how to work with content creators

How to Work With Content Creators

…  And  Not  Be  an  Editing  Jerk  .

Presented  by  Noelle  Schuck,  Director  of  Content  Marketingnoelles@verticalmeasures.com

@noelleschuck

The editing jerk ...

Editors’ marked-up copy

45 Days

● Losing  sight  of  the  goals  of  content● Expecting  immediate/clear  ROI  right  away● Striving  for  perfection● Subjectivity

4 Common Editing Struggles

• Losing  sight  of  the  goals  of  content• Expecting  immediate/clear  ROI  right  away• Striving  for  perfection• Subjectivity

4 Common Editing Struggles

1. Brand  awareness2. Lead  generation3. Lead  conversion4. Customer  retention

4 Common Content Goals

● Set  clear  goals  ● Add  the  goals  to  your  content  calendar● Add  them  to  every  draft  ofyour  content

ADVICE: Keep content goals within line of sight

● Losing  sight  of  the  goals  of  content● Expecting  immediate/clear  ROI  right  away● Striving  for  perfection● Subjectivity

4 Common Editing Struggles

“Content marketing is the art of providing relevant, useful content to your customers without selling or interrupting them.

Traditional media vs digital media mindsets

Traditional Media Social/Digital Media

One-way conversation, closed system, mass marketing

Two-way conversation, open system, one-to-one marketing

Opaque, controlled communication Transparent, unstructured communication

About me/us (organization), formal language About you (audience), informal language

Professional and polished content on paid channels

Brand- and user-generated, authentic and free content

Economic decision-making Community decision-making

Produced/scheduled Real-time creation

Top-down strategy, passive involvement Bottom-up strategy, active involvement

Source:  Angela  Hausman,  Mkt  Maven

Traditional media - All about me, me, me

“Long  gone  are  the  days  of  an  old-­fashioned  key.  You  unlock  and  start  the  new  cee’d  using  the  Kia  Smart  Entry  System*,  a  ‘smart  key’  that  can  be  kept  in  your  pocket  or  bag  …”

“...  is  easy  with  the  7in  satnav  touchscreen  system…  postcode  recognition  …  Traffic  Messaging  Channel  …  adaptive  xenon  headlights  …  “

Digital media - all about you

Only  brand  mention

Audience-­focused  topics

“The problem with most content is that it is created for the boss. It isn’t created for the audience you are trying to reach, engage, and convert. So stop creating content that sells. Stop creating content no one will ever see.

-­-­ Michael  Brenner  of  Marketing  Insider  Group  on  CMI

● Non-­branded  content  (wider  audience,  share-­able,  supports  organic  SEO,  linkable)

● Calls  to  action  (no  sales  pitch,  relevant  links,  helpful,  natural)● Be  patient● Get  to  know  your  audience

ADVICE: Less “me” more “you”

● Conversational,  not  formal● Teaching,  not  preaching● Solving,  not  selling● Authentic,  not  rehearsed● Language,  not  jargon

No, we’re not saying you should dumb it down

But  it’s  worth  it!  Brandpoint analyzed  organic   traffic  generated  by  clients  who  were  new  to  content  marketing  and  found:  ● Breakeven  =  9  months● 200%  ROI  =  36  months● 10  x  lift  in  organic   traffic  by  increasing  overall  content  footprint

It’s a slow process. Slow. Very, very slow.

More content = more everything

Source:  Hubspot

Companies that post more than 16 posts/month get 3.5x more traffic than companies that publish 0-4 posts per month.

● Losing  sight  of  the  goals  of  content● Expecting  immediate/clear  ROI  right  away● Striving  for  perfection● Subjectivity

4 Common Editing Struggles

Day 1: Assign to writer

Day 2-7: Writing

Day 7-9: Editing

Day 10-15: Client review

Day 15: Client didn’t like content and rewrote it

Day 17: Client call to discuss changes

Day 18-23: We revise content

Day 24-31: Client review - the director, C suite, legal

Day 31: Client misses deadline. Editing held up in C suite and legal

Day 35: Client sends back marked-up copy that looks like (next slide) ...

A “day” in the life of a piece of content

10 Days

8 Days

5 Days

12 Days

35 Days

Client marked-up copy

45 Days

● Set clear expectations up front

● Establish a clear workflow

● Eliminate bottlenecks (put writers in touch with editors, whether it’s the CEO, director or legal)

● Strive for “good enough”

ADVICE: Cut down editing process

● Real-time content

● Let go of the small stuff (Oxford comma? Your audience doesn’t care.)

● Use QC checklists

MORE ADVICE: Let go of the small stuff

● Losing  sight  of  the  goals  of  content● Expecting  immediate/clear  ROI  right  away● Striving  for  perfection● Subjectivity

4 Common Editing Struggles

Let’s agree …

Us You

Outdated statistics, facts X

Factual statements that are incorrect,

questionable or not properly sourced

X

Conflicts of interest, e.g. a reference to a

competitor, negatively reflects on client

X

Grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors X

Incorrect branding or naming conventions X

Subjective improvements (see How to Edit

Your Agency’s Content one-sheet)

X

Words of wisdom

“ Perfectionism is the enemy of profitability.Mark  Cuban

Done is better than perfect.Everyone  at  Vertical  Measures

Progress, not perfection.Unknown  Wise  Person

● Shoot for 7s, 8s, and 9s. Perfect 10s are rare. (And, no one cares.)

● Digital content can be changed and removed as quickly as it can be published.

● Get rid of the traditional media mindset and adopt a digital media mindset (informal, authentic, real-time, bottom-up)

Words of wisdom ...

noelles@verticalmeasures.com@noelleschuck

This was fun! Questions?