The Story Engine

1. Content marketing builds trust and creates serendipitous opportunities

"When you connect with people around a shared interest and action, you're accustomed to serendipitous things happening into the future."

Trust is the foundation. Content marketing is a powerful tool for building relationships and creating awareness. Unlike traditional marketing metrics, many of the highest-impact results of creating great content cannot be measured or anticipated. These include:

• Gaining raving fans who promote your content
• Attracting talented team members
• Meeting future business partners
• Finding new strategic collaborators
• Attracting investors

Long-term relationships. By focusing on providing value through content, you open doors to unexpected opportunities. This approach may not yield immediate ROI, but it creates a foundation for long-lasting business relationships and growth.

2. A documented content strategy is crucial for long-term success

"If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else." – Yogi Berra

Clarity and consistency. A documented content strategy keeps you focused and consistent in your content creation efforts. It helps you:

• Crystallize your ideas and vision
• Share that vision clearly with team members
• Make decisions about content creation
• Avoid "shiny object syndrome" in marketing trends

Effectiveness boost. Studies show that marketers with a documented content strategy are significantly more effective:

• 53% of the most effective marketers have a documented strategy
• 40% of the least effective marketers have no strategy at all

Creating a strategy document forces you to clarify your goals, target audience, and unique value proposition. This clarity translates into more focused and effective content creation.

3. Create content around your audience's core problems

"If you consider keywords as a small component of what makes great content and as a compass to point you to who you should be collaborating with, you'll have much more success and create more valuable opportunities for yourself in the long run."

Problem-focused approach. Identify 4-5 core problems your audience faces that are:

• Specific enough to be recognizable
• Broad enough to create multiple content pieces
• Related to the problem your product/service solves

Benefits of core problem focus:

• Provides framework for organizing blog categories
• Helps identify which topics resonate with your audience
• Allows for targeted messaging based on specific problems
• Facilitates retargeting based on content interests

Keyword strategy. Use core problems to guide your keyword research:

1. Create a list of keywords for each core problem
2. Include these in your content strategy document
3. Use them to frame messaging on landing pages, emails, and lead magnets
4. Sprinkle relevant keywords into posts to improve SEO over time

4. Use an editorial calendar to plan and manage content creation

"An organized editorial calendar enables you and your team to anticipate launches, events, and holidays. You can be ready to take advantage of these opportunities and can start creating content well in advance."

Benefits of an editorial calendar:

• Plan content weeks or months in advance
• Visualize your content production pipeline
• Collaborate effectively with team members
• Ensure consistent publishing schedule
• Align content with important events and launches

Key features:

• Content ideas storage
• Status tracking (e.g., ideation, drafting, editing)
• Publication dates
• Assigned team members
• Promotion plans

Tools: Popular options include Trello and CoSchedule. Choose based on your team's needs and workflow preferences.

Best practices:

1. Set a weekly time to review and update the calendar
2. Plan content 2-4 weeks in advance
3. Include repurposing opportunities
4. Integrate team communication within the tool

5. Generate endless content ideas through various techniques

"Generating ideas is a different process than executing and writing out those ideas. Switching between these two tasks is also draining."

Batch ideation. Set aside dedicated time for brainstorming to avoid creative drain:

• Schedule monthly or bi-weekly idea generation sessions
• Aim to create enough ideas for the next month of content

Idea generation techniques:

1. Find new angles on old topics (e.g., experimental vs. evergreen, example vs. warning)
2. Analyze competitor content using tools like BuzzSumo
3. Use the Skyscraper Method to improve on existing popular content
4. Conduct keyword research for topic ideas
5. Mine comments on your own and others' content
6. Explore industry event topics and speaker bios
7. Review table of contents from popular books in your niche
8. Search for popular podcast episodes on your topics
9. Check your email for frequently asked questions
10. Browse Quora for relevant questions with high engagement

Consistency is key. Establish a regular writing practice to overcome writer's block and improve your skills over time.

6. Repurpose existing content to maximize reach and efficiency

"You don't always have to come up with brand new ideas for your content, and there are ways to take the content you already have and create dozens of new pieces of content from it."

Benefits of repurposing:

• Improves SEO by targeting different keywords
• Reinforces core messaging through repetition
• Easier to scale and delegate than creating new content
• Conserves creative resources

Repurposing strategies:

1. Top-down: Create smaller pieces from a large asset
2. Bottom-up: Combine small pieces into a larger asset
3. Adapt content to new mediums (e.g., blog post to video)
4. Update old posts with new information
5. Apply concepts to new audiences or industries
6. Create free versions of premium content (or vice versa)
7. Address different skill levels (beginner to advanced)
8. Collaborate with influencers to add new perspectives

Best practices:

• Create with repurposing in mind
• Plan for repurposing in your editorial calendar
• Focus on adding value with each iteration
• Use analytics to identify high-performing content for repurposing
• Cross-promote related repurposed content
• Prioritize evergreen topics for long-term relevance

7. Leverage visual content to enhance engagement and storytelling

"Visual content is a vital component of a good written blog. It's essential for a good reading experience."

Benefits of visual content:

• Breaks up text for easier reading
• Improves social media shareability
• Creates a strong first impression
• Differentiates your brand
• Enhances storytelling and concept explanation

Types of visual content:

1. Featured images
2. Infographics
3. Screenshots with annotations
4. Quote images
5. Charts and graphs
6. Animated GIFs
7. Slideshares

Best practices:

• Choose 2-3 visual styles to master
• Ensure visuals align with your brand and audience expectations
• Use tools like Canva for easy design creation
• Optimize image dimensions and file sizes for web performance
• Include relevant data and storytelling elements in infographics
• Create shareable quote images from key points in your content

8. Build your email list with targeted lead magnets

"A good lead magnet will persuade someone to take action and start solving the problem--a problem related to your business. Your lead magnet convinces your visitor that a problem is solvable, and is worth solving."

Effective lead magnet types:

1. Checklists
2. Cheat sheets
3. Templates
4. Swipe files
5. eBooks
6. Short courses
7. Reports
8. Tools and quizzes
9. Webinars

Lead magnet best practices:

• Focus on solving one specific problem
• Keep it concise and actionable
• Deliver immediate value
• Balance utility and design
• Include social proof

Supporting elements:

1. Dedicated landing pages
2. Thank you pages with clear next steps
3. Sidebar graphics for promotion
4. In-post links and graphics
5. Strategic use of pop-ups (use cautiously)

Create lead magnets for each core problem you address, and consider developing specific lead magnets for your most popular blog posts.

9. Use email automation to nurture and convert leads

"An autoresponder is like having an extra member on your team. But this team member doesn't get tired of your message, take days off, or get sick."

Essential email sequences:

1. Welcome series
2. Email tutorials/courses
3. Lead nurture sequences
4. Ambassador series for engaged subscribers
5. Re-engagement series for inactive subscribers
6. Affiliate training
7. Customer onboarding
8. Event and product launch sequences

Best practices:

• Set clear expectations for email frequency and content
• Create opportunities for authentic interactions (e.g., asking questions)
• Optimize for sharing and forwarding
• Surprise subscribers with unexpected bonuses
• Use lead scoring to trigger targeted sequences
• Maintain a balance between automation and personal touch

Key components:

• Scoring system for subscriber engagement
• Opportunities to activate new sequences
• Regular check-ins with subscribers
• Easy sharing options (e.g., "click to tweet")
• Clear paths for new subscribers who receive forwarded emails

10. Analyze your content performance with key metrics

"The analytics on your site are like the instruments a pilot uses to fly at night or in low-visibility conditions."

Essential tracking elements:

1. Thank you pages for conversions
2. Google Analytics for traffic and behavior data
3. Facebook Pixel for audience insights and retargeting
4. Perfect Audience Pixel for web-wide retargeting
5. Link tracking for detailed behavior analysis

Key metrics to monitor:

• Traffic volume and sources
• Landing page performance
• Conversion rates for lead magnets and sales
• Email open and click-through rates
• Social media engagement
• Search engine rankings for target keywords

Best practices:

1. Set up goal tracking in Google Analytics
2. Install pixels early, even before running ads
3. Use link tracking to understand content performance across channels
4. Regularly review and analyze data to inform content strategy
5. Focus on actionable metrics rather than vanity metrics

11. Boost content reach through strategic paid traffic campaigns

"Adding a little bit of paid traffic to the right piece of content can be like pouring gasoline onto a fire."

Prerequisites for paid traffic:

1. A product or service to sell
2. Analytics to track campaign success
3. Basic email nurture sequence
4. Retargeting capabilities

Retargeting strategies:

1. Promote lead magnets to past visitors
2. Share related content with interested audiences
3. Boost new content to your email list and past visitors

Cold traffic strategies:

1. Promote high-value lead magnets
2. Share valuable content through video ads
3. Drive traffic to high-converting blog posts

Best practices:

• Start with a small budget and test multiple approaches
• Focus on adding value before asking for a sale
• Use retargeting to maximize ROI on cold traffic campaigns
• Continuously analyze and optimize campaign performance

12. Scale your content marketing by hiring and managing writers effectively

"Adding a good writer to your team can lead to a dramatic increase in how much content you can create."

Where to find writers:

• Problogger Jobs Board
• Zerys
• Upwork
• Guest writers from other blogs in your niche

What to look for in writers:

1. Native language proficiency
2. Relevant publishing experience
3. Ability to engage readers
4. Following instructions precisely
5. Capacity to meet deadlines

Bonus skills: SEO knowledge, design skills, social media marketing experience

Onboarding process:

1. Provide access to necessary tools and documents
2. Walk through content strategy and style guide
3. Start with detailed outlines or interviews for first assignments
4. Gradually increase autonomy as writers prove themselves

Best practices:

• Pay per article based on complexity and turnaround time
• Start with one article at a time, then plan for longer-term collaborations
• Emphasize the importance of following the style guide
• Provide constructive feedback to improve quality over time

By implementing these strategies, you can create a robust content marketing system that builds trust, attracts your ideal audience, and drives sustainable business growth.

Last updated: October 3, 2024