10 Jedi Council Candidates (Or Modern Marketing Thinkers)

The ‘Talking Content Series’ is 10 interviews old, here’s some key things to take from some of the world’s influential marketing thinkers.

Sonja Jefferson – on the definition of content marketing.

Marketing with content is about providing the right type of information for your particular audience so they know, like and trust you, and remember you when the time comes to buy.

 

Trevor Young – on the old way of marketing via interuption is finished.

For too long businesses have been telling people how great they are – no one believed it then, and we’ve become even more cynical and filtered since. Continue down this path and you’re well and truly on the road to marketing and PR failure.

 

Doug Kessler – on why using channels you own, such as email, are vital.

It’s not as sexy as social or native advertising or whatever.  But it’s the engine room.  It lets you communicate with people who have already opted in.  These are your people. They’ll always eat more of your content than the undifferentiated masses (unless you’re buying in low-quality lists).

 

Chris Brogan – on producing content isn’t limited to one practice.

You don’t even have to WRITE. You have to create. Maybe you’re a wonderful talker. Then talk. Do it into a podcast or a video show. Make interesting content that gathers people to what you do. That’s the goal.

 

Jay Baer – on why speed plays it’s role.

Speed lets you solve customer problems better. Speed lets you capitalise on opportunities better. Speed lets you optimise better. Speed lets you iterate and improve and communicate better. The challenge is that speed comes more from cultural alignment than from technology adoption.

 

Ann Handley – on the best content makers know how to tell a story.

Companies need to think about: 1) How to tell that story really, really, well – with utility, brevity, customer empathy and inspiration; 2) How to reach audiences that need to hear it; and 3) What happens next: Building relationships by becoming an ongoing resource.

 

Robert Rose – on why we need to move away from a campaign mindset.

The transformation from the traditional, command and control, hierarchical, campaign-focused structure and into the 24/7/365 constantly changing approach is one of the biggest shifts in the operation of the way we go to market these days.

 

Joe Chernov – on striving to be seen as ‘influential.’

You can’t position yourself as an influencer — not in a way that has any staying power, anyway — any more than you can position yourself as being clever or attractive. That determination isn’t yours to make. It’s up to the “influenced” to decide if you are influential.

 

Joe Pulizzi – on why content marketing fails

The bad news is that the far majority of companies still have no documented content marketing strategy of any kind.  That means that most brands are creating lots of content, throwing it out there for distribution, without a real understand of how or why it will affect the business.

 

Mark Schaefer – on becoming recognised and marketing success.

It takes a complex cocktail of quality, consistency, optimization, site authority and maybe even a little luck to get through. And then it takes patience, perseverance and dedication to stay there.

 

This has turned into a project that is bringing in so much useful information for us all to take from and learn. To everyone who has participated in Talking Content so far, I am eternally grateful.

If there is anyone that you’d like to see featured for future interviews, just let me know. More interviews coming your way next week.