#ContentWritingChat Recap: How Brands Can be at Their Most Productive with Content Marketing with Jess Ostroff | Express Writers
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#ContentWritingChat Recap: How Brands Can be at Their Most Productive with Content Marketing with Jess Ostroff

by | Sep 30, 2016 | ContentWritingChat

#ContentWritingChat Recap: How Brands Can be at Their Most Productive with Content Marketing with Jess Ostroff

Did you miss #ContentWritingChat this Tuesday? We’ve got you covered with a recap of our latest chat where we talked all about content marketing.

#ContentWritingChat Recap: How Brands Can be at Their Most Productive with Content Marketing with Jess Ostroff


Our guest host this week was Jess Ostroff. Jess is the Managing Editor at Convince & Convert as well as the CEO & Director at Don’t Panic Management. She joined our chat to share her tips on productivity when it comes to content marketing.

Q1: How do you maintain productivity in content marketing? What are your best tips?

Chat participants shared some amazing tips on Tuesday. Check out some of the ones that were shared:

Jess knows just how big of a difference planning can make. When you take the time to plan your content marketing efforts, you’re going to see a huge difference in terms of your productivity.

Julia agrees in the importance of planning. Set aside time to plan your content marketing strategy and don’t let anything distract you. Just stay focused!

The Convince & Convert team knows well-honed processes and communication are essential. They rely on their team member, Jess, to keep them accountable.

Brainstorm ideas and then move them into your content calendar. Having a content calendar is the best way to plan everything in advance. You should also set clear goals for your content so you know which metrics are most important to track

Automating certain tasks can definitely be helpful. Use social media scheduling tools like Buffer or create time-saving recipes in IFTTT.

Jenn’s advice is simple, yet effective. Set a schedule and stick to it.

While planning is great, Christoph knows that you shouldn’t let it stop you from catching an unusual and worthwhile story that doesn’t fit the list.

Q2: How can you hone in on where your ROI sweet spot is in content marketing?

How can you figure out what that ROI sweet spot is? Read these tips from the chat:

As Jess said, before you start you need to figure out what you’re going to use to measure. She reminds us that you shouldn’t just look at the return, but you should also consider the investment as well.

It’s important to listen to your customers. Know their pain points and address them with your content.

It all starts with having a clear picture of your goals and aligning them with your target ROIs.

Ross said it starts with understanding your business goals. You need to know what they are in order to create.

Andy knows you have to keep testing. Running A/B tests is a great way to see what your audience is responding to.

Q3: How do you begin the process of creating worthwhile content? Tips on planning/mapping?

The content creation process isn’t always easy, but our chat participants shared some awesome tips on Tuesday. Check out what they had to say and implement them for yourself:

Jess said you need to start with knowing who your audience is so you can figure out what they need to hear. She then recommends considering your deadline and working backwards from there. It’s a great way to keep you on track.

Jess even shared a helpful timeline for creating slide decks or eBooks. This is sure to come in handy!

It goes back to knowing and understanding who your audience is. Create the content that is valuable to them and provides some sort of benefit.

If you’re stuck for ideas, Ray said to ask your audience what they want to see. They’re the best ones to get an answer from after all.

Writing for SEO is not the way to go. You need to focus on solving problems and providing value first, then optimize for search engines.

For Andy, he suggests using a whiteboard and sticky notes or tool like Trello to map out ideas.

If Leah needs to do some brainstorming, she takes her dogs for a walk since it’s when she does her best thinking. Sometimes getting away from the desk, moving around, and getting some fresh air makes a huge difference.

If you have a team by your side, take advantage of that. Work together to understand your audience and come up with content they’ll love. Two heads are better than one, you know!

Q4: Which tools do you rely on to boost productivity in content marketing?

With so many tools available at our fingertips today, we had to ask everyone in the chat what they love to use. Here’s what some of them said:

Sometimes you just can’t beat good ol’ pen and paper! When Jess turns to tools, she loves CoSchedule for content planning and schedule plus BuzzSumo for finding and analyzing topics.

Sarah relies on analytics to see what’s working, as well as a calendar to stay on track. The boss breathing down your neck will certainly get you moving, too!

Awesome tools list, Ray! Hootsuite, Trello, WordPress, Asana, Google Docs, Canva, and Evernote certainly make a powerful productivity arsenal.

Buffer, IFTTT, Slack, and Hootsuite are all great tools to use.

Megan loves Write or Die, CoSchedule, Buffer, Excel, and OneNote.

Zala recommends setting up a system that keeps you running. It should be a combination of tools, workflow, and time to produce. Remember that what works for someone else might not work for you, so make your process your own.

Q5: How can you effectively scale your content marketing to get more ROI and reach?

Check out these tips from Tuesday’s chat:

Jess recommends thinking about creating at least 10 pieces of smaller content from one big piece. She said you can create graphics, sound bites, short videos, and more.

This is another important tip from Jess. Don’t create content for content’s sake. It should serve a purpose by helping your audience, solving a problem, or making them laugh.

Debi said to address the pain points of your audience and provide solutions. You can lead them to a resolution with your content or offering.

Segmentation will allow you to create custom content tailored for specific people in your audience, which provides you with better results.

Building relationships should always be a top priority.

Remember to have a clear plan in place and adjust as needed to increase your reach and improve ROI.

Q6: How do you know your content marketing is working?

How do you know you’re achieving the results you’d hoped for? Here’s what you need to keep in mind:

Jess recommends setting metrics in the beginning and then you should constantly measure. She suggests measuring 30, 60, and even 90 days later.

Know your goals so you can measure the right metrics.

Ask yourself if you’re getting closer to your goals and if your audience resonates with the content you’re sharing.

Lex brings up a great point about social shares. You may receive a lot of shares, but few conversions. Social sharing isn’t necessarily a sign that your business is growing because it’s not a guarantee someone actually read your content.

Debi said to keep an eye on engagement and conversions. It lets you know your audience is resonating with your content.

Engagement is key!

You want to see that conversations are happening and that leads are coming in. They mean much more than traffic and social shares.

Q7: Discuss favorite/unusual ways you’ve been able to achieve results with your own content marketing.

Do you have any favorite or unusual ways to achieve results? Here’s what some of the people in Tuesday’s chat had to say:

Jess says to tap into niche audiences and start creating content.

These strategies help Sarah and the ThinkSEM team!

When you can successfully turn one piece of content into a video and appeal to a new audience, that’s huge!

That sure sounds like a win!

Q8: What are 1-4 top content marketing platforms/tactics for 2016 and beyond?

What are the topic content marketing platforms and tactics you need to know about? Check these answers out:

Jess feels predictive analytics are going to take over. She also said that people will think outside the box to form a deeper connection with smaller audience as opposed to reaching the masses.

Great point from Sarah! Ultimately, it depends on your audience. You need to consider what’s right for them.

Andy said LinkedIn Pulse is a great tool for publishing.

For Jenn, she plans to launch a podcast, restructure webinars, and launch Snapchat for conferences. Sounds great!

Between live video and YouTube, video content is sure to grow even more!

Julia thinks Instagram Stories is where it’s at right now! She also thinks podcasting, video marketing, and webinars will continue to be powerful tools.

We look forward to seeing you at the next #ContentWritingChat! Mark your calendars weekly for Tuesday at 10 AM CDT for great chats centered around content writing and marketing. Follow @ExpWriters to stay updated on our new topics and guests!

Tags: content marketing tips | convince and convert | jess ostroff