Hardwood Flooring February March 2018

Content Marketing Tools It can be difficult to keep up with multiple social media platforms. A social media dashboard enables companies to manage all profiles and platforms from a single user interface, eliminating the need to log in individually to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc. Here are some of the most commonly used dashboards:

Content Marketing (Continued)

Still coming up short? Check with employees, spouses, or friends who have special technical skills or knowledge, or who are good writers and are willing to interview employees and write stories. And remember, freelancers are happy to write content for you. Read trade publications or search blogs to find writers, or ask for references from friends and associates. How to improve your odds of success The content marketing plan is in place, the content plan and calendar are set, and the hard drive is stocked with killer content. Ready to go, right? Before launching, stack the deck in your favor by following these suggestions. • Get support from upper management. Ask them to talk up the content marketing effort in meetings, emails, and other top-down communications to encourage cooperation from all departments. Ask for the time, resources, and budget necessary to get the job done. • Understand and share that seeing results from content marketing takes time. It’s a long-term investment that requires at least six months to a year to yield significant results. • Hold weekly content meetings. In addition to providing a format for brainstorming, it prioritizes content development, keeping it top of mind for everyone involved. Soon, people will be coming to you with content ideas. • Promote your content. This includes the website, social media, invoices/statements, counter or showroom signs, advertising – any channel used to communicate with customers. • Repurpose content to gain more exposure and enhance SEO. For example, this article could be broken up into six shorter pieces of content, corresponding with the subheads. • Constantly monitor and evaluate the results. Monitor visits, views, likes, shares, retweets, mentions – anything that might indicate that your content is getting noticed and engaging customers. Keep track of how much content is being posted and what days or times generate the most response, then adjust the schedule. Don’t expect immediate results from publishing a few articles or creating a few videos. Like any good marketing effort, effective content marketing starts with a strategy and a plan. Year after year, research by the Content Marketing Institute finds that companies with a documented content marketing strategy are anywhere from 48 percent to 54 percent more effective than those without one. In addition, it is also important to develop a stated editorial mission statement, have a clear definition of success, and conduct daily or weekly content meetings. And remember, it’s about nurturing relationships and building your reputation so that you become a trusted source in your market, which leads to buzz, referrals, and ultimately, business. Katrina Olson is a freelance writer and principal of Katrina Olson Strategic Communications. Reach her at katrina@katrinaolson.com.

• Buffer • CoSchedule • Hootsuite • Hubspot • TweetDeck

• MeetEdgar • Sprout Social

• Sendible • eClincher • MavSocial

• Constant Contact (email marketing) • MailChimp (email marketing) • MyEmma.com (email marketing) • Cision iContact For companies wanting to develop a content marketing and content strategy, look to marketing automation firms like the following: Consider starting with a free tool to get experience with a social media dashboard. After using it for a while, experiment with some free trials to choose a paid version.

• Hubspot • Marketo • Pardot • SharpSpring

• Act-On • Informz

• GetResponse • Oracle Eloqua • ActiveCampaign

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