A winning content marketing strategy is the result of many different elements. Of course, writing is one of them :)
But the companies who are truly successful with content marketing perfect two vital parts - content marketing research and promotion.
In this episode of the GrowthTLDR, we talk to Ross Simmonds, the founder of Foundation Marketing, a B2B content marketing agency, and Hustle & Grind, an eCommerce store for entrepreneurs.
We talk to Ross about:
- Why it benefits him as an agency owner to have other brands where he can perfect content marketing tactics.
- How you can leverage the 'Sherlock Homeboy' method to reverse-engineer popular content and create something better.
- Why companies should be using content to help grow their brand, not just create demand, and how best to measure it.
Happy Growing
Time Stamped Notes
[4:30] - Ross talks us through what both his companies do, Foundation marketing, a B2B content marketing agency, and Hustle & Grind, an eCommerce store selling branded t-shirts, art, coffee mugs, that celebrate entrepreneurship.
[6:35] - Having other brands that Ross is trying to grow is an advantage to his agency. It means both Ross and employees can try out new tactics on their brands, perfect them, and leverage them for their clients.
[7:30] - Ross has a bunch of different brands he is growing through content marketing.
[8:30] - Ross talks us through his approach to helping clients with growth. He spends time understanding their goals, their ideal customer, and then begins to map out the best-fit channels and tactics for that persona.
[11:35] - Fast-growth startups need to focus on their biggest opportunities for growth. The most valuable assets you have are time and resources. Use them on a couple of things vs. trying to peanut butter across everything.
[13:35] - Distribution is a vital part of the content marketing mix. Spend time understanding what channels are best to reach your audience, the ones competitors have underutilized, and how you can take advantage of that.
[17:30] - Ross talks us through his 'Sherlock Homeboy' method. He gives examples of how he reverse engineers' top-performing content on platforms like Reedit and Instagram to figure out what content will be successful with different personas.
[18:25] - We talk about the benefits of hiring a person dedicated to content distribution. Every content asset has a purpose. Work back from that purpose into a distribution plan.
[21:40] - Set metrics for your content distribution plan.
[23:35] - It's not always easy to set metrics for content marketing efforts. Ross talks us through how you need to think about those metrics in B2B.
[26:25] - Research for content needs to be both qualitative and quantitative. As a marketer, you can't just rely on analytics. You need to talk with customers, your sales team, customer success team. Other great resources on the quantitative side are keyword research tools, and review platforms like G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius.
[29:25] - We talk about how companies would use content to help grow their brand. To create a content brand, you need to create assets that have a considerable amount of value to your audience.
[33:40] - As marketers, we need to get away from trying to quantify the direct impact of everything we do. We need to invest in things that will grow our brand, but that might be hard to measure.
[35:45] - The best brands in the world invest in unmeasurable things that helped to grow the visibility of their brand.
– Ross on Twitter / LinkedIn
– Kieran on Twitter / LinkedIn / Medium
– Scott on Twitter / Linked / Medium
Topics: content marketing, Podcast, Founder
