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6 Rules for Content Marketing

By Maria Pergolino on August 27, 2010

Marketers are working hard to create great content that can be used to create sales leads, drive website traffic, promote brand, and educate customers and prospects. Unfortunately, not all content is created equal. To ensure you get the most out of your content marketing efforts, you must follow these six rules:

It is not promotional – promotional materials will neither excite nor inspire, both critical components of content marketing.
It is relevant – generic materials that are not highly relevant to a reader will not result in increased success. When writing content you must make sure it will be useful to the reader, regardless of whether it supports your company message.
It closes a gap – content marketing should answer a business question or problem. Giving people information about topics where there is no need for information will be a wasted effort by the organization. An added benefit of this useful information is its ability to be used in lead nurturing.
It is well written – poorly written thought leadership may not only provide poor results, but may also hurt the company’s reputation. Take time to ensure content is presented in a thoughtful manner and is free of errors.
It is relevant to your company – if the content you create does not support business objectives in any way, it is a waste of resources to produce. Keep business goals in mind when creating content.
It gives proof – since you write to support a business goal, your content may seem biased. Make sure that content you create gives proof either through quotes and testimonials or through actual metrics and statistics.

Keep this as a check list when you are creating new content, and review again for it goes live. And this checklist isn’t just for white papers, content includes everything from webinars to articles to videos.

For more on creating content that will support your business goals, check out the white paper Creating Content that Sells.

Posted by Maria Pergolino in Branding | Modern B2B Marketing | Tips

http://www.marketing-automation-software-news.com/?p=340 Marketing Automation Software News » Blog Archive » 6 Rules for Content Marketing

[...] 6 Rules for Content Marketing was posted at Modern B2B Marketing – Marketo Best Practices Blog. | http://blog.marketo.com [...]
http://www.patrhoads.com Pat

These are great reminders. I think for many people each if these is easy to remember and to do. The trick is in remembering and doing ALL of them at once.
http://pepperscrolls.com/blog/six-rules-for-content-marketing-b2b-marketing-blog/ Six Rules for Content Marketing | B2B Marketing Blog | Your Blog

[...] The six rules for content marketing that can ultimately create leads, drive webbsite traffic, promote brand and educate customers and prospects.blog.marketo.com/blog/…/6-rules-for-content-marketing.html [...]
http://markettools.com Drew Paik

What are your thoughts about using forms in content marketing? Should assets be gated with forms before they are accessed?
http://www.undergroundelephant.com/undergroundelephant_network.php Connor Bringas

I think one more point should be its not too lengthy. But then again there is much debate on what is the appropriate length of an article or content to get the reader interested. Personally I think that a 400-500 word article is appropriate.
Maria Pergolino

Hey Drew,
If the content is early stage, meaning purely education, it should not have a form. This makes it easy to use in social media and helps get your message out. For content that is mid stage, or shows active buying behavior, it should have forms. This works out well because you don’t end up cluttering up your database with students, consultants, etc that are just looking for general info and focuses your sales reps on the leads likely to buy.
Example:
Definitive Guide to Lead Nurturing- no form
Marketing Automation buyers kit- form
http://blog.marketo.com/blog/2010/10/business-marketers-secrets-to-content-marketing-success.html Business Marketer’s Secrets to Content Marketing Success – B2B Marketing

[...] 6 Rules for Content Marketing: Blog post [...]
http://www.marketing-automation-software-news.com/?p=388 Marketing Automation Software News » Blog Archive » Business Marketer’s Secrets to Content Marketing Success

[...] 6 Rules for Content Marketing: Blog post [...]
http://clixforbrix.com/business-marketers-secrets-to-content-marketing-success/ Business Marketer’s Secrets to Content Marketing Success » ClixForBrix

[...] 6 Rules for Content Marketing: Blog post [...]
http://blog.apollosmg.com/?p=676 Re-post “Six Rules for Content Marketing – B2B Marketing” | Mission Control

[...] Source: Marketo Blog [...]
http://www.bulkseocontent.com/ Bulk SEO Content

Nice article! Content marketing can be such an arduous task because it requires patience to say before you can see the fruits of your hard earned labor. Stick to whatever cost, because you’ll be glad you did when you reap the rewards later on.
http://sourcing3.com/blog/top-37-b2b-marketing-posts-and-hot-topics-august-2010/ Sourcing3 Buyer & Supplier Magazine – Top 37 B2B Marketing Posts and Hot Topics August 2010

[...] 6 Rules for Content Marketing- Modern B2B Marketing, August 27, 2010 Marketers are working hard to create great content that can be used to create sales leads , drive website traffic, promote brand, and educate customers and prospects. Unfortunately, not all content is created equal. It is relevant – generic materials that are not highly relevant to a reader will not result in increased success. [...]
http://blog.marketo.com/blog/2011/06/generate-more-b2b-sales-with-lead-nurturing-and-the-human-touch.html Generate More B2B Sales With Lead Nurturing and the Human Touch – Marketo Best Practices Blog

[...] For more, check out Marketo’s Content Marketing Cheat Sheet and Maria Pergolino’s 6 Rules for Content Marketing. [...]
brain Steven

Generic materials that are not highly relevant to a reader will not result in increased success. When writing content you must make sure it will be useful to the reader, regardless of whether it supports your company message.___________
Steven
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