Marketing

Content Marketing 101: Your Ultimate Resources Guide

September 25, 2014

Your one-stop collection of actionable tips, tools, and resources to take your content marketing to the next level.
Editor’s note: This is a living document, and our goal is to update it regularly with the best content marketing resources available. Have a suggested link we should add? Let us know in the comments below.

First Things First: Establishing Your Content Strategy

4 C’s of Effective Go-to-Market Strategy Design
Converting today’s B2B buyers into customers requires the ability to provide them with the right targeted content experience at exactly the right time. And that takes having the right go-to-market strategy elements in place.
Buyer Personas: The Key to Targeting Your Content Marketing for Real Results
If you really expect your content to connect with your customers in any meaningful way you need to make sure it’s laser targeted to address their needs. And how do you do that? By developing accurate buyer personas.
customer segmentation
5 Steps to Building a Customer Journey Map
Salespeople and marketers need to face it — the path to purchase is seldom a straight line. Antje Helfrich and Marc Steiner of Lenati break down the process of building a customer journey map to help you better understand your customers and optimize their experience with your brand.
How to Develop a Content Matrix: A Step-by-Step Guide
Learn how to develop a content matrix to ensure your content creation is focused on producing content that will impact key leverage points during the buying process.
The Best Content Formats for Each Stage of the Buyer Journey
Buyers are bombarded by more and more content every day. Learn how to rise above the noise (and make better use of your resources) by creating content specifically targeted for each stage of their buyer journey.
Buyer Journey Stages
Stop the Madness! How to Quit the Content Marketing Guessing Game
When it comes to content creation, are you still throwing things against the wall to see what sticks? It’s time to stop the guessing game madness and start making smarter content marketing predictions. Here’s how.
Infographic: 11 Steps to Successful Content Marketing
Do you know what it takes to build a content marketing program that will drives real results for your business? Follow these 11 steps and you will be on the right track.

Tools of the Trade

5 Must-Have Content Marketing Tools
Before you get caught up in the countless marketing resources out there, make sure you’ve mastered these five content marketing tools.
Transcribing Your Podcasts and Video: Transcription Tools and Services
Looking for cheap and effective transcription for your podcasts and videos? This post breaks down a list of popular transcription tools and services.
No-Cost Content: Free Alternatives to Content Creation Tools
Who says creating content has to be an expensive endeavor? Here’s a short list of several no-cost alternatives to popular tools to help you become a more independent (and frugal) content marketer.
Why Your Marketing Team Needs an Editorial Calendar (Free Template Included)
It’s the one tool no self-respecting content marketer would be without. But the truth is if content plays even the slightest role in your strategic marketing approach, an editorial calendar will improve your ability to get organized, plan ahead, and see a bigger return on your marketing efforts.


Building Your Team

4 Keys to Building an Agile Content Marketing Team
Developing an in-house content marketing function doesn’t have to break the bank. You might be surprised at how much you can accomplish with the right structure and processes in place.
What Exactly Does a Director of Content Strategy Do?
A helpful list of responsibilities as well as relevant skills and experience necessary to guide your company’s content marketing efforts to lasting impact and meaningful results.
5 Signs that You Need to Hire a Managing Editor
In order to see meaningful results, the truth is content marketing cannot be a pet project. It requires you to hire a dedicated resource, typically a managing editor, who sole focus is owning your initiative and getting it running on all cylinders.
5 Tips for Using Freelancers Effectively
Leveraging freelancers is crucial if you want to amplify and scale your content marketing efforts. Here are five ways you can manage them to their full potential.
4 Tips for Engaging Your Co-workers in Content Marketing
One of the best things you can do to create a successful and sustainable content marketing program is to get others in your organization involved.
Download our Free Guide to Leveraging Influencers


//

Creating Killer Content

Getting Started

Stop! Don’t Create a Single Piece of Content Before You Read This
Before you spend any time and money on content creation, use this simple tool to ensure it’s actually going to move the needle.
The Key to Scalable Content Creation: May Your Editorial Calendar Never Be Empty Again
Looking to boost your productivity? This simple tactic is your key to scalable content creation. Never sit staring at an empty editorial calendar again.
Blogging Made Simple: How to Write a Good Blog Post in Less Time than You Think
Not all of us were born to be bloggers, but the truth is blogging doesn’t need to be a major time-suck, and it certainly shouldn’t be daunting. Here are a few tips to help you simplify your blogging process and learn how to write a good blog post sans the stress.
8 Blogging Best Practices to Convert Visitors into Leads
Whