Every editor knows what it feels like to sit exasperated in front of the computer, screaming internally, “It would have been easier if I’d done it myself.” If your role involves commissioning and approving content, you know that sinking feeling: Ten seconds into reviewing a piece, it’s obvious the creator hasn’t understood (or never bothered to listen to) a damn thing you told them. As you go deeper, your fingertips switch gears from polite tapping to a digital Riverdance as your annoyance spews onto the keyboard. We’ve all been there. It’s why we drink. Or do yoga. Or practice voodoo.…

There’s something in the air. In the past week, I’ve been asked more questions about how to measure content marketing than I have in two years. So, let me welcome you to the wonderful world of content marketing measurement. I can already hear your response: “I went into content and marketing because there would be no math.” Well, the good news is that all kinds of tools can help you do the math. The bad news? None of those tools will help you understand what content means for your business. And here’s the secret to meaningful content marketing measurement: You…

Tell us you don’t know anything about marketing without telling us you don’t know anything about marketing. Last week, multibillionaire and marketing genius Elon Musk fired the newly formed content and marketing team one year after he begrudgingly said he would “try a little advertising and see how it goes.” News of the dismissal came just after numerous reports of the bugs, failures, and limited sales of Tesla’s newest product — the bigger and fatter Back-To-The-Future DeLorean known as the Cybertruck. It also came just before Tesla’s latest earnings report. Should you care that 40 people in Tesla’s marketing and…

With so many nuances to content, from distribution to format to the buyer’s journey, you must take a drill-down approach to your analytics. Assess performance from a bird’s eye view and then break it into multiple perspectives. This process allows you to truly grasp the components of content and distribution that contribute to your overarching content goals. You can do this in several ways, but one of the most effective is a real-time dashboard created through Google Looker, which integrates seamlessly with Google Analytics 4. Let’s explore the building blocks of content measurement and walk through a Google Looker dashboard.…

Content creation acts as the heart of effective content marketing. And, as a skilled creative practitioner, you pour your heart into your work every day. It also takes a sharp mind to make effective decisions and helping hands to consistently transform fresh ideas and insights into resonant brand storytelling. Not to mention the stamina it requires to keep up with the ever-increasing demand for more and higher-quality output. Sure, generative AI tools can assist with some tasks. Ultimately, it’s up to you to ensure your the elements are in place to engage audiences and convert them into customers. These expert…

Change fatigue. It’s a thing. My good friend and amazing consultant Jenny Magic wrote a whole book on the topic. Undeniably, fewer businesses have worked on innovative or incremental marketing change over the last 12 months. I’ve seen it. Technology companies have seen it. Consulting firms have seen it. The number of new, active innovative marketing change projects has been fewer and farther between than at any time in recent memory. A friend of mine, a CMO of a larger technology company, calls it “change absorption.” He uses the term for the sheer tsunami of change all businesses faced coming…

To use AI or not to use AI, that is the question. Let’s hope things work out better for you than they did for Shakespeare’s mad Danish prince with daddy issues. But let’s add a twist to that existential question. CMI’s chief strategy officer, Robert Rose, shares what marketers should really contemplate. Watch the video or read on to discover what he says: Should you not use AI and be proud of not using it? Dove Beauty did that last week. Should you use it but keep it a secret? Sports Illustrated did that last year. Should you use AI…

I have a tough time putting aside my editor’s brain. Editors and good writers know what I’m talking about. It’s the hazard of the job. Sometimes, I marvel at an article’s great intro, packed with an interesting narrative and powerful verbs that speak directly to me or my interest. But more often, I get sad, struggling to read ledes that get bogged down with so many words, forget they need to make a point, or fail to remember their goal is to entice people to consume the rest of the content. That’s not just sad; it’s a waste of content…

Are you motivating your audience to take action? How do you know which creative assets compel your audience to act? Understanding how your audience interacts with your creative is crucial to generating leads, making sales, and keeping your readers coming back. But knowing which does better is not all about numbers. It’s an art and a science. It requires trial and error and lots of creative juice. One of the best ways to approach these motivations is through A/B testing — comparing the performance of one creative against another. This can be anything from calls to action, button color, images,…

Do you play golf? I don’t, but I’m intrigued by one thing: The goal of golf is to play the least amount of golf. Think about it. The winner is the person who swings their clubs the fewest times. A smart content strategy should work in a similar way. Last week, I talked with a B2B technology firm in a workshop. We discussed how the B2B buyer’s journey is more complicated these days. Four to five people (registration) make up a committee that does all their research independently. It’s not uncommon for these groups to end up with more than…