereasonsringtrue?

Itmadeyoulookcooler,smarter,funnier,ormorerelevant—providingyouwithapersonalpsychologicalbenefit.Thecontentstrucksomestrongemotionalchord.Itmadeyoulaugh,cry,orotherwisefeelsomethingsoprofounditdeservedtobesharedwithothers.It’spracticalortimely.Sharingthecontentwillhelpandinformyourfriends.Youfoundanewideaandcan’twaittobethefirsttoshareit.Youfeeldeeplyconnectedtotheauthorandyouwanttosupportthem.Itrepresentsanachievement.Maybeyouoryourcompanywerementionedinthecontentanditmakesyoufeelgoodtoshowthisrepresentationofyourstatus.

Thesearesomeofthereasonspeoplemightsharecontent,andinthisageofinformationdensity,youneedtogiveyourcontenteveryadvantageyoucanbytapping into thepsychologyof sharing.This chapterwill begin to deliver thatedgeforyouandyourbusiness.

Beforewediveheadlongintosomeexcitingideas,it’simportanttorememberthat there’snoone-size-fits-all solution for anybusinessor content strategy. IfyouraudienceisintoKimKardashianquotesandcatvideos,thenthosecontentsourcesshouldbeanimportantpartofyourignitionstrategy.Also,keepinmindthatamajorityoftheresearchpresentedinthisbookisU.S.-based(becausethat

is where most of the research is occurring). So you need to be culturallysensitivetotheuniqueneedsofyourregionandtargetaudience.

I provide sound advice based on the experience of experts and trustedresearch, but you should always apply critical thinking, your own data, andpersonalintuitionaboutyourcustomerneedstocreateaplanthatisexactlyrightforyouandyourbusiness.

BreakingthroughthewallFirst,thebadnews:Ingeneral,peopledon’twanttoshareyourcontent!

Researchshowsthatpeopletypicallydon’tsharecontent they’rereadingontheweb,even“great”content.1Forexample,alargestudyofsocialtransmissionacross millions of Twitter accounts revealed that the majority of users arepassiveinformationconsumersandrarelyforwardcontenttotheirnetwork.

Infact,anaverageTwitteruser retweetsonlyone in318content links theyreceive.Facebook reports that just one-halfofonepercentof thosewho see aFacebook post share it.2These soberingnumbers suggest that actively findingand nurturing that miniscule number of the most active users is critical tospreadingyourinformationontheweb.

Thepopularityofan individualorbrand, thenatureof thecontent, and thesizeoftheaudiencealonearenotaccuratepredictorsthatpeoplewillovercomethispassivityand“click”toshare.

Therefore,inordertobecomeaneffectivecontent-igniter,youmustnotonlycreatecontentandbuildanaudiencebutalsoemploystrategiestoovercomeuserpassivityand systematically find individualspredisposed to loveand share thecontent you’re creating. This is perhaps the most overlooked imperative indigitalmarketingtoday.

ThepsychologyofsharingThere’salotofhypeaboutwhatmakescontentworkinawaythatpeoplewanttoshareit.Insteadofbuyingintothehype,let’sfocusonreliableresearchthatcan provide accurate insight and even competitive advantage as you seek toovercomepassivityandbuildshareabilityintoeverypieceofcontent.

If there is anyorganizationon earth thatwants to attract pageviews, it’s anewspaper,solet’spayattentiontowhatoneofthemostimportantnewspapersin the world has to say. The New York Times 3 sponsored research that

determined there are five powerful reasons people overcome apathy and sharecontent:

Tobeuseful.Thenumberonereasonpeoplesharecontentistobringvaluableandentertainingcontenttoothers.Morethan90percentofstudyparticipantssaidtheycarefullyconsiderhowtheinformationtheysharewillbeusefultotherecipient.Todefineourselvestoothers.Nearly70percentofparticipantssaidtheysharecontenttogivepeopleabettersenseofwhotheyareandwhattheycareabout.Onerespondentsaid,“ItrytoshareinformationthatwillreinforcetheimageI’dliketopresent—thoughtful,reasoned,kind,interested,andpassionateaboutcertainthings.”Togrowandnourishrelationships.About80percentofparticipantsshareinformationonlinebecauseitletsthemstayconnectedtopeopletheymaynototherwisestayintouchwith.Alittleover70percentsharecontenttohelpconnectthemtonewpeoplewhosharecommoninterests.Self-fulfillment.About70percentofparticipantssharecontentbecauseitallowsthemtofeelmoreinvolvedintheworld.Theactofgettingpositivefeedbackonsharesmakespeoplefeelvalued.Togetthewordoutaboutcausesandbrands.Morethan80percentofparticipantssaidtheysharecontenttorallyothersaroundacause,company,orideatheybelievein.

As you read this list, it probably occurs to you that sharing content is ameaningful act, averypersonal, intimate, and importantgesture. It’snot at alltrivial.

Thedecisiontosharecontentisoftenasignofarelationship.Arelationshipwiththesource,arelationshipwithanetwork…evenarelationshipbetweenthepersonandthecontent!Ignitingcontentisasymbolofkindnessandcaringandareflectionofwhoweare.

Prettydeepstuff.Oneofmyblogreadersrecentlysentmethisnote:

“Your blog has become part ofmymorning routine. I start my daywithacupofcoffeeandyour latestblogpost!Ialmostalwaysshareyour posts with my friends because I feel like I know you. Yourperspective aligns with my business values and I feel good aboutsharingyourthoughtswithothers…andevenwithfamilymembers.”

Thereisalotofrichinsightinthisbriefmessage:

Mycontenthasconnectedtoheronanemotionallevel,andI’vebecomepartofthefabricofherlife.AlthoughI’venevermetthispersonorevenspokentoheronthephone,shefeelsasifsheknowsmeasafriend.Shehasbuiltakinshipwithmethroughmycontentalone.Sharingmycontentisanactofaddingvaluetoherfriends.Itenhancesherself-viewbecausemyvaluesreflecthervalues.Andthebondcreatedthroughmywordsissostrongthatshefeelscomfortablemakingmepartofherfamilycommunicationsattimes.

I’vebuilt“shareability”intomycontentovertimebynurturingarelationshipoftrustwiththereader.Ican’tappealtoeveryone,ofcourse—therearepeoplewho unsubscribe tomy blog all the time.But for thosewho do connect, theyseemtoconnectdeeply.

We’ll explore some of these important emotional and brand-buildingimperatives in upcoming chapters, but for now let’s dig a littlemore into thetopicofembeddingshareabilityintoyourcontentandthepsychologyofcontentignition.

Sharingcreatesinvolved,smarterconsumers

Sharing content isn’t just about building “traffic.” The act of sharing contentactuallyhelpsconsumersprocessyourinformationbetter.AseparateNewYorkTimesstudy4onwhyandhowpeoplesharecontentfoundthat:

73percentofparticipantssaytheyprocessinformation“moredeeply,thoroughly,andthoughtfully”whentheyshareit.85percentsayreadingcontentthatotherpeoplesharehelpsthemunderstandandprocessinformationandevents.49percentsaysharingallowsthemtoinformothersofproductstheycareaboutandpotentiallychangeopinionsorencourageaction.

Participantssaytheactofsharingcontenthelpsthemrememberproductsandinformationsourcesbetterandmakes themmore likely touse them.So ifyoucreateidealconditionsforcontent-sharing,youbothbuildpowerforyourbrandandcreateneweconomicvaluebyhelpingyourconsumersunderstandyouandbecomeauthenticadvocatesforyourproductsandideas!

With thisperspective,youbegin to see thatgettingpeople to transmityour

content through theirnetworkcan’tbe reduced toSEO techniquesorget-rich-quick schemes to drive massive traffic to your website. Shareability requiresconnectionofsomekind;yourcontentmustfillaneedorperhapsevenreflectonatrustedrelationship.

Theprimalneed

Sometimes,contentgoesviralduetoluck.Therearemillionsofcatvideos.Whydoa fewbecomeahit?Therearemillionsofkids singingsongsonYouTube.Onlyahandfulofthemtrulyignite.Whoknowswhy?

Idon’tthinkyoushouldbuildabusinesscasearoundgettinglucky.Instead,youneedtolookatsomeofthetechniquesyoucanapplyovertimetogiveyourcontenttheverybestshotattransmission.

Mostofthevaluecreatedonthesocialwebeverydayisnon-economic.DoyourfriendswileawaytheirhoursonFacebooktobemoreprofitable?Ofcoursenot.

Emotionisahugedriverofsocialsharing.Peoplesharewhentheyfeel joybut also when they feel afraid and uncertain. In an analysis of the IPAdataBANKof1,400casestudiesofsuccessfuladvertisingcampaigns,thecaseswithpurelyemotionalcontentperformedabouttwiceaswell(31percentversus16percent)asthosewithonlyrationalcontent.5

Individuals get the most benefit from participating in the social web forintangible,emotional,psychologicalreasons.Theaddictivenatureof thisplaceisbornfromaprimalneedforconnection,storytelling,commiseration,andego…notpersonalfinancialgain.

InhisbookFizz,word-of-mouthmarketingexpertTedWrightconcludesthatthosewho ignite content are intrinsicallymotivated. “Influencers share storiesbecausetheywanttobuildbondswithpeople.Forthem,thatisthereward,anditcomesfromaplacedeepwithinthem.Iftheythinkwhatyou’resellingwillbeinterestingtopeopletheyknow,thatisallthemotivationtheyneed.Youcannotbuytheirinterest—ortheirapproval—withdiscountsorrewards.”

LeeOdden, theCEOofTopRankMarketing, takes the idea a step further:“Marketerstalkaboutallthesereallycleverwaysofcreatingcontent,moreandmorecontent…really imaginativewaysofcreatingadiversearrayofcontenttypes with nominal resources, and nowhere in these discussions do they everreally say anything. The most important characteristic of content marketingtodayisnotqualityorquantity.It’sinsight.Andthatisthedifferentiatorlackingalmosteverywhere.”

Think about the implications for marketing success: If most of the value

creation on the social web is driven by emotion, ego, insight, and personalfulfillment—not discounts and coupons—what does that mean for yourmarketing strategy in an information dense world? For many seasonedmarketers,thisisatoughquestionandachallengingnewmindsettograsp.

Connectionandwearablecontent

Perhapsyoushouldstartthinkingaboutyourcontentasifitwereafavoritepairof jeans.On the surface, all jeans are very similar.They’remade fromdenimcloth, typically blue, and have two legs and a zipper.When some people buyjeans,theymightbeonlyconcernedwiththeeconomicdeliverysystem—thatis,howcanIcovermybumfortheleastamountofmoneypossible?

Butmostpeopledon’tthinkthatway.Theychoosejeansthatsaysomethingabout them. There is some intangible, tribal, emotional connection betweenpeopleand theirclothing. In fact, almosteverydecisionwemake inour lives,includingwhattowear,whattoeat,andwhattodrive,reinforcesamessagewewanttodeliveraboutwhoweare.

Forexample,Wranglerhasbeencreatinga seriesofcommercialsdepictingAmerican athletes wearing their jeans in settings that aremasculine, fun, and“real.” They don’t talk about the price, the strength of the material, or evenwhereyoucanbuytheproduct. In thiscase,Wrangler issellingan image toagroupofmen,andperhapswomenwhobuyformen,whichreinforcesidealizedviewsoftheall-Americanmale.

Similarly,peoplemakecontentchoicesbasedonwhatthecontentsaysaboutthem.

Ifyou’reoneofthespectacularreaderswhotweetorpostaboutthisbooktoyouraudience,it’sprobablybecausewhatI’vewrittencreatesaconnectionthatispsychologicallyconsistentwithwhatyoubelieveandhowyouwanttopresentyourselftoothers.Sharinganideafromthisbookmakesastatementaboutyou,justlikeyourchoiceinjeans,car,orasoftdrink.Itsays,Iconcur.Iamaligned.Ithinkthisauthorissmart,andIamsmart;therefore,Iwillshareit.Thisbookiscool,andIamcool,soIwillshareit.

Yourcontentbecomespartofyouraudience’spersonalnarrative.Consideranexamplefrommypersonallife.Inoticedthatmanyofmy“cool

kid friends” on Facebook were binge-watching the television series BreakingBad.IbegantowatchthisshowbecauseIwascuriousanddidn’twanttobeleftoutofthecoolconversations.

As I became engrossed in the show, I posted my progress on my socialnetworksasatypeofsocialcurrencytodemonstratethatItooampartofthisTV

series cult. It wasn’t a conscious act, but the content I consumed and sharedsubtly became part of my identity. For me, Breaking Bad became wearablecontent.Itwasapieceofmyidentitylikemyjeansorfavoritesweater.

Consumingandsharingcontentnormallycreatesanemotionalbenefit,notafinancialone.Canyouseewhythispresentsacolossalobstacle,ascompaniestrytousecontenttocreatefinancialbenefitsforthemselvesinsteadofemotionalbenefits for their readers? Doesn’t this completely overturn the traditionalbusinessviewofwhatcontentshouldaccomplish?

Agenerationof“me-formers”

Those emotion-focused conversations are already out there by the millions.About50percentofwhatpeople talkaboutonsocialmedia is“me”focused.6It’smorethanjustvanity.Studiesshowwe’reliterallyhard-wiredtotalkaboutourselves.HarvardneuroscientistsJasonMitchellandDianaTamir7discoveredthat disclosing information about ourselves is intrinsically rewarding. Theyfound that sharing personal opinions activates the same brain circuits thatrespondtorewardslikefoodandmoney.Inanotherstudybytheseresearchers,theydemonstratedthatthepowertoshareaboutourselvesissoimportantpeopleareactuallywillingtopaymoneytodoit.

Before the social media era, research into everyday conversation revealedthat a third of it was devoted to oneself, but today that topic has become anobsession.RutgersUniversityresearchersclassify80percentofTwitterusersas“me-formers”whotweetmainlyaboutthemselves.8

Howcanyourcompanyjointhatconversation?Howdoyouridethiswaveofeuphoric“me-talk”andgetyourcontent,products,andbrandsintothatpowerfuldialogue?

One of the best books on this topic (and one of the best recent businessbooks,period)isContagiousbyDr.JonahBerger.Thisimportantbookisbasedonaresearchpaper9BergerwrotewithKatherineMilkmanofTheUniversityofPennsylvania.

InContagious, Berger establishes three key strategies to help create socialcurrency—thewearable content—that gives people away tomake themselveslookgoodwhilepromotingyouandyourideasalongtheway.

1.Identifyyourinnerremarkability.Didyouknowthatvendingmachineskillfourtimesasmanypeopleeachyearthansharks?Orthattheaveragehumanhasmorethanfivepoundsofbacteriaintheirbody?Orthatseahorsesaremonogamouslifemates?Youprobablydidn’t,

but people like to share information like this because it’s remarkable. Andtalkingaboutremarkablethingsmakespeoplefeelremarkable.Bergerexplains:“Somepeopleliketobethelifeoftheparty,butnoonewantstobethedeathofit. We all want to be liked. The desire for social approval is a fundamentalhuman motivation. If we tell someone a cool fact it makes us seem moreengaging. If we tell someone about a secret bar hidden inside a hot dogrestaurant, itmakesusseemcool.Sharingextraordinary,novel,orentertainingstoriesmakespeopleseemmoreextraordinary,novel,andentertaining.”

Bergerandafellowresearcheralsotestedthistheoryamong6,500productsandbrands—fromhugeglobalbanks to localbagelshops.Notsurprisingly,hefound a hierarchy of “conversationability” among different companies. Moreremarkable products like Facebook andHollywoodmovies were talked abouttwiceasmuchlessremarkablebrandslikebanksandover-the-countermedicine.

In a study of organic Facebook reach conducted by AgoraPulse,10 thecompany found that across 8,000 companies, there was definitely a peckingorder of conversationability. Organic reach is the content that is naturallyconnecting to customerswithout any promotion.Here is a list of the industrycategorieswiththehighestorganicreach:

1. Amateursportsteams2. Farming/agriculture3. Fashiondesigner4. Professionalathletes5. Musicindustry6. Buildingproducts7. Professionalsportsteam8. Photographers9. Zoosandanimal-relatedbusinesses10. Televisionprograms

AndherearetheindustrieswiththelowestFacebookorganicreach:

1. Appliances2. Books3. Telecommunications4. Householdsupplies5. Toolsandequipment6. Phone/tablet7. Chef

8. Musicalinstruments9. Industrials10. Transportationandfreight

Thereisanimplicithierarchyofconversationpopularityacrossindustries.Ifyou are in sports, entertainment, or anyof theother industries in the first list,there is an implied, fervent fascinationwith your content. There is somethingthatpeoplefindnaturallyremarkableaboutyouthatgetsrewardedwithcontenttransmission.Ifyou’reinthesecondlistorsomewhereinbetween,youhavelessofanorganicopportunityforsocialsharing…notnecessarilybecauseofthejobyou’redoingwithyourcontent,butbecauseyourproducts justaren’tnaturallyconversational.

Thereisanotheroption.Ifyou’reinanindustrywithrelativelyloworganicreach,canyoubecome remarkable?Itdoesn’tcomeeasilyorcheaply,but it ispossible, as evidenced by the series of “Will It Blend?” videos produced byBlendTecblenders.Ablender isn’t themost remarkableproduct,but thebrandmadeitsothroughitswackychallenge…rippingapartthemostunusualthings(golfballs,iPhones)initspowerfulblender.

Oneofmyfavoriteexamplesofacompanyovercominga lowplaceon theremarkability continuum is the Chipotle restaurant chain, which sells burritosand tacos—nearly commodity products in the food business. Chipotle beganproducingtwo-minuteanimatedmini-moviestellingastoryoftheirrestaurantasan oasis of natural goodness in an otherwise bleak and dystopian world ofprocessedfood.Thefirstepisode,aclayanimationvideowithasoundtrackofWillie Nelson singing a Coldplay song, was extraordinarily popular withChipotle’syouthfulaudienceandgarnerednearly9millionviewsinayear.Thenextyear,thecompanywentastepfurtherbycreatingafreesmartphonegametogowithanewvideo.Ithad4millionviewsinthefirstweek.

Realitycheck:Allthiswascreatedtosellburritos.Itwasn’teasytobecomeaconversationalbrand.Itwasn’tcheapeither.Butitworked,andChipotle’sstockand market share soared. That’s the nice thing about remarkability: You canapplyittoalmostanything.

The key to finding your remarkability is to think about what makes yousurprising,interesting,ornovel.InmybookSocialMediaExplained, I suggestthatmarketingstrategyneedstobeginbyfinishingthissentence:“Onlywe…”That’satoughtask,butit’stheessentialpathtodiscoveryourremarkability.

In the case of Chipotle, the “only we” was creating a story of health andsustainability, a story far bigger than mere burritos and tacos. They broke apatternofwhatpeopleexpectedfromfastfood.

Marketing strategy expert JasonFalls contends that creating conversationalcontent means invoking a “holy smokes” reaction. “Does your content makepeople say ‘Holy smokes’ because this content is so unbelievably:incredible/sad/ awesome/beautiful/intelligent/informative or some otherdeclarativeresponse?Ifthat’sthecase,theyprobablyneedtosharethatcontentwiththeirfriends.”

2.Helppeopleachievesomethingwithyourcontent.A second point in theBerger research on social currency explainswhy statustranslatesintosocialtransmission:

“Just likemanyotheranimals,peoplecareabouthierarchy.Apesengage instatus displays and dogs try to figure out who is the alpha. Humans are nodifferent.Welikefeelingthatwe’rehighstatus,topdog,orleaderofthepack.Butstatusisinherentlyrelational.Beingtheleaderofthepackrequiresapack,anddoingbetterthanothers.”

Hesuggests thatbuildinggamemechanics intoyourcontent strategymightpushpeopleintotransmissionmode.Examplesofcontentactivitiesthatbestowaccomplishmentinclude:

AchievingastatuslevelWinninganawardBeingincludedona“bestof”listGettingahighscoreonaquizBeingfavorablymentionedinavideo,podcast,orpost

Achievingstatushelpsgeneratesocialcurrencyandsocialsharing.Afterall,whatgoodisaccomplishingsomethingifyoucan’ttellpeopleaboutit?

Word ofmouth also can come from the voting process itself.Deciding thewinnerbypopularvoteencouragescontestantstodrumupsupport.Butintellingpeople to vote for them, contestants also spread awareness about the productsponsoring the contest. Instead of marketing yourself directly, you use thecontesttogetpeoplewhowanttowintodothemarketingthemselves.

OneofthemostinterestingcompetitionsI’veseenisthe“TopSocialMediaBlogContest”compiledbySocialMediaExaminer,oneof thetopsitesonthemarketing scene. The unique aspect of this blog is that it routinely highlightscompetitorblogs.

Michael Stelzner, the company founder, explained that the unusual contestdrivesweb traffic, but there are other benefits: “It’s good for our business torecognizebloggerswhodoanoutstandingjobwiththeircontent.Idon’tseeany

conflictinrecognizingcompetingblogstoourown.Instead,Ihavetheviewthatallships risewhenmoreattention isbrought to thosedoinggreatworkfor theindustry.

“Inmanycases,thewinnersoftheTopSocialMediaBlogContesthavetoldusthatgettingonthelisthasbeenabiggoaloftheirbusiness,orithasliterallyhelped propel their industry stature and authority. Of course this drives anenormousamountof interestand traffic to thesitebut thereareotherbenefits.First, it helpsus identifyup-and-coming thought leaderswhowemaywant tohave on our podcasts or speak at our events. Second, it is a gift of sorts thatestablishesalotofgoodwillwiththosewhoarefinalistsandwinners.Third,thewinners post award badges on their sites, providing more exposure for ourbrand.”

In this example, Social Media Examiner effectively helps people achievestatuswithitscontent,anditsendstheircontenttransmissionskyhigh.

Another common tool for creatingpersonal achievement throughcontent isquizzes, which explains why they appear on so many sites that depend onadvertising for their revenues. In2014,eightof the10most-sharedarticlesontheentireInternetwerequizzes.Sharingpositiveorfunnyquizresultsfuelsouridentityandego.Otherslearnmoreaboutwhoweare,whatwevalue,andourtastes.

MITculturalanalystSherryTurkle11saysthatpeopleturntoquizzestofulfillanirresistibleneedtoquantifythehumancondition.“Basically,we’retryingtogetanumber,”shesaid.“Andpeoplewilluseaquiztogetthatnumber.Itgivespeoplesomethingtolookat,anobjecttothinkwith.”Sheaddsthatpeoplehavealwayslovedquizzes,butinthepre-socialmediadays,weprimarilytookthemforourselves.“Nowthey’respecificallyforperformance,”shesaid.“Partofthepointistoshareit…It’stheconflationofwhoyouareandwhothinksyou’reokay.”

Sowhen you’remaking quizzes for your audience, you’re giving them anopportunitytolearnsomethinginterestingaboutthemselvesandachancetostartaconversationwiththeirfriends.It’shardtosaythataboutalotofotherformsofcontent.

3.Makeitexclusive.In a web world where you want the content to flow freely, how do you useexclusivity—holdingcontentback—toyouradvantage?

Informationisabundant,andalmostanycontentcaneasilybefoundforfree.Foranypersonorcompanytryingtomonetizescarceorpremiumcontentonthesocialweb,thereisalwayssomebodyelseouttherewillingtoprovidethesame

webinar,video,oreBookfornothing,destroyingyourideaofascarceresource.ChrisAnderson’sbookFree:TheFutureofaRadicalPricecodifiesthisideabybasicallysaying“getusedtoit”—youhavetofindadjacenciesandotherrevenuestreamsbecausepeopleexpectInternet-basedcontentandservicestobefree.

IsthereanythingscarceontheInternet?Yes, there is, according to digitalmarketing savantChristopher S. Penn of

SHIFTCommunications. “Scarcity is actuallymorepowerful than ever on thesocialweb,”hesaid.“Whilecontentmaybe free,whathasbecomeextremelyscarce is time, attention, and influence. These are hot commodities, rarecommodities.Asanexample,IhavetensofthousandsoffollowersonTwitter.Ican’t tell you the number of directmessages and tweets, Facebookmessages,and emails I receive every day asking, ‘Hey, can you promotemywhatever’becausetheyknowthatitmeanssomething.Movingcontentcreatestruevalue.Sointhatregard,scarcityisaweaponthatisinplaylikeneverbefore.”

Ontheothersideofthecoin,providingexclusiveorlimitedaccesstocontentcancreatetheperceptionofscarcitythatcanmakethecontentmove.

Scarcity and exclusivity boost word of mouth by making people feel likeinsiders. If people get something rare, itmakes them feel special, unique, andhighstatus.Andbecauseofthat,they’llnotonlylikeaproductorservicemore,but tell others about it more. Why? Because telling others makes them lookgood.Having insider knowledge is social currency.When peoplewhowaitedhours in linefinallyget thatnewtechgadget,oneof thefirst thingstheydoisshowothers.LookatmeandwhatIwasabletoget!

As the publisher of a popular blog, I am delugedwith requests to try newproductsandservices.I ignorethesepitchesbecauseIknowthesameemail isbeingsenttoathousandotherpeople.WhywouldIcreatecontentonasubjectthat could appear in hundreds of other blogs the next day? I want somethingexclusive.Iwanttobeaninsider.

Butthereisonetypeofcontentthatmakesmestop,payattention,andsharewhat’sbeingoffered—exclusiveinsight.Herearethreeexamplesofcompanieswhoused“firstaccess”asaneffectivewaytotransmittheirinformation:

Whenawell-knowndigitalanalyticscompanywasacquiredbyalargeinternationalfirm,theirPRteamsetupanexclusiveopportunityformetointerviewthecompany’sfounderrightaftertheannouncement.Iwrotealengthypostaboutthecompanyanditsprospectsintheneworganization…Imovedtheircontent!Anothercompanyofferedmeanin-personmeetingwithateamdevelopingtheirnewcognitivecomputingplatform.Ihaveusedexclusiveinsights

fromthisdiscussioninblogposts,speeches,andcollegeclasses.JoePulizzioftheContentMarketingInstitutedoesawonderfuljobcreatingresearchreportsthatarebothusefulandinsightful.Hereleasestheresearchearlytoaselectgroupofbloggerssotheycanpreparetheircontentbeforethegeneralreleaseoftheinformation.Eventhoughtheresearchissharedwitharelativelylargemailinglist,Icanusuallyzeroinonsomefindingtofocusonforauniqueblogpost.

There is a third aspect to this scarcity/exclusivity factor that will becomemore important to content transmission in coming years—context, ormicrosegmentation.

Marketers cannow identify subsectionsof consumerswho fallwithin theirtargeted audience through a combination of advanced algorithms, artificialintelligence,anddatamining.Youcanusethismicrosegmentationtopersonalizeandfocuscommunicationandmarketingcampaigns,makingthemmorerelevanttoconsumersattheirpointofneed.

Individuals have unique reasons for identifying and interacting with yourbrand—their feelings about your products, promotions, and services varywiththeir momentary interests and motivations. Microsegmentation attempts torecognize the individual needs and drill down to the motivating factors thatenableyoutocraftappealingandrelevantmessages.

Krista LaRiviere, the Cofounder and CEO of gShift, a Toronto-based webpresenceanalyticscompany, leadsa teamthathasdevelopedaprocess tohelpcompaniesdevelop“smart”micro-segmentedcontent:

Step1:Deconstructthesegmentconversations

Analyzetheover-archingsentimentofthissegment.Whatdotheylove,hate,embrace,reject?Familiarizeyourselfwiththeiconicbrands,products,andservicesthatareassociatedwiththisgroup.Discoverconversationaltriggersthatrelatetothebenefitsofyourbrand:problems,solutions,functions,benefits

Step2:Examineandunderstandthesegment’sconversationallanguage

Canyourcontentaddresscustomerneedsintheirnuancedlanguage?Byresearchingsocialmediaplatformsandonlineforums,canyou

determinetheveryspecificlikes,dislikes,andpainpointsthissegmentisdiscussing?Whatarethekeyplaces,conversations,andkeywordsthatconnectyourcompanywiththatmicro-segment?

Step3:Craftyourfocusedmicro-segmentcontent

Buildonthemes,concerns,andtrendshighlightedfromtheresearchUsethenativelanguageandidiomsofthatsegmentIdentifylike-mindedemployees,orinfluencers,whocannaturallyengagewiththatmicro-segment

Bycreatingmessagesincontext,contentcanbedeliveredtoyourconsumerbecauseofwhere she is,who she is, relevant announcements she cares about,andbreakingnewsevents.Havingthat typeofuseful informationbuildssocialcurrencyandisapowerfulmotivatortoshare.

We’reapproachinganerawhentheinformationweneedmostwillbecomingto us—we won’t have to search for it. It will be an Internet, instead of anInternet.WatchhowAmazonanticipatesyourneeds.That’showtheInternetwillbeconformingtoyousoon.

Afourthway touseexclusivity toyouradvantage is tocreatecommunitieshelp consumers connect with each other—not just with your brand.The NewYorkTimes research defined high-potential sharers by six categories of peoplewhotendtobandtogetherontheweb:

Altruists:Altruisticsharersarepeoplewhowanttobeseenashelpfulandreliable.They’rethoughtfulandwell-connected.Theirprimarymethodforsharingcontentisthroughemail.Careerists:Careeristswanttobeseenasvaluableandupwardly-mobile.Theywanttosharecontentthatmakesthemseemintelligentandwell-connected.AprimaryplatformforthemisLinkedIn.Hipsters:Hipstersregardcontentsharingasanintegralpartofwhotheyare.They’retheleastlikelygrouptouseemailandleantowardTwitterandemergingsocialmediaplatforms.Thisisayouthfulgroupwhowantstobeseenascreativeandcuttingedge.Boomerangs:Boomerangsarehighlyvalidatedbythereactionstheygetfromtheirposts.Theywanttobeprovocativeandearnattentionthroughthereactionsofothers.They’reheavyusersofbothTwitterandFacebook.Connectors:Connectorsaresocialbutterflieswholovetobringpeopleand

ideastogether.They’replannerswhoaretypicallyrelaxed,creative,andthoughtful.TheymostoftensharecontentthroughemailandFacebook.Selectives:Asthenameimplies,Selectivesdon’tsharewithvastsocialaudiences.Theywillshareapieceofcontentwithselectindividualswhotheythinkwouldbenefitfromit,usuallyviaemail.They’reresourceful,careful,andinformedandwanttobeseenasusefulandthoughtful.

How can you create content that will appeal to these personas? Are therestandard processes you can build into your content to make it more likely toignite?That’swhatthenextchapterisallabout!

CHAPTERFOUR

22PracticalWaystoAchieveContentIgnition

“Averagebrandsadvertise.Greatbrandsshare.”–TedWright

Inthischapter,we’llcontinueexploringtheideaofembeddingshareabilityintoyourcontentandfocuson22quick-hitactionsyoucanuserightaway.

SocialrecommendationsfromfriendsandfamilyarethemosttrustedsourceofinformationforconsumersaccordingtoeConsultancy.1Whenyourcustomersshare positive opinions and experiences on social media, they increase yourcredibility among potential customers in a way you, as a business, can neveraccomplishalone.Soyouneedtodowhateveryoucantomakeiteasyforthosetransmissionstoflow.

The basic idea behind this chapter is removing every possible obstacle inyourcontrolsothereissimplynoexcusenottoshareyourcontent!You’resuretofindatleastafewideasyoucanputtoworkforyourbusinessrightaway.

Herewego.

1.Pushtherightbuttons.Sadly, I must begin this list with what should be the most obviousrecommendation…butperhapsthemostuseful:Addsocialsharingbuttonstoyourcontentsite.

Does that seem like odd advice?When I help businesses with their socialmediastrategy,halfofthemdon’thavesocialsharingbuttonsontheirwebsites—even very large companies! In this case, the organizations are almostchallengingtheirreaderstosharethecontentbydenyingthemtheconvenienceof a simple share button! A recent study2 showed that content with sharingbuttonsis700percentmorelikelytospreadthancontentwithoutthosebuttons.

Make sure your social button widget doesn’t require multiple clicks to

complete the share, or use a bare link as a snippet in a tweet. I’ve seen someTwitterbuttonsthatjusttweetthelinkwithoutthetitleorthesite/author’sname,whichisamissedopportunityforfreePR.

As I explain in Chapter 3, some personality types prefer email for socialtransmission,soaddoneofthosebuttons,too.

2.Teardownthosewalls!Manycompaniescreateafirewallthatforcesyoutoopt-inforcontentbysigninginwithanemailaddressortradingevenmorepersonalinformation.

I can understand the logic of this approach. If I’m providing value to you(throughmycontent),youneedtoprovidevaluetome(throughanemailaddresssoIcansendyouoffersandupdates).Theproblemis,thisstrategyturnsmanypeople away. The number varies widely by industry, but research states thatbetween25percentand90percentofyourcustomersturnawayiftheyneedtoregisterfirsttoobtainwhatthey’relookingfor.Inoneuserinterfaceexperiment,alargecompanyfoundthatremovingtheneedtoregisterforcontentincreasedsalesby$300million.3

Ifyou’reinthebusinessofignitingyourcontent,whywouldyouthrowwateron the flame by requiring people to divulge personal information first? Thatissueisthetipofalargericebergquestion:IfIgiveawaymycontentandbestideaswithnothinginreturn,amIjustgivingawaymybusiness?Let’saddressthisissue.

Ontherightsideofmyblog,there’sapromptcalled“Categories”whereyoucanperusehundredsofblogpostsbytopic.Forexample,underthecategoryof“bloggingbestpractices,”youcanviewmorethan180posts.Ialsohaveafreeblogging eBook available on my site and have done numerous podcasts andwebinarsonblogging…allofthemcompletelyfree.

Inacoupleofhours,youcanprobablylearneveryideaandconceptI’veeverhadaboutbloggingbyminingthesefreeresources.Andyet,somebodycallsmeeveryweekwilling topay for blog coaching. I do socialmediaworkshopsoncontent creationwithmany largecompanies. I’mpaid togive speecheson thetopic all the time. And lots of folks are still buyingmy comprehensive bookBorntoBlog.

This doesn’t make sense, does it? How can I make money dispensingbloggingadvicewhenI’mgivingawayeverybloggingtipandsecretIeverhad?

Business relationships are built on trust. They always have been. But forcenturiesyouwere limitedby timeandgeography.Youcouldonlycreate trustwiththosewhoactuallyknewyou—andprobablywithinaprettysmallarea.Thesocialweb is an incrediblegift tobusinesses everywhere.For the first time in

history,youcancreaterelationshipsandbuildtrustwithpeoplefarandwide…throughyourvoice,yourviews,andyourexpertise.Buttheonlywaytodothatisbygivingthemenoughfreecontenttoknowyouandtrustyou.

WhenIstartedmyconsultingbusiness,ItookallthebusinessIcouldgetonaregionallevel.Slowlymybusinessevolvedandgrew,completelyonthebackofmyblogcontent.AndnowIhaveconnectionsallovertheworldthroughsocialmedia. In fact, I’ve never spent one dime on any form of advertising formyconsultingbusiness.Inotherwords,mybusinesshasgrownonlybecauseIgiveeverythingaway!

Unlock your content. Unleash it. Tear down those walls. And watch yourbusinessgrow!

3.Beentertaining,funny,andinspiring.There’saverygoodreasonpeoplesharepicturesofpuppies.

PsychoanalystDonaldWinnicottdiscoveredthatourfirstemotionalactioninlifeistorespondtoourmother’ssmilewithasmileofourown.Adesireforjoyand happiness is hard-wired into all of us. Joy can also be a driver of action.Winnicott’sdiscoveryofababy’s“socialsmile”alsotellsus that joyincreaseswhenitisshared.

No wonder, then, that happiness is an important driver for social mediasharing. Think about the content you like to spread to your friends or onlinetribe.Alotofitisjoyful,funny,orentertaining,right?Well,turnsouttherearealot of people like youout there!Research into themost-shared articles on theweb4uncoversthreeprimaryemotionsinthecontent:

Awe(25%)Laughter(17%)Amusement/entertainment(15%)

PewResearch5reportsthat35percentofmenand43percentofwomenareonFacebookprimarilytoseeentertainingorfunnyposts.

This idea also showsup in theBerger/Milkman research.6 They found thatcontentwithapositivesentiment tends togoviralmore thannegativecontent.It’s more complex than that of course—people share content that expresses awiderangeofemotions—butingeneral,stayingpositiveshouldhelpyoutrendtowardbettershareability.

Researchby thecompanyAgoraPulse7 found that themost-sharedpostsonFacebookalsohadsomeelementofinspirationinthem,indicatedbykeywordslike:

Give:Offers,discounts,deals,orconteststhatcanbenefitawideaudience.Advice:Tips,especiallyaboutproblemsthateveryoneencounters.Examplesarehowtoloseweightorhowtochooseacollege.Warning:Postsaboutdangersthatcouldaffectanyoneinyouraudience.Inspire:Inspirationalquotes.Lovethemorhatethem,theywork.Unite:Poststhathighlightadanger,anevil,anenemy,acause,orapersonalorcommunityneed.

Andwhilewe’reat it, the researchalsoshowedcontentbehaviors thatshutdownsocialsharing(don’tdothese!):

OnlytalkingaboutyourselfBeingtooedgyoroffensiveBeingtooobscureornichePublishingcontentnobodycanunderstandAskingforLikes

4.Golong.Everymarketing trend seems to point to a need for short content. Six-secondVine videos. High-level infographics. Tweets that top out at 140 characters.Shortercontentenablessocialsharinginabusyworld,right?Notnecessarily.

According to an analysis8 of 100 million web-based articles, long-formcontentactuallygetssharedmorethanshort-formcontent.Infact,thelongerthecontent,themoresharesitmayget,withpiecesof3,000–10,000wordsgettingthe highest average shares of any category. Research by theNew York Timesconfirmsthistrend;morethan90percentoftheirmost-emailedarticlesaremorethan3,000wordslong.

Not surprisingly, short-form content abounds—there are 16 times morearticleswithlessthan1,000wordsthantherearewith2,000+words.Here’syouropportunitytofillthegap.Whenwritinglong-formcontent,remembertomakeiteasytoscan—noonelikesanintimidatingwalloftext.Usingaliststructureisa simple way to do that. Write short, easy-to-read paragraphs, and usesubheadingsandbulletpointstobreakupthetext.Bonustip:UsingakeywordinasubheadingnormallyprovidessomeSEOvalue.

5.Aimforconversation,notcontroversy.Without question, controversy ignites content. A few consultants evenrecommend that you consistently manufacture controversial content as alegitimateignitionstrategy.Controversialcontentcanfascinatepeoplethesame

waythatagoodfeudonrealitytelevisiondrivesupratings.ButIdon’tthinkthisisasustainablestrategy.

First, letmedistinguishcontent that isconversationalor thought-provokingfrom content that is controversial. A definition of controversial is “a state ofprolonged,contentiouspublicdisputeordebate.”Thekeywordshereformeare“prolonged,”“contentious,and“public.”

Sometimes controversy is unavoidable. But is this a tactic you shouldmindfully pursue as a long-term content strategy? Can you think of anyrespected,successfulcompanythatpursuesaprolongeddisputeasamarketingstrategy?Ofcoursenot.Companiesarebuilttoavoidcontroversy.Mostbrandsare not built on a negative emotion. Study after study shows that positive,upliftingcontentgetsmoreviewsandclicksovertime.

Anotherargumentagainstcontroversyasasocialtransmissionstrategyisthatitmayattractthewrongaudience.Controversialblogpostsarelikeaschoolyardfight.The fascinationvaluemaydrive a short-term spike in traffic, butwill itmake somebodywant tobefriendyou?Becomeacustomer?Or,will they juststayonthesidelinesandwalkawaywhenthefightisover?

Controversycanbeusedmosteffectivelywhenitisassociatedwithapositivecause.TheCVSpharmacychainraisedaruckuswhenitbannedcigarettesalesfromitsstoresaspartofitsfocusonwellness.ClothingretailerPatagoniadefiedconventional business logic by recommending that its customers purchase lessclothing, buy better quality items, and reuse, repair, resell, and recycle to beenvironmentallyfriendly.

6. Remember that the most important part of your content is not yourcontent.Doyouwanttoincreasetheshareabilityofyourcontentby400percentinoneeasystep?LeaninclosenowasIsharethissecret:Stopwritingsuckyheadlines.

Intoday’sworld,youmustcraftadescriptive,emotive,accurate,catchy,and“tweet-able” headline. This is so fundamental yet it remains a challenge formanycontentcreators.Theheadlineismoreimportantthanthevideoorbodyofthe text.Why?Becausewe live in aworld of scanners, and if you can’t grabsomebodybythethroatinananosecond,you’velostthem.Theywillneverseetherestofthepost.

So here’s the officialContentCodeEver-So-Useful List ofBestBlog PostHeadlinePractices:

Makeittweetable(i.e.short).Headlineswitheightwordsorlessareshared21percentmorethanaverage.9

Makeitdescriptiveandaccurate.Nevermisleadreaders.Makeitcreativeenoughtostandoutinacrowdedlistofcontentchoices.Referenceanumberedlisttoincreasesocialtransmissionby50percent(like:“SixExtraordinaryLessonsfromTheContentCode”).Makesuretheheadlineofferssomethinghelpful.IncludeonekeywordorphrasetohelpasearchenginedeterminethethemeofthearticleandaidyourSEO.Don’tletyourheadlinebeanafterthought.Theheadlineisthemostcriticalpartofthepost.Workit.

Warmwordshelp,too.Inastudyofblogpoststhathadreceivedmorethan1,000 social shares over a year, headlines that featured a “human” word like“food,” “home,” and “lifestyle” accounted for 85 percent of theworld’smostviralcontent.Wordslike“business,”“tech,”and“news”madeupjust14percentofthistraffic.10

Auseful tool to usewhen creating headlines is the freeHeadlineAnalyzerfrom theAdvancedMarketing Institute (http://bit.ly/headlineanalyze). Itworkson the theory that increasing the emotional marketing value (EMV) of yourheadlinedrivesmoresocialsharing.Inmyindependentresearch,I’vefoundthatsocialsharingdropsoffiftheheadlineistooemotional.Theidealscoreseemstocenterbetween30and50points.

7.Bevisual.Readapieceofinformation,andthreedayslateryou’llremember10percentofit.Add a picture and you’ll remember 65 percent.11 Reading is inefficient forhumans.Your brain seeswords as lots of tiny pictures, and then you have toidentifyfeaturesintheletterstoreadthem.Thattakestime.

AccordingtoaBuzzSumoanalysis,addingaphotoorillustrationdoublestheprobability that your contentwill get shared.Another studyverifies thatwhenusingFacebook as your content distribution channel, sharing of the content isdoubled,onaverage, ifyouincludeaphoto.Naturally,brandsarefiguringthisout—74percentofallFacebookbrandpostsnowcontainaphoto.12

Whenformattingaphotoforablogpost,mostbloggingplatformsgiveyouthechancetoassignametatagor“alternativetext”tothephotos.Attachingthekeywordorthemefromthearticletothephotodoesn’ttakemuchtimeandcanprovideasmallSEOboost.

8.Ignitewithlistsandinfographics.TheBuzzSumoresearchof100millionpostsalsoshowedthatyoudoubleyour

chancesthatpeoplewillshareyourcontentifitincludesalistoraninfographic.Itmakessense.Bothlistpostsandinfographicsaddanelementofintrigueandfun while still promising quick answers. Because of their skimmable format,theysatisfyourcuriosityquicklyinaninformation-denseenvironment.

Bonustip:Alistarticlewiththenumber10intheheadlineisthebestnumberforsocial transmission,scoring four times the social sharesas thenextnearestnumberinthestudy.Afterthenumber10,listheadlineswithanodd-numbergetshared20percentmorethaneven-numberedposts.13

9.Boostsocialsharingwithsuggestedstories.In this book I shy away from recommending specific technologies becausethey’ll become obsolete at some point and I don’t want to date the bookunnecessarily.Butthereisonelittleplug-inthatdeliverssomuchpunchthatitdeservesashout-out:LinkedWithin.

Ittakesalotofworktogetsomebodytovisityoursite,soonceyougetthemthere,dowhatyoucantokeepthemthere.Agreatwaytodothatistouseafreewidget like LinkedWithin to suggest similar content for your readers. At thebottomofeachpost it lists relevantarticlesfromyourblogforyourreaders toenjoy.Ithasfourpowerfulbenefits:

Iteffectivelyresurrectsrelevantoldercontent,givingyoumorebangforyourcontentinvestment.Itcanincreasepageviews.Ihaven’tbeenabletofindanyuniversaldataonthisbenefit,butforme,LinkedWithinincreasespageviewsonmysiteby8percent.That’sHUGE!Bytakingyourreadersmoredeeplyintorelevantcontent,itincreasesthechancesofconnection,subscription,orperhapsevenclicksintocommercialpartsofyoursite.Itincreasessocialsharing.It’snotunusualtoseenewreaderstomyblogtweetthree,four,ormorestoriesinamatterofafewminutesastheygofromposttopostviaLinkedWithin.

Bonus tip: LinkedWithin uses an image from your old posts as a visualprompttokeepcustomersclicking…anothergreatreasontoalwaysincludeaphotoorgraphicwithyourcontent.

10.Revivecontent.Oneof themostdepressing aspectsof content creation is its short shelf life. Iactually had one person tweet to me “Great post—even though it’s older

content.”Thepostwasonlytwoweeksold!Research demonstrates that social sharing on a post is usually over by the

fourthday.Infact,afterthreedays,thenumberofsocialsharesdropsbyatleast96percentacrosseverymajorsocialnetwork.Butthedemiseofyourcontentisnotinevitable.

Here’s an example of content that breaks the “death cycle.”A fewmonthsago I noticed something startling inmy statistics.Over the life ofmyTwitteraccount, a total of 100,000 people had unfollowed me! As I dug into it, Idiscoveredtherewasasub-cultureofpeoplewhodomassTwitterfollowingandthen mass unfollowing. Well, butter my buns and call me a biscuit. All thatunfollowing had nothing to do with me after all! It was a residual effect ofpeopletryingto“game”Twitter!

Ithoughtthiswouldmakeaprovocativeblogpost14andIhadsomefunwiththeheadline:“Why100,000PeopleUnfollowedMeonTwitter.”Butitwasalsoaveryhelpfulpostthatansweredalotofquestionspeoplehadaboutthisstrangebehavior.

Hereare the total social sharing statistics (Twitter,Facebook,LinkedInandGoogle+)forthepost:

MonthofPublication TotalNumberofSharesApril2013 378September2013 654December2013 1,012March2014 1,144September2014 1,858January2015 2,020

How is this possible? Ifmost blog posts die after four days, how did this

contentkeepchuggingandchugging,findingnewfansforyears?There’salotofsharingpotentialstoredincontentthatisalwaysrelevantand

useful.Thisevergreencontentanswersyourcustomers’mostcommonquestionsand rarely goes out-of-date. For example, a “Mommy Jogger” blog wouldfeatureevergreencontentthatdescribesthecorrectuseofjoggingstrollers.Thispostwouldbeusefulandrelevanttocustomersforyears…andcouldalsobere-postedasnewpeoplelookforthecontent.

And that is exactlywhat I did. I could see thatmy “Un-follow” post waspopular,evergreencontentthatpeopleenjoyed,soItweetedthelinkouttomy

audienceaboutonceamonth.AndeachtimeIdid,itreceivedmorecommentsandsocialshares.Alotmore!

Thisisanobviousstrategymanybusinessesignorebecausetheyfeelstrangeabout posting “old” content. But you need to view evergreen content as aninvestment in anasset foryourbusiness. Ifyoubought anew tractor foryourfarm or a new truck for your plumbing business, you wouldn’t just let it sitaroundnotbeingused.Aninvestmentincontentisnodifferent.Useit!

There aren’t any hard and fast rules about sharing your most popularevergreencontentbuteveryothermonthseemsaboutright.Ifyouhaveenoughof thesepieces in your arsenal, you canbuild an evergreen content promotionschedule.

Bonus tip:ThereareWordPresspluginsavailable tohelpyouscheduleandre-post yourmost popular content formonths into the future. Igniting contentwithnowork?Ilikeit!

11.Determinethebestpostingtime.Don’tfallforblogpostswithlistsofthe“besttimestopost.”Thefactisthattheultimatetimetopostishighlysensitivetoanumberoffactors,andyouneedtodotheworktofigureoutthebestpostingschedulespecifictoyourbusinessandcustomerbase.

Whileageneral searchon the topicmight leadyou tobelieve that thebestday to publish on LinkedIn is Wednesday or the best day to promote onFacebook isMonday, the truth is that sharingpeaksondifferentdays ineveryvertical.Herearejustafewexamplesofsharingtrendsbyindustry:15

PublicationsintheautomotiveverticalearnthemostsharesonWednesday.GeneralbusinesspublicationsseethemostsharesonTuesday.HealthindustryarticlesshowpeakengagementonTuesdaysandFridays.Food-relatedpostsgetsharedthemostonMondays.Theweekendsarealowpointforsharingineveryvertical,rarelyearningmorethan9percentofshares.

Andof courseyou can throwall of theseguidelines out thedoor if you’retrying topostat timesand inspacesunoccupiedbycompetitors. Inoticed thatoneofmybloggingfriendspostedeverySunday.Thisseemedcounter-intuitivesinceblogpostsusuallygettheleastamountoftractiononweekends.Hislogicwassimple:“AlltheestablishedbloggerspostonMonday,sotostandout,I’mpostingonadaythat’slesscrowded.”Averysensibleapproach.He’sfindinganunsaturatednichebasedonthedayoftheweek!

12.Re-purposecontent.Evergreencontentisaversatileworkhorseandcanbere-purposedtocreatenewinformation forms for your customers. A series of evergreen posts can becompiled,edited,andofferedasanin-depthspecialreport.Youcanalsoturntheevergreen posts into speeches, webinars, videos, and email courses—just tonameafewideas.

Youcantransformapieceofresearchoradatasetintoaninfographic,andaninfographicintoavideo,andavideointoapodcast,andapodcasttranscriptintoablogpost,andablogpostintoapressrelease.Everypieceofcontentcanbealteredforadifferentmediumwithminimaladditional investment.Thismeansmorecontent,gainingexposurewithnewaudiences,inlesstime.

One technique that has had blockbuster results for me is turning my best“old” content into colorful presentations onSlideShare.My original blog post“Six questions that lead you to a social media strategy” had a total of about7,000 page views.After I posted it on SlideShare, the same content has beenseenmore than 100,000 times! SlideShare is free to use, owned byLinkedIn,highlyindexedbyGoogle,andadeepeducationalresourceformanypeople.Atthe end of that particular presentation, I had a call to action to learnmore bybuyingmybookSocialMedia Explained. I could easily track this link to seehowmanyclicksIreceived.

Bestofall,byre-purposingthecontentonanewchannel,Iwasreachinganentirely new audiencewho had never seen the first post. I also ignited a newround of social sharing on the same investment with very little developmentcost.

Hereareafewmorewaystore-purposeandre-igniteyourcontentwithlittleornoincrementalexpense:

NarrateexistingslidepresentationsandturnthemintoYouTubevideos.Taketheaudiofromvideosanduseitinpodcasts.AssembleblogpostsintothemestocreatehelpfuleBooksandcustomerguides.Useblogcontentasastarterforbookchapters.Turnlistpostsintoinfographics.PostinfographicsonSlideShareandPinterest.

13.Focusonfeedbackandreviews.16Anotherimportantformofsocialtransmissionisfeedbackandreviews.Reviewsofferpowerful“socialproof”thatcanmakeorbreakabusiness.Thisconceptis

coveredextensivelyinChapter9butinshort,socialproofisanaccumulationofthecluesinourenvironmentweusetomakedecisionswhenwedon’tknowthetruth. Reviews are a good example of this idea. If we have never visited abusinessbefore,wemayturntothiscrowd-sourcedcontenttodecidewhethertobuysomethingornot.

For many businesses, online reviews are a high-stakes component ofconsumerdecision-making.Carshoppers,forexample,areincreasinglyrelyingonYelpandother ratingssites.Nielsenreports17 that84percentofpeoplesaythat online reviews influence their buying decision. These reviewers can evengaincelebritystatusastheiropinionsreverberatethroughoutTwitter,Facebook,andbeyond.

Thekeywiththistacticistohavearock-solidinternalprocessforcapturingand maintaining a steady stream of customers willing to write reviews.Understandably,manyofyourfrontlinesalespersonnelmayfeelawkwardaboutasking for a review, but you can put it in a way that makes the customercomfortable:“Ourbusiness isbasedonreferrals.Wouldyoutakeamoment tovisitYelpandreferustoyourfriendsandfamily?”Thisisagreatstarttoyourinternalprocess,butit’sonlythebeginning.

HereareseveralwaystoimprovesocialtransmissionthroughYelpandotherreviewsites:

Designatesomeonetotakeownershipofyourimplementationplan.Thispersonisinchargeofyouronlinereputationandisresponsibleforgettinggrassrootsparticipationfromyourstaff,aswellasmonitoringandrespondingtothecommunity.Usesignageandmemos.Createawarenesswithyourcustomersandyourstaff.Display“LoveUsonYelp!”signsthroughoutthestore—entryways,salesoffices,customerwaitingarea,customerservice,andcheck-out.Givecustomersacardtotakewiththemthatremindsthemyou’reonYelp.Putmemosonpaychecks,repairorders,andinvoicestocreateawareness.Reachouttoyourravingfans.Everysalespersonhasthem,especiallythosewhohavebeenwithyoualongtime.Askfanstoshareanhonestreview—don’tpushforpositivereviews,perse.Manybrandsfailtofeaturetestimonialsandbrandevangelistsontheirwebsitesandsocialmediaprofiles.Peopleloveattentionandspecialtreatment—thecustomersyoufeaturewilllikelybecomeevenstrongersupportersofyourbrand.Plus,showcasingobjectiveopinionsonyourwebsitemayincreaseyourcredibilityamongpotentialcustomers.Considerhostingacustomeroftheweekprogramonyourblogandon

socialmedia.Featureastoryandtestimonialfromoneofyoursatisfiedcustomers.Holdamonthlycontestwiththestaff.Nothingmotivateslikeacashprize!Forexample,ifthestoregets20reviewsbytheendofthemonth,you’lldrawanameandthatpersonwinsthecash.Recognizestaffmemberswhoget5-starreviews.Agiftoranicementionduringtheweeklysalesmeetinggoesalongway.Whentheotheremployeesseeit,they’llbeeagertoberecognized,too.

14.Bepractical.In Chapter 1, I recounted the story of the Mirabeau Miracle. The winery’sproprietor, Stephen Cronk, made YouTube history with a 90-second videoshowinghowtoopenawinebottlewithhisshoe.

Thiswasnotepiccontent. Itwasn’tevenoriginal.The trickhadbeendonemultiple times before onYouTube. TheMirabeau case study doesn’t seem tofollow any rules about emotion or storytelling. But it’s an amazing, well-executedlittledemonstration,anditwasapractical,usefultip.

InthebookContagious,JonahBergerexplains,“Today,directopportunitiestohelpothersarefewandfarbetween.Modernsuburban lifehasdistancedusfromourfriendsandneighbors.Weliveattheendofalongdrivewayorhighupinanapartmentbuilding,oftenbarelygettingtoknowthepersonnextdoor.

“But sharing somethingusefulwithothers is aquick andeasyway tohelppeople out, even if we’re not in the same place. Parents can send their kidsuseful advice even if they are hundreds of miles away. Passing along usefulthings strengthen socialbonds.Our friends seeweknowandcareabout them,wefeelgoodforbeinghelpful,andthesharingcementsourfriendship.”

Peoplelovetohelptheirfriendssavemoney,sobuildingextraordinaryvalueoradealintoyourcontentisawaytohelpitmove.Notsurprisingly,thebiggertheperceiveddealorthemoreexclusiveitappears,themorethecontentmoves.

Curation is another good way to provide practical content. Curating orsummarizing valuable content by industry, career discipline, or interest savespeople time because you’ve done the work to filter content for them. In thepharmaceutical industry, summaries of new surgical ormedical breakthroughsare a good way to bond with doctors and provide truly useful information.Several wealth management companies curate global financial information tomake the world of investing less complicated. You can find opportunities tocuratealonganyinterestyoucanimagine.

15.Learntousehashtagseffectively.

Hashtags are arguably the most important innovation in the history of socialmedia.Thehumblehashtaghasbecomethe indexcardsystemof theweb. It’ssocialmedia’smost importantway to organize information, and it’s critical todiscoveringtrends,content,andideas.Hashtagshavecreptintopopularculture,andbrandsnowfeature themonadvertisements,TVshows,billboards,menus,andevenonthebigscreenatsportingevents.

Followingahashtagalsoorganizespeople.Thepeople followingahashtagmight be starting a company, leading a discussion that leads to innovation, orplanningtheoverthrowofagovernment.Hashtagsarethecornerstoneelementsforcommunicatingeverythingfromdisaster relief tomemes.TheycanalsobeanimportantelementintheContentCodeequation.Researchindicatesthatthepresence of a hashtag could increase social transmission by as much as 70percentonsometopics.

Here are some examples of hashtag campaigns that ignited ideas andmessages:18

Charmin:In2013,toiletpaperbrandCharminlaunchedtheTwitterhashtag#tweetfromtheseattotakeadvantageofthestaggeringnumberofpeoplewhousesocialmediainthebathroom(40percentofyoungadults—andthosearejusttheoneswhoadmitit!).Keystosuccessincludedtheuseofactionablelanguage(thehashtagstartswithaverbtellingfollowerstodosomething);itwasfunandplayful;anditwastiedtoalargerSuperBowlpromotion.Make-A-WishFoundation:Afewyearsago,theworldfellinlovewith5-year-oldcancerfighterMiles(aka“BatKid”)whenhebecameasuperheroforaday.SanFranciscobecameGothamCitythankstotheGreaterBayAreaMake-A-WishFoundationandthehelpof16,000actorsandvolunteers.DressedinfullBatmancostume,BatKidsavedthecityfromtheforcesofevilwhilehundredsofthousandsofpeoplefollowedalongonsocialmediawiththehashtag#SFBatKid.Thestoryblewup,generatinganestimated1.7billionsocialimpressionsacross117countries.CelebritieslikeChristianBale,BenAffleck,andBritneySpearsusedthe#SFBatKidhashtag.EvenPresidentBarackObamagaveMilesasix-secondshoutoutonVine.Make-A-Wishsawahugeboostinsitetraffic—asmanyas1,400hitspersecondduringthepeakofthecampaign.Thehashtagworkedbecauseitpromotedanemotionalstory,theeventwasmeticulouslyplanned,anditinvolvedthousandsofvolunteerswhohelpedignitethecontent.DiGiornoPizza:No,adrunkinterndidn’ttakeoverthe@DiGiornoPizza

TwitterhandleduringAmericanfootballgames.Infact,DiGiornoPizza’sunconventional#DiGiorNOYOUDIDNTcampaignwascarefullystrategized.ThebrandcameupwiththehashtagideainhopesofexpandingDiGiornoPizza’ssocialmediareachtonewaudiences—specifically,theNFLsmack-talkersoftheTwitterverse.Theirstafflive-tweetedduringNFLgamesandengagedwithfootballfansinreal-time.Thecampaignworkedbecauseitwasreal-time,humorous,andassociatedwithapopularsportingevent.

16.Makeitlookgood.Howyoursitelooksisanimportantindicatorofwhetheryourcontentisshare-worthy. When you head out for a night of fine dining, you don’t expect anexpensivesteaktoarriveinaStyrofoamcontainerwithapacketofketchup.Andyouexpectpremiumcontenttolooklikepremiumcontent,too.

Everything communicates, and if you don’t have the proper container foryourcontent,youmightbekillingyourtransmissioneffortbeforeitstarts.Yoursiteisyourfrontdoortotheworldandthefirstimpressionthatmightdeterminewhether somebody leaves right away or stays long enough to find out whatyou’reupto.

Remember that social sharing is often an extension of self-identity. If yoursiteisclassy,peoplewillfeelclassyaboutpromotingit.Ifyoursitelookstrashy…well…itmightbetimeforare-fresh!

Ona relatednote,haveyoucheckedyourGoogleAnalytics recently to seehowmanycustomersareaccessingyoursiteviaamobiledevice?Youmaybesurprised!Makesureyoursiteisoptimizedtoserveyourcustomersinamobileenvironment.Contentconsumersmakequickdecisionsaboutsharing,andifit’sdifficult to accomplish or your sharing buttons aren’t obvious in a mobileenvironment,you’lllosethosepreciousopportunities.

17.Concentrateonbrandnewresearchandideas.Rememberthatmanyofyourreaderssharecontentbecauseoftheintrinsicvalueofhelpingothers.Focusingyourcontentonnewinsightsfromresearch,quotesfromexperts,andexcitingnewideaswillappealtothispsychologicalaspectofsharing.

This is also a source of rich content creation ideas. When you see aparticularly compelling piece of research, quote it, provide proper links andattribution,andthengiveityourownspin:

Whatdidyoulearnfromthisnewresearch?

Whatnewideasdidthisenable?Wastheresearchdonecorrectly,oristhereaproblemwiththemethodologyyouneedtohighlight?Howcantheresearchbepracticallyappliedtoproblemsinyourindustry?Whatsurprisedyou?Whatdoesn’tmakesense?Howdoestheresearchprovideanewworldview?

All of these personal spins on data can make compelling original contenthighlyvaluedbyyourmostpassionateaudiencemembers.

18.Encouragecomments.Peoplewhocareenoughtoleavecommentsonthecontentyoupublisharealsohighlylikely toshare itwith theirnetworks.If theyspendthe timeto leaveanopiniononyourwork, theywant theworld toknow it, too!To theextent thatyoucanencouragecomments,you’reencouragingsocialsharing.

Herearesomeeasywaystoencouragepeopletocomment:

Endyourpostwithaquestion.Peoplehateanopen-endedpostandaremorelikelytoclosetheloopbyansweringyourquestioninacomment.Askspecificallyforcomments.InChapter7,Icovertheimportanceofcommentsandsocialproof,butprimethepumpbyaskingafewfriendsandworkcolleaguestoleaveacomment.Commentsspurcomments.Peoplefeelbetteraboutleavingtheirviewswhentheyseethey’renotstandingallaloneinthecommentsection.Mentioninfluencerswithlargeaudiencesinyourpostandlinktotheircontent.Mostofthetimetheywillbe“pinged”whensomeonelinkstotheircontent,butdon’tbeafraidtoletthemknowthelinkexists.They’llprobablyshareyourpost.Notifypotentialcommenters.Sendanemailtopeopleinyourindustrywhowouldbeinterestedinyourpost.Youneedtousethismethodjudiciously—youcan’tkeepgoingtothewelluntilit’sdry!Iftheytrustyouandtherequest,you’llalmostcertainlyearnacommentandasharefromtheseconnections.

19.TapintoFOMOManypeopleareobsessedwithbeingconstantlyconnectedtothewebduetoaFearofMissingOut (orFOMO).Tapping into this fearcanalsogetpeople toclickandshare.

Here’sanexampleofFOMOinaction:19MarcandAngelChernoffhavean

incredibleblogatwww.marcandangel.com.Theypublish inspiringcontent thatregularly spreads across social media, garnering thousands if not hundreds ofthousandsofsocialshares.Oneofthemostfascinatingpiecesthey’vewrittenisa post called “30 Things to StopDoing to Yourself” that receivedmore than500,000 Likes, 20,000 tweets, and several thousand shares on other socialnetworks.

Theywroteasimilarpost,“30Things toStartDoingforYourself,”but themore negative one, “30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself,” performed muchbetter.Theysaidusingnegativewordslike“stop,”“avoid,”and“don’t”alwaysled to better performance. They reasoned that everyone wants to find out ifthey’remissingoutonsomethingtheyshouldstopdoing.

20.Helpreadersspreadideastohelpothers.Here’s an insight frommy favorite newspaper, The New York Times:20 In anattempt tounderstandwhat’sbuzzworthy,neuroscientistsscanned thebrainsofpeople while they were hearing about new ideas. Then, as these people toldothersaboutwhattheyhadheard,thescientistsobservedwhichideasspreadandwhichdidn’t.

Youmightpredictthatpeoplewouldpassalongthemostmemorableideas—theonesthatlightupthebrainregionsassociatedwithmemories.Butthat’snotwhathappened.Thebestpredictorsofbuzzwereinthebrainregionsassociatedwithsocialcognition—thoughtsaboutotherpeople.Ifthoseregionslitupwhensomething was heard, people were more likely to talk about the ideaenthusiastically,andtheideawouldkeepspreading.

“You’d expect people to be most enthusiastic spreading ideas that theythemselvesareexcitedabout,”saidresearcherDr.EmilyFalkoftheUniversityofMichigan. “But our research suggests that’s not the whole story. Thinkingaboutwhatappealstoothersmaybeevenmoreimportant.”

AbigailPosner,headofstrategicplanningforGoogle,describedthisurgeasan energy exchange:21 “Whenwe see or create an image that enlivens us,wesendittootherstogivethemabitofenergyandeffervescence.Everygiftholdsthespiritofthegifter.Also,everyimageremindsusandothersthatwe’realive,happy,andfullofenergy(evenifwemaynotalwaysfeelthatway).AndwhenweLike or comment on a picture or video sent to us,we’re sending a gift ofsortsbacktothesender.We’reaffirmingthem.But,mostprofoundly,this‘gift’ofsharingcontributestoanenergyexchangethatamplifiesourownpleasure—andissomethingwe’rehardwiredtodo.”

21.Include“clicktotweet”boxesinyourblogpost.This is a fun and easyway to increase the number of tweets you get on anyarticle.Thereareseveralfreeservicesthatallowyoutoembedtweetablequotesrightintoyourblogpost.Pulloutthebestquotesfromyourpost,andpastethemtoa“click to tweet”boxyoucanaccess for freeon the Internet.Anattractiveboxappearsinthecontextofyourpost,encouragingreaderstoeasilyclickandtweetameaningfulquote.

22.Addyourpersonality.Inthenexttwochapters,we’llbeexploringtwointertwinedBADASSfactors—building an Alpha Audience and creating the Heroic Brand. Both elementsrequireanextraordinaryemotionalconnectiontotheauthor,brand,orcompany.Andthatisdeliveredthroughcontentthatconnects.

Tostandoutonthewebtoday,youmustbeoriginal.Andtobeoriginal,youneedtoinjectyourpersonalityintothecontent.Let’sconductaquicktest.Lookat the headline examples below and choose which one you’re more likely toclickandshare:

“FivecommonmistakesonTwitter”or“MybiggestTwittercatastrophe”“Threegreatrecipesforcorn”or“Howcornsavedmyrehearsaldinner”“Testingthreenewservers”or“HowIfellhopelesslyinlovewithcloudcomputing”

Ifyou’re likemostpeople, youprobablypicked the secondoption in theseexamples.Even though thesepostswouldbe appropriate for a corporateblog,the headline hints at something personal, unique, and revealing. The firstheadlines could have beenwritten by anyone.But the second headlines couldonlybewrittenfromtheperspectiveofarealperson.Createcontentforhumans.Createcontentthatonlyyoucancreate.

Well,thatshouldgiveyouenoughtoworkonforafewweeks.Butwe’rejustgettingstarted!Yourworktobuildshareabilityintoyourcontentwillalwaysbesub-optimizedifyoudon’talsofindandnurtureanaudiencewhoisprimedandready for ignition. Let’s discover a BADASS strategy to create an AlphaAudiencemostlikelytoshareyourcontent.

CHAPTERFIVE

BuildinganAlphaAudience

“Today,artistsgetrecorddealsbecausetheyhavefans–nottheotherwayaround.”–TaylorSwift

Content ismerely thematch lighting the fuseofan ignitionplan.Youhave tofindthepeopletoactuallydoit!YouneedtoamassanAlphaAudience—aneliteandengagedtribeatthetopofthesocialsharingfoodchain,thebedrockofyourbusiness. Google research shows that these most loyal members of youraudiencearemorethan250percentmorelikelytotransmityourcontent!

Toset the stage forour importantwork togetheron this subject, I’d like toprovide a short case study illustrating one of the biggest problems companiesfacewhenitcomestoactivatingtheirdigitalaudienceoffriendsandfollowers.

ThedysfunctionalsocialmediaaudienceAfewyearsago,IdecidedtotrysomethingIhadneverdonebefore(orsince).Iaskedmysocialmediaaudiencetodonatemoneytosupportafavoritecharity.

I had been working for a group that mentors inner city children, and theworld financial crisis had taken a bite out of their budget at a critical time.Asking for money on the Internet is a notoriously difficult proposition. IdocumentthisextensivelyinmybookReturnOnInfluenceandpointtoseveralexampleswhere even celebrity-level influencers couldn’tmove theneedle andcreaterealactionthroughtweetedpleastotheirvastaudiences.

Thereasonforthischronicfailureis thatsocialmediaconnectionsbeginasweak relational links. Sure, we might be willing to help somebody out byclicking a “Like” button or even sending a tweet once in a while for a goodcause…butopeningourwallet?No.Itnormallydoesn’thappen.

So, going into this project, the request for a donation was a precariousproposition.Iknewtherewasagoodchancemyappealcouldfallflat.PerhapsI

wouldevenbepubliclyembarrassedifIraisednothing.Still,thiswasaworthycharityinneed,soIdecidedtofollowmyheart,takearisk,andaskforhelp.

Iwrote a blogpost1 revealing a personal story ofmyworkwith an at-riskchild and asked, entirely through social media, for a donation to support thesponsoring charity. Even I was surprised at the success—I raised more than$6,000inoneweek!IwasoverwhelmedwithjoyandpridewhenIwasabletodeliverthatchecktomyfriendsatthecharitybeforeChristmas!

On one level, this triumphwas inspiring because I realized it never couldhavehappenedifIhadn’tworkedforyearsbuildingaloyalandengagedsocialmedia audience.Without question, all thework I had poured into helpingmytribeenabledthisachievement.Butpeelingbackthislayerrevealsanotherlessonabouthowtrulydifficultitistomoveanaudiencetowardaction.

Mycharitablerequestblogpostwassharednearly750times…butonly92peopleactuallymadeadonation.Soinreality,morethan650peopleencouragedotherstodonatewithoutdonatinganythingthemselves.Ugh.

This is an example of the immense challenge you face with weak socialmedia links. Many businesses and eager new bloggers make the mistake ofequating a large socialmedia audiencewith power… and this is just not thecase.

Ofthe92peoplewhodonated,Ihadmet80oftheminreallife.Ihaddonethework to convert these “weak”audience connections into “strong”personalrelationships. The average donation of my strong-link friends was $65. Theaveragedonationofmyweak-linksocialmediaconnectionswas$15.

This means that out of 70,000 followers (at the time), only 12 people onTwitterwhom I personally did not know saw the “cold call” tweet asking forhelp and did something about it. That’s a conversion rate of less than two-hundredthsofapercent,probablytheleasteffectivesaleschannelyoucouldeverimagine.

Butitgetsworse.A couple of social media heavyweights withmore than 100,000 followers

(andonewithmorethan500,000followers!)pitchedintospreadthewordandraiseawareness for thecharity. Iestimated theygeneratedmore than3millionTwitter impressions. Here’s howmany donors this intense activity generated:ONE.

So the “celebrity influencer” conversion rate on Twitter was one out of 3million possible impressions. Sad, but not surprising if you understand howsocialmediaaudienceswork.WhenIpersonallyaskedforadonation,thosewithan emotional connectionbuilt through trust over time—myAlphaAudience—respondedtome.Whentheinfluencerstweeted,itwaslikethrowingamessage

in a bottle out into a vast (and apparently lifeless!) ocean. Therewas just noconnection.

While this resultmay seemdepressing, let’s return to the actual result andconsider thedigitaldynamicsatwork.Theability tocreatecontent thatmovesthrough theInternet isa legitimatesourceofpower. In fact, this ismost likelythe only source of influence I had with any donor! Think of the incrediblepotential we all possess. From a standing start in 2008, I created a globalcommunitywhorespondedtoanappealinoneblogpostandcontributed$6,000in48hours.Andthat’sprettycool.

Clearly, not all socialmedia fans and followers are created equal.Here arethreelessonsfromthiscasestudy:

Theinitialaudienceconnectionsmadethroughsocialmediaareweaklinksthatdon’tdriveactionontheirown.BuildingemotionalconnectionsandrelationshipswiththeseweaklinkscanconvertthemtoaloyalstronglinkAlphaAudiencethatyoucanactivate.Influencedoesn’tcomefromaudiencesizealone.

Don’tconfuse“activity”withaudience

If you think your careful attention to social media analytics, monitoring, andcustomerrelationsmeansyouknowwhoisinyourAlphaAudience,thinkagain.All that socialmedia datamaybemisleadingyou—because it’s only showingyouanarrowandatypicalsliceofyourcustomerbase.

Researchreveals2 that almost 90percent ofwhat youhearon socialmediacomes from fewer than 30 percent of themost vocal socialmedia users.Andthey’re fundamentally different from the quieter folks who make up the vastmajority of your online audience (and potentially your most important AlphaAudience members). Don’t mistake quiet for irrelevant. Even though they’rebarelyposting,thevastmajorityoflurkerscanstillbeveryloyal,sharingyourcontentthroughmoreprivate“dark”modesliketextmessages,email,andwordofmouth.

Youcan’tnecessarilyuse loudsocialmediaenthusiastsasaproxyforyourcustomers as awhole. I’ve learned this timeandagain—oftenpeoplewhoarecompletelyoffthesocialmediaradarareouttherequietlyignitingmycontent,recommendingmy books, and sharingmy ideas in ways I can’tmeasure. I’llcoverthisphenomenonmorethoroughlyinChapter11.

TheawesomepowertoigniteWith diligence and hard work, every person, and every organization, has thechance to build an audience from scratch these days. The gatekeepers are nolonger publishers, editors, and advertising executives onMadisonAvenue.Weall have the power to build a content-sharing Alpha Audience and createinfluenceonthewebthroughourcontent.

Not everybody takes advantage of this opportunity. PewResearch reports3that just 46 percent of adult Internet users are “creators” who post originalphotos or videos online. Even fewer—41 percent of adults—have activelytransmittedcontentthey’vefoundonline.

Unsurprisingly, the digital natives—or Millennial Generation—who willrepresent 50 percent of the customer base andworkforce by 2020, havemoreaggressive content-sharing habits. Tech experts forecast4 that the Millennialswill lead society into a new world of unprecedented personal disclosure andinformation-sharing.Thedigitalnativeshavealreadyembracedsharingthroughsocial networks, and this behavior will carry forward even as they age, formfamilies,andmoveuptheeconomicladder.Thisisverygoodnewsforyou,asyou’re reading this book in order to understand the Content Code and thiscultureofsocialsharing!

TheAlphaAudience—theferventsupporterswhoyoucanrelyonday-inandday-outforsupport,ignition,andaction—areararebreed.Sohowdoyoufindmoreofthosepeopleforyourbusiness?

Earningreliablereach

Using content as a connection point in the digital world provides anunparalleled, historic opportunity to re-connect with customers and find yourAlphaAudience.

For the last 100 years—since the dawn of radio—businesses have beenconditioned tobroadcast.Wecouldn’thaveknownitat the time,butwhenthefirst commercial radio stations introduced the idea of mass advertising in the1920s,wewerebuyingaone-wayticketawayfromtheintimateneighborhoodmarket culture that fueled business relationships for centuries. The customervalues of trust, loyalty, honor, service, and reputation—the linchpins of long-term business success—were set aside for the intoxicating expediency ofadvertising.

Today,we’re in thepost-spineraandthosesocialvaluesaresurfacingonceagainbecauseourcustomersaretellingusso.

Content’s role in this new human digital culture is to provide theopportunities—theconsistentprovocations—toignitethoserelationalsparks.Byproviding a drip, drip, drip of communications, you let people know you’rethere,youcare,you’reworkingonsomethingnew,andyou’resolvingproblems.Throughaudience-centricmessagingyoucansolvecustomerproblemsthroughyour content and immediately establish credibility through your empathy,responsiveness,andauthentichelpfulness.

Themoretheaudienceengageswithyourcontent,thebetterthechanceforadeepeningrelationshipbeyondtheweaklink,perhapssomedayblossomingintoatwo-wayrelationship…maybeevenarelationshipbasedonloyaltyandtrust.

Marketing’s primary goal is to reach consumers at those moments thatinfluencepurchasingbehavior.Socialmediaistheperfecttoolforachievingthatgoal:It’stheonlyformofmarketingthatcantouchconsumersateachandeverystageinthebuyingprocess,fromwhenthey’recomparingproductsrightthroughtotheperiodafterapurchase.Andultimatelytheirexperiencewithabrandandpotentialadvocacyinfluencesothers.

ArecentstudyfromEdisonResearch5 showed that57percentofAmericansocialmedia users follow a brand on Facebook for no other reason than theyhaveanaffinityfor thecompany.Andthataffinitycancreatepowerfulresults.Thestudyalsoshowsthatone-thirdofsocialmediauserspurchasemorefromabrandaftertheybegintofollowthemonasocialmediaaccount.

AstudycommissionedbyGoogle6characterizes theAlphaAudienceas the“raptaudience”andsaysthatthosewhoactuallyengagewithbrandcontenthaveevenstrongerbuyingbehaviors:

People who engaged with a brand on social media on a daily basiswerelikelytomaketwiceasmanypurchases fromthatbrandthansomeone who engages only monthly. However, socially engagedcustomers’ value to brands goeswell beyondpurchase.By acting asadvocates,theseconsumershelpbuildbrands.

Think of these engaged consumers as your brand advocates. Theywanttoknowmoreaboutwhatyouhavetoofferandwillchampion,broadcast, or amplify on your behalf. In fact, they can significantlyincrease engagement rates in social media. A brand’s advocatesaccount for a significant amount of its earned media:Brands withhigh advocate populations generate up to 264% more earnedmedia impressions per campaign than brands with feweradvocates.

These brand advocates are a rapt audience. When you focus onengaging them through social, at all themoments thatmatter, you’llturn them into yourmost valuable customers—loyal ones that don’tjustbuyyourproductsagainandagain,butencourageotherstodothesame.

CanyoubegintoseehowcriticallyimportantyourAlphaAudienceis?Formany companies, itmight be theirmost important asset… but howmany ofthemrecognizeitspower?

DevelopingaproprietaryaudienceJeffery Rohrs, a vice president at Salesforce, wrote a wonderful book calledAudience that describes the importance of your “proprietary audience.” Heexplains:7

All content marketers are a bit mad. There is more content beingproducedeverydaythanapersoncouldconsumeinalifetime,andyet,weventureforthtodowhat?Producemorecontent.

Wedo so becausewe’re betting on ourselves.We’re betting thatwecanriseaboveall thatothercontentandreachclients,prospects,andinfluencersthatmattertoourcompany.Andso99percentofoureffortgoesintocreatingamazingcontentthinkingthebestcontentwins.Andthenwehit“publish”andwait.Andwait.Andwait.

We collectively suffer from Audience Assumption Disorder, themagical belief that great content magnetically draws audiences weneed to succeed. However, publication is not distribution, and acontentmarketing strategywithout an audience development plan isnostrategyatall.

Thereisnomagicpotionyoucandrinktomakeyouraudiencedoubleor triple in size. Rather, there is the hard work of growing youraudience with each new piece of content you produce. You mustalwaysbebuildingaudiences.

Audiencedevelopmentispartandparcelofcontentmarketing,andit’ssimply not enough to put 1 percent of your effort there. You must

createcontentwithyouraudienceandactioninmind.

Inhisbook,Rohrsliststhreereasonswhythisimportantideahasbeenlargelyignoredinthemarketingcommunity:

Theconceptofproprietaryaudiencesisnew.PriortotheInternet,aproprietaryaudiencewasadirectmaildatabasehiddeninsomehuge,distantserver.Todayproprietaryaudiencesexistinsideandoutsideourdatabases,andacrossavastarrayofpublicandprivatechannels.We’retypicallyfocusedonchannelmanagementinsteadofaudiencedevelopment.ManycompanieshaveFacebook,Twitter,andYouTubestrategies,butfewhavecomprehensiveProprietaryAudienceDevelopmentstrategies.Thisleavesmarketingpigeon-holedintotacticaldiscussionsinsteadofdebatesaboutstrategicpriorities.Channelsarestillevolving.Thechannelsthatsupportproprietaryaudienceshaven’tevolvedtothepointwheretheyprovidemarketerswithsimple,consistentROImeasurements.Thismakesitdifficulttoprovideleadershipwithmorethananecdotalstoriesofpositiveaudienceengagement.

To be clear, anAlphaAudience that is proprietary to your company is notownedbyyourcompanybecausenoaudienceisowned.Memberscanleaveanytimetheywant.Whetherreadingablog,usingamobileapp,orsubscribingtoanemaillist,theaudiencememberalwayshastheoptiontowalkaway.

Whilenotowned,yourcoreaudiencecanstillbeproprietaryinthattherighttocommunicatewiththembelongstoasingleentity.You.

DigitalconsultantandauthorJayBaerdescribesthisgroupastheaudienceof“reliable reach.”When you send content into the ether of theweb, you neverreally know where it’s going to sink in and take root. But with your AlphaAudience,youknowthere isaprobability they’reprocessingyour informationandperhapsevenactingonitbecausethey’veraisedtheirhandsandaskedforit.

TheAlphaAudienceprofileAlargefollowingonthesocialchannelscanmakeyoufeel important,butyouneed to look past the ego-driven need for bigger numbers and devote time tofindingandnurturingtheonlyaudiencewhomatters,theAlphas.

It’sanelitegroup.ApollofprominentbloggersdeterminedthattheirAlpha

Audience is approximately 5 percent of their total site visitors. Facebook alsoprovided research that shows people considered to be consistent “sharers” ofcontenttotaledabout5percentofacompany’stotalFacebookaudience.

So let me introduce you to one of those elite members of my AlphaAudience,ShonaliBurke.ShonaliisoneofthemostrespectedPRprofessionalsin the country and President andCEO of Shonali BurkeConsulting. She alsoteachesatJohnsHopkinsUniversity,blogs,speaks,andisanexpertinthefieldofPRmeasurement.

Shonali and I first became aware of each other through mutual Twitterconnectionsandslowlyturnedthisweakconnectionintoastrongonewhenwemet face to faceatamarketingconference.Over theyearswecollaboratedonseveralprojects,shewroteaguestpostformyblog,andShonalihiredmeforaspeakingengagementforoneofherclienteventsinNewYorkCity.

Shonali also reliably shares my content every single day. In fact, she hasbecomesuchafanthatshesharesthecontentblindly,settingmycontentuptosharebeforesheevenreadsit.Considerthisforaminute:AsaPRprofessional,she is literally staking her personal reputation on my content with an almostreligioussortoffaith.

That,myfriends,isAlpha.Theaudiencewhobelievesinyouatthedeepestlevel.The audiencewhowill bewithyou to the end.Howdoes an incrediblydeepconnectionlikethatdevelop?Inherownwords:

OnethingI’verealized is that ifone'sbusiness isPRandmarketing,thenacertainlevelofsocialactivityisnecessary.It’sthebasiclitmustest forserviceproviders inour industry; ifprospectsdon’tseeusasbeingsocial,theyarefarlesslikelytoconsiderusasbusinesspartnersorvendors.SoIhadtoputinplaceformyselfsomesystemofcurationsimilartowhatIrecommendtoclients,orteachabout.

One service I use offers the ability to automatically share people’scontent.Now,Ididnotchoosetodothisforalongtime,becausenoteveryone’scontentisconsistent.That’sfine;weallhaveourbaddays.Butwhenyouarebetweena rockandahardplace, trying to ensureyoucurateatleastaminimumlevelofreliablecontent,youneedittobeconsistent!Thatmeansyouhave toabsolutely trust thequalityofcontentcomingfromthosepeople.

That’swhere your content comes in.You are one of the few peoplewhosecontentIalwaysshare,becauseItrustyou.I’vereadyourblogfor so long now, yet I’m regularly amazed at the smart content you

publish—not just from yourself, but from other bloggers. So often Ihave those, “Whydidn't I think of that?”moments after I read yourblog.Todate,therehasnotbeenasinglepostthatmademescratchmyheadandsay,“Meh.” Idon’talwayscommentbecauseby the timeIgettoit,youhave76othercomments(!),butIdoread.AndgiventhatIcurrentlydon’thavealotoftimetoactivelysourcemorecontent,IhavetogowithcontentfromthoseItrust:andthatgroupincludesyou.

You’ve talked often about how hard you’ve worked to grow youraudience, which is one of the things I like most about your blog{grow} (and you): You share your lessons learned openly andhonestly,withoutminimizingallthehardworkyou’vedone.Andoneofthewonderfulconsequencesofthishardworkisthatyouraudience—ofwhichIamone—trustsyou.

So, simplyput, it comesdown to trust,which is oneof thekeys forbusinesses grappling with a socialized world. The lesson I learnedfromyouisthatbuildinganaudiencemeans1)creatinggreatcontentthatpeoplecantrust;2)curatinggoodcontentregularlysothatpeoplecan trust you’re not just out to put the spotlight on yourself; 3)participatingactivelyin thesocialwebbygivingwaymorethanyouget(commentingonotherblogs,talkingtopeopleandnotjustatthem,andsoon).

Itmakesmeconsider…whatareweallwillingtodotobuildsomuchtrust that your audience would be willing to share your contentblindly?

Trust.There’sthatwordagain.TrustisthelaunchcodefortheAlphaAudiencerocket.Trustcementsyoutotheonlypeoplewhotrulymatterinyourdigitalworld.Thequestionat thesoulof thisbond isnot“Howcanyou trick,seduce,or

coupon your customers into loving you?” It is “How loyal are you to yourcustomers?Doyoutrulycareaboutthem?”

Thepeopleon theother endofyour content aren’t just avatars, users, or atarget audience. They’re human beings who might be suffering, experiencingjoy,orsimply feelexhausted fromcaring for theirchildren.Andmaybe in themoment of connection, they need you in someway.What every organizationneedsbeforeconqueringadigitalstrategyisahumanstrategy.AsIfirstwroteinTheTaoofTwittermanyyearsago,themostsuccessfulmarketingorganizations

don’tthinkofthemselvesasB2BorB2C—they’reP2P,strivingeverydaytousethesemiraculoustechnologiestoconnectpeopletopeople.

Anybodycan figureoutways togenerate short-termweb traffic.But that’ssimplyabattleforattentionyoucanneverwin.Letyourcompetitorsknockeachotheroutoverthat.Placeyourfocusinjustoneplace—nurturingatrulyloyalaudienceby runningyourbusiness in away that demonstratesmutual respect,gratitude,enduringtrust,and…dareIsayit?Love.Loveisnotawordusuallyembracedbybusinesses,buthowcanyoucreateunyieldingloyaltywithout it?Maybeloveistheultimatekillerapp.

Howwould your business be transformed if your focuswas demonstratingrespect,gratitude,andloveinsteadof“traffic?”

Thisisthedigitalcrossroad,agenuinepointofbusinessdifferentiationtoday.Youcanpaypeople tocreategreatcontentand thenpaypeople topromote it.Hugecompanieswillescalateandautomatetheircontentarmsracewithbreath-taking,epicvideos.Eventuallycomputerswillbecreatingexcellentcontentforyouwithapushofabutton.But trafficalonewillnever,evercreateanAlphaAudience.

BuildingtheAlphaAudiencethroughinvolvementOneofthemostpowerfulwaystocreateanAlphaAudienceofyourownistoinvolvetheminthecontentcreationprocess.Wouldn’tyoulovetobefeaturedon the Facebook page of a company you adore?Wouldn’t your passion for acompany be inflamed if you were recognized and celebrated by a belovedbrand’sblog?

With the free social media applications available to nearly everyone, thebarriers to creating and publishing content are near zero.Here are some greatexamplesofcompaniesbuildinganAlphaAudiencethroughinvolvement:

GoPro8:Thiscompanysellssmallvideocamerasthatcanbemountedonyourbodyorvehicle(well…anythingreally)tocaptureyouractivities(likeacameraonahelmetwornwhenskydiving).Thetagline“Capture+ShareYourWorld”isthecoreofitsmarketingtheme.GoProhasbecomeoneofthehighest-performingbrandsonYouTube,acalculationbasedonpopularity,timeonsite,repeatviewership,andshares.WhenyoulookthroughGoPro’sYouTubechannel,youfindvideosofeverythingfrompeoplejumpingoffofroofstoafiremansavingakitten.GoPro’scustomer-evangelismstrategyistocuratevideosfromusersofitsproductsand

broadcastthemonYouTube.NotonlydoesGoProprovideaplaceforauthenticadvocatestosharetheirmostenthrallingmoments,butitschannelisagreatwayforpotentialuserstoseetheproductsinaction.FiskarsScissors:Howdoyouignitepassionaboutsomethingasmundaneasscissors?Withpeoplewholovescissors,ofcourse!Afteraboutayearofresearch,Fiskarsdecidedtherewasanopportunitytocreatecommunityaroundagroupofpeoplewhoarepassionateaboutscrapbookingandthetoolstheyuseintheirhobby.Partoftheprocessinvolvedturningtheirblogovertocustomers—fourlead“Fiskateers,”whosparkedascrapbookingmovementthatnowincludesstoreappearancesandconventions.LettingtheirAlphaAudienceleadthecontentstrategyhashelpedthecompanydramaticallyincreasepositivebrandawareness,loyaltyandsales.UrbanOutfitters9:Theretailchainhasasuccessfulsocialmediafranchisewithits#UOOnYouinitiative.Thiscampaigninvitesshopperstouploadandtagphotosofthemselveswearingbrandedclothes.Theretailerselectsphotostofeatureonitswebsite,Instagram,Tumblr,andproductpages.Theshoppergetstobeamodel,othershoppersareinspiredbytheseauthenticstyles,andforcurrentitems,theimageslinkbacktoOU’se-commercetomakethemshoppable.J.Crew:TheretailernoticedthatshopperswerepostingonlinephotosofoneofitsmostpopularMadewellbags—atransporttote—andlaunchedacontestencouragingthemtotagtheimages#totewellforachancetobefeaturedincompanyadvertising.Evenafterthecontestclosed,themostloyalshopperscontinuedtoaddphotosandartfulimagestotheirsocialprofilesandtothebrand’svariousonlineoutlets.Notonlydidtheeffortgeneratecontentandbuzz,buttheeffortwasagoodwaytoidentifynewAlphaAudiencemembers.TourismAustralia:JesseDesjardinscallshimselfcommunitymanagerandleaderof“theworld’slargestsocialmediateam.”HisagencyreceivesthousandsoffanphotosubmissionstopostontheTourismAustraliaFacebookpage,oneofthelargestdestinationsitesintheworld.It’snotunusualfortheiramazingphotostogettensofthousandsofLikesandshares.TourismAustraliaoutperformseveryothertourismboardintheworld,anditaccomplishesthatbasedontwoprimaryingredients:user-generatedcontentandcommunityco-creation.Desjardinstoldme,“Weaimtomakeouraudiencetheheroofoursite.”MedtronicDiabetes10:Acompanythatmanufacturesdiabetesmanagementproductsdoesn’thaveanewproducttoannounceevery

month.Itdoes,however,havealargeandactiveconsumerbase.Peoplewithdiabeteswanttohearfromotherpeoplewithdiabetes.Theydon’twanttohearyetanotherdoctorgivingadvicein“medicalspeak.”Medtronictapsintothataudienceandregularlyasksforstories,resultinginawareness,news,andsales:Nearly300customershavesharedstoriesandphotos.Over80percentofcustomershavegivenMedtronictherightstousetheirstoriesandphotosinothermedia.Their“ShareYourStory”Facebookappisresponsibleforatwo-to-oneincreaseinreturnoninvestmentintheeffort.

TheEscalatorAudiencemodelAsyoucanimagine,theideaofcreatinganaudienceofsuperfansisrelevanttoalmost any industry, but perhaps none has been so intensely studied as sportsmarketing…whereyourjobliterallydependsoncreatingfans.

In a study on sports fan loyalty,11 researchers found four stages of “fan-hood:”1)non-fans;2) light fans;3)mediumusers;and4)heavyusers.Heavyusers (the Alpha fans) contribute 80 percent of the revenue to a sports teamthroughticketsalesandmerchandisepurchasesbutmakeup20percentorlessofthetotalfanbase.

Thestudyproposeddistinctmarketingstrategiesaimedatallfourusergroupswith the purpose of moving fans “up the escalator” from one segment to thenext.Themodelemphasizestheimportanceofsatisfyingthedifferentneedsofeachgroupwhilepromotingmovementtothenextlevel.

Thestrategyfornon-fans(ornon-consumers,ifyoulike)isdevotedentirelytoawarenessthroughpromotion(whichisthefocusofChapter8).Howdoyouletpeopleknowyourcontentexists?Whatvalue is therefor themto try it? Insportsmarketingterms,thegoalistogetpeopletoattendonegame.Iftheyliketheexperience,chancesaretheymightbecomea“lightconsumer.”

Thenextjobisidentifythosewhohaveattendedonegame—orhavehadaninitial experience with your content—and provide incentives to increase thefrequency of their attendance, or in your case, content consumption. Somecommontechniquesinthedigitalmarketingworldincludeofferingfreecontentlike training videos, webinars, and eBooks in exchange for signing up for anewsletter or subscribing to a content channel. This is the process of turningweaklinksintostrongerlinks.

As light users in your audience attend additional events or become more

regular consumers of your content, they become medium users. Theseconsumers have some interest in you and have probably subscribed to yourcontentchannels.Perhapstheyevenengageinsocialtransmissionatthispoint.The marketing objective with this group is to increase the psychologicalcommitment and get them to identify with a person, brand, or company in adeeper, more emotional way. This is the hardest part: You probably can’t getmediumconsumerstobeloyalfansthroughcouponsoreBooks.Ittakesconstantreinforcement that their psychological commitment is acknowledged andrewarded.

Thereisanotheraspecttoachievingthisfinalstageoffandom…andthat’shope.

TheChicagoCubsareiconicintheirfutility.TheyhavenotwonabaseballWorldSeriessince1908.Andyettheyhavesomeofthemostdedicatedfansintheworld,fillingWrigleyFieldandbuyingmillionsinmerchandiseeverylosingseason.

How is it possible for a team with so little accomplishment to remain sopopular?Whywouldapersonemotionallycommitthemselves—forgenerations—toabrandassociatedwithfutility?Ofcoursepartoftheanswerisemotionalattachmentbutanotherpartisthateachspring,theseasonstartsoverandeveryteamisonequalfooting,atleastforafewdays.Thereisalwayshope;thereisalwaysnextyear.As longas the teamowners field a competitive teamwithaglimmerofhope,thefandomcanpersist.

There’salessonhereformarketers,too.Onefamousexecutiveoncetoldmethatpeoplekeepcomingbacktohiscontentyearafteryearbecausetheywanttobelikehim.“Thevastmajorityofthemwillneverachievethat,”hesaid.“ButaslongasIkeepgivingthemhopethatyes,itcanbedone,theykeeppayingmeformyappearancesandbooks.”

These are interesting ideas for brands: How do you attract your bestcustomersandmostloyalfansbydispensinghope?WhatwoulditmeantoyourbusinessifyoumethodicallyattractedanAlphaAudienceasloyalasaCubsfanwhowillstickwithyoueventhrough“losingseasons?”

CreatingyourAlphaAudience:Lessonsfromtheexperts

Sofar,thispieceoftheContentCodehasbeenaboutthescienceofbuildinganaudience, but there are also elements of art, perhaps even magic, involved. I

asked some of themost successful digitalmarketers on earth how they do it.Whataretheirsecretstobuildinganactionable,loyalaudiencewhoisreadytoignitecontent?

“Aboveall,beinteresting.”– David Meerman Scott, bestselling author of 10booksincludingTheNewRulesofMarketingandPRManypeoplesteepedinthetraditionofproductadvertisingnaturallyfeeldrawntoprattleonandonabouttheirproductsandservices.ButIhavenewsforyou.Nobodycaresaboutyourproductsandservices(exceptyou).Yes,youheardthatright.What people do care about are themselves and howyou can solve theirproblems. People also like to be entertained and to share in somethingremarkable. In order to have people talk about you and your ideas, youmustresist the urge to hype your products and services. Instead, create somethinginterestingforyouraudience.

“Buildthesmallestpossibleaudience.”– Seth Godin, marketing author, speaker, andentrepreneur12Ifyourworkgoesviral,ifitgetsseenbytensofmillionsofpeople,sureyoucanprofitfromthat.Butmostofthetime,itwon’t.Mostof the time,you’llaimtodelightthemassesandyou’llfail.

I’mgladthatsomepeoplearebusytryingtoentertainusinasillywaynowand then. But it doesn’t have to be you doing the entertaining—the odds arestackedagainstyou.

It’ssomucheasiertoaimforthesmallestpossibleaudience,notthelargest,to build long-term value among a trusted, delighted tribe, to create work thatmattersandstandsthetestoftime.

“Establishacommunionofequals.”–MarcusSheridan,PresidentofTheSalesLionWhen it comes to fans and community, there is an essential key I thinkmanypeopleandbusinessesmiss,andhere it is:Asacontentcreator, it’sNOTyourgoal to sound smart. Furthermore, it’s NOT your goal to put yourself into ahigherspherethanthatofyouraudience.Rather,thegoaliscommunion.Inother

words,whateveryousayallowsthemtonodtheirheadandsay,“Igetit.Isee.”Mysuccess inbuildingcommunitieshasbeenabi-productofmyobsession tofind this audience communion, all thewhile communicating and teaching in awaythatestablishestheaudienceasanequal.

“Speaktooneperson.”–BernadetteJiwa,authorofMarketing:ALoveStoryBefore I sit down towrite I think about one person. I don’t think about “myaudience”as“myaudience,”Ithinkaboutasingleindividualandwheretheyarein theirday, in theirwork,and their life.Thispracticehelpsme tounderstandthatImustalwaysrespecttheirtime,nevertaketheirattentionforgranted,andalwaystrytoprovidevalue.IconsiderwhytheyshouldtheycarethatthispostexistsandwhyitwillmattertothemandhowIwouldconnectwiththemiftheyweresittingrightnexttome.That’salongwayofsayingIsimplyspeaktooneperson.

“Publishwithempathy.”–JonathonColman,contentstrategistforFacebook13Manycompaniesputupdisplaysallovertheofficethatarefilledwithanalytics,data,andmilestonemetrics.Butwhataboutfeedbackfromthepeopleusingyourcontent?Youcandisplaythat,too.Andwhileyoucanbuildmetricsaroundthisfeedback(sentiment,influence,comments/hour,etc.),it’sevenmorepowerfultodisplaypeople’sactualcommentsdirectlyonscreen.Followthatupbybuildingrapidworkflowstosolveproblemsandyou’reputtingempathyintoaction!

“Don’tpublishwhenyou‘should.’”– Scott Stratten, author and President ofUnMarketingMonthly,weekly,daily.Intheafternoon.Inthemorning.

When you ask people how often they should produce content, the answeralwaysendsupbeingaboutaspotonthecalendar.Itusedtobebiweeklyintheolddays.Thenitbecameweeklyandnowitseemstobemultipletimesaday.Three blog posts a week. Ten tweets a day. Five Instagram pics and oneFacebookpostanhour.Withapicture.Andamotivationalquote.

ButnotevenoncehaveI,oryou,sharedapieceofanotherbrand’scontent

becauseitwas“Tuesdayat2p.m.”orbecauseitwasapicturewith10percenttextonFacebook.Peopleshareemotions.Whenyouevokethat,peoplereact.

Thesurestwaytocreatetheoneemotionthatdoesn’tleadtosharingcontent—apathy—istosendoutcontentbecauseyou“should.”

“Nevertaketheaudienceforgranted.”– Ann Handley, author of Everybody Writes andContent Rules, Chief Content Officer ofMarketingProfsI think of my fans and audience in terms of a kind of value exchange thatexpressesitselfintwoways:

First:IswhatI’mdeliveringofvaluetothem?IsthecontentI’mpublishingsomethinguseful thatwill resonatewith thepeopleI’mtrying toreach?(Oratleast…someofthem?)Willithelpthem?Makethemsmarter,moreinformed,inspired,orperhapsentertained?

Second:Is itsomethingthat they, inturn,willwanttosharewiththeirownaudiences?WillthevalueI’mprovidingdelightthemenoughthatthey’llwanttosharewhatI’veshared,inotherwords?

Inherentinthisisanideathat’scoretowhatIbelieveaboutanycontentmoregenerally:Thatpublishingisaprivilegeandshouldnotbesquandered.Istartedmycareer in print journalism.And that sensibility frommy journalism schooldays of “No one has to read this,” continues to influence and inform what Ipublishtothisday.

“Connectingcontent,people,andconferences.”–LeeOdden,CEOofTopRankMarketingAkeystrategyforconvertingweaksocialmedialinkstostrongconnectionsforme is attending conferences. I try to get involved as deeply as I can inconferencesIattend,evencreatinguniquecontentforandabouttheseevents.Iwanttocreateapositive,intelligentandcreativeexperienceforthepeoplewhoare involved so they come to know, “That Lee guy, he does this interestingthing.”Youknowwhat,insixmonthsorninemonths,thatturnsintosomething.

The content moves through paid channels, organic channels, throughnetworking, through personal inspiration becausewe’re all creating this reallyneat thing for a conference thatwe’re all a part of. It’s not just some sort ofplastic manufactured thing. It really is kind of cool and organic and crowd-

sourced.Thatmoves content but I’malso really amazed at how it strengthensconnectionswiththepeopleIgettomeet.Thathasbeeninstrumentalinbuildingmyaudience.

“Don’ttakethepartyline.”– Dorie Clark, columnist for Forbes and HarvardBusiness Review and author ofReinventing You andStandOutAsaformerjournalist,Itrytoprovidereaderswith“news”—thoughinsteadofthepoliticalreportingIdidinthepast,it’smoreinthe“newsyoucanuse”vein.Iwant tomake sure each piece of content has interesting takeaways and thatpeoplefeellikethey’velearnedsomethingfromit.IalsotrytofocusonwhatIfindgenuinelyinteresting.

IneverythingIwrite,Itrytofindthepartthat’smostfascinatingandunique,andthat’softennotthepartyline,butinsteadthemistakesandtheaftermathandhow we grow from them. That’s the case with my writing, too, and I try tomention setbacks that I’ve experienced, like getting turned down for somefellowships,or evenhow Igot startedonmybookbecause Iwas laidoff andneededtoreinventmyselfprofessionally.Thishonestybuildstrustandaudiencebonds.

“Connectthecommunity.”–GiniDietrich,CEOofArmentDietrich14Thecommunitymagicdoesn’thappenwhenyoubegintogetcommentsonyourcontent. It happens when those people begin talking to each other. This isn’tsomething that can be created or forced. It happens organically. But there arethingsyoucandotohelpthecommunitygrowandencouragememberstobeginbuildingrelationshipswithoneanother.

If you spend some time online talking to the people who can influencepurchasedecisions, you canprovide the foundation for your community.And,whenyoudoitthisway,itbecomesmuchmorethanengagement.

Youbuildavirtualsalesforcethatisn’tonyourpayroll.Youbuildgoodwill.You build trust among a group of people whowill go to bat for you in a

crisis.Youbuildareferralnetwork.

Andyoubuildrelationshipswithhumanbeingswhowillnotonlybuyfromyou,butwillbecomeyourbiggestadvocates.

Think about it from this perspective: Just like you, prospects, candidates,customers,journalists,andbloggerswanttobenoticed.Theywanttoknowtheircommentsorcontentresonates.Theywantyoutoacknowledgeit,shareit,andhelptheirvoicesbeheard.Helpthemdothat.

“Bereal.”–JoyceCherrier,healthandwellnesswriterIlookforwaysthatIcanactivelybesupportiveandencouragingtothepeopleinmy audience, while providing a positive, not-so-conventional picture of whathealthy living is all about. I like to use my own photos, and my personalexperiences to create content, aswell as share the contentofothers that I feelwill be of benefit. Making my content as personal and applicable to life aspossiblemakesmycoreaudiencefeelmorelikeoldfriendswhoIliveandgrowwith,andIbelievethat’sakeyelementforanybrand.

“Establishacommondream.”–GuyKawasaki,digitalevangelistandauthor15Want tochange theworld?Upset thestatusquo?This takesmore thanrun-of-the-millrelationships.Youneedtomakepeopledreamthesamedreamthatyoudo.

“Aimforallies,notfans.”–ChrisBrogan,CEOofOwnerMediaGroupEvery content creator has a core groupof passionate peoplewho are the oneswhowillbuyyourbooksandshareyourcontentfaithfully.Whatdoyoudothatattractsandnurturesthatcoreaudienceoffans?

First,Itrynottohavefans.Iseekallies.Fansaregreatinsofarastheyspendmoneyorsomething,butalliesadvancethecause.Mygoalisservice,andtobeabletoservethefolksIhavethepleasuretoserve,Ihadtoattractthemtome.How did I do that? I created information and ideas that resonated with theirinterests, goals, and desires. Inmy case, I believe that sharingwhat I believedrawsotherswhobelievesimilarly tofindme.It’s likeshining theBatSignal.My goal is to serve, so I have to show “serving suggestions.” Once peopleunderstandhowIcanhelpthem,theytendtostickaround.

“Givethemeverything.”– Mark Schaefer, the author of the book you’rereadingrightthisminuteI’dliketoconcludethischapterwithataleoftwofamousperformersandhowoneofthemtaughtmehowtobuildmyAlphaAudience.

RecentlyIwasfortunateenoughtoattendtwoconcertsinoneweek.ThefirstwasArtGarfunkel,thelegendarysingerofSimonandGarfunkelfame.Hefilledamodest,1,000-seathallandperformedwithaloneguitaristtoaccompanyhisiconicvoice.

His show was very “me-centric.” He complained a lot. He publiclyembarrassedapersonforopeningadoorinthebackoftheauditorium,claimingthatitbrokehisconcentration.Hetoldastoryofhowhehumiliatedanaudiencememberfortextingduringhisshow.Wecametohearhisfamoussongsbutoverthe course of 90 minutes, he didn’t sing many of them, instead filling timereading his own poetry from note cards. He didn’t allow any video orphotography, and in an extreme measure, a security officer reprimanded anaudiencememberfortakingaselfiebeforetheshowevenstarted.

Thenextnight,mywifeand Iwent to seeKeithUrban.Whenhe took thestage,15,000screamingfanstookpicturesandvideostocelebratethismagicalmoment, an explosion of sound and light and video images. Some held signsshowingthecountofhowmanyconcertstheyhadattendedorhowfartheyhadtraveled.AtonepointUrbanwalked through thecrowdandclimbed thearenastepssoevenpeopleinthehighestseatscouldgetalookathim.Alongtheway,hegrabbedphonesandposedforselfies,nevermissingabeat.Whenhereachedthetopofthearena,heunstrappedhisguitar,signedit,andhandedittoayoungfan. He played and danced and ran around the stage until he was clearlyexhausted ... and then he continued for another 30 minutes to make sure hecoveredeveryhitfromhissongbookandmore.

Whentheshowwasoverandthelightswentup,Iwasamazedtolookbackandseethisglobalsuperstarsittingontheendofthestagebyhimself,drippingwithsweatandsigningautographs.

AndhereiswhatIthought:ThatmangiveshisfansEVERYTHING.Thecontrastbetweenthetwoperformanceswasmorethanalessonreally.It

wasaninspiration.I left thinking,“That iswhatIhavetodotoearnanAlphaAudience.Thisiswhatisrequiredinanoisy,competitiveworld.Ihavetogivemyaudienceeverything.”

Andsodoyou.

CHAPTERSIX

BorrowingTrust

“Trustistheglueoflife.”–StephenCovey

Beforewemoveon to thenextelementof theBADASSjourneyanddiscoverthe role of the Heroic Brand in content transmission, let’s cover one moreimportantaspectofAlphaAudiencedevelopment.Ifyou’reinasituationwhereyouneedmarketingtractionquicklyandyoudon’thavethetimeittakestobuildanAlphaAudience,canyouborrowone?Influencemarketing—aplantofindwaysfortrustedonlinepersonalitiesand

experts to become advocates who spread your content—is real, and it’simportant.Astraditionalmethodsofreachingamassaudiencedryuporbecometoocompetitive,connectingtoa“borrowed”audiencehasbecomeamainstreammarketingstrategy.

This is a marvelous, inspiring period of history when you can shed thetraditionalburdensofauthorityandbuildtrueinfluenceonthewebthroughyourownmerits.Ontheweb,nobodycareswhereyouwenttocollegeorhowmuchmoneyyouhave.Thecolorofyourskinoryourbodymassindexdon’tkeepyoufrom connecting to people on your own terms.Your ability towalk or run orevenspeakdoesn’tmatterbecauseyoucanpublish.

The halls of online influence aren’t on Wall Street or Downing Street orMadisonAvenueanylonger.It’sinacaféinBerlin.It’sinacollegeclassroominWisconsin.It’sinmyofficeinalittlelake-sidevillageinTennesseewhereI’mwriting this book. It could even be in the chair you’re sitting in right now, aslongasyouhaveaconnecteddeviceandanInternetconnection!

Companiesarelearningtoidentifyandtapintotheconversationsofthenewcoolkidsontheblock—theelitefewwhonotonlycreatecontent,butigniteit.

Like any trend that gets popular quickly, influence marketing is gettingstretched and deformed to the point where it’s hardly recognizable as alegitimatemarketingchannelanymore.Icouldfillanotherbookwithbestand

worstpracticesoninfluencemarketing,butforthefocusedpurposeofthisbook,Iwanttoemphasizethatsimplygettingimportantpeopletoshareyourcontentdoesn’t necessarily translate into business success. I’m going to illustrate thatpointwithastoryandthen,justwhenyou’reconvincedinfluencemarketingisnotforyou,I’mgoingtoshowyouhowitisforyou.I’mthatsneaky.I’mlikeacobrahiddenintheinfluencemarketingbrush.

ThedownsideofviralLikeeverynewblogger,mydreamofsuccessmeantgettingabusinesssuperstarto sharemycontent. Iwasconvinced thatvalidationwouldchangeeverythingand propel me into the sunny skies of Internet fame and fortune. About twoyearsintomybloggingcareer,tomysurpriseanddelight,mydreamcametrue.OneofmyblogpostswastweetedbymarketingsuperstarGuyKawasaki,whohasaTwitterfollowingroughlythesizeofFrance.

Assoonashetweetedthepost(onaFriday)mytrafficsurged,andovertheweekendthenumberofpeoplefindingmysitewas500percentgreaterthanthenormal rate. Briefly, the Guy-traffic crashed my server and shut down mywebsite.Lookatme—Iwentviral!

When you go viral, you naturally reach a lot of new people outside thecomfortable“normal”audienceyou’vebuiltovertime.Infact,about98percentofthetidalwaveofreadersoverthatweekendhadneverbeentotheblogbefore(somethingthat iseasilydeterminedthroughafreeanalyticsprogram).Ihadafullweekendofblogtourists!

Guyandhisaudiencehadnoconnectiontome,andthenewpeoplevisitingmy site had no reason to stay around after their nanosecond of curiosity hadsubsided.Therewasnolastingimpactfromthattrafficspike.AsfarasIcouldtell,Ididn’tevengetonenewsubscriberfromthebiggestsingledayeveronmyblog, up until that point. Bottom line: There were no discernible businessbenefitsfromasuperstarignitingmycontent.

NowthatI’vemoderatedyourexpectationsaboutgettingacelebritytomakeyoufamousandsuccessful,it’stimeforthecobratostrike.Becausedonewell,thereareindeedsignificantbenefitsyoucanachievebyignitingcontentthrougha“borrowed”audience.

Threetypesofinfluencers

Before we get into the tangible benefits of social influence marketing, it’simportant to know that not all influencers are alike and not all influencers fiteverybusinesssituation.“Influence”tendstobejammedintoonebigcategorywheninfact,it’snuanced.Considerthisbreakdownofthreetypesofinfluencerandhowtheymightimpactacontentignitionstrategy.

TheCelebrity

KimKardashianwillhappilypromoteyourcontentfor$200,000pertweet.Thatkindofpromotionmightseemsilly,butitalsoworks…andithasformorethanacentury.

AccordingtoThomasMickey,anadvertisingandPRindustryhistorian, thefirst paid celebrity endorsers were probably the stars of P.T. Barnum’s circustroupe in the19th century. “Barnumwouldhavehismostpopular clowns andentertainersgoinadvancetothenextcity,”hesaid.“Theywouldbethefacesonthepostersandthenewspaperadsanditwasquiteeffective.Thatwasthefirstexample of using the power of a character in the media of the day to get aconsumertotakeaction.”

Whenmotionpicturesand radiowere introducedat the turnof thecentury,technologybecametheenablerofaneweraofcelebrity…andcompanieslovedhavingtheseglamorousstarsusetheirproducts.Celebrityendorsementsbecamecommonplace and the most popular program hosts and stars would simplymentiontheshow’ssponsorduringthebroadcastasameansoffundingthemassmediaentertainment.CompanieslikeProctorandGamble,Johnson&Johnson,andKraftbuilttheirbusinessesbyfunnelingmillionsofdollarsintothehandsofnewly emerging advertising agencies,who eagerly lined up celebrity talent topromotethehouseholdproducts.

Themostpopularstarsoftheera,CharlieChaplinandAmericanbaseballstarBabeRuth,endorsedeverythingfromcigarettestocereal.Ruth’spopularityasapitchmangrew to thepoint thathisearnings fromadvertising farexceededhissalary as an athlete. He was the first individual in history who had to hire abusinessmanagerandanaccountantjusttokeeptrackofallthemoneyhewasmakingfromhispaidproducttestimonies.

Today many companies still align themselves with stars. These celebritieshavevastaudiencesandmaynotevenhaveadeepconnection to theproductsthey’re promoting.And the cost?Well, formost businesses, it’s simplyout ofreach.Aligningwithacelebritycanalsobe risky,asdozensofbrands learnedwhengolfstarTigerWoods’personallifeturnedscandalousanddominatedthenewsandpublicopinion.

TheNicheInfluencer

The niche influencer is theweb starmost sought-after today by agencies andmarketers. These influencers are powerful, self-made industry leadersconsistently creating content to establish their authority and expertise.They’retech, food, photography, and car bloggers; the most popular Pinterest starsposting about travel, recipes, and style; and the YouTubers and Viners withmillionsoffollowerspromotingeverythingunderthesun.

Most of these people are only famous because of their content. Theymayhave a medium-to-weak connection to your actual product because they’reoverwhelmed with requests from every brand in the category. Some mommybloggersevenhaveagentsandsix-figure-incomesfromtheirsponsorshipdeals.It’slikelythistypeofinfluencerwillwanttobecompensatedforsupportingyou,eitherdirectlyorindirectly.

Carelessmarketersmightconfuseaudiencesizewithinfluence.It’seasyforcompanies to swoonover largenumbersofTwitterorFacebook fans (thinkoftheimpressions!).Butdoesthenicheinfluencerreallyinfluencethesefollowers?Recallthestoryof“weaklinks”andmyrequestforcharitydollarsinChapter5.Theansweris“no.”It’sunlikelythesefolkscanlegitimatelydriveactionsimplybecause they have a large following without true niche expertise and deepaudienceconnection.

Whilepopular andbusy, the truenichecelebrities aremoreaccessible thantheHollywood-type influencers and incrediblebrand synergycan result if youcanbefriendthemandturntheminto…

TrueAdvocates

Trueadvocatesneednoconvincingorcajoling.Theyalreadyloveyouandcan’tgetenoughofwhateveryou’redoing.ThisistheAlphaAudiencethatisdifficulttofindandassemble,buttheywillprobablystickwithyouforeverifyoutreatthemright.

Your true advocatesmight be the teenwhomakes videos of her shoppingspree at your store, the skateboarderwho is never seenwithout his can ofDrPepper,oreven thequiet fan in therealmsofdarksocialmediawhoworshipsyourworkquietlyandtalksaboutitwithherfriendsandfamily.

These are the peoplewhohave always been at the heart ofword-of-mouthmarketing success. Years ago, they were your neighbors, the local powerbrokers,alaborleader,ortherespectedbusinesssage.Asmarketswentglobal,itbecamemore difficult to accurately knowwho or where these power brokers

were,butwith the incredibleanalyticsavailable fromInternetdata, thereareanumber of reliable free or low-cost tools available to track influentialconnectionsbytopic,industry,andregion.Combininganalyticswithobservationand insight can provide a historically important opportunity for you to learnabout influential new advocates who can help spread your message and yourcontent.

BenefitsofborrowedtrustWorking on an influencer outreach plan to ignite content is essential tomanybusinessestodayandcertainlyastrategythatcanproviderapid,repeatable,andsustainable benefits. Here are some of the deliverables that can come frominfluenceroutreach:

Authenticadvocacy:Ifyoucanestablishalong-termconnectionwithaninfluencerthatresultsinastrongrelationshipandtrueadvocacy,thereisprobablynoothermoreeffectivewaytoigniteyourideasandproducts.Forexample,ChobaniYogurtdoesanexcellentjobreachingouttoinfluencersinanauthenticandhelpfulway.Onefriendhasrepeatedlyreferredtothebrandincasestudies,recommendations,andblogpostssimplybecausehehastrulycometolovethebrand.Fasttraction:OneofthechallengesofbuildinganAlphaAudienceisthatittakestime—oftenalongtime.Ifyou’restartingfromscratchanddon’thavethetime,gettingyourmessageoutthroughatrustedinfluencercanpotentiallygiveyourbusinessajoltinahurry.RobertScobleisoneofthemostfamoustechbloggersintheworld.Afewyearsago,hequadrupledthetraffictoastart-upcompany’ssitewithoneblogpost—overaChristmasweekend!Socialproof:Chapter9explorestheideaofvalidationthroughassociation,orsocialproof.Havingyourbrandassociatedwithawell-knownauthoritycanhelpaugmentyourreputationinstantly.Ifthey’retrusted,thenyou’retrusted.Awareness:WhenFordlaunchedtheFiestabrand,theycreatedasocialmedia“FiestaMovement.”Onehundreddigitalinfluencerswereselectedandgiventhekeystoacarforsixmonths.TheseFiestaagentscompletedmonthlychallenges,postedvideos,andbloggedabouttheirexperiences.Thecampaign,mastermindedbyScottMonty,wasspectacularlysuccessful.Byusingsocialinfluencers,FordexposedtheFiestanametoanew

generationofusers(thenamehadbeendefunctintheU.S.formorethanadecade).Thecampaigngained6.2millionYouTubeviews,750,000Flickrviews,and40millionTwitterimpressions.Mostimportantly,itsinglehandedlybroughttop-of-mindawarenessfortheFiestatoakeydemographic—132,000driverssignedupforupdatesonthecarandmorethan6,000preorderedtheautomobile,anexceptionallystrongshowingforaneweconomycar.Accesstonewchannels:Inthepastfewyears,newchannelshaveemergedthatprovideaccesstovaluablenichedemographics.Theproblemis,howdoesacompanybuildandmaintainaudiencesrapidlyoneveryoneofthoseplatforms?JuanPabloZuritaisabusiness-savvyteenheartthrobwhobuiltamassiveAlphaAudienceonVineandSnapchatthroughhishilariousandengagingvideos.BrandslikeCokearegainingexposureinthesehighlydesirablenichesbysponsoringhimandaccessinghisaudienceof1millionadoringfans.Newmarketsexposure:Combiningproductswithinfluencerscanigniteinterestfromnewcustomergroups.WhenAudiintroducedanewA8sedanintotheAmericanmarket,itheldspecialinfluencereventsacrossthenationtargetedatwell-knowntechanddesignbloggersinsteadofthetraditionalautomotivecrowd.Theyfiguredtheirrevolutionarycarwouldappealtothesediversethoughtleaders,andtheresultwasmassivecoveragethatconnectedthemwithnewaudiencesveryquickly.Cost-effectivereach:Ifyourgoalisexposure,inmostcases,influenceroutreachprovides“impressions”atacostthatismorefavorablethantraditionaladvertising.Feedbackloop:Testingideaswithinfluencersandtheiraudiencescanbeanefficientwaytorapidlyassessnewproductsandcontentideas.

So influence marketing has a lot of potential benefits, but it relies on astrategic, methodical practice, not blind luck. Building an audience ofinfluencerstakestime,too.

Groove,acompanythatprovideshelpdesksoftware,isaperfectexampleofexecutingan influencer strategywithprecision.Theywerea start-upcompanywithliterallynoaudience—andnotimetobuildanaudience—sotheyreliedonborrowing the audiences of others. The result? 5,000 new blog subscribers infiveweeks.Here’showtheydidit:1

1.Buildthe influencer list.Thecompanycarefullyconsideredwhichpotentialinfluencers connected to their target audience (web start-ups and small

businesses)andwhichofthoseleaderswouldbeabletogettruevaluefromtheircontent and service. This is a critical step.Most influencers are delugedwithspammyrequestsfortheirhelp,sodoingcarefulresearchupfrontgivesyouthebestshotatsuccess.

2.Forgerelationships.Influencersmayholdthekeystotheaudiencekingdom,butsimplymakingacoldpitchdoesn’twork.Grooveembarkedonaplantousethesocialnetworkstoconnectwiththemandmovebeyondtherelationalweaklink.Theirplan included tweets,blogcomments,blogpost shares,andemails.Hereareotherwaystoengagewithinfluencers:

Askforaquoteyou’lluseinyourarticle.Re-tweetthemconsistently.ProvidethemwitharecommendationonLinkedIn.Interviewthemforavideoorpodcast.Askthemforfeedbackonanidea.Linktosomethingtheywroteabout(theywillgenerallyseethis“pingback”).

3.TheAsk(part1).Bythistime,thepeoplefromGroovewereontheradaroftheirtargetinfluencersanditwastimetomakeamove.Buttheydidn’taskforafavor.Theyaskedforhelp—asubtleyetimportantdifference.Mostpeoplehaveahardtimesaying“no”toanhonestrequestforhelp.Thispleaincludedalinktotheirsite,arequestforfeedback,andemphasisonpotentialmutualbenefits.Using this technique,Grooveearnedan83percentpositiveresponserate fromthe influencers. “Help” is amore benign ask, andmore importantly, it helpedGroovestartrealback-and-forthconversationswithindustryexperts.

4.TheAsk(part2).Nowthatthecompanywasreadytolaunchtheirblog,theyneeded a push from their new influencer friends. Since this group had beeninvolvedinprovidingfeedbacktotheGrooveteam,theyhadabuilt-instakeinthecompany’ssuccess.Groovesentthesenewadvocatesalinktothefirstblogpostwitharequestforhelppromotingit.

5.Results!Not only didmost influencers promote the post, but almost all ofthemalsocommentedonthenewblog.Thislevelofresponseprovidedprooftonewvisitorsthattheblog(andcompany)hadtraction.In24hoursGroovehadacquired 1,000 blog subscribers, and by following up with consistent, high-qualitycontent,theyattractedmorethan5,000subscribersand535trialsign-ups

throughfiveweeksofbloggingefforts.Inthiscase,Groovemethodicallybuiltrelationshipswithinfluencersthatled

to measurable success. But there was another force at work here, too—thepowerful, magnetic attraction of involving key audience members in yourcontentcreationandtransmission.

As influence marketing has rapidly gained acceptance as a mainstreammarketingcompetency, thenumberofoptionsforhowtosucceedin thisspacehaveproliferated.

BuildinganinternalcompetencyDozensofnewplatformshaveemerged tohelpyoubuildyourowninfluencerlist, connectwith them, and nurture anAlphaAudience relationship.Like ourfriendsatGroove,with therightresourcesanda littleelbowgrease, there’snoreason thatevenasmallbusinesscan’t figure thisoutandmanage theprocessthemselves. In fact, aDIY approachmight provide an advantage over agencyoutsourcing because influencers appreciate the direct connection with keymembersofacompany.Remember,you’rebuildinglong-termrelationships,notrunningacampaignthatfluctuateswithaquarterlybudget.

Themost challenging part of the process is finding and nurturing the rightadvocates, especially in a very large company with thousands or millions ofcustomers. A thought leader in this enterprise-influencer space is ShreeDandekar, Senior Director of Product Management, BI Analytics for Dell.Dandekar’sphilosophyisthatcreatingadvocacymeansleadingcustomersonajourney,andthatcustomer journeyinvolvesmultiple touchpointswithcontentservingastheignitionateachintersection.

While it’s important to understand,measure, and shape social influence, itcanalsobeextremelycomplicatedforalargecompany.Toachievesuccessonamassive scale, youneed an assist from software that automates the collection,filtering,andanalysisofallthatdata.

“We use social analytics software based on Dell patented technology andintegrate it into all aspects of our business,”Dandekar said. “Even thoughweassessmorethan1.5milliononlineconversationsannually,wecandrilldowntoverygranularfeedbackinrealtime.”

This patented content assessment engine scores 150 different conversationcategories on an 11-point sentiment scale, enabling Dell and its customers tomakesenseofthevastamountofcustomerfeedbackandreactimmediately.Thecompany has also developed metrics to help them find the most important

advocates and accurately know where they are on their customer journey,allowingDelltotailortheircontent,messages,andresponsestoeachinfluencer.

“Essentiallywe’rescalinghumanconnection,”hesaid.“It’showwecreateacompany-wide strategy of customer centricity and direct feedback. Since thesoftware is constantly updating in real-time, we can accelerate customerfeedback and our response times. Once you’ve started to engage with yourinfluencersyoucan’tabruptlystopthatcommunication.It’scrucial tohavetheinfrastructureinplacetobeabletokeepthoserelationshipsmovingforward.”

Dandekar said another advantage of this approach is that feedback frominfluencers can be shared with all appropriate departments, including productdevelopment,qualityassurance,customercare,corporatecommunications,andinfluencerrelations.

Out-sourceinfluencerrelationsIn research I spearheaded for a client, we found that 85 percent of all U.S.advertisingandPRagenciesnowoffersomesortofinfluenceroutreachprogramfor their customers. Of that number, only a very small group—generally thelargest agencies—have developed their own proprietary methods to identifyinfluencers. Most agencies are using common software programs andmeasurementpracticesthatareavailabletoanyone.

Onedangerinusinganagencyisthatinaveryrealsenseyou’reoutsourcingacriticalbusinessrelationship.Ifyoucountonanoutsidecompanytodevelopthese relationships for you, you risk losing those connections if the agencydecides not to renew your contract. In fact, they could take your hard-earnedinfluencerstoacompetitor.

Ontheotherhand,thebenefitofoutsourcingisthatmanyagenciesnowhaveskilled staff members who can help you get up and running effectively andquickly so you can avoid a lengthy learning curve. Out-sourcing can beparticularlyeffectiveinacompanythatisresource-constrained,orasabridgetobuildinganinternalcompetency.

Hybrid/subscriptionapproachAhybridapproach is tosubscribe toasophisticated influencesoftwareservicelikeAppinions.Appinionshaspatentedtechnologythatscansthewebtoassessmillions of online publishing platforms and find your most relevant online

thought leaders, sliced and diced by many detailed variables. These servicesaren’t inexpensive, but they can save you months of work. If influencerconnections are key to your success, software like thismight be the edgeyouneedtogetuptospeedquicklyanddevelopacompetitiveadvantage.

Whilereadingthischapter,itmayhaveoccurredtoyouthatitcouldbefuntobeontheothersideoftherelationshipandbecomeaninfluenceryourself.Well,then.You’re going to love the next chapter in our content ignition adventure!HaveyouthoughtaboutbecomingaHeroicBrand?

CHAPTERSEVEN

TheHeroicBrand

“Whenpeoplebelievethatwhatyoubelieveiswhattheybelieve,theyturnyouintoabelief.”–MichaelBasseyJohnson

InChapter1,Isharedastoryaboutcontentignition—bloggerandentrepreneurChrisBrogan’s37-wordblogpostabouttalkingoverslidesthatwentviral.Thisexample doesn’t seem to follow any of the guidelines I’ve covered in TheContentCodesofar.Whydidthismodestsnippetofnon-epiccontentsetoffasocialsharingfirestorm?

It had nothing to do with the emotion of the content, clever headlines,shareability tricks, or theAlphaAudience, did it?But it had everything to dowiththeindividualwhocreatedthatcontent.Thischapterexplainshowcontentcanignitesimplybecauseofwhoyouare.It’sthe“B”intheBADASSformula—yourBrand.

Everyperson reading thisbookhasapersonalbrandbasedonwhatpeoplebelieve about you (not to be confused with the facts about you!). Do peoplebelieveyoutobequirky,dependable,passionate,creative,funny,driven,orshy?Thoseimpressionseventuallycoalescetoformyourbrand.Theimpressionsmayvaryslightlyfrompersontopersondependingonhowwelltheyknowyouandyourcompany,but there are likelygeneral themes that form the foundationofyourperceivedbrandacrossyouraudience.

Everythingyousayonline—andeverythingyoudon’tsay—contributestothestory about you that plays in people’s heads. While everyone has a personalbrand,noteverybodyhasaHeroicBrand thatcanputcontentsharingonauto-pilot.AndChrisBroganhasaHeroicBrand.Here’stheconnectionbetweenhispowerfulonlinepersonaandcontentignition,inhisownwords:

“Somepeoplesharecontentjustbecausetheybelieveinyouandwhatyou stand for. I believe there are three core elements of personalbranding,atleastforme,andtheyareveryintertwinedandrelated.

“First, I’m exactly who I am nomatter if you talk with me online,offline,inthelobbyofahotel,orbefore/during/aftermytimeonstage.Ithinkthatanintegrated(andtruetolife)personaisvital.Peoplecanno longer get away with being someone they’re not. It just doesn’twork.Atleastnotforlong.

“Second,Ibelievethatconnectingwithothersandservingthemisoneof the most important parts of personal branding. That’s a mistakemostpeoplemake.Yourbrandisn’texactlyaboutyou.It’sabouthowothers experience you. So Iwork hard to connect, to respond, to beavailable,andtoshowpeopleI’mjustlikethemforthemostpart.

