Not long ago, a few members of the Scoop.it team began discussing the answer to the all too popular question: how do I do content marketing if I’m a startup or professional without a big budget? With that in mind, we created the Lean Content Marketing meetup. 

This evening, we were happy to host the co-founder of the awesome social media tool BufferApp, Leo Widrich (@LeoWid), who shared five awesome lessons that he’s learned over the last two years of developing his very own content marketing strategy.

Two years ago, Leo Widrich and Joel Gascoigne were students in the UK. Who would have thought that Joel’s technical side and Leo’s marketing side would come together to create what we now know as Buffer App in Joel’s college bedroom?

At the time, the new Twitter app they had created didn’t have any users and its two young founders tried relentlessly to get any tech blogs to cover them. When this didn’t work, they asked themselves, “if no one else will write about us, why can’t we just write about ourselves?”

Since Leo was the “marketing guy,” he was charged with putting out as much content as he could to spread the word about Buffer App. Two years and a highly successful social media app later, Leo has learned some of the most important lessons in content marketing:

With big changes at Facebook afoot, what will it mean for marketers?

If you’re a company focusing a lot of your efforts on Facebook, it’s time you rethink your content strategy for this increasingly “pay to play” platform.

Similarly to Google, Facebook’s new algorithm shows only the best/most viral content as well as the content whose creators pay for it to be seen.

For smaller businesses who don’t exactly have the pay-per-click budget, it’s time to get creative. Post the most relevant and interesting images and pieces of content, and encourage engagement by posting “Shareables,” my favorite term for (obviously) content that’s likely to be shared.

See on bronto.com

[Note: I originally wrote this for the Scoop.it blog.]

According to a recent survey conducted by Econsultancy, 90% of respondents (1,300 marketing professionals) believe that content marketing will continue becoming increasingly important within the next year, but a surprisingly low 38% of them actually have a content strategy in place.

It’s hard to say that a day goes by for marketers without hearing, talking, or reading about some type of content marketing strategy. This is clearly demonstrated by the 73% of respondents who believe that brands are becoming publishers. Why is it, then, that only 38% of companies currently have a defined content marketing strategy and only 55-58% say that they are planning one?

The Content Marketer’s pledge:

I, [Your Name], pledge to create something remarkable. Something that people will love. Something they will want to share. Something I can be proud of. And if it fails to achieve my marketing goals, I won’t give up. I will try again. My failures will be the practice I need to earn future successes and future customers.

-Rand Fishkin

If You’re Not Content Marketing, You’re Not Marketing

Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience - with the objective of driving profitable customer action.

Basically, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent. The essence of this content strategy is the belief that if we, as businesses, deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty.