Content marketing? How about “discontent marketing”? No, it doesn’t mean “satisfied”, it means “what’s inside”, like the contents of a book. Think how many Apple computers you’ve seen in movies and you start to get an idea — yes, product placement is part of it. So where can you find out more about this increasingly tricky science to access increasingly savvy consumers? We’ve put together the Top 10 Content Marketing Resources to help you out.
In the modern world, which is based on information, there is a lot of content out there. Including a lot of content about content. Successful content marketers have to strategize, produce, promote and manage their own content, as well as the content of their clients. They also need to consume content on a regular basis. Not to get lost in the flow of information, they need focus. Here are the top 10 fundamental free content marketing resources.
- Content Marketing Institute (СMI).
This is the go-to resource for all things content marketing from one of the most respected authorities in the industry. The Content Marketing Institute is the leading global content marketing education and training organization, teaching enterprise brands how to attract and retain customers through compelling, multi-channel storytelling. Here you can find some free articles and researches in the sphere of content marketing.
The plus of this resource is that is updated daily, offers expert insights on developing your content strategy and tailoring its execution to meet the needs of your business. The minus is that some materials are not free and you need to subscribe.
- Google Online Marketing Challenge: https://www.google.com/onlinechallenge/dmc/
Google offers a free and very thorough online marketing course, complete with a Pre-Course Preparation and Course Packs to go along with each lesson. With Google being arguably the largest search engine out there, this is definitely a must for everyone planning on doing their own online marketing, and it’s a great place to start as a beginner.
For more-or-less experienced marketers, this resource is not so interesting.
- Copyblogger: http://my.copyblogger.com
This blog of content marketing masters is the perfect mix of educational and inspiring without being intimidating. Copyblogger started as a simple one-man blog. Today it is known as Rainmaker Digital — a digital commerce company with more than 200,000 unique customers — and it has grown using useful content, smart copywriting, and exceptional products and services without any advertising. Here you can register for your free My.Copyblogger account to access the proven marketing training library. The downside is that you need registration, but you don’t have to pay for it. Even without registering, you have access to its blog, which includes content marketing advice, as well as writing and productivity tips.
- Convince & Convert: http://www.convinceandconvert.com/
Convince & Convert was founded by Jay Baer in 2008. Jay has advised more than 700 brands since getting started in online marketing in 1993. In addition to strategy consulting, the firm also runs Convince & Convert Media, a fast-growing education company that produces six podcasts, a digital magazine, email, webinars, and white papers.
Here you can listen to content pros podcast for free and find some more useful materials on the subject.
The drawback is that you need to subscribe and pay money for some advanced researches. - Hubspot’s blog: http://blog.hubspot.com
Hubspot delivers a well-rounded blog with a slight emphasis on the more technical side of inbound marketing. Here you can find a marketing library.
The downside is the emphasis on the technical side of the question, although the resource is quite suitable, if you need such information.
- Top Rank’s Online Marketing Blog: http://www.toprankblog.com
Since its founding in 2003, this blog has received numerous accolades for its insights and analysis of content marketing, SEO, business blogging and other digital marketing concepts.
You’ll need to subscribe to receive access to advanced materials, but the procedure is not that hard and is free. - Business 2 Community: http://www.business2community.com
This rich source of information features infographics, blog posts and other resources related to every facet of content marketing. Check out the “content marketing” tag under the Business tab, or meander through the other sections of the site to enhance your knowledge of social media marketing strategies, advertising trends and industry news.
This resource is dedicated not only to content marketing, so you will have to spend time to find relevant information on the issue.
- ProBlogger: http://www.problogger.net
ProBlogger offers tips on writing, organizing ideas and building a better overall blog, which is a key channel for content marketing.
The minus is that you’ll need to subscribe — not all the information is freely available.
- The Craft of Marketing: http://craftofmarketing.com
The Craft of Marketing is both a weekly blog series and a podcast bringing you actionable marketing tips, hacks, and strategies from some of the world’s leading marketers.
Here you can receive your own free branding guide. You’ll have to subscribe, but they claim that they are not spam.
- The Entrepreneur online magazine: https://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/online-marketing
The Entrepreneur online magazine covers more than just online marketing, of course, but the posts within their online marketing category have some excellent information for beginners to intermediates. You’ll even see some web design-based marketing articles, inspirational marketing articles, and branding-type articles.
The material is diverse, but not very specialized and quite superficial.