“Finally, personal branding and connecting with people is aboutmakinginformationportableenoughthatotherscanmakeittheirown.I say two or three things over and over: Give your ideas handles(meaning, make it easy for others to take the ideas with them).EverythingIdoissteal-enabled(asmuchasIdislikeplagiarism,Ilovewhen people takemy ideas and runwith them—with a little credit).Brevity and simplicity are gold (most often, people try to convolutetheir ideas tomake themseemmore important than they are).Tobesimpleistobemoreopenandhonest.”

In the Alpha Audience chapter, Brogan characterizes his core audience as“allies”insteadoffans.Arethereprinciplestobuildingthissteadfastallegiancethat anyone can learn and activate? How does a person, company, or brandinspirefanaticismtothepointwhereitalmostdoesn’tmatterwhatcontentyoucreate?Howdoyouensureitignitesbecauseofwhoyouare?

TheHeroicBrandandthemagicofreciprocity1

A common but often ignored driver of both brand-building and socialtransmission is reciprocity,or theobligation to return favors. Indeed,whateverpowerstructureexistsonthesocialweb,it’softenbuiltonafoundationofsubtleindebtedness, an ability to create influence through an economy of favors.Online, as in the realworld, if somebodydoes us a favor,we feel a powerfulobligation to repay the debt. Sociologists such as Alvin Gouldner report thatthereisnohumansocietythatdoesn’tsubscribetothisrule.

Butadifferencebetweenindebtednessinthe“realworld”andontheInternet

is that it canbecreatedon thesocialwebwith littleornoeffort, evenby justclickinga“Like”buttononFacebook,orretweetingamessageforafriend.Inthesecases,expendingverylittleeffortcanstillcreateanexpectationthat if“Imovedyourcontent,youneedtomovemine.”

“Muchinfluenceonthesocialwebisbuiltonapromisedreturnoffavors,”saidTomWebster,vicepresidentofEdisonResearch.“Wecoexisteverydayonsmallfavors…likeifyouretweetthis,I’llretweetyours.I’lllikeyourpageifyou’lllikemine.Theefforttoaccomplishthesethingsislow—sotheyareeasilydone.”

“Tobemoreeffectiveatpromotingyour content,you firstneed tobecomemoreeffectiveatpromotingotherpeople’scontent,”saidInternetstrategistCarolLynnRivera.2“TheInternetisarelationshipeconomy.Youhavetogivetoget.Veryfewbloggersorbusinessesareatalevelwheretheywillhavetheircontentreadandsharediftheyareabsentfromtheprocess.

“Whatthatmeansisthatyouneedtobeinvolvedingettingtoknowpeople—other bloggers and business people, commenters, subscribers, Twitter andFacebook and even Pinterest connections. Everyone. When you build thoserelationships and when you share, promote, and comment on other people’swork inaway thataddsgenuinevalue, thenyourpresencewillbeknownandappreciatedand the sharingwillbe reciprocated.So Iguess thebottom line isthat if you want more success promoting your content then you have to stopfocusingonpromotingyourcontent.Refocusyoureffortsonothers.”

PerhapsthemostfamouspurveyorofreciprocityisauthorandmediamogulGary Vaynerchuk, who emphasizes a simple formula: “give, give, give, give,thenask.”(Orhislatestiteration:“jab,jab,jab,righthook.”)Thisisreciprocityinaction—tradinginonfavorstobuildsocialcapital.

Gary’s signaturemove is asking people throughTwitterwhat he can do tohelpthem—andhehasdonesomeprettycrazythings.Sendingapieovernight.Shippingbottlesofhotsaucetosomeonewhohadrunout.Deliveringaperson’sfavoritehamburgerjustbecausesheasked.

Thismightseemlikearandomwaytorunamediaconsultingbusinessunlessyou understand the strong need we have to fulfill an obligation. Gettingsomethingseeminglyforfreehassuchanimpactbecausewe’repsychologicallyobsessedwithrepayingthatfavor;wedon’tfeelthatweshouldrepay,butratherwefeelcompelledtorepay.

Yes,somepeoplemaytakeadvantageofGary’sapparentgenerosity,butmostof the time, the odds of reciprocity—via favors, gifts, invitations, and eventweets—areinhisfavor.

Expectationsofreciprocityareamplifiedonthesocialweb.Thereisaquid-

pro-quoeconomythatdrivesaconstantstateofobligation.Whenyougetdowntoit,youcreateauthoritythatisn’treallyearned—youbargainforit.

Vaynerchukbluntlyclaimshisstrategyisto“guiltpeopleintobuyingstuff.”3Canthatworkasalong-termstrategy?Isthatbuildingloyalty?Acommunity?Ishe building long-lasting relationships that lead to real business, or a house ofcardsbuiltonstunts?

Vaynerchuk found away tomonetize his guilt trips by building somethingthatcanlast.Butsometimesbreakingthecycleofreciprocityalsohasitsplace.Beingselflesshasapowerfulmultiplyingeffectonthesocialwebbecausegooddeeds aren’t just experienced by the recipient, but potentially countless otherswhoobservetheact,orperhapshearaboutit.

Ultimately, reciprocity can create both long-term influence and short-termleverage.Beingauthenticallyhelpfulandgivingofyourtimeandtalentwithoutan expectation of reward can have a multiplying effect as your goodwill isobservedandnotedbyothers.Andconnectionandinfluencemovescontent.

Beyondbuyingandinto“believing”The process of creating a heroic brand ultimately must move beyond thetransactional expediency of reciprocity.We also create emotional connectionswith our favorite bloggers, YouTubers, Pinterest pinners, and even companiesbecausetheystandforsomethingwebelievein.

Yousee,contentismuchmorethanasalestool,amarketingstrategy,ortheengine behind an SEO machine. The ability to publish anything, anywhere,anytime,foralltheworldtoseeisavaluableopportunitytoestablishconnectionwithyouraudiencesinanintimateway,inatrulyheroicway.

Wehavealwaysboughtfromthoseweknewandtrusted.Heroicbrandsintheyear1900mighthavebeenthedoctorwhotravelledthroughthenightbyhorsetohealasickchild,abankerwhobenttherulestohelpacustomerindesperateneed, or a carpenter who was willing to work for scraps of wood because acustomer’scashwastight.Weworkedwithpeoplewebelievedin,andwestuckwiththem.

Inourhearts,westillwantthat,butbusinessesmighthavelostthatfocusinaworldwhereit’ssoeasytopumpupquarterlysaleswithacouponoraquickTVpromotion.Withthedrip,drip,dripofconsistentcontent,youcanrecapturethepersonalconnectionattheheartoftheheroicbrand.

ApersonwhodeeplyunderstandsthisintimateconnectionisBernadetteJiwa,an acclaimedmarketing consultant and author. “Like many content creators I

thinkgenerosityisthekeytostandingapart,”shesaid.“Myaimhasbeentogivewithoutexpectinginreturn.

“Idon’tacceptsponsorshiporpaid links. I thinkpeople like thenon-salesyapproach;theytrustthatIamheretogivefirst,last,andalways.That’senabledme to build a lot of trust.When you give from a place of not taking, peoplereallydowanttogiveback.

“Iwriteaboutunderstandingyourcustomer’sworldview,aboutthatbeingthesecret tochanginghowpeople feeland the foundationofagreatbrandstory,”Jiwa said. “You either believe this or youdon’t.There is nomiddle ground. Ithinkstandingforsomethinginthiswaymeansthatpeoplelikeyou,thosewhosharethesamevalues,wanttojoinyou.”

Theone-wayheroMuchof the time, this intimate, content-earnedconnection isn’t two-way.Onemanwroteme,“Isawyougiveaspeechthreeyearsagoandhavefollowedyourblogeversince.Ihaveneverreachedouttoyoubefore,butIjustwantedtoletyouknowthatIamafanandIamsharingyourcontentinmyworkplacealmosteveryday.Weevenuseyourideasinourcustomermeetings.Iwantedtoletyouhowmuch Ihave learned fromyou,howmuch Iappreciateyour integrityandwhatyoustandforinthiscrazybusinessworld.”

Through themagic ofmy content alone I was able to form ameaningful,personalconnectionwithapersonI’veneverheardof,amanwholivedontheothersideoftheworld,infact.Howcouldthishavehappenedinanotherage?

Thisopportunityexistsforeveryone.Itdoesn’tmatterifyouhaveacollegedegree, an important job title, a fancy house, or political connections. Thosetrappingsofpowernolongermatter.Youcanbeaherotoyouraudiencethroughyoursincerehardwork,passion,anddedicationtoyourcontent.

Throughyourcontentyounotonlyshowwhatyousell,butwhoyouare.Thisis the difference between being a content producer and taking the first steptowardbecomingaHeroicBrand.Forexample,sportsfansorpeopleworkingonpoliticalcampaignsdon’tseethemselvesasbuyingintoaproduct.Theybelongtoalargermovement.Suchanidealalignswithanindividual’ssenseofselfanddriveshimorher toevangelize the team,product,orpersonwithalmostblinddedication.

“The inspired leaders and the inspiredorganizations, regardless of size andindustry, all think and act from the inside out,” said author Simon Sinek.4“However, most people sell, market, and communicate from the outside in.

Considerthetagline‘Wemakegreatcarsthroughgreatresearch.’It’snotterriblyinspiring. The best companies market from deep within their developmentprocess using their inner why and speaking directly to the heart of thefoundation.”

Sinekrefers toSteveJobs,whooncecommentedthathismosthatedwordswere “branding” and “marketing.” Former Apple marketing vice presidentAllisonJohnsonexplainedthatinthelateAppleCEO’smind,“peopleassociatedbrands with television advertising and commercials and artificial things. Themost important thingwaspeople’s relationship to theproduct.Soany timewesaid‘brand’itwasadirtyword.

“Marketing is when you have to sell to somebody,” Johnson said. “If youaren’tprovidingvalue,ifyou’renoteducatingthemabouttheproduct,ifyou’renot helping them get the most out of the product, you’re selling. And youshouldn’tbeinthatmode.”

CananypersonorcompanybecomeaHeroicBrand?OneofthemostprogressiveandhonestcommentatorsinmarketingtodayisJayBaer. Although well-known as a consultant, speaker, and author of the best-selling book Youtility, Jay is also a trusted voice of reason in the digitalcacophony.Wehadagreatdebateon thisquestion:Cananyoneget toapointwhere people share your content just because of who you are? His valuableinsightfollows:

“Every timeIpublishablogpost,approximately125people tweet itinstantlyusingsomesortofautomationprotocol.It’sgratifyingtobeso trusted that this group believes it is in their best interest toautomatically redistributewhat Iwrite.But I also find it frightening,andit’snotsomethingIwouldeverdomyself.

“WhileIcertainlytrytocreateappropriatecontenteverytimeIopenthe laptop to write, I know that some content is better than othercontent, the same way that not every batch of pulled pork is yourtastiest, and not every workout achieves a personal best. Byautomaticallysharingallofmycontent,thisgroupisindirectlysayingthatmyCgameisstillmeritorious.That’samazingtome,especiallyconsideringmyattitudescouldchange,Icouldjustbewrong(happensall the time), my blog could be hacked, and any number of other

calamitiescouldoccurthatwouldcausesomethingIpublishtobefarbelowanacceptablestandard.

“But that’s the power of content curation as a brand-builder. Thesepeoplebuildtheirbrandspartiallybysharingmystuff,andIbuildmybrandpartially because they are sharingmy stuff (and I, in turn, amsharing stuff created by other people). It’s a curation circle, and assomeonewho has greatly benefitted from that trend, I certainlywillnotindictituniversally.

“This is similar to how somemusicians, actors, and authors benefitfromaconsistenttrackrecord.IfanewRadioheadalbumcomesout,I’mbuyingit,period.I’llseeeveryJenniferLawrencemovie.I’llreadeveryBillBrysonbook.Whatweseeinsocialmediaisjustasmallerand less consequential version of this dynamic, accompanied bygreatly reduced economic stakes since social sharing requiresinvestment of trust capital, rather than the actual currency used topurchasemovietickets,digitaldownloads,orbooks.

“Ibelieve thecentralquestionhere isnatureversusnurture.Cananypersonwithsmarts,relevantexpertise,andanunyieldingcommitmentcreate relationships create a brand that would cause other people toautomaticallysharetheirwork?Ithinktheanswerisyes…andno.

“Ifullybelievethatjustaboutanybodycanachievealevelofsuccessbycreatingandsharingconsistentlygoodcontentabouttopicspeoplecare about, while also being wise and diligent about contentamplification and promotion. From scratch, you can make someonegood at content. However, can you take the same person under thesameconditionsandcoachtheminawaythattheyhavewhatyoucalla‘heroicbrand?’Idon’tthinkso,oratleastI’veneverbeenabletodoitforanyoneotherthanmyself.

“Ithinkthisisbecausecontent-drivensuccessisthesameasmusic,orart, or acting, or comedy, or golf, or any endeavor where you’recompeting as an individual. Competency can be learned. But thedistancefromcompetencytothenextlevel(heroicbrand,inthiscase)isactuallyfartherthanthedistancefromzerotocompetency.Youcanpickupgolf for thefirst timeat theageof45,puta tonof timeandeffortandmoneyintoit,andlearnhowtobeadecentgolfer.Youcan

learntoplaypianocredibly.Youcanlearntopaint.Youcanbecomeastrongcontentcreatorwhoisatrustedinformationresource.But,canyou just set your mind to it and end up as a professional golfer?Unlikely.Canyoujustdecidetoplaypianoandendupontheconcertstage? Unlikely. At some point, an aptitude layer, or the ‘it factor’kicksin,andthat’swhatallowspeopletomovefromverygoodtothehighestlevel.Thataptitudelayeriswhatbuildsaheroicbrand.

“GaryVaynerchukisaverysmartguy.Butmostofthetimehe’snotsayinganythingdifferentaboutbusinessandsocialmediathananyoneelse.However,hehasa styleandapersonality that setshimapart—charisma that most people don’t have. And it matters. Is JenniferLawrence the very best actress of her generation? She’s good,probablynotthebest.But,sheisextremelylikableinawaythatmostpeople(especiallycelebs)arenot.Itsetsherapart,anditmatters.AmIany smarter than most people creating marketing content anddispensingbusiness advice for a living?No.But, I’mabetterwriterthan average, I’m a better headline writer than most, I’m a betterspeakerthansome,I’mconsistentlikeraininSeattle,andforreasonsIdon’tfullyunderstandpeopletendtolikemeandwanttosupportme.

“You can learn to be good. But the It Factor determines if you’lltranscend that. And of course, your ‘it’ is totally circumstantial andoccupationallyspecific.WouldJenniferLawrencebethemostlikablecollege administrator? I doubt it. Would I be successful in music?Probably not, because my ‘aw shucks’ thing that works in businesswouldn’tbeacoolenoughvibetotranslateto‘it’inthatworld.

“So, thekeytobuildingaheroicbrandwithcontent isn’t justhavingthe ItFactor, because I think everyoneprobablyhas it in someway.Thekeyistofigureoutinwhichworldorsubcultureyourversionof‘it’isvalued,andplyyourtradethere.Findtheplacewherewhoyouare and how you communicate and comport yourself representssomethingapproaching the ideal for that subculture.That’s theplacewhereyourownversionoftheItFactorwilltakeyoufromcompetenttoaheroicbrand.”

SteppingtowardtheHeroicBrand

If youwork for a large company, at this point, youmight be thinking, “Whatdoes thishave todowithme?This isoutofmyhands.Anadvertisingagencydoesallthisstuff.”

Thebest-managedcompaniesarepushinghard tohumanize themselvesandemphasize theP2P (people-to-people) factor.They realize that building onlinerelationships can’t be a campaign that fluctuates with the annual budget. Thebest brands recognize that thenature ofmarketinghas fundamentally changedbecausetheexpectationsofconsumershavechanged.They’repeoplewhowanttobetreatedlikepeople,not“targets.”

I love this perspective from Linda Boff, GE’s executive director of globalbrandmarketing.5 “Most people still associate our brand with appliances andlighting,” she said. “But that’s a very, very small part of GE. We are earlyadopters;weareabrandthatisaboutinnovation,invention,discoveringthings.Andearlyadoptersarethekindofpeoplewewanttobetalkingto,thekindofpeoplewhomightwanttoworkatGE,orpartnerwithus,orinvestwithus.Andwewanttohumanizethecompany.Wewanttothrowopenthedoorsandbehavethewayapersonbehaves.”

Soyousee,buildingahumanandheroicbrandisimportantnomatterthesizeofyourcompany.

This chapter has covered a lot of ground, from the aptitude layer toreciprocity, from influence to the ItFactor.Let’s put it all together and codifysomepracticalstepstofindingandreleasingyourinnerhero.

1.Establishcongruity.There are a number of readers of my blog who share it with their audiencesalmosteveryday.Oneofthemisthemedia-savvyBrookeBallard,founderofBSquaredMediainNewYork.Sherecentlytoldmewhyshemakesthedecisiontosharemycontentsoregularly:

“My relationship with the author matters. I started to get to knowaboutyouthroughyourblog,asyouserveuplittleslicesoflifetoyourreaders.Wehearaboutyourtravels,yourlife,andyourfamily...andifusers are following you on social, they get other tantalizing bitesthroughactualpicturesofthosethings.Anentireportraitispainted—providing insight towhoyou really are.Maybe it’smyown love ofpsychographics and being human that leads to that connection, butveryfewpeopleletothersinthewayyoudo—withtruetransparency.

“Forme, tone also has something to dowith it,” Ballard continued.

“Your tone is similar to mine. You’re firm in your beliefs andteachings,butfairwhenotherscommentanddisagree.Yousimplyaddanotherlayertothelesson.ThishelpsmeshareyourcontentbecauseItrust you. I knowmy audience will learn something, they won’t bescoldedforhavingadifferentviewpoint,andtheywillbeencouragedto elaboratewhen they have questions orwant to knowmore. Yourwillingness to respond to comments on your posts helps peopleconnecttoyouinameaningfulandpersonalway.”

NearlyeveryexpertIinterviewedforthisbookmentionedtheimportanceofhonesty, trust, and congruity as the centerpiece of their brand strategy.Rememberthatadecisiontosharecontentisn’ttrivial.It’sanextensionofself-identity.Wefeelbettersharingcontentfromthoseweknowandtrust.Theonlyway to establish that through your content is to have the courage to revealyourselfandconnecttopeopleinanauthenticandmeaningfulway.

2.Bepreparedtodothework.Ifyoustudymanyofthegreatheroesinbusiness,sports,entertainment,oranyotherfield,you’llfindthattheyputinanincredibleamountofwork.Ifyou’reabusinessthatwantstoriseaboveandcapturetheheartsofapassionateaudience,you’regoingtohavetoexerttheefforttogetthere.

Ifyouwanttobeatthetopofyourfield,youcan’tdabbleinit.Youhavetoapproach this with an Olympian’s dedication. Olympic athletes practice theirsportsforhourseverydaywithoutfail.Areyouwillingtoputinthework?

3.FindyourItFactor.It’simprobablethatyou’reatruecelebrity.Ifyouare,Iwouldcertainlyliketohear about it so I can tell my mother. It’s also improbable that you’ll everbecomeatruecelebrity.However,it’scertainlypossibleforyoutohaveaheroicbrandwithinyourindustryniche.

It’shardforpeopletotalkaboutthisandperhapsevenhardertodefineit,butgreatleadersineveryfieldstayaheadbydoingthingsdifferently.Howcanyouownanareabyapplyingnewandcreativeideastotiredwaysofdoingbusiness?

Inthemovies,ourfavoriteheroeshaveabundantcourage.Welovethemevenmore if we see them overcoming adversity to achieve their status (Batman,Superman, and Spiderman were all orphans!). There is an important linkbetweencontent,brand,andcourage.

To standouton thewebyouneed tobeoriginal…and tobeoriginalyouhave only one choice—find the courage to dig down deep and infuse your

contentwithabitofyourpersonality,abitofyourowncreativity.Youhavenocompetitors.Thereisonlyoneyou.

4.Where’sthebreak?Mostpeoplewhoareatherostatushadabreakalongtheway,usuallythroughanestablishedmentorwhosawpotentialinthemandwaswillingtohelp.Don’tbeafraidtonetworkandaskforhelp,especiallyifyouhaverelationshipswithestablishedheroesinthefield.

5.Becomeaservantleader.Whileexchangingfavorsthroughreciprocityisapowerfulengineontheweb,Ithinkabetterviewof “giving”asa leadership strategy is expressedbyauthorandentrepreneurJamesAltucher6ashereflectedonthecommonthreadamong80“heroic”peopleheinterviewedonhispodcast.

“I don’t think I spoke to a single person who believed in setting personalgoals,” he said. “But 100 percent of the people I spoke to wanted to solve aproblemforthemany.Itdoesn’tmatterhowyougiveeachday.Itdoesn’tevenmatterhowmuch.Buteveryonewantedtogiveandeventuallytheyweregivenback.

“Nobodysucceededwithjustagreatidea.Everyonesucceededbecausetheybuiltnetworkswithinnetworksofconnections,friends,colleagues…allstrivingtowardtheirownpersonalgoals,alltrustingeachother,andworkingtogethertohelpeachothersucceed.Thisiswhathappensonlyovertime.Thisiswhygivingcreates a biggerworld because you can never predict whatwill happen yearslater.”

Another common theme among marketing leaders I interviewed waselevatingyouraudience.“Thekeytonurturingyourownaudienceandelevatingyourownbrandis,ironically,elevatingthosearoundyou,”saidAnnHandleyofMarketing Profs. “This starts with data: Knowing who your audience is, andwheretheyare,andwhatyoucanofferthat’smostofvalue,andhowyoumightofferit.

“But it continues with listening (reading what they write, following them,hearingwhatmost resonates),engaging(sharingwhat theywrite,commenting,andsometimeschallenging),andinvitingthemtosharetheirthoughtsandideaswithourcommunity.”

With great content and an engaged Alpha Audience backing you up,becominga trueservant leader isprobably thesingle-mostpowerfulcreatorof“heroic”connectionandinfluenceontheweb.

6.Marketyourself.7You’vefoundyourniche,toiledtirelesslyatyourcraft,andnetworkedwiththebestinthebusiness.Theworkisjustbeginningbecausenoneofthismattersifyou’renotknown.Thetrickis,howdoyoudopromoteyourselfandnotcomeacrossasajerk?

The first step is understanding the true value of self-promotion. Sure, youhaveaself-interestintheactivity,butwhendonetherightwayandnotseenasmerely transactional, it canalsohelpothersknowwhat talentsandknowledgeyouhavethatcanhelpthem.

Thenextstepistofocusonfacts,notbrags.Noonecanargueifyousaythatyou’vebeenblogging formore thanadecade,or thatyouhaveadegree fromMichigan State University. But they can argue plenty if you call yourself a“social media expert.” Whatever your field, it’s fine if other people want tochristenyou an expert, but it’s presumptuous to do it yourself, andyou risk agreatdealofblowback.

Third,demonstrateyourexpertisewithactionsandstories,notwords.Saying“I’m great at pitching investors” sounds egotistical. But sharing a compellingtale of how you rounded up seed funding allows others to deduce your skillwithoutmakingitexplicit.Also,researchshows8thatwhenlistenersareexposedto your stories, many more sections of their brains light up; they’re literallyimmersedin themomentwithyou,makingafardeeper impression.Theymayhearyourwordsifyousayyou’reawesome,buttellingthemastoryallowsthemtofeelitforthemselves.

There is power in humility.According to researchpublished inPsychologyToday,9 the overwhelming emotion people feel when viewing their Facebooktimelineisjealousy.Inaworldwherewealwayspresentourshinybestselves,it’s easy for feelings of jealousy to become inflamed. It’s fine to presentinformation about your successes, but keep inmind that every bragmay alsoelicitfeelingsofinadequacyfromyouraudience.

Anotherfactortoconsiderwhenpromotingyourselfisculturalsensitivity.Inaspeech Igave toanaudience inaBalticcountry, Imentioned that Ihad justcomefromEnglandwhereIlecturedatOxfordUniversity.Ithoughtthiswasapointofinterestbutalsoawaytoquicklyestablishcredibilitywithanaudiencewho was unfamiliar with me. After the speech, one person told me how headmired the boldness of the Americans—people in their country appreciatedhumilityandwouldnevermakesuchacommentinpublic!AweeklaterIgaveatalktoagroupofChineseMBAstudentsandwastoldtoleavehumilityat thedoor—Ineededtolistmyaccomplishmentsupfronttoestablishmy“worthiness”

withthisgroup.Vivadiversity!

7.Connectinahumanway.Peoplewanttoknowwhoyouareandwhatyoustandfor.

A“publisherashuman”rolemodelisauthorandentrepreneurGiniDietrich.“ThebiggestthingthathasworkedformeisI letpeopleknowthey’reheard,”Dietrichsaid.“Eveniftheydisagreewithme,Ialwaysthankthemfortheirinputandtrytocontinuetheconversation.Ialwayssaythatifyoustroketheegosofthepeoplewhospend timewithyou, they’llalways repayyou ingold. Itmaysound disingenuous—stroke their egos—but I mean it in a very sincere andcaringway. Pay attention to what people care about. Let them know you arepresentandattentive.

“Peoplearechoosingtospendtheirprecious timewithyourcontent.Spendtimeinreturngettingtoknowthemandrememberthelittlethingsthatmakeadifference.”

Although“beinghuman”mightseemlikecommonsense,it’snot.Toooftenorganizationsgettiedupinregulations,legaloverview,advertisingprotocol,orsimply a conservative corporate culture and have been removed from thecustomerrelationship.

“WhenIfollowsomeonebackorIsayhelloorthanksforretweeting,”saidAnnHandley, “or I respond and retweet them… the action is oftenmetwithsurprise. As in, ‘Wow! You’re a real person!’ That’s kind of sad, isn’t it?Expectations are so low formanyofus thatwhena ‘brand’ engageswith realconversationandrealemotion,it’sakindofshock.”

Whatwouldyou thinkofacompanywhounexpectedlydelightedyouwiththismessage:“Weknowyou’reaManchesterUnitedfan.Wesawthisawesomephotofromthematchyesterdayandwantedtosharethelinkwithyou.”That’sthekindofmessageyouwouldgetfromafriend.That’sthekindofmessagethatmakesyouahero.

When most people think of moving content, they think of promotion andadvertising.That’sthenextstepinTheContentCode…

CHAPTEREIGHT

Distribution,Advertising,Promotion,andSEO

“Withoutpromotion,somethingterriblehappens…nothing!”–P.T.Barnum

Intoday’scompetitiveonlineworld,eventhebestcontentmaynotrisetothetoponitsown.Sometimesitneedsalittlenudge.Thischapterisallaboutnudgingyour content and brand forward through something other than organicdistributionchannels.

Toassemblesomethingmeaningful,actionable,andaccessibleonthesebroadtopics,I’lltakeastrategicviewwiththischapter.Ratherthandivingintonicheservicesandtacticsthatwillbeoutofdateinayear,Ifocusonimperativesthatwill be as relevant years from now as they are today. Let’s take another steptowardunlockingtheContentCodewithanassessmentofalternativemethodsofigniting your content, the “D” in your BADASS strategy—Distribution,Promotion,Advertising,andSEO.

DistributionDistributionisoneofthemostoverlookedcomponentsoftheContentCodeandyetanopportunitybrimmingwithpotential.

MitchJoel,presidentofMirum(oneofthelargestdigitalmarketingfirmsintheworld),explainshowfindingnewdistributionoutletstransformedhiscontentefforts. “I’ve been blogging for well over a decade, almost every day. I’veproducedsomethinglike4,000entries.I’vebuiltanaudienceoverthattimebuta couple years ago I noticed it was getting harder and harder to attract newpeopletothecontent.Itwasn’tnecessarilymeorwhatIwaswriting,althoughyou can’t rule that out as a factor, butwhat happened is true Content Shock.

There’ssimplytoomuchcontentandthecontentissogreatit’shardforanythingtorise.

“The strategy I took to reachanewaudiencewas togobeyondmywalledgarden—the framework of the blog, my podcast, the social channels likeFacebookandTwitter—andstartwritinginotherchannels.HuffingtonPost.INCMagazine.HarvardBusinessReview.Abook.

“WhatIquicklyrealizedisthatbytakingqualitycontentandmakingitworkfor another platform—and a relevant new audience—I was driving attentionbacktomyhomesiteandcontent,andultimatelytheworkthatwearedoingatouragency.Theresultstomewereastounding.Itshowedupintheanalytics,butitalsobroughtanewenergyandenthusiasmtotheaudiencewhowasconsumingmycontent.IrealizedthatIcan’tkeepallofmycontentinoneplace.Ineedtogetinthehandsofpeoplewherevertheyare.

“I lookata lotofcontent thatbrandsareproducingand it’s fantastic,”Joelcontinued.“AndIoftenwonderwhytheywouldnotembarkonthesamekindofstrategy.Ithinkiftheycouldtweakthatcontentandsubmitittootherchannels—authentically,notsomepartofaPRspin—theycouldbuildaudiencesonothermajor platforms they would not normally access. That would be profoundlypowerful.Ithinkthiswillhappen—brandsnotnecessarilypayingtospreadtheircontent,butcreatingworksoexcellentthatitiseagerlypickedupandsharedbymainstreammedia.”

Thistypeofearnedmedia—validationbypowerful thirdpartysites—is themostimportantandeffectivemethodtomarketyourcontent,attractrelevantnewaudiencemembers,andbuildcredibilityasacontentcreator.Anythingabrandor marketer says is immediately suspect, but amplification from trusted thirdparties is a valuable win for content ignition with potentially far-reachingimpacts.

Let’sbreakthistypeofdistributiondownintosomeactionableideas:

1.Planformulti-channelcontent.AsMitchJoelstates,alookoutsidethe“walledgarden”canproduceastoundingbenefits.Tostart,identifythegoalsforyourcontent,theintendedaudience,andtopics that might appeal to that audience. Discover where your readers liveonline and find out which sites and social channels they use to find similarcontentandnews.

Increasingly, this research is something that can be automated, and evenquantified, through social analytics platforms. After you’ve identifiedpossibilities,focusononeortwotargetmediachannels.Thiscouldbeanonlinemagazine, trade publication, business periodical, podcast, blog, or traditional

mediaoutlet.Studythesechannels.Learnabout theeditorialpolicies.Immerseyourselfinthecontentformsusedbythesites.Setagoalofcreatingonesuperbandrelevantpieceofcontentforthatchannel.Eachquarter,turntoanothernewchannelandrepeattheprocess.

2.Establishadistributionprocess.Your organization should be constantly researching potential new distributionsites and assessing all content for distribution potential. One large company Iworkwithreviewseverypieceofcontent theyproduceanddeterminesat leastthree otherways it canbe used.Theymight pitch a publication, turn it into aSlideShare presentation, or suggest it as an interview topic with a favoritepodcaster.Areyouputtingyourcontentthroughasimilardistributiongate?

3.Consideranorganizationalshiftfocusedondistribution.Somecompanies arebeginning to take “brand journalism”very seriously.Theoldideaofacompanycopywriterisbeingtransformedintoafull-blownmediacreation department. Some companies are exploring content developmentnewsrooms for external sourcing as well as traditional marketingcommunicationsfunctions.

4.Exploretheideaofemployeenetworks.Establishing a “social organization” is a long-term aspirational goal formanycompanies, but there’s no reasonyou can’t ask enthusiastic employees tohelpspread interesting, relevant contenton their socialnetworks.Theamplificationeffectcanbesignificant—muchgreaterthantraditionaldistributionthroughthelogo-infusedcompanysites.

Ifyouhave20interestedemployees,that’s20potentialnetworksyoucantapinto if they’re willing to volunteer to help. Many employees are enthusiasticabouttheideaofignitingcontentfromtheiremployerandbecominginvolvedinthemarketingprocess.Somecompaniesalsotapsuppliersandbusinesspartnerstosharetheircontent,whichthey’renormallyhappytodo.

5.Don’toverlookemailasadistributionchannelforyourcontent.For many people, email is still the preferred method of communicating andsharing information. Are you making people aware of your content throughregular emails? You are sending regular emails, aren’t you? Remember thatemailsubscribersmaybe theclosest thingyouhave toarecordofyourAlphaAudience.Thesearethepeoplewhohaveraisedtheirhandsandsaid,“Markettome!”Letthemknowofnewopportunitiestoconsumeandshareyourcontent.

6.Discoverandmasternewplatforms.Everycompanyispouringcontentintoblogs,Facebook,Twitter,andYouTube.Butthereareliterallyhundredsofotherviableandpopularplatformstoexploreas less-crowded niche distribution options. Here are a few you might beoverlooking:

Quora:Foundedbyex-Facebookexecutives,thissiteisdeterminedtoanswereveryquestion.Conductasitesearchfortopicsrelevanttoyourbusinessandyou’recertaintofindquestionstoweigh-inon.LinkedIn:OfcourseLinkedInisfamiliarasabusinessnetworkingsite,butit’salsooneofthelargestbusinesspublishingsitesintheworld.It’sanexcellentplacetodistributeexistingcontent,especiallyifyou’reB2B.StumbleUpon:Theuniquevaluepropositionofthissiteisitsrandomness.People“stumble”forcontentsubmittedbyusers.Ifpeopleupvoteandlikethecontent,it’smorelikelytoshowupintherandomstreams.Ifcontentgets“hot”onStumbleUpon,itcanigniteveryquickly!Pinterest:Manycontentcreatorsclaimthere’snobetterwaytoignitecontentthanthrougha“pin”onPinterest.Allyouneedisanattractivegraphicthatlinksbacktoyouroriginalcontent.EvenindustrialcompanieslikeGeneralElectrichavebeenusingthisstrategytoconnecttonewaudiences.Quibb:Thisnetworkemergedin2013asapromisingplatformtosharecontentintospecificindustryverticals.Reddit:Redditisanenormouscontentcommunityboastingmorethan100millionuniquemonthlyvisitors.Theplatform’skeyinnovationisitsvotingsystem.Anythingpostedthere—pictures,questions,comments—canbe“upvoted”or“downvoted”byitsusers.Stuffthatgetsthemostpositivevotesgetsmovedtothetopofthe“bestposts”orlistofcomments.Hittingthefrontpageofthe“bestposts”listcreatesaloopwhereitsprominenceonthesiteearnsmorevotes…andvirality.Redditisahometopassionatepeoplewhoarewillingtospend20–30minutesresearchingandwritingareplyinreturnforamerethankyou.Buttreadcarefully:Thereareverystrictrulesaboutpromotionalcontent!Redditcanalsobeaveryrichsourceofcontentideas.

7.Considermicrosites.When researching possible new distribution channels, don’t just look at thelarge,noisyplaces.Sometimesfindinganichechannelwithonly50subscribers

can be a goldmine, if they’re the right 50 people who could become AlphaAudiencefanatics.

For example, one management consultant in Philadelphia is tapping intosmallprofessionalLinkedInGroupslike“PhiladelphiaAccountants”and“PhillyHRProfessionals”toconnecthiscontenttorelevantpeopleinhissalesarea.Ifmore than a few people are interested in your niche, chances are there’s anonlinecommunityout therededicatedto it.Whenyoufindthesecommunities,don’tjustspamyourarticleandleave.EngagewithpeopleandbuildareputationasanauthoritywithinyourspacethatwillattractnewAlphas.

8.Formcontentpartnerships.Ifyourcontentpipelineisconstrained,considerpartneringwithanotherpipeline.This technique is commonly calledbrandscaping. For example, the insurancecompany Geico ran a series of commercials featuring icons from othercompanies,likethePillsburyDoughboy.ThisstrategymakesGeicoappealingtoPillsburyfansaswellasitsown.

9.Lookforopportunitiesfornewsjacking.A term coined by David Meerman Scott, newsjacking describes a process toalign your brand message with breaking news events so you ride a wave oftraditional media coverage. A few years ago, when the Catholic Church wasabouttonameanewpope,NotreDameUniversityinformedallthemajornewsoutlets that it would have expert commentators standing by when the newsbroke.Whenwhite smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel, theNotreDameexpertsshoweduponeverymajornewchannel.

Real time marketing can drive conversions and sales, says Scott. WhenMultiCare Health System1 identified a trending topic, eclampsia, during anemotionalepisodeofthehitTVseries“DowntonAbbey,”thehealthcarenetworkpublishedablogpostabouttheconditionwithinhoursoftheepisode’sairdate.MultiCareHealthsawover1,000pageviews,withpeoplespendinganaverageoffiveminutesonthepage.Theyalsoreceived30click-throughstotheironlineappointmentsystem.

10.UseFacebookasadistributionchannel.It’spopulartobashFacebookbutthechannel’sinevitableworlddominancealsomeans it’s a marketing channel you can’t ignore. Despite the prematurepredictions of the channel’s demise, it continues to be awildly popular socialnetwork acrossmany demographics throughoutmost of theworld. One studyshowed that74percentofallmarketersnameFacebookas themost important

channelfortheircontentdistribution.2Formanycompanies,Facebookisthemostcosteffectivewayforbrandsto

distributecontentatscale.Ofcoursealotdependsonthenatureofyourcontent,message,andcoreaudience,butdon’toverlookFacebookasamethodofcontentdistribution.

11.Crowdsourcecontentcreationanddistribution.Involvingexperts inyourcontentusuallyassuresaccess to theirnetworks, too.Thisaccountsforthepopularityofround-uppostsfromwell-knownauthorsandexperts.Evenincludingonequotefromanexpert,orareferencetooneoftheirblogpostsorbooks,canigniteyourcontent.Ifyouhighlighttheminthecontent,they’relikelytohelpyoupromotethepiecetoo.

12.Syndicate.Almosteveryindustryhassomeresourcethat’scuratingrelevant,timelycontentand summarizing it in a regular newsletter,website, or newsfeed. If a curatedcontentsitedoesn’texistinyourniche,considerstartingone.It’sahelpfulwaytokeepindustryleadersontopofthenews,anditcanpositionyourcompanyasthego-toplaceforvaluableinformation.

Ifcurationservicesalreadyexist,developrelationshipswiththeseresourcesand learnwhat it takes to add your content in the channel. In addition to theobviousexposure,thisworkcanalsoleadnewaudiencememberstoyourhomesiteandpossiblyprovidevaluablebacklinks thatwillenhanceyourstatuswithsearchengines.

IwanttoconcludethissectionwithsomesageadvicefromjournalistDorieClark. Dorie has built her brand almost entirely through other people’sdistribution channels, includingForbes andHarvardBusinessReview. But it’snotaperfectstrategy,anditrequiresbalance.There’sarisksupplyingcontenttoplatformsthatyoudon’town.

“Igobackandforthaboutthisdistributionstrategy,”shesaid.“Ononehand,youcangetanimmediateboostofcredibilityfromassociatingwithwell-knownbrands,andwhenyou’re first startingout,you reallyneed that.Youalsohaveaccesstoanestablishedreadershipbasethatotherwisemightnotdiscoveryou.

“ButthedownsideisthatForbesortheHarvardBusinessReviewownsthosereaders and those relationships,notyou. It’s amuch slower,butperhapsmorevaluable,processtobuildreadershiponyourownblogorcontentsite.I’vetriedto thread the needle by continuing to blog for larger outlets but try to drivepeople(throughmybiolinksorbymentioningmysiteinthebodyofthearticle)tomywebsite,wherethey’llhopefullysignupformymailinglist.Growingmy

mailing list substantially isoneofmy topgoalsgoing forward,because it’s socriticaltobeabletospeakdirectlytomyreaders.”

AdvertisingandPaidMediaInapodcastdiscussion,thealwaysthought-provokingMitchJoelsaidtome:“Iwonderifinthenearfuture,paidadvertisingwillbetheonlywaywecanigniteourcontent.”

Certainly that’s a strong statement and a sentiment expressed by manyfrustratedmarketers. In any event, a paid promotional strategy integratedwithothercontenttacticshasbecomeastapleofmostdigitalmarketingefforts.

Organicreachisbasedontheassumptionthatyouhavetoearnyourwayintothe newsfeed with great content that people love. Paying to increase yourexposurecandramaticallyincreasetheimpactandengagementofeachpieceofcontent, and it can be relatively cost effective, especially considering the timerequiredtoworkthroughothercontentdistributionefforts.Thepaidoptionalsousuallycomeswithanalyticstohelpyoumeasuretheeffectivenessofyoureffortandoptimizeintothefuture.

Here’s a summary of paid distribution options that might be a part of anoverallcontentignitionstrategy:

Advertisingnetworks

PopularoptionsincludeGoogleAdWords,FacebookandTwitterads,Outbrain,and OneSpot. There are many strategies for using advertising networks, butthey’re especially effectivewhenyouneed to rampup initial awareness at thebeginning of a campaign,when you don’t have time to build an audience, orwhen the issue and content is particularly time sensitive (like an event). Theprimaryformatsfordigitaladsare:

Payperclick(PPC):Themostcommonpaidmethod.Whenauserclicksonthead,themarketerpaysforeachclick.SearchPPC:Requiresthemarketertoidentifyspecifickeywords.Whensearchedbyapotentialcustomer,theadwilldisplayonthepageofsearchresults.ContentPPC:Appearsascontentsuggestionsonsites,oftenunderneathsimilararticles.

Retargetedadvertising

Keepstrackofpeoplewhovisityoursiteanddisplaysyouradstothemastheyvisitothersitesonline.TechnicallyallthatisnecessaryisaJavaScripttaginthefooterofyourwebsite.Thiscodecreatesalistofpeoplewhovisityoursitebyplacing anonymous retargeting cookies in their browser. This list allowsretargetingvendorstodisplayadstoyourpotentialcustomersastheyvisitothersites. It’s relatively straightforward to set up, and it’s a demonstration of howpaid media reinforces great content by intelligently distributing it withdiscretion.

Sponsoredcontent

Facebook,Twitter,LinkedIn,andmanyotherplatformsofferpaidopportunitiesto selectively boost the visibility of your content. The advantage is that youincreaseawareness toyourcurrentaudienceaswellasothers inaveryprecisedemographiccategory.Sponsoredcontentisagoodwaytoincreaseexposuretohighlytargetedaudiencesandpossiblyattractnewviewersforyourcontent.

Nativeadvertising

TheInteractiveAdvertisingBureaudefinesnativeadvertisingas“paidads thataresocohesivewiththepagecontent,assimilatedintothedesign,andconsistentwith the platform behavior that the viewer simply feels that they belong.”AccordingtotheIAB,nativeadvertisingcontainssixdifferenttypesofadunits:in-feed, promoted listings, in-ad with native element, paid search,recommendationwidgets,andcustom.

Bypartneringwithpublishers,yourcontentisintegratedintotheinterfaceofamediacompany’ssite.OneexampleisthepaideditorialfeaturesontheForbeswebsite.Nativeadvertisingprovidesthecredibilityofbeingassociatedwiththemediabrand,validationofbeing featured in theeditorialportionofasite,andopportunityforvastexposuretoarelevantaudience.

However, it’s also a controversial strategy as traditional publishers devoteincreasingspaceto“advertorials”thatattimescanbeindistinguishablefromthepublisher’s content. Sponsored articles have received pushback from somepublishers, brands, consumers, and even government regulators who areconcerned because the articles resemble editorial content. One commenterdescribeditthisway:“Howaboutwetrytreatingouraudiencewithalittlemorerespectandintelligence?Nativeadvertisingistheuninvitedguestwhomakeshispredicament worse through a seeming lack of self-awareness and clumsy

attemptstofitin.”Thismisdirectioncandamagetheeditorialintegrityofapublication,aswell

as a brand’s image. The only way this strategy works in the long-term is byfocusingonprovidingrelevantcontent thatequals thequalityof thecontent intheeditorialportionofthesite.

Socialmediaadvertising

Inaddition toboosting stories,mostof themajor socialmedia sitesofferpaidopportunitiestoattractnewaudiencemembers,ownatrendingtopic,andaccessspecific people outside your network. Some social media platforms with vastaudiences likeReddit and StumbleUpon let you buy clicks to your content atverylowpricesfromsocially-engagedvisitors.

ChadPollittisthecofounderofanonlinemagazinecalledRelevancedevoted

tostudyingcontentpromotiontechniques.Herearesomeofhis“nativesocial”bestpractices:

Brandsthatusepaidsocialmediamustrememberit’samarketplace.Howtheytargetinterests,connections,behavior,demographics,andgeographyallimpactthecostofacampaign.FacebookinparticularhasoveramillionintereststhatcanbetargetedandTwitterhasevenmore.Asaresult,targetingmanylong-tailintereststhatmightbeconsideredsub-interestsofabroadercategorycanhelpbrandscutcampaigncostsbyasmuchas90percent.Marketershavetoestablishmeasurablegoalsforthecontenttheywishtopromoteonpaidsocialchannelsbecausetheydictatewhichchannelstouseandhowtoallocatebudget.Forexample,distributingcontent(likeablogpost)atscaleeverytimenewcontentispublishedisprobablycostprohibitive.However,marketerswishingtopromoteasweepstakes,webinar,oreBookmayfindpromotingonsocialchannelswellworththecost.Aftergoalsareestablished,marketersshouldtrackeachchannel’sperformancebycostperclick,costperaction,orcostperlead.Althoughtheanalyticsprovidedbysocialnetworkscontinuetoincreaseinsophistication,it’sprobablethatyouwillneedacombinationoftheseoutsidemetricsandinsidemetricstodeterminethecost/benefitofeachchannel.Marketersshouldneverequatetheclickin“costperclick”witha

visitortoawebsite.Aclickinsocialmediacanequatetoalike,share,profileview,comment,favorite,etc.Actualwebsitetrafficforeveryclickthatispaidforcanbeaslittleasone-sixteenthofthetotalactionsgainedbythecampaign.

PromotionWhen I think of promoting content on theweb, I imagine a circus performerwalkingonahighwirebetweentwoskyscrapers.Withoutanet.Blindfolded.Adaredevilactlikethatdependsonanenormousamountofexperience,judgment,andbalancetostayonemisstepawayfromruin.

Whenpromotingcontent,there’sathinlinebetweenbeinghelpfulandbeingobnoxious. For decades, marketers have been conditioned to shout andbroadcast,anditjustseemsnaturaltoturntothenewsocialchannelstodothesame thing! But blasting promotions to that precious Alpha Audience isn’twinningyounewfriends—it’sspamming.

As a wise marketer, you should use social media to network with peers,colleagues, and your strongest supporters to let others tell your story to everyextentpossible.

Hereare10practicaltipstopromoteyourcontentwithoutcrossingthespamline.

1.Lookforquestionstoanswer.Haveyouconsideredusingyourblogpoststohelppeoplesolveproblems?It’sasubtle but clever promotion technique. There are thousands of people askingquestions on LinkedIn Groups, Quora, and sites like Yahoo Answers. Findquestions you can answer, then add a link to one of your helpful posts as aresponse.Thistypeofpromotionaccomplishesthreethings:

Youleverageyourcontentinatrulyhelpfulway.Youattractarelevantnewaudienceanddrivethemtoyourcontent.Youextendthevalueofyourcontentbecausetheseforumanswershavealongshelflife.

2.Usingthesocialchannels.Your audience spends time on socialmedia to playFarmville, viewphotos ofGrumpy Cat, and complain about the government. They don’t want to bemarketed to, sold to, or advertised to. However, if you’ve attracted a loyal

audiencewho’sinterestedinyouandyourbusiness,they’reprobablyinterestedin someof your business-related content too.Not necessarily all the time, noteveneverydayperhaps,butitisperfectlyfinetopepperyoursocialmediapostswithrelevantbusinessnewseverynowandthen.Thereisnohardandfastruleforthis—ifyougettoospammy,you’llprobablyhearaboutit!

3.IncludecontentlinksinyourGoogleprofile.While you’re busy creating content in various formats, it’s easy to forget thatyour Google profile is the perfect container for links to all that content andservesasyourbusinesscardformanypeoplelookingforyouontheweb.Ifyouhaven’tupdatedyourprofileinawhile,gocheckitout.(I’llwaitrighthereforyou.)

Data scientist Christopher Penn of SHIFT Communications explains, “It’salso absolutely essential to use Google’s Structured Data software to identifyyoursite.This iswhatcontrolsGoogle’sdisplayofyour information insearchresults.It’sarcane,buthugeandimportant.”Doasearchfor“GoogleStructuredData”tofindGoogle’stooltotestyoursitetoseeifthereareanyobviouserrorskeepingGooglefromfindingandproperlydisplayingyourcontent.

4.Linktocontentonothersocialmediaprofiles.LinkedIn lets you insert media links in your profile, and the summary andproject sections are ideal for featuring your content. LinkedIn also ownsSlideShare and can display thumbnails of your presentations as well ashighlightsofyourblogcontent.OnFacebook,highlightyourpodcast,blog,andothercontentinyourprofile.MyTwitterprofilecontainsalinktoalandingpagewherepeoplecanfindallofmycontentproperties.

5.Makethemostofunusedrealestateonbusinesscardsandotherbusinessproperties.IfyouhaveseveralcontentpropertieslikeIdo,tryingtolistthemonabusinesscardcanbeachallenge.That’swhyIhavelinkstoallmysitesonthebackofmycard.I’vecreatedshort,easytorememberlinksthroughbit.ly.Forexample,the link to my blog on my business card is bit.ly/grow-blog, which is mucheasiertolistandrememberthanhttp://www.businessesgrow.com/blog.Youcanwatch your links on bit.ly to see who is clicking through and sharing yourcontent.

Besuretolistwaystoaccessyourcontentbelowyouremailsignature.Somepeopleevenpromotetheirlatestblogpostorvideointhatspace.

6.Ignitesnippets.Everypostyouwriteprobablyhasafewshortquotablegemsthatpeoplemightlike to share (because itmakes them lookcooler, smarter, funnier,etc!).Thereareseveralplug-insthatallowpeopletotweetspecificquotesrightfromthetextof your post. You also can embed short quotes on slides in your livepresentations. By spoon-feeding content in this fashion, youmake it easy forpeople to ignite your ideas right from their seats in themeetingor conferenceroom.

7.Participateinlinkroundups.Many bloggers curate their favorite blog posts into daily, weekly, ormonthlylink roundups. You can find link roundups in your market by searching forkeywords like “link roundup” or “weekly link roundup.” If you want to findblogs that are specifically related to your market, add a modifier like “linkroundup” +marketing or “link roundup” + parenting.Contact the blog ownerand send them a link to your latest blog post. If you use this techniquejudiciouslyandsendbloggersonlyyourverybestcontent,there’sagoodchancetheywilleventuallylinktoyou.

8.Promotenewcontentwithinoldcontent.Here’s a little trick to introduce blog readers to new content. Use a tool likeSocialCrawlyticstodetermineyourmost-sharedcontentoverthelastfewyears.Chances are your best work is still attracting new readers. After you’veidentifiedthemosttraffickedandsharedpagesonyoursite,addlinkstorelevantkeywords thatpoint toyournewcontent.Another trick is to embedyourownadsonthesepopularpoststopromoteservicesandothercontent.Forexample,onmymostpopularTwitter-relatedposts(whichstillgethundredsofviewseachyear)IhaveagraphicattheendpromotingmybookTheTaoofTwitter.

9.Joinacontent-sharingclub.Thereareanumberofsiteswhereyoucan joinothercontentcreators toshareand support each other’s efforts. One popular site is Triberr, which is like abloggingclubwhereyoucandiscoverandsharecontentinareciprocalfashion.This interactionprovidesanopportunityforentirelynewaudiencestodiscoveryourcontent.

10.Sendapersonalizednoteoremailtobloggersinyourindustry.Adding a personal touch to your promotion strategies can provide powerfulresults. If you have a valuable piece of content you want shared around the

blogosphere,findbloggerswhohavewrittensimilarcontent,compliment themontheirwork,andsuggestthattheymightenjoythepostyou’vewrittenonthesimilartopic.Inthebloggingworld,“enjoy”isaeuphemismfor“share!”Someresourcestohelpyoulocatebloggerswithrelevantcontentare:

Topsy.comBuzzSumo.comAlltop.comTwellow.comCircleCount.com

Createapersonalizedsubject lineandcarefullycraft theemailsoitdoesn’tcomeacrossasaformletter.Ifyoumakeanymistakesintheemail(likecallingthembythewrongname!)it’slikelythatyouhaveruinedallchancesforfurtherconnection.Pointoutaspecificconnectionbetweenthebloggerandthecontentyou’rebringingtotheirattention.Didyoulinktotheirpost?That’sabighook.

SearchEngineOptimizationI’mconstantlyamazedthattheworldhascreateda$30billionindustrydesignedtotrickGoogle.Okay,okay,there’smoretoSEOthanthat.Andeverymarketingplancertainlyneedstoconsideroptimizingforsearchbecauseyourworkcan’tigniteifitcan’tbefound.

There are tons of blogs and video sites devoted to the cult of optimizingcontentforsearch.Anextensivetutorialisbeyondthescopeofthisbook—andunnecessarybecause there is simply somuch freecontentout there foryou toenjoy.

Instead,it’smoreusefultolimitourcoverageofthiscomplexsubjecttothetopic of ignition and three questions: 1) Does SEO ignite content?; 2) Doessocial sharing affect SEO?; 3)What do you need to know about SEO to beeffectiveinmovingyourcontent?

DoesSEOignitecontent?

Without question, considering SEO is essential to getting your contentdiscovered.Ofcourse,likeanything,it’samatterofdegreeandtheprioritytypeforinvestmentinSEOwillvaryenormouslybyindustryandbyyourobjectives.IsuggestthatsettingprioritiesforSEOmightvarybycontentaswell.

Let’sconnectsomedotsbetweenviral,SEO,andcontenttypethroughacasestudy.Takealookatthischartthatshowstraffictomyblogoverthecourseofayear:

Asyoucansee,therewerethreepoststhatdroveextraordinarytraffictomy

websiteinthisyear.Thesearetheposts:

January:“ContentShock,”introducinganideaofeconomicevaluationofcontent3June:“70RisingStarsofSocialMedia,”highlightinglesser-knownmarketingtalents4November:“ASpeechYouWillNeverHearAgain,”revealinghowpersonalpainhadasilverlining5

These posts would be considered hero content based on my definition inChapter 2. To review, this pattern companies use to build a brand over timerequiresthreetypesofcontent:

Hygienecontent,whichtakescareofeverydaycustomerneedsandisthemostlikelytargetforsearchenginetraffic.Hubcontent,whichtellsadeeperstoryandconnectspeopletoyourbrand.Herocontent,whichcreatesbroadawarenessthroughviraldistribution.

Ofthese,herocontentisbyfarthemostdifficulttoproduce.Youjustcan’t

planforviral.Andyeteachofmythree“viral”postsdidhavecommonqualitiesthattranscendedtheordinarydailydrummingoftheweb.

1.TheirpopularityhadnothingtodowithSEO.Ironically,thesethreepostsweremyleast-search-optimizedpostsoftheyear.Imean,whatkindofsearchtrafficdoes“contentshock”drive?Itwasamade-upterm!

Isn’tthisaninterestingidea?We’resupposedtopayattentiontoSEOtodriveblogtraffic,andyetpremeditatedSEOplayedabsolutelynorole in thesethreesuccesses.Why?

When I wrote these posts I mindfully tossed SEO aside and wrote greatcontentthatIknewpeoplewouldlove.Thinkaboutitthisway:Ifyou’restuffingyour content with popular search terms, how original—how heroic—can itpossibly be? By definition, competing for SEO terms forces you to out-duelsomebody else for keyword supremacy. Creating content with a chance to goviralforcesyoutostandinaplacewhereyoucreateanentirelynewkeyword—andsupremacybasedonoriginality.AndGoogleseemstolovethat.

2.Thecontentwaslong.These three postswere not only popular, but theywere also the three longestpostsIwroteallyear.Sortofvalidatestheresearchcoveredintheshareabilitychapter,right?Longerpostssometimeshaveabetterchanceformassivesocialsharing.

3.Thecontentwasdistinctive.Great marketing begins with great content. These pieces were unique andconversational.Inallthreecases,nothinghadeverbeenwrittenliketheseposts.Itookpersonalriskswiththiscontent,too—takingastand,tryinganewformat,providingintensepersonaldisclosure.

Asthiscasestudysuggests,whetherornotyouemphasizeSEOdependsonthe specific goal for your content. SEO isn’t a universal solution for contentignition; rather, it’s dependent on the type of content you’re producing. ThisgraphicsummarizestherelationshipbetweencontentignitionandSEO:

This theory suggests that formost content, SEO is an essential part of the

discovery process. On the other hand, being wedded to SEO best practices(popularkeywordsinheadlines,links,andcopy)mayactuallyinhibittheabilityforcontenttoattainmassivereach.

A grand irony: My Content Shock article, written with no SEO in mind,producedhundredsofvaluablebacklinksfrommanyofthemostrespectedblogsinthebusiness.ByignoringSEO,IhadmybiggestSEOsuccessinthehistoryoftheblog.

Andthatisanicelead-intothesecondbigquestionaboutSEO…

DoessocialtransmissionigniteSEO?

Thereisnosingletacticormagictrickthatwillblastyoutothetopofthesearchrankings. Instead, achieving good search engine performance requiresstrategicallyleveragingthreekeyareas—links,content,andpromotion.EachoftheseareasworkstogethertocreateasuccessfulSEOstrategy.

While there isgeneral agreement about these strategic foundations, there isenormous debate about how social signals like tweets and Likes figure intoGoogle’stop-secretsearchalgorithm.Itstandstoreasonthatapieceofcontenttweeted25,000 timesmightbemoremeaningful toconsumers than somethingtweetedtwice,right?

Not so fast. Google has repeatedly denied that it’s using social signals forSEO ranking purposes, although some studies do show correlations betweensocialsharingandsearchperformance.Butthedebateisirrelevantbecausethere

surelyisasharingbenefittosearch.Thedaysofcompetitivelinkbuilding,thehallmarkofSEObestpracticesfor

years, is over. Google doesn’t want anyone building links through wackyschemes.But theydowantpeoplecreatingextremely relevantcontent that thecompany can serve to its search customers (and eventually monetize throughads).SoGoogleislookingforsignalsthatwe’reearningthosevaluablelinks.Ofcoursegreatcontentcan’tassurelinks…butifyoucouldignitethatcontent,itjustmighttiptheoddsalittlebitinyourfavorbygettingyourworkinthehandsofmorepeoplewhocanlinktoyounaturally.

AnexampleofthisideainactionistheverycreativecontentignitionstrategypioneeredbyLeeOddenofTopRankMarketing.Topromotevariousmarketingconferenceclients,histeamhascreatedaseriesofeBooksfeaturingideasfromwell-known speakers presented in creative themes like detectives, rock-n-roll,andAliceinWonderland.IfOddentriedtorankagainstverycrowdedtermslike“contentmarketingsecrets,”hiscontentwouldneverbefound.Butbyignitingthecontentthroughpaid,earned,andownedmediastrategies,peoplehearaboutthe content and begin searching for something like “content wonderland.” Inessence,awarenessthroughcontentsharingiscreatingabuilt-inSEObenefit.

“Iknowthat’snotwhatabuyerwouldnormallysearchon,butwhenyouseethebuzzabouttheebookswe’vecreated,alotofpeoplewillbecomeinterestedin those ideasand then theywillvalidate themby searchingon them,”Oddensaid.

“We’re literally creating our own unique search demandwith projects likethis, andbelieveme, something that seems silly likeContentWonderlandwillbecome searched on a heck of a lot with just a fewweeks of promotion. Ofcourse,we’reoptimizinganyassetsthatarebeingcreatedforanticipatedsearchterms.But,we’realsolookingtocreatedemandbygettingpeopletotalkaboutandsharewhatwehaveproduced.Wewanttogeneratebuzz.”

So although Google states that tweets and Facebook Likes don’t directlyaffect search results, there is an indirect connection if those actions somehowleadtoanewaudienceconnectingwithlegitimatelygreatcontentandvaluablebacklinksresult.

WhatdoyouneedtoknowaboutSEOtobeeffectiveinmovingyourcontent?

For the third and final SEO-related question, let’s turn again to Lee Odden,authorofOptimize,aleadingbookonthisconcept.

A short time ago, optimizing content for searchwas fairly straightforward.

TherewerechecklistswithstandardizedtaskstohelpGooglefindyou.Butthefieldisfarmorecomplicatedtoday.Howshouldyouapproachthis,evenifyoudon’thavealargebudgetforlink-buildingstrategies?

“Idothinktherearestillcategoriesofstandardactivitiesthatpersist,”Oddensays, “but the SEO checklists are quite different and fairly limited. I think ofSEO as marketing performance optimization relative to search, advertising,email,content…anythingyou’reusingtobuildyourbusiness.

“You’re collecting data. You’re collecting key performance indicators asevidence that you’re on the right track toward your goals, and you use thosedata-based insights to course correct and optimize the performance of yourcontentstrategy.

“With SEO, of course, there are still traditional things one can do to helpGoogledo its jobbecauseGoogle is far fromperfect!Googlehasmade somechoicesthathavedrasticallyaffectedwebsitesthathadreliedheavilyonorganicsearchasthesourceofnewbusiness.Thosebusinesseshadtomakesubstantialchanges,especiallywhenitcomes to linksand linksources.Manyof the link-building strategies havebeenkilledoff byGoogle.Companies used to pay anSEO to get themost links. Now, they’re paying those SEOs to remove thoselinks.

“There are things we can do technically and from a content alignmentperspective thatmake it easier forGoogle tounderstandwhoweare,whatwestand for, and whether we’re the best choice for the thing that somebody issearchingfor.

“SEO today is much more focused on content and relationships. We willalways need keyword strategies and research but first and foremost, contentmovesbecausewe’recreatingsomethingcool thatpeoplewillwant toseeandshare.Everythingstartswiththequalityofthecontent.Weneedtomakeiteasyfor peoplewho are involved in the content to share.The content has tomakethemfeelsomethingandmakethemproudtoshareitbecausetheylovetoshareit,notbecausesomebodyisaskingthem.

“Obviously, we’re going to promote the content. We look for ways torepurposecontent.For theconferenceweworkedwith,wehadan infographicthatwascreatedfrome-books.Wehadtweetablequotesinthisinfographic.Wehadgraphicalillustrationsofgreatinfluencerquotesasanotherpieceofqualitycontentthatwaseasytoshare.WemadeTwitterlistsofthespeakersandprofilesof the speakers which will be brought into Pinterest and other things thatdeconstruct the eBook content.We published interviews with the speakers asadditional promotion. The day the eBook went live, we provided tweets andembed codes for the slide deck to the participants as well as our broader

network.“IalsothinkinfluenceroutreachispartoftheSEOformulathesedays.I’ve

beenpublishingallkindsofthingsformanyyears.EverytimeIdothisIexpandthenumberofpeoplewhoIhaveworkedwith,andIcangobackandsay,‘Hey,yourememberthisthingwedid.I’vegotanotheronecomingout.Ifyoucaretotakealookatandshareit,great,ifyoudon’t,that’scooltoo.’”

We’ll continue these insights fromLee inChapter 10.You see,we’ll needhim to help us unravel the final element of the Content Code, the highlymysterious subject of Authority. But first let’s cover one of my favoritemarketingsubjects,socialproof.It’stimeforaquiz.Areyouready?

CHAPTERNINE

SocialSignalsandSocialProof

“Sincerity–ifyoucanfakethat,you’vegotitmade.”–GeorgeBurns

I’dliketodoatestonyou—righthere,rightnow.Ready?

Imagine that you move to a new home with a lovely yard and you’reinterested instartinga rosegarden.Rosescanbe trickyplants togrow,soyouneed information to help guide you through the best practices for a beginninggardener.Likemostpeople,youstartwithawebsearch,andyou’redelightedtofind that the top two search results fit your needs precisely. Both articles arebrimmingwith tips,detailedguides, and illustrations togetyougoing.Oneofthesearticleshasbeentweetedfivetimes.Theotheronehasbeentweeted452times.

Whichonewillyouread?I’veused this little test inhundredsofclassesbefore thousandsof students

andnotoneperson—notone!—haseveransweredthattheywouldreadthepostwithfivetweets.

Myfriend,youhavejustexperiencedtheawesomepowerofsocialproof!Allthings being equal, in a case like this the quality of the content doesn’t reallymatter. Neither does the heroic brand of the author, the credibility of thepublication,thedistribution,promotion,orcleverSEO.Thecontentispoisedtoignitesimplybecauseofanumber.

PuttingsocialprooftoworkWeusesocialproofasashortcutinourreal-worlddecision-makingeveryday.Thingsseemeasiertobuywhenothersvalidatethatit’sasmartoption.

Socialproofispowerfulinsituationswherepeopledon’thavethefactstheyneedtomakeaninformeddecision.Tohelpresolveuncertainty,peoplelookfor

clues in their environment to help them determine their best guess at “truth.”Theyassumetheactionsofothersreflectthecorrectbehaviorforthem,too.Justasthenumberoftweetsonthegardeningpostinfluencedyourdecisionofwhatto read,behavior isdrivenby theassumption thatpeople in thesamesituationmay possess more knowledge about what is correct, popular, or ideal. Forexample:

“Lookatalltheawardsandplaquesonthatperson’swall!Shemustbereallysmart.Ifeelgoodaboutbeinghere.”“EverybodyinthisroomhasanApplecomputer.Itmustbeagreatcomputer.”“There’salonglineofpeoplewaitingtogetintothatbar.Weshouldprobablygothere,too,sincewedon’tknowthecityverywell.”

Socialproofissopowerfulthatafterrepeatedexposures,peopleevenbegintointernalizeanacceptanceofthebeliefastruthbecausesomanyothersmustbecorrect.

Socialproofisanespeciallycriticalconcepttounderstandinanonlineworldof overwhelming information density. With so much content available, we’restarved for clues to help us know who to trust, what to believe, and whatcompanycanhelpusasquicklyaspossible.Sowetendtofollowthenumbers,especially if the decision is low-risk. We normally don’t cross-referenceinformationorchecksources.Welookforthebiggestnumberandbelieveinitsauthority.

Socialproofisalsoamoreimportantfactorofinfluenceonlineversusofflinebecauseourchoicesarepublic.Wemaynotcaremuchaboutsomethingwebuyfor our homes if nobody sees it, but with the whole world watching on theInternet,weverymuchcareabouthowweappear,whatwechoose,andwhatwedisclosetoothers.

Socialproofandonlineignition

In theofflineworld,peopledon’twalkaroundwith theirnumberofFacebook“Likes”plasteredontheirforeheads,butintheworldofsocialmedia,numericalproxiesforauthorityaboundlikefleasonashaggymutt.Forexample,blogsthatgeneratealotoftweetsandcommentsmaygettoapointwherethey’repopularjustbecause they’repopular,whileworthyblogsmaynevergetnoticedunlessthey receive a boost in validation through social proof. On the web, entirebusinessmodelsmaybebuiltonsocialproof,giving themearnedorunearned

authority.“In the onlineworld, social proof iswhatmakes you legitimate,” said Jay

Baer.1 “There are small cues on the web that convey this type of authority.There’saverygoodreasonbloggerskeepatweetcounteropenatthetopoftheirsites.Ifaposthasbeentweeted100times,theassumptionisthatit’sworthyofyour attention.Well, truthfully,maybe it is,maybe it isn’t.There are differentways to game the on-line system and still be recognized as an authority. It’smucheasiertocreateascenarioandbeseenasanauthorityonlinethanitistobecomeatrulyauthoritativepersonoff-line.”

At no other time in history has the appearance of authority been so easilyassumed and promoted. Words like “best-selling,” “award-winning,” and“expert” have been rendered almost meaningless. People crave any possibleshortcut to rapidly distill meaning from the information-overloaded world.Unfortunately, in this setting, the badges of influencemay become evenmoreimportantthanlegitimateauthoritybuiltfromtrueknowledgeandexperience!

“How much do you think we’d be talking about Twitter followers orFacebookLikesifthenumberwasn’tattachedtoyourpublicprofile?”saidBaer.“We care about Twitter followers and Facebook Likes disproportionately notbecauseofthepowerofthemedium,butbecausewekeepscoreinpublic.Everylegitimate social media consultant will tell you that it’s not about howmanyTwitterfollowersorFacebookLikesyouhave,it’swhatyoudowiththem.Andin terms of driving measurable behavior, conversions, revenue, loyalty, andadvocacy,theyareofcoursecorrect.NumberofTwitterfollowersdoesn’tmeana thing, right?Wrong. The reality is that socialmediameasurement is a verypubliccompetition,andwebuyithook,line,andsinker.Whywouldpoliticiansnotonly(allegedly)paytobuildafollowingthatdwarfstheothercandidates,butthenhavetheaudacity/stupiditytobragabouttheadvantage?Becauseitmattersinthecourtofpublicperception.

“We may not like it. We may not even choose to admit it. But it’sdisingenuoustosuggestthatnumberofTwitterfollowershasnoimpactonhowyou or your organizations are viewed by the vox populi. It’s not a keyperformanceindicator,it’sakeypopularityindicator.”

It’sunsettlingtothinkthat thelocalbloggerwiththefakeTwitterfollowersorablogsitewithmanufacturedsocialproofmayverywellaccruebenefitsofinfluenceinanunequalmeasuretotheactualskillsandtalentsoftheircreators.Scarcityoftimeandthepressuresofdailylifemakepeopledefaulttointeractingwiththosefewwhomatter—oratleastwhoappear tomatter—andreciprocatetheirattention.TheimplicationisthatapossiblemarkerofauthoritylikeLikesandfollowerscanmakeanimpactonpeopleandcontributetotheperceptionof

yourstatusandinfluence.Evenifit’sdeadwrong.While thismayseemoutrageous,asbusinessprofessionalswehave todeal

withwhatis,notwhatwewouldlikeittobe,andthefactthattheworldisfullofpretenders is nothing new—it’s just that these days they may have anopportunity to find innocent victims on the Internet on a much grander scalewhileeludingreprisalwiththesimplepushofacomputerkey.

Thecareandnurturingofthesebadgesofsocialproofisbigbusinessandanimportantsourceofperceivedinfluence.Inthelongterm,peoplewillprobablymakedecisions aboutyour true influencebasedonyouropinions andcontent.Butintheshortterm,badgesareanimportantpartofsocialproofandafactorofcontenttransmission.

StrategiesforsocialproofStrongsocialproofmakesyoumoreconfidentthatyou’reintherightplaceandthecontentbeforeyouisshare-worthy.Weaksocialproofislikewalkingintoarestaurantat7p.m.andbeingtheonlycustomersthere.It’sabitunnervingandlonely, and youmightwonder if you should turn around and leave.But if therestaurantisfilledandlively—perhapsthereisevenawaitforatable—youfeelbetteraboutbeingthere.Socialproofworksthesameway.Symbolsoftractionmakeyouwant tobe involvedandbuy in,whether it’s a restaurant, anonlinevideo,oraPinterestpage.

Tohelpyourcontentreallytakeoff,ithastotakeoffalittlebitfirst.Here’sanexampleofwhatImean.AFortune100company(whomIwillnotidentify!)isputtingatremendousamountofeffortintoitsblog.Infact,90differentpeopleare active bloggers for this company. The content is well-written, interesting,relevant, and timely. But despite the fact that this company has more than300,000employees,theaveragenumberofsocialsharesforatypicalblogpostisfive.Themessagethatnumbersends?“Evenwedon’tcare.”

If this company were to ask only a portion of the 90 people involved inwriting theblog toalso ignite itonTwitter,LinkedIn, andFacebook, itwouldcertainlyimprovetheprobabilitythatmoreorganicsharingwouldbecomingitsway.

Mysincerehopeisthatyouwillnevercheatyourwayintofavorablesocialproof. If you’re trying to build a lasting brand and a meaningful AlphaAudience, radical honesty is the onlyway to build trust. Character equates topowerinthelongrun.Hereare10ethicalwaysto“primethepump”onsocialproofandimprovetheperceivedcredibilityofyourcontent:

Promoteyourcontent“Asseenon…”:Haveyoubeenquotedorfeaturedonawell-knownblog,newspaper,ortelevisionshow?Don’tkeepitasecret.Manycontentcreatorsuse“Asseenon…”testimoniestodisplaywheretheyhaveappeared,powerfulsocialproof.Requestendorsements:Here’sthecoolthingaboutLinkedInendorsements—they’republicandpermanent.Andyoucanusethemanywhere.Goaheadandasksomeofyourfavoritecustomersforarecommendationandthenpromotetheheckoutofthem.Takeadvantageoffriendsandfamily:Ifyou’rejuststartingacontent-creationeffort,don’tbeshyaboutaskingforhelp.ExplaintoeveryoneyouknowhowimportantitistogetyourblogoffthegroundandaskthemforalittleTwitterorFacebooklove.Askthemtoleaveacomment,too,whilethey’reatit!Activateemployees:Everypersoninyourcompanyhasastakeinmakingyourmarketingassuccessfulaspossible.Identifyemployeeswhoaresocialmediaenthusiastsandaskthemtohelpsupporttheeffortwithsomesocialsharing.Devotedemployeesusuallyfeelproudaboutparticipatinginmarketingactivities.Youmayevensendoutanemailonceaweekwithsuggestedtweetsthattheycaneitherpostaswrittenoruseasinspiration.Highlighttestimonials:Dr.GarySchirrofRadfordUniversityleftthisreviewofmybookSocialMediaExplained:“MarkSchaeferisthemasterofgreatlittlebooksaboutmarketing.”That’sagreatvalidation,soIhavethatquotepostedonseveralsitesfeaturingmybook,includingAmazon.Ifyourcompanycollectstestimonials,sprinklethemthroughoutyourwebsiteonthepagesyouknowwillbeseenoften.Aquotefromsomeonewhosaysshelearnedvaluablelessonsfromyourcontentcanhelppersuadeavisitorwho’snotsurewhetherornottosubscribetoyourcontentchannel.Promotebadges:VisitanyuniversitywebsiteandIguaranteeyou’llfindatleastonebadgeonthesitetoutingsomethinglike“NamedoneoftheTop10BusinessSchoolsinSoutheastNewMexico.”Everyoneisknownforsomething.Ifyou’relisted,named,featured,orhonored…letpeopleknow.Focusonpowerfulcustomerreviews:WhenisthelasttimeyoumadeameaningfulpurchaseonAmazonoraneCommercesitewithoutglancingatthereviews?Scoringsystemsarepowerfulsocialproof,butdon’tgettooupsetaboutafewnegativereviews.Nobody’sperfect,andthebalanceactuallyaddstothecredibilityofthereviews.Keeptrackofsubscribercounts:Peoplefeelcomfortablejoiningthecrowd.Manysitesfeatureacounterwithnumbersofsubscriberstoacontentchannel.Hubspothasasimplecalltoactionontheirsite:

“Subscribetoourblog.Thousandsofothershave.”Collectkudostweets:Whenpeopletweetnicethingsaboutyou,startsavingthemasa“favorite”tweet.Thenyoucanlinktothelistofnicerecommendationsasanentirestreamofpublic,publishedsocialvalidation,asin“Don’ttakemywordforit,clickheretoseewhatothersaresayingaboutmy(book,blog,podcast…).”Publicizeclients:Logopornisapopularwebsitetacticofdisplayingclientlogos.It’saneasywaytoestablishcredibilityforyourcompanybysimplyshowingwhoyouworkwith.Somecompanies(especiallylargeones)requirepermissionbeforeyoucanpostalogoonyoursite.I’veaddedthisasacontractlineitem:“SchaeferMarketingSolutionsmaynameyouasaclientonitswebsite.”Customersareusuallyhappytohelpyououtinthisway.

Whensocialproofbackfires

Ineed toend this tidy littlechapterwithacautionarynote.Afewyearsago, Imadeabusinessdecisiontoremovenearlyallsocialprooffrommywebsite.Inessence,I’mnotfollowingmyownadvice.Here’smystory.

In the earlydaysofblogging, therewas ametric sponsoredbyAdvertisingAgemagazine called thePower 150, a listing of themost powerfulmarketingblogsonearth. Itwasnot evenclose tobeinga reliablemetric.Part of itwasdetermined by some dudewho decided if he liked howyour blog looked.Nojoke.The“ToddScore.”IactuallyincreasedmyscorebywritingToddanemailaskinghimtogivemeanextrapoint.Twice.Someoftheblogsonthelisthadbeeninactivefortwoyears.Itwasthatbad.

Butlikemanybloggersoftheday,Ibecameobsessedwiththissocialproof.Iputabadgeonmysitethatdisplayedmydailyscoreforalltheworldtosee.The{grow}blogwasnumber37or22orwhatever“Todd”haddecided,Isuppose.Iwould flipoutwhen itdropped. Insteadof focusingongreatcontent, I startedconcentrating on pulling any string thatwould increasemy score for a coupledays.Anditwasametric that reallyprovednothing. Ialsohadsevenoreightother badges on my site from every meaningless “best of” list I was on—arbitraryawardscreatedlargelytoboostegos.Socialproofbecameadistraction,asicknessreally.

FinallymyheadwonoutovermyegoandIknewIhadtodoapurge.Mypersonal philosophy had always been “create great content, love on youraudience,andtherestwilltakecareofitself.”Ihadlostmyway.In10minutes,Ihadrippeddowneverybadge,everybrag,andevery testimonyon theblog—I

strippeditdowntowordsonapage.ImmediatelyIwasreenergizedandrefocusedonsurprisinganddelightingmy

readerswitheverypost.Removingthedistractionofbadgesandawardshelpedmeworkonwhatwasgoingtomovetheneedleintheend—buildinganengagedAlpha Audience through insanely great content and my undivided attention.Soon,Ididn’thaveanyideawhereIrankedonanylist,andI’veneverlookedback!

This is not to judge anyone else who uses social proof as a marketingtechnique.Ijustwroteanentirechapteradvocatingit!It’ssmartbusinessandanundeniably important piece of the Content Code. It just didn’t work for mypersonalitysobewareifyoustartwatchingthosenumberstoooften!

You’reclosinginontheendofthebooknow.Let’stakealookatonefinalandsubtlefactorthatignitescontent…andithasverylittletodowithcontent!

CHAPTERTEN

TheMysteryofAuthority

“Weknowthatnooneeverseizespowerwiththeintentionofrelinquishingit.”–GeorgeOrwell

Congratulations!You’vemadeittothefinalofthesixelementsoftheContentCode,andit’sallaboutauthority,anelementcloakedinsecrecyandmystery.

If Iwere to depict the “BADASS”model faithfully, itwould actually looklikethis:BADaSS.Yousee,comparedtothegargantuanstatureofourfirstfivesubjects,thisoneis…well…tinybycomparison.Authorityistheoneelementof content ignition that ismost out of your control, at least in the short-term.Althoughelusive,it’salsoafactorofgreatimportancebecauseifyoucanattainthe power of site authority, you also achieve a near-permanent advantage forcontentignition.

Letmeexplaintheimportanceofsite(ordomain)authoritywithasadlittletale.

OneoftheseedsforthisbookwastheContentShockblogpostImentionedallthewaybackinChapter2.Thisposthadalltheelementsofgreat,shareablecontent,anditreallyignitedwithmyAlphaAudience…andbeyond!Thepostwas shared thousandsof timeandattractedhundredsof comments.Talkaboutsocialproof!Injustashorttime,dozensofothercontentpieceshadbeencreatedallovertheweb,linkingbacktomyideaandmypost.

A week after the article ran, I did a Google search for the term “ContentShock” to see what others might have written about my commentary. Tomyutter amazement, my own post—the original idea—came up THIRD in therankings…onasearchtermIhadjustmadeupafewdaysbefore!

Thisseemsimpossible,doesn’tit?ThereasonthisalternativecontentleapedovermyownoriginalpostwasduetosomethingcalledDomainAuthority(alsoknown as site authority or site rank). The fact that the other two sites werebiggerandmorewell-knownin theeyesofGoogle thanmyownlittlewebsitegavethemacritical,andsomewhatpermanent,edgeinthesearchrankings.

The most important content did not rise to the top. The most importantwebsitesdid.

The “let’s figure out Google” cottage industry of experts estimates that aratingof the trustworthiness and authorityof awebsite accounts fornearly25percent of the overall search ranking algorithm. There’s a tight connectionbetweenGoogle’ssite rankand thepublicsearchresultsused todiscoveryourcontent.Nowondermy post lost outwhen itwas stacked againstmega-blogswithhundredsofthousandsofreaders!

SEOanddigitalrelationshipsLeeOdden,theCEOofTopRankMarketingandascholaronsiteoptimization,providesagreatexplanationofhowsiteauthorityworks.It’ssimilartopersonalnetworking,onlyGoogleistheonewatchinghowtherelationshipsdevelop.

“Ithinkthewaytothinkaboutitislikenetworkingintherealworld,”Oddensaid.“Ifyoumoveintoanewcommunityandintoanewjob,asmartpersonisgoing towant toestablishcredibilitywithin thisnewareaororganization, thisnew sphere of influence. Otherwise, they’ll never get anything done or neverhaveanyfunwithnewfriends.

“Itwouldmake sense for a newcomer to seek out thosewho already haveauthority in that neighborhood and create some reason for them to have aconversationandaconnection.Ifthatresultsinanendorsementsomehow—likesomeoneinvitesyoutotheirpartyoroverfordinner—it’sasigntoothersthatyou’re becoming important in the community too.As ametaphor, that’swhatGoogleislookingfor—signalsofcredibility.Idon’tknowthatGoogleactuallythinksofthingsintermsofthecontentauthorornot,butthere’sanexpressionininformationretrievalcalled‘entities.’

“Aknownentitycanbehuman,oritcanbeacompany,butitisathing,likeahub, and it creates content, and it has other entities citing it like blogs andprofessionaljournals.ThesesignalsaretheveryoriginsofGoogleandthepagerank algorithm. Rather than the page rank being associated specifically to awebsiteorwebpages,actually,becauseofthegrowthofsocialnetworks,thereare signals of credibility that can identify an individual and follow themwherevertheypublish.

“If you have aGoogle+ account, if you have aGooglemail account, or aYouTubeaccount,thenGooglecannotonlyfactorinthethingsitnormallylooksatlikelinksandcontent,butitcanalsolookatsomeofthatsocialstreamdataandassociations.

“AndifyouwriteanarticleonanotherwebsitelikeTheWallStreetJournalorFast Company, your credibility follows you wherever you go because thecitation of you and your name comes alongwith that. This approach harkensbackto traditionalpublicrelationswhere ifyougetpositiveexposureonothercrediblesitesitcoulddirectlyhelpyoumoveyourowncontentbecauseitsendsacumulativesignaltoGoogle.”

Is thereanythingyoucando to tip theodds inyourfavorand improve thisimportantrating?WatchingSEOprofessionalsdukeitoutovertheirbestguessesabout Google’s rating system is a wonderful spectator sport. (It may make apopularOlympiceventsomeday:GoogleWrestling.)EventhoughGooglegivesus very few clues about the specifics in their formula, remarkably, the SEOauthorities are fairly aligned when it comes to the following factors thatultimatelyresultinsiteauthority:

Thenumber,quality,andrelevanceofincominglinkspointingtoyourcontentAgeofdomain:Oldersiteshavebeen“intheneighborhood”longerandhavehadtimetobecometrusted.SizeofthewebsiteandthepagesofqualityinformationfoundthereThenumberandqualityofoutgoinglinks:Whodoyouconsiderworthlinkingto?Innetworkingterms,“Whoareyourfriends?”AretheythecoolkidswhohaveauthoritywithGoogle?Indicatorsofspam:Spamisabroadtermindicatingunethical,oratleastquestionable,activitiesmeanttogamethesystem.Doyouown10,20,or30domainsthatlinktoeachother?Areyoupointingtositesknowntobespammy?Areyougettinglotsoflinksfromspammysites?Googlefrownsonthosepractices.Linkdiversity:Ingeneral,it’sbettertohaveasmallernumberoflinksfromawiderarrayofvaluablesitesthanitistohavealargenumberofincominglinksfromahandfulofsites.Anchortextdiversity:Itusedtobeagoodpracticetogeteveryonetolinkbacktoyoursiteusingthekeywordsyouwanttorankon.Googlewantstoseeorganiclinks,andpeoplenaturallyusedifferentkeywords.Speed:Thisisbecomingincreasinglyimportant.Ifyouhaveaslowwebsite,you’llbepenalizedinrankings.Temporaryversuslong-termtraffictothesite:Isasitepublishingconsistentlyandgettingsteadytrafficovertime?Asitethathasasuddenspikeintrafficmayindicateithaspurchasedtraffic,whichisfrowneduponbyGoogle.

Theaccumulatedpagevalue:Onasitewith50pages,howmanyofthemarevaluable?

Trafficmetricslikereturningvisitors,pageviewspervisitor,andtimespentonthesitecanallbeincreasedbyworkingonyourAlphaAudienceasdescribedinChapter5.Googlelikestoseeengagementonyoursite,knownasdwelltime.If someone finds you on Google, visits your site, and then immediately goesback to Google, it’s a good indicator that Google didn’t deliver what thecustomerwanted.

YoucanbegintoseewhysiteauthorityisthetoughestofthesixelementsoftheContent Code to incorporate into a strategy because it takes a lot of hardworkandpatience!Andyetit’stooimportanttoignore.

SinceGoogle doesn’t give you anyway to quantify the value of your site,independent companies have developed their own ratings which can serve asindicatorsofperformanceonsearchresults.Oneoftheleadingalgorithmsisthefree Domain Authority tool available on MOZ.com.1 Their estimate is alogarithmic calculation of the authority of the site,meaning it’s easier to risefrom score of 30 to 35 than itwould be tomove from an 80 to 85 (out of apossible100).

Wheredoyoustartwithyourplanofattack?For thatanswer, I turn to IanCleary,aDublinerandthefounderofRazorSocialMedia.Ianreliablypresentsaclear-eyedviewofsuchcomplexquestions.

AplantoimproveyourauthorityAccordingtoCleary,theDomainAuthorityratingisanaccumulationofalltheindividual rankings of the pages on your site. So if you work on improvingindividualpages,you’lleventuallystartmovingthedomainnumberup,too.

PageAuthoritycanbeimprovedprimarilybyincreasingtherelevantlinkstoyoursitefrompagesthathavehighPageAuthoritythemselves.IfsomeonelinkstoyoufromapagethathasaPageAuthorityof70—andthisisarelevantlink,meaningit’sinasimilarindustry—thislinkwillhelpyourPageAuthority.Intheneighborhood analogy, it shows that people are getting to know you andrecommendyou.

Here’s anexplanation fromGoogle: “PageAuthority relieson theuniquelydemocraticnatureofthewebbyusingitsvastlinkstructureasanindicatorofanindividualpage’svalue.Inessence,GoogleinterpretsalinkfrompageAtopageBasavote,bypageA,forpageB.”

The value of the links depends on theDomainAuthority, relevance of thelinks,andawholerangeofotherfactors.Forexample,ifyou’reoneof100linksonthatpage,thislinkislessbeneficialtoyouthanifyouweretheonlylinkonthat page! It can get quite complex, but in summary, if you’re looking to getlinks,it’sbestif they’refromrelevantsiteswithahighDomainAuthority,andfrompageswithahighPageAuthority.

Whenyouconsistentlycreatecontentthatisinterestingandrelevanttoyourniche,buildshareabilityintoyourcontent,anddevelopanAlphaAudiencewhowill igniteyourcontent,you’ll inevitablyincreaseyourPageAuthority.Peoplereferencegreat content andbuildon ideasall the time, soyou’llget links thatprovidecredibilitytoyoubyassociation—you’vebeen“invitedtotheparty.”Inaveryrealway,consistentlyworkingontheotherfiveelementsoftheContentCodeshouldeventuallyraiseyourGoogleview.Inaddition,keeptheseideasinmindasyoudevelopcontentovertime:

Exceptional quality encourages conversation. This is why having a blog isimportantformanybusinesses thatdependonGooglesearch—everyblogpostrepresents a newpage forGoogle to index.Eachnewentry also increases thepossibilityofnewlinkstoyourcontent,whichcontributetotheauthorityofyoursiteoverall.

Havealink-buildingstrategy.This isartasmuchasscience!Ofcourse,youshouldaimtogetlinksfromhighauthoritysites,butarangeoflinksfrombothhigh and low authority sites/pages looks more natural from Google’sperspective. An entire industry has been built on providing link-buildingstrategies, and that level of detail is beyond the scope of this book. Here’s asamplingofsomecommonwaystoearnlinks:

Friendshelpfriends:Identifykeyinfluencersinyourindustryandgettoknowthem.Findwaystohelpthemandtogetontheirradarscreen.Overtime,it’slikelythey’lllinkbacktoyouandyourfamiliarcontent.Linkfromhighauthoritypagestolowerones:Ifyouhaveahighauthoritypageonyoursite,linkingfromthispagetoonewithalowerauthorityonyoursamesitegivesitalittleboost.Activelyseekoutlinks:Althoughthisisatime-consumingtask,itdoeswork.Promoteyourcontenttositesthatwouldhaveagoodreasontolinktoyourcontent.Iftheydon’tknowofyourcontent,they’llneverlinktoit!Oneofthebeststrategiesistoidentifyeitherthemarketleaderorthenearestcompetitor(ifyou’retheleader)andlookattheminOpenSite

Explorer.Thiswilltellyouwherethey’regettingtheirlinks,andthenyoucangoandpitchthosefolks.It’sanearlyfoolproofstrategy.

Aim for stability. Every time you make structural changes to your site,especially if you start re-naming pages, it could potentially break importantinternalandexternallinks.Thisofcoursedestroystheselink“friendships”andsends danger signs to Google. If you go through a significant web redesign,work with your developer to make sure authority from existing content getsproperlyreassignedtothenewpages.

Page Authority is not something to obsess about. There is no shortcut to

developing this elementof theContentCode. It takesyearsof experience anddoing things well online to reach an elite level. But I assure you that if youfollowthebestpracticesinthisbook—evenifyoudoalittleeachweek—yoursiteauthoritywillimproveovertime.

It’sasimple,unifiedidea.Createexceptionalcontentandthenigniteit.Ifitignites, the awareness foryour content increases.The respect foryour contentbuilds.Theaudiencewhocaresforyoumagnifies.Andyouwillbewelcomed,andmaybeevenloved,inyournewneighborhood.

Side-steppingdomainauthorityIf youdon’t have the resources tomakeDomainAuthority apriority for yourcompany,youcanreframetheissueandapproachtheprobleminadifferentway.Insteadofthinkingaboutitas,“HowdoIgetthecontentonmywebsitetobeatthebigsitesandshowupinmycustomersearchresults?”consideritfromtheperspective,“HowdoIgetmycontentinfrontofcustomersanywayIcan?”

Hereareafewstrategiestothinkabout:

Curation:Isubscribetoanumberofhelpfuldaily,weekly,andmonthlynewslettersthatsummarizethebestarticlesinmyfieldsofinterest:marketing,entrepreneurship,technology,anddesign.ThesenewsletterswillnevershowupinGooglesearchresults,andyetthey’reatrusted,consistentsourceofinformationdeliveredinauser-friendlyformat.NotonlydoIreadthenewslettersfaithfully,butthesecuratedpublicationsareaprimarysourceoftheinterestingcontentIlovetosharewithmyaudience.LinkedIn:IfyoudoasearchfornearlyanyB2Bcompanyorbusiness-relatedtopic,it’slikelythatoneofthetopsearchresultswillcomefrom

LinkedIn.Perhapstohaveaneffectivesearchresult,youdon’tneedthemostpowerfulwebsiteaccordingtoGoogle,butratheryouhavetohavethebestcontentaccordingtoLinkedIn.LinkedInhastransformedintotheworld’slargestpublisherofbusinessinformation,andcontentthatishighly-indexedbyGoogle.Groupsofinfluence:Ineveryindustrytherearenormallysmallpocketsofonlineinfluencewherethoughtleadershangout.ItcouldbeaFacebookorLinkedInGroup,aprivateforumsponsoredbyonecompany,orevenaclose-knitblogcommunity.Becomingactiveandtrustedinthesegroupscanleadtocontenttransmission,andevennewAlphaAudiencemembers.Howdoyoufindthesegroups?Ask.Approachleadersinyourindustrywiththisquery:“I’mtryingtolearntheropesinthisindustry.Couldyoupleaserecommendonlineforums,groups,andsourcesofinformationthatarehelpfultoyou?”Judiciousoutreach:Influencersareinformationjunkiesandlovehavingtheinsidescoopfirst.Infact,they’veprobablyarrangedtheirlivestocollectinformationaboutthethingsthey’repassionateaboutsothey’repoisedtobethefirsttoshareatalltimes!Newinformation,andespeciallyexclusiveinformation,islikeignitioncracktothem.Imustadmit…Iaminthiscategory.Whensomebodywhoknowsmewelltakesthetimetosendmealinktoanarticle“theythinkIwilllike,”it’salmostguaranteedthatIwillreaditcarefullyandshareit.Doyouhavecustomerslikethat?TrustedmembersofyourAlphaAudience?Bethehub:MarketingConsultantRachelStrella2offersthisideaforcontentignition:“Whilemostaretryingtoedgetheirwayintoacrowdedspace,IoftenwonderifitmakesmoresensetoBEthespace.Thisisanideaweproposedtoaclientinanoversaturatedmarketofgovernmentcontractorssearchingforcandidateswithhighlevelsofsecurityclearance.Untilheconsultedwithus,hewasworkinghiswayintohundredsofgroups,forums,andpagesdedicatedtomilitarypersonnel.Withcompetitionsofierce,hewasn’tsureifworkingthesesocialmedianetworkswasworththeeffort.Wehadtolookbeyondthecommonapproachesfollowedbyallofhiscompetitors.Wespentcountlesshoursofresearchthroughsocialmediamonitoringtodeterminetheneedsofthisvaluabletargetaudience,whichhelpedguideourcontentplan.Italsogaveustheideatoestablishstrategiccontentpartnershipswithauniquenon-profitfocusedmission,andhavehimcreatehisown‘hub’—anoriginalsourceofinformationthatcanbesharedbythecommunityhecreates.Theideaisthatbyfillingagapandsteppinguptobethevoiceofauthority,his

value-basedcontentandcommunity-focusedmindsetwillhelphimovercometheinformationdensityinhisniche.”

Congratulations!You’veunlockedthesecretsoftheContentCode!Butwe’renot quite finished. Let’s examine some ideas for putting this all together andwhatmighthappennextonthecontentmarketingscene.

CHAPTERELEVEN

TheFutureofContentandIgnition

“Whenyou’refinishedchanging,you’refinished.”–BenjaminFranklin

Thisisthelastchapterofthebook,andbeforewepartways(sniff),weneedtofigure out what to do with all these ideas. How do you incorporate thempractically into your team? And what’s on the horizon for your content andignition?

Firstthingsfirst:Let’sgetorganized.

Theignitiondepartment?If yourbusinesshasdedicated resources for content creation and socialmediamanagement, you need to begin thinking about creating a core competency incontentignitionaswell.Whatwouldbetheincrementalvaluetoyourbusinessifyouhandeda talentedemployee thisbookandsaid“learn itanddo thiseveryday?” What would be the business impact if you had a company ignitionspecialistwhodroverapidlyincreasinglevelsofcontenttransmission?

Thisideaofacontenttransmissionspecialistisalreadystartingtocatchon.ApioneerinthisfieldisBrianLutz,amarketingexecutivewithCBLProperties,whohashiredresourcesspecificallyforContentCodeactivities.

“In the last fewyears,ourorganicreachonsocialchannelsdeclineddue totheincreasingnumberofusersperplatform,levelsofcontent,andnewpay-to-playmodels,mostnoticeablyatFacebook,”Lutzsaid.“Toremainvisibleonourconsumers’ timelines, we evolved our content marketing strategy to createcontent that ‘catches fire,’ or ignites. We made the decision to hire twoCommunication Specialists tasked specifically to build shareability into ourcontent.Thepeopleinthesenewrolesarespecial,fortwoveryspecificreasons:1) They’ve grown up with social media and understand how brands need to

communicateandnetwork;and2)Theyhaveexcellentanalyticalskillssotheycanunderstandthereasonsaparticularpostorconversationignites.

“We task our ‘Content Ignitors’ to focus on all aspects of our business toinclude outbound conversations in sales, marketing, customer service, andcompetitionmonitoring.Sincebringingthemonboard,ourcontentengagementhasincreased251percentyear-over-year.”

TheignitiongameplanEarly in this book I emphasized that there’s no cookie-cutter content strategy.MyhopeisthatI’veintroducedenoughrelevantideasthatsomearebeginningtobecome the seeds of a strategy that’s right for your organization. Perhaps youhave taken notes or highlighted sections of the book. Let’s start putting thisBADASSconceptintoaction.

Thelongestchapters in thisbookweredevotedtobuildingshareability intoyour content and connecting to yourAlphaAudience, and for good reason. Ifyou’refeelingoverwhelmedaboutwheretogofromhere,thesearethetwoareasworththinkingaboutfirst.

As you consider your priorities for a content ignition plan, develop achecklistofdaily,weekly,andmonthlyactivitiesthatwillleadtogreatersocialtransmission over time. This will keep you focused, on-track, and marchingsteadilytowardincreasedbusinessvaluefromyourcontentinvestment.Adailycontentchecklistforoptimizingcontenttransmissionmightinclude:

Maintainingacomprehensivelistofpossiblesitestopromotethepost.Bejudicious.Promoteinplacesbestsuitedforthecontentanddon’tdrinkfromthesamewelltoooften.Creatingproactiveconnectionstopeopleandbusinessesmentionedinyourcontent.MonitoringAlphaAudienceactivities.Lookforopportunitiestoconnectwiththem,servethem,andcelebratetheirachievementsonsocialplatforms.Optimizingheadlinesfollowingtheguidelinesinthisbook.Findingwaystobuildoptimism,inspiration,andhelpfuladviceintoyourcontent.Lookingforopportunitiestoembedknown“shareability”advantagesfromChapters3and4intoeverypieceofcontent.MakingsureyourcontentfollowsSEObasics.

Pitchingcontenttoappropriateindustrysyndicationsites.Ifappropriate,submittingcontenttositeslikeRedditandStumbleUpon.Consideringthepossibleadvertisingstrategyforeachpost.Determiningifcontentcouldbesharedthroughemployeenetworks.Workingonshort-termstrategiestoboostsocialproof.Connectingwithfriendsofthebusinesswhomightappreciateknowingaboutyourcontent.

Examplesofweeklyignitionactivitiesmightinclude:

Arrangingphonecallsandmeetingstobuildrelationshipswithonlineinfluencers.OrganizingspecificoutreachactivitiestonurturenewmembersofyourAlphaAudience.VisitingandpromotingAlphaAudienceandInfluencercontentsites.Queuingevergreencontentforfuturedistribution.Developinggraphictreatmentsforupcomingcontent.Creatingregularschedulesforrepurposingexistingcontent.ParticipatinginTriberrandothersocialsharing“clubs”thatcanintroduceyourcontenttorelevantnewaudiences.Reachingouttobloggerswhopublishroundupsandlettingthemknowofrelevantcontent.

Monthlyignitionactivitiescouldinclude:

Researchingpossiblenewinfluencers.Createaninfluencerdatabaseforyourbusiness.Evaluatingnewdistributionplatforms,socialmediagroups,andnichebookmarkingsites.Testingadvertisingoptionsandstrategies.Creatinglong-termplansforrepurposingcontent.LookingatappropriatemeetingsandconferenceaheadthatmightbegoodplacestomeetcustomersandbuildyourHeroicBrand.AttendingconferencesthatcouldenhanceyourpersonalorbusinessbrandandenableconnectionwithAlphaAudiencemembers.Consideringorganizationalchangesthatcanhelpplaceafocusoncontentignition.Arethereenthusiasticemployeeswhowouldwanttohelpyou?Researchinglink-buildingandotherlong-termstrategiesthatleadtobetterSiteAuthority.

Lookingaheadtoseasonalopportunitiesandbeginningtoworkonappropriatecontentplans.Developingcontentplansthatfeatureavarietyofhygiene,hub,andherocontent.

These are just a few of the ideas you can begin working on now. StartdevelopingyourplantodayandputtheContentCodetouse!

Contentignitionandimplicationsforbusinessstrategy

WhenIwasstartingoutinbusiness,mycompanyrequiredmetoproduceafive-year sales strategyeveryyear.Whatyou seehow fastbusiness changes today,thatsortoflong-termplanningseemsuseless,doesn’tit?Undoubtedly,thepaceof change is going to increase even more and instead of looking at strategyplanningasanobstacleyouhavetoovercomeeveryyear,I’dlikeyoutothinkaboutyourmarketingandignitionstrategyasacontinuousprocess.

Amore usefulmodel for your content strategymight be represented by anAmericanfootballgame.Inthatsport,aprimarymethodofadvancingdownthefieldistohandtheballtoastrongandswiftplayercalledarunningback.Theideaistocreatea“hole”inthedefensesotherunningbackcantakeadvantageof theopportunity to sprint throughapackofopponentsandpickupasmuchground as possible before the competition eventually swarms and stops theadvance.

Before the game, the team has an over-arching vision ofwhat needs to beaccomplishedtowin,butadjustmentsaremadecontinuallythroughoutthegame.Infact,aftereachplay,theteamregroupstoconsiderwhereanotherholemightbecreated.Theirstrategyflows.

This is how you need to think about business strategy today. As long asyou’re in the game, you need to be looking for holes, or points of strategicleverage.You need to charge through those holes as fast as you can and gaingrounduntilthecompetitionfiguresitoutandclosesinonyou,whetherthat’safewmonthsorafewyears.

Meanwhile…evenas this ishappening…youneed tobe looking for thenexthole, thenextpointof leverage.Plottingastrategybecomesacontinuousflow as new research, new platforms, new ignition opportunities, and newcontent forms create opportunistic points of leverage. Like the running back

charging through a hole, your successful strategy is multi-dimensional, afunctionof:

Space:Whatisthepointofstrategicleverage?Time:Howlongwillthespace(orniche)exist?Speed:Howfastcanyourunthoughthegapandmaintainthepaceaheadofyourcompetitors?Strength:Whatspecialtalentsdoyouneedonourteamtotakeadvantageofthegapsyoufind?

In an ideal world, a strategic committee would review these dimensionsconstantlyandreviseasneeded,dependingonthestructureofthebusiness.

We’re at the end of the book and I want to conclude by looking into thefuture.HerearefourfinalthoughtsonwhereyoumighttaketheContentCodenext.

Ignitingcontentoffline

Oneofthegreatestchallengesmarketersfaceisthatmostofthetime,evenwhenwedoagreatjobignitingourcontent,wedon’tevenknowit’shappening.

Several researchstudies1 show that70percentof thecontent sharinggoingonintheworldistakingplaceonso-called“darksocial”channelssuchasemail,textmessaging, or other private, peer-to-peer platforms. It’s impossible to seeand monitor these channels compared to public social networks such asFacebook,Twitter,Instagram,andPinterest.Aboutone-thirdofallpeoplesharecontentonly on dark channels, meaning the activity of these fans is virtuallyundetectable.

People tend to share different types of information through light and darksocial channels. Consumers generally share politically correct or sociallyacceptablecontent in light social channelsbut share important content suchasfinancialnewsandpoliticalopinionsviadarkchannels.

But there is another form of transmission we haven’t covered that is alsoquite important—word-of-mouth discussions and recommendations. So far,we’ve only looked at online social transmission.What percent of allword-of-mouthtransmissionoccursonline?50percent?60percent?Maybeevenhigherthanthat?

Theactualnumber is7percentaccording toastudybyKellerFayGroup.2We tend to overestimate this number because the online version of word-of-mouth transmission is so easy to see and record for measurement purposes.

Socialmedia provides such an intoxicating database of tweets, mentions, andpoststhatit’seasytorelytooheavilyonthesesymbolsofcontenttransmission.

Onecouldargue(andIam!)thatwiththeevaporationoforganictransmissiononsocialmediasites,turningyourattentiontogoodoldofflineword-of-mouthmarketingmayultimatelybethekillerapptoovercomeContentShock.

If offline ignition is so important, this raises a tantalizingproposition… isthere anyway you can use some of the principles in this book to carry yourcontentbeyondthebordersofthesocialweb?Canyouusetechnologyincleverways toenableperson-to-person transmissionatwork,athome,at school, andwithfriendsoverdinner?

Ithinkconnectingtheworldofonlinecontentandofflineword-of-mouthisanareaincrediblyripeforinnovation.3

NewanalytictoolstouncoverGraySocialMedia

Somewhere between dark social media lurkers and your “light” social mediafollowersisathirdcategorythatisrichinundiscoveredmarketingopportunity—GraySocialMedia.Thesearethesmall,stillvoiceswhoareclearlytellingusthey’rethere,butwecan’tdetecttheirquietsignalsandcapturethedata.

Most current analytics programs are optimized to give us broad trends,patterns, and large-scale shifts in sentiment. But these toolsmight bemissinginfrequentmessagesfrompeoplewhoarequietlytellingus“Lookatme.I’minyourAlphaAudience!”

Perhapsmuchofourdark socialmedia really isn’t thatdarkbecausewe’rejust not looking for their uncommon signals, or we’re focused in the wrongplaces.Innovationandinsightdon’tcomefromBigData.TheycomefromLittleData.

AvtarRamSingh,adigitalmarketingmanagerbased inSingapore,gaveanexampleoftheopportunityofgraysocialmedia:

Afterworkingonourcompanyblogforawhile,Ifoundgreatvalueindiving into Google Analytics to see where the traffic was comingfrom.

IfoundalittleapplinkintherethatIhadn’tseenbeforeandnoticedthateveryweek,thisplacewouldsendusbetween20-50visits.Notalot,buttheywereconsistentlycomingfromthissource.

Idiscoveredthatthisappwasaninternalteamcommunicationtool.SoIknewtherewassomegroupouttheresharinglinkstomybloginan

environmentbehindafirewall.Thisis“darksocialmedia”…buttherewasalsoaclueformetoknowtheywereoutthere.

IdidsomesleuthingtocheckifanyagenciesIknewinthecityusedthistool.Icameupemptyuntilafterseveralweeks,oneofthemsaidthroughaLinkedInmessagethattheyusedit.

It turnedout thiswas a groupofmarketerswho aremy exact targetaudience— lovingmy content! Iwould have never known unless Ihadseenthissmallsignalanddugintoinvestigate.NowthatIknewwhotheywere,Iwasabletoformabusinessrelationshipwiththem.

Is it possible to organize “small signal sleuthing” to discover awhole newcategoryofpassionatecustomers?Consider:

SomebodyIdidn’tknowleftmeanendorsementfor“digitalmarketing”onLinkedIn.ThismightbetheoneandonlytimeIhearfromthisperson,theirlonesmallsignaltomethatthey’reafan.WhatifIcoulddeterminethatthiswasnoidleact—thispersononlygivesouttwoendorsementsperyear.Wouldn’tthatbemeaningfultoknow?Whatifawomanamongyourfollowersonlytweetsafewtimesamonth.Herleveloftweetingissoobscurethatshe’sinvisibleonthesocialanalyticsradar.Butwhatifyoucoulddeterminethat25percentofhertweetswereaboutyourcompany?Isn’tthata“graysignal”thatthispersoncaresaboutyourcontentinanextraordinaryway?WhatifyouknewthatthereisapersonwhoONLYcommentsonyourblog?Thatmeanssomething,eveniftheyonlycommenttwiceayear.

Chancesare,these“gray”messagesarenotweaksignalsatall.Thesemaybetheequivalentofthevast,shy,silentmajorityvirtuallyscreamingtheirloveforyou!Thesesignalsfromourquiet,yetessential,GraySocialMediaaudiencearebeaming to us all the time, but we’re missing them because there’s no easyprocesstotrack,quantify,anddevelopthesesubtleleads.Quietisnotirrelevant!

Certainly CRM andmarketing automation software are evolving in a waythatcanhelpusbegintodiscoverthesequietvoices,buttherearestilla lotoflimits.Wouldn’titprovideacompetitiveadvantageifyoucouldsiftthroughthebabble on the web better than your competitors to find the important AlphaAudienceengaginginthegrayareaofthesocialweb?

Theimpactofadvancedfiltersoncontentignition

Ihaveseenthefuture,andit’sZite-like.Ziteisamobileapplicationthat“learns”whatcontentIenjoy.Itcustomizes

anevolvingdeliverysystembasedonwhat it’s learningaboutme.Themore Iuseitandviewcontentthroughtheapp,thebetteritgets.Infact,it’sdoingsucha good job delivering intensely amazing content that it has become addictive.I’vealreadyabandonedmanyothersourcesofonlinenewsandinsight.

ButthisisnotanadforZite,whichisjustoneofmanyinnovationstohelpusnavigate through our information-dense world. It’s merely a call to action toconsiderthemarketingimplicationsofanewwaveofradicalcontentfilters.

Five years ago when you did a search on Google for the best deal on anautomobile or a review of a new carmodel, youwould get similar results…probably the same results. But over time, Google has made its search resultshighly tailored to your environment.Where are you?Who are you?Who areyour friends? This information has resulted in an ever-tightening bubble ofpersonalized results. The results you would get today are almost certainlydifferentthanwhatIwouldgetlookingforthesameinformationinmytown.

Zite is an even more extreme example of this idea, as it actually pushescontenttoyouandonlyyou,radicallyconstrictingthescopeofpossiblecontentyousee.Let’ssayyou’retryingtocreatecontentaboutautomobilesthatwillbediscoveredorganicallybyahigh-potentialcustomerlikeme.Togetthroughthisfilter,youdon’thavetojustigniteyourcontentsothatitwinstheGooglerace,youmayalsohavetogetitthroughtheZitealgorithm…andalltheotherZitecompetitors crowding into this increasingly important space.Will that requiredifferent strategies?Perhapswewon’t justbeconcernedwithSEO—wemightalsoneedtoconsiderZiteEngineOptimization.:)

Thisneweraofmega-filterswillalsopresentachallengetoanyorganizationorbrandtryingtointroduceanewideaorproduct.TodaywhenIreadanonlinenewspaper or news feed, I’m also presented with many alternative contentchoices. This content might be way out of my normal comfort zone butinterestingtomenonetheless.Ilikereadingaboutnewthings.Imean,howelsewouldIlearnabouttwerking?

Butasinformationdensityincreasesinmybusyworld,IcanseeadaywhenIspendalmostallmytimewithmyownpersonalizedfilter.Iwouldrarelyseethings outside my comfort zone because keeping me in my comfort zone isexactly what these filters are trying to do! If Zite figures out I’m politicallyliberal, itprobablywon’tofferaneditorialwithaconservativeviewpoint.ThatwouldbeaFilterFail.Everyonlineorganizationiscollectingdataaboutusanddeterminingwhatwe’regoingtoviewandhearbasedonthestereotypethey’re

creatingforus.Whilethereareobviousbenefitstothisfiltering,thediversityofmycontent

stream is also being strangled by every search and social media platform.Interesting implications for howwe learn and discover (or not discover) newideas,no?

Let’spush this ideaofradical filtering toanevenhigher level.Apple’sSiripresentsaparticularlyinterestingtypeofcontentfilterandapluckyproblemformarketers. If you ask Siri a question, you might get a verbal answer, notnecessarilyalistofattributed,optimizedcontent(andads)tochoosefrom.

I recentlyhad a chance to seewhere thiskindofprecise search is headingwhen I met some people who work with Watson, IBM’s groundbreakingcognitive computing technology. This may be the ultimate filter because itdoesn’tjusttailorcontentforyou,ittailorsonepreciseanswerforyou,evenifit’s highly complex.Watson can process billions of bits of content and solveeventhemostdifficultqueryinaheartbeat.

WhenIaskedaWatsonteammemberabouttheimportanceofcontenttothisbreakthrough technology, she paused and said, “It’s not just content to us, it’sfuel.”

What are the implications for content marketing when we’re tasked toprovidecomputer fuel insteadofmerelyblogpostsandYouTubevideos?Willvisualandvideocontenteven“count”inthatkindofenvironment?

The necessity to adjust content strategies to a cognitive computingenvironmentwillbeheresoon.Thischangewillcertainlyhastenthedemiseofmarginalcontentproducersandupthegameforgoodonesasprecisioncontentbecomesahighlyprizedresource.

TheInternetsurroundsusliketheairthatwebreathe

Let’s bring the Content Code full circle now. In Chapter 1, I described threedigitalepochsthatledustoContentShock.Ihintedthatafourthepochisbeforeus.Itwillbeaneraofexplosivemarketingcreativityandinnovationenabledbywearabletechnologyandaugmentedreality.

The impact of this development on content and content ignition will beprofound…perhapsmoreprofoundthantheInternet itself.Thewaywelearn,discover,connect,andentertainourselveswillbedramaticallyalteredforever.

Imagineaworldinwhichyou’reuntetheredfromdevicesandthestrengthofaWi-Ficonnection.TheInternetwillsurroundyouliketheairthatyoubreathe—adigitallayerontopofthe“realworld”inanyplaceyouchoose.Everybook,everywall—evenapackagelabel—willcomealivewithinteractivepossibilities.

This will be an era of marketing without boundaries. We’ll no longer beconstrainedbypagesizeorpixelsoramediabudget.Marketingwillbefueledbyanemphasisonfun,immersiveexperiences.Today,ourmarketingisgearedtowardhelpfulness,towardutility.Butthathasseverelimits.Afteryouhelpyourcustomers,howdoyoucontinuetoengageandgrowwiththemonadailybasis?“Okay, I’ve boughtmy car. Thanks for the useful information. See you in fiveyearswhenIamreadytobuyagain.”

But there’s virtually no limit to a person’s desire to have fun. In fact, wewould rather play games andhave funmore than almost anything. I think thewinners in the next revolution will be creating and igniting fun, immersiveexperiences on a daily basis for their customers. Like every other marketingphase, early adopters will flourish and those late to the game will struggle.Maybe five years from now I’ll be writing about “Fun Shock”—we’ll beoverwhelmed by competing opportunities to interact. “Minority Report” willseemquaint.Perhapswe’reboldlyheading toward thenextFUNtier. (Get it?Icouldn’tresisthavingonefinalbitoffunwithyou!)

Sharecontent.Changetheworld.We’re at the end of our Content Code journey. Writing this book has had aprofound impact onme.Uncovering the psychology and sociology of sharingcontent has mademe deeply appreciate the gift of this intimate act, the trustpeople express when they push that publish button, and the incredibleopportunitieswe all have to care for ourworld andmake it a better place bytransmittingthebestideaswefind.

Inmy research I came across a short passage4 by best-selling author SethGodinthatexpressestheemotionandopportunityofsocialsharingbetterthanIevercould:

I have a friendwho can always be counted on to have a great bookrecommendation handy. Another who can not only tell you the bestavailable movies in theatres, but confidently stand behind hisrecommendations.

Andsomepeopleareeager tosharea link toanarticleor idea that’sworthreading.

Mostpeople, though,hesitate. “What if theotherpersondoesn’t likeit...”

The fear of being judged is palpable, and the digital trail we leavebehind makes it feel more real and more permanent.We live in anever-changing culture, and that culture is changed precisely by theideasweengagewithandtheoneswechoosetoshare.

Sharing an idea you care about is a generous way to change yourworldforthebetter.

Theculturewewillliveinnextmonthisadirectresultofwhatpeoplelike us share today. The things we share and don’t share determinewhathappensnext.

As we move away from the top-down regime of promoted movies,well-shelved books, and all sorts of hype, the recommendation fromperson to person is now themost powerful waywe have to changethings.

Ittakesgutstosay,“Ireadthisandyoushouldtoo.”Thegutstocareenoughaboutourculture(andyourfriends)tomoveitforwardandtostandforsomething.

We’lljudgeyoumostonwhetheryoucareenoughtochangethings.

You’ve been such a wonderful and attentive reader that I’d like to reachthroughthispageandthankyouinpersonforreadingmybook.Butthatwouldbecreepy.

Perhaps the ultimate achievement from this timewe have spent together isthatyoubecomeamemberofmyAlphaAudience,andIbecomeamemberofyours.ButthatwillonlyhappenifIknowyou’reoutthere.

Ihopeyou’llconnectwithmeandhelpme ignite the ideas in thisbook. Ifyoulovewhatyou’veread,pleaseshareyourloveabundantly.

Andbestof all, let’s try tomeet inpersononeday.Sound far-fetched? It’snot.ChancesareI’llbeinyourcitysomedaysoon—watchthatTwitterstream!MeetingpeopleintheAlphaAudienceisthebestpartofmyjob.

Thankyousomuchforreadingmybook.Stayintouch,won’tyou?You’veunlockedtheContentCode.Now,goforthandIGNITE!

References

ChapterOne

1. NielsenCompanyreport“TheUSDigitalConsumer”,http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports/2014/the-us-digital-consumer-report.html

2. BusinessesGrow.com,http://www.businessesgrow.com/2014/01/06/content-shock/

3. Sass,Erik“UsersareBlindtoBrandedContentonSocialMedia”MediaPost,http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/243011/consumers-blind-to-branded-content-on-social-med.html?edition=79840

4. Hansford,Brian,“TurningB2BReadersintoRevenue”http://www.heinzmarketing.com/2014/02/siriusdecisions-turning-b2b-readers-revenue/

5. TheeMarketerreportmentionedcanbefoundathttp://www.emarketer.com/public_media/docs/emarketer_social_commerce_roundup.pdf

6. Toreadmoreaboutthiscasestudyandviewthevideo,gotohttp://www.businessesgrow.com/2014/02/10/mirabeau-case-study/

ChapterTwo

1. Sheridan,MarcusonTheSalesLionBlog,http://www.thesaleslion.com/long-take-business-blog-grow-big-success/

2. YouTube“TheCreatorPlaybookforBrands”,http://think.storage.googleapis.com/docs/creator-playbook-for-brands_re-search-studies.pdf

ChapterThree

1. Romero,Goluba,AsurandHubermanPaperpresentedattechnicalconferencesWWW2011andECML-PKDD2011called“InfluenceandPassivityinSocialMedia.”

2. FacebookresearchcitedinMarketoreport,“ContagiousContent:

http://oginenergy.com/sites/default/files/Contagious-Con-tent.pdf3. CourtesyofTheNewYorkTimes:

http://nytmarketing.whsites.net/mediakit/pos/4. Thepsychologyofsharing,http://nytmarketing.whsites.net/mediakit/pos/5. IPAAdvertisingcasestudies,http://www.ipa.co.uk/Page/IPA-Effectiveness-

Advertising-Case-Studies#.VK1swNE5DlZ6. Naaman,BoaseandLai“IsitReallyAboutMe?”ProceedingsfromACM

Conference(2010)7. MitchellandTamir,“DisclosingInformationAbouttheSelfisIntrinsically

Rewarding”ProceedingoftheNationalAcademyofScience(2012)8. Tierney,John,“GoodNewsBeatsBadNewsonSocialNetworks”TheNewYorkTimes,http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/science/good-news-spreads-faster-on-twitter-and-facebook

9. 2011JournalofMarketingResearch,AmericanMarketingAssociation10. “ComingCleanonFacebookReach”,http://www.busi-

nessesgrow.com/2014/08/25/facebook-reach-2/11. Maloney,Devon,“PopularityofQuizzescomesfromFear,NotNarcissism”

Wiredhttp://www.wired.com/2014/03/buzz-feed-quizzes/

ChapterFour

1. CourtesyeConsultancy,https://econsultancy.com/reports/inter-net-statistics-compendium

2. Studycitedhere:http://www.7boats.com/generate-more-lead-with-social-sharing/

3. Spool,Jared,“The$300millionbutton”onUserInterfaceEngineering,http://www.uie.com/articles/three_hund_million_but-ton

4. CourtesyofTheNewYorkTimes:http://nytmarketing.whites.net/mediakit/pos

5. PewResearchStudy:http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/03/6-new-facts-about-facebook/

6. 2011JournalofMarketingResearch,AmericanMarketingAssociation7. ThisresearchwasreportedinaresearchreportbyMarketo:

http://oginenergy.com/sites/default/files/Contagious-Content.pdf8. BuzzSumo:http://okdork.com/2014/04/21/why-content-goes-viral-what-

analyzing-100-millions-articles-taught-us/9. Edelstyn,Simon,“5tipstohelpyouimproveyourheadlineclick-through

rate”,http://www.theguardian.com/media-network-out-brain-partner-

zone/5-tips-headline-click-through-rate10. Moon,Garret,“Makeyourcontentmoreshareablewiththesefivetricks”

BufferBloghttps://blog.bufferapp.com/shareable-content-social-media-research

11. Medina,John,StatisticfromBrainRules,http://www.brainrules.net/vision12. SimplyMeasuredstudy:http://cdn.simplymeasured.com/wpcon-

tent/uploads/2013/08/SimplyMeasured-Facebook-Study-July-2013.pdf13. Edelstyn,ibid14. http://www.businessesgrow.com/2013/04/02/heres-why-100000-people-

unfollowed-me-on-twitter/15. Libert,Kelsey,“OutreachStrategiesformoresocialshares”

https://blog.bufferapp.com/outreach-strategies-for-more-social-shares16. Muchofthesourcematerialforthissectioncamefromablogpostwritten

forthe{grow}blogbyKathiKruse.http://www.businessesgrow.com/2012/02/02/six-ways-to-turn-yelp-into-your-most-effective-marketing-channel/

17. Nielsenblog.http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2013/under-the-influence-consumer-trust-in-advertising.html

18. Kolowich,Lindsay“TheRulesofTwitterHashtags:HitsandMissesFrom7BigBrands,”HubspotBloghttp://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/twitter-hashtag-campaign-examples

19. Thiscasestudyisadaptedfrom“WhyContentSpreads”byLeoWidrichontheBufferbloghttps://blog.bufferapp.com/what-makes-content-go-viral-the-anatomy-of-a-post-that-got-over-500000-likes

20. Tierney,John“GoodNewsBeatsBadNewsonSocialNetworks”NewYorkTimeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/science/good-news-spreads-faster-on-twitter-and-facebook

21. Seiter,Courtney“HowOurBrainsDecideWhattoShareOnline”FastCompanyhttp://www.fastcompany.com/3027699/how-our-brains-decide-what-we-share-online

ChapterFive

1. “TheKidWhoWantedaDoorforChristmas”{grow}blog:http://www.businessesgrow.com/2012/11/27/the-kid-who-wanted-a-door-for-christmas/

2. Informationandsomedirectcontentinthissectioncamefromthe2014report“WhatSocialMediaAnalyticsCan’tTellYouAboutYour

Customers”byVisionCritical.Theentirereportisavailablehere:http://ow.ly/GKxAH

3. PewResearchSocialNetworkingFactSheet:http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/

4. PewResearchreport“MillennialswillMakeOnlineSharingaLifelongHabit.”http://www.pewinternet.org/2010/07/09/millennials-will-make-online-sharing-in-networks-a-lifelong-habit/

5. TheEdisonResearchSocialHabitstudyisavailableatwww.edisonresearch.com

6. ThinkwithGooglereport:https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/social-engagement-buying-question.html

7. JeffreyRohrsquotecamefromtheeBook“BuildingandAudienceDevelopmentStrategyforContentMarketing”createdbyTheContentMarketingInstituteandTopRankMarketing

8. ThisGoProexamplecamefrom“HowtoTurnYourCustomersintoBrandFans”ByMicheleLinnhttp://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2014/10/how-to-turn-customers-brand-fans/

9. TheUrbanOutfitterandJ.Crewcasestudiesappearedinanarticlecalled“CPG:SocialReciprocityCanWorkForYourBrand,Too”byLizAvilesthatwasintheDecember2014MediaPostnewsletter

10. CasestudycourtesyVocuswhitepaper“Eightgreatwaystogeneratepublicity”

11. CitationfromJ.James:“ThePsychologicalContinuumModel:AConceptualFrameworkforUnderstandinganIndividual'sPsychologicalConnectiontoSport”www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S144135230170071

12. SethGodin’scommentsfirstappearedonSeth’sBlog“Whatdidthefoxsay”http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/09/what-does-the-fox-say.html

13. TheColmanandStrattenquotesinthissectioncamefromtheeBook“BuildingandAudienceDevelopmentStrategyforContentMarketing”createdbyTheContentMarketingInstituteandTopRankMarketing

14. GiniDietrich’scommentsfirstappearedonTheSocialFreshBloghttp://socialfresh.com/how-to-build-community-on-a-blog/

15. Kawasaki,Guy,“Enchantment:TheArtofChangingHearts,Minds,andActions”

ChapterSix

1. ToreadthefullGroovestory,referencehttps://www.groovehq.com/blog/1000-subscribers

ChapterSeven

1. ManyofthethemesforthissectioncamefromthebookReturnOnInfluence(McGraw-Hill).

2. QuotefirstappearedontheSmallBusinessIdeasblog:http://www.smallbusinessideasblog.com/how-to-promote-your-blog

3. Segal,David,“RidingtheHashtaginSocialMediaMarketing”NewYorkTimeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/tech-nology/riding-the-hashtag-in-social-media-marketing

4. “Howgreatleadersinspireaction”,http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

5. Segalibid6. Altucher,James“WhatIlearnedaboutlifeafterinterviewing80highly

successfulpeople”http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2015/01/what-i-learned-about-life-after-interviewing-80-highly-suc-cessful-people/

7. Manyoftheideasinthissectionareinspiredbythearticle“HowtoPromoteYourselfWithoutBeingaJerk”byDorieClarkwhichappearedinHarvardBusinessReviewOnline:http://ow.ly/Gl4Ai

8. NewYorkTimes,“YourBrainonFiction”http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction.html?_r=1&

9. PsychologyToday,“HowSocialMediaInflamesJealousy”byIraHymanhttp://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mental-mishaps/201406/how-social-networks-can-inflame-jealousy

ChapterEight

1. ThiscasestudycourtesyoftheVocuswhitepaper“EightGreatWaystoGeneratePublicity”

2. CourtesyHubspot:http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/2013-inbound-marketingstats-charts

3. http://www.businessesgrow.com/2014/01/06/content-shock/4. http://www.businessesgrow.com/2014/06/02/rising-social-media-stars/

5. http://www.businessesgrow.com/2014/11/11/speech-will-never-hear/

ChapterNine

1. JayBaer’squotesonsocialproofinthischapteroriginallyappearedinmybook“ReturnOnInfluence.”

ChapterTen

1. AhostoffreeratingtoolsareavailableontheMOZsite:https://moz.com/researchtools/ose/

2. Strella,Rachel,“4IdeastoIgniteYourContent”,http://strellasocialmedia.com/2015/01/4-ways-ignite-content/

ChapterEleven

1. Mandese,Joe“Studyshednewlightondarksocialmedia”MediaPost,http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/239139/study-sheds-new-light-on-dark-social-finds-cons.html

2. Keller,EdandFay,BradTheFace-to-FaceBook:WhyRealRelationshipsRuleinaDigitalMarketplace(2012FreePress)

3. AnexcellentarticleonthistopiccomesfromArdathAlbee:“ExtendcontentreachwithB2Bbuyingcommittees”,http://marketinginteractions.typepad.com/marketing_interactions/2014/12/extend-content-reach-with-b2b-buying-committee.html

4. Godin,Seth,“YouAreWhatYouShare”http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/01/you-are-what-you-share.html

Acknowledgements

Thisbookisatributetofriendsandbusinessprofessionalswhohavesupportedmeand this incredible laborof love.For thedozensofpeople interviewed forthisbook–thepeoplewhoMADEthisbook--Ihumblysaythankyou.IhavethegreatestAlphaAudienceintheworld.

Aspecialwoman,BrittanySuzetteShafferhasbeenmyinternforfouryears.ShedidabsolutelycrazythingstohelpmewiththeresearchIneededtopulloffsomethingasambitiousasabookonanentirelynewsubject.Alsoahat tip toDon Stanley of the University of Wisconsin for help with some additionalresearch.

ChristopherPenn,BernadetteJiwa,IanCleary,EricWittlake,andLeeOddenprovided feedback and guidance that helped improve the completeness andaccuracyofthebook.

SarahMasonis theartisticdirectorforSchaeferMarketingSolutionsandisresponsible for thehandsomecoverand interiordesignof thebook.Thanks toCodyButcherfordesignguidanceonTheContentCodecoverart.

ElizabethReawastheeditorforthebookandhelpedkeepthewritingtightanytimeIstartedtogettoocolloquial!

IttakesaspecialpersontolivewithmewhenIamimmersedinthedifficultall-consumingprocessofwritingabookandthankGodIhavetheperfectwife,Rebecca.Thankyoumyloveforyourtoleranceandcheerfulnessinthefaceofmyfrenziedcreativeprocess.

AllmygiftscomefromGod.MyprayeristhatthisbookhasglorifiedHiminsomesmallway.

AbouttheAuthor

MarkW.Schaefer isaglobally-recognizedblogger,speaker,educator,businessconsultant,andauthorwhoblogsat{grow}—oneofthetopmarketingblogsoftheworld.

Markhasworkedinglobalsales,PR,andmarketingpositionsformorethan30 years and nowprovides consulting services asExecutiveDirector ofU.S.-basedSchaeferMarketingSolutions.Hespecializesinsocialmediatrainingandclients include both start-ups and global brands such as Dell, Johnson &Johnson,Adidas,andtheU.S.AirForce.

Markhasadvanceddegreesinmarketingandorganizationaldevelopmentandis a facultymember of the graduate studies program atRutgersUniversity.AcareerhighlightwasstudyingunderPeterDruckerwhilestudyingforhisMBA.

He is the author of four other best-selling books,SocialMedia Explained,ReturnOnInfluence,BorntoBlog,andTheTaoofTwitter,thebest-sellingbookonTwitterintheworld.Heisamongtheworld’smostrecognizedsocialmediaauthorities and has been a keynote speaker at many conferences around theworld includingSocialMediaWeekLondon,NationalEconomicDevelopmentAssociation, the Institute for International andEuropeanAffairs, andWord ofMouthMarketingSummitTokyo.

YoucanstayconnectedwithMarkonlineatwww.BusinessesGROW.comandbyfollowinghisadventuresonTwitter:@markwschaefer.