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Ignite your Content if you want to see your Business Grow Online!

Content online has proliferated.

You've heard all the tips about regular publishing of great content, creating quality images that communicate, and more.

Yet everyone is doing that.  Great content is everywhere.  So how can you compete?

More importantly, if you have great content, but no one sees it, is it really working for you?  What can you do about?

mark-schaefer-content-code

Mark Schaefer is my guest on this episode of Halftime Mike!  Mark is a globally-recognized author, speaker, educator, and business consultant who blogs at {grow} – one of the top marketing blogs of the world. He teaches graduate marketing classes at Rutgers University and has written four best-selling books including The Tao of Twitter (the best-selling book on Twitter in the world) and Return On Influence, which was named one of the top business titles of the year by the American Library Association. His clients include Dell, Adidas, and the US Air Force. He has been a keynote speaker at prestigious events all over the world including SXSW, Marketing Summit Tokyo, and the Institute for International and European Affairs.

Want to learn the next life stage of content marketing and what you can do to succeed?  Listen in!

Listen Now:

Subscribe:  Halftime Mike on iTunes  | Android users via RSS  | Listen on Stitcher.

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Problem: Content Overload

We create, we create good stuff, but so do so many others.  The competition to be seen is tough.  The environment is cluttered.

A Heinz Marketing Study referenced by Mark estimates that 60-70% of all content on a business-to-business company website goes unseen!  Mark calls it "Information Density".  As Information Density increases, it becomes more difficult for businesses to compete and be seen online.

Solution: Ignite your Content!

The theme of Mark's latest book, Content Code, is essentially a call-to-action to change the conversation from content creation and getting an audience to ignition.  Content creates no economic value unless it moves.  In the conversation Mark lays out the 6 strategies to "move" content.  They are not linear but they do spell BADASS for a memorable acronym!  In essence, he outlines that we need to build a new competency, a competency in moving content.  And not just "how to move it" but understanding "why it moves."

This "why" is critical to marketers moving to a next level.  As I listened to Mark I was left with a clearer picture of the "why it moves" being the more intangible.  Things like inspiration, heart-felt connection, passion, anger, surprise.  All of these are elements that are real and surpass the cerebral and dive deeper into the depths of humanity, engaging us at a more core level.

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Here are the 6 factors of the content code:

  • Brand development
  • Audience and influencers
  • Distribution, Advertising, Promotion, and SEO
  • Authority
  • “Shareability” embedded into each piece of content
  • Social proof and social signals

Key Insights and Quotes from Mark:

  • The headline is more important than the content! (Reflect on that a bit!)
    • So, how about this headline, did it draw you in?  It's better than "An Interview with Mark Schaefer about his book: The Content Code" isn't it??

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  • Mark relates the story of how he wrote a blog post about the content and information density issue, and saw firsthand how it worked as other blogs that picked it up and wrote about his post ranked higher for the very post he wrote!  In this case, the answer was the authority of the other sites, not better content.  This relates to Audience and Influencers: Your "Alpha Audience".   Businesses need to know:
    • Who are your sharers?  They create the economic value.
  • When you like something you stroke it, but when you share something you are an advocate sharing your embrace of it.   There's a huge difference!
  • The book is all about FREE strategies, only the "Distribution, Advertising, Promotion, and SEO" chapter costs a company money!
  • Half of all websites out there do not have social sharing buttons.  There is a 700% percent increase of potential to share when you have them!
  • Key Tip:  Build an Alpha Audience!  You can't build a online business with tourists.  It gets down to trust.  You need to get them to stick around and connect with you.  They can become your advocates.
  • Tell your business story in human ways!
  • People are scanners.  They scan your content.
  • Sample headlines that ignite versus the standard "5 Best Tips for Email Marketing" titles that you normally see:
    • How Email Marketing Saved my Business
    • My biggest email marketing victory
    • How This Blog Post Saved my Marriage
  • There's only 1 you!  Be it!  Bring your story, your unique history and experience!
  • Best way to have a actionable audience is via your blog/podcast/video!

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So that's a quick summary of the interview.  You don't want to miss this one!

What's your biggest takeaway from these tips and golden nuggets?  Share below!

Find Mark Schaefer Online:

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Next Doable Task:

It’s always about taking away learnings and applying them!  What’s the key takeaway that you need to act on in the next 24 hours based on listening to this?
Help Spread the Word! Please let your Twitter followers know about this podcast. Simply click here now to post a tweet >>.   If you enjoyed this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast, please “go over to iTunes,  leave a rating, write a review and subscribe!   Thank you so much for your support!

Why the Halftime theme Mike?

I’m an Indiana Hoosier native where basketball is the top sport. Every team heads to the locker room at halftime to evaluate the first half and create a updated plan for the second half. That plan includes adjustments based on reviewing what worked and what didn't. The “halftime” is a key review point where the game stops, the team pulls away to huddle in the locker room away from the fans, and they come out prepared and ready to succeed in the second half.

That’s what this podcast is all about, taking the time to pull away for a bit to evaluate, learn, and set some strategies for your business to succeed in the second half. Join me by subscribing and let me be your “business halftime” to help you find great success going forward!

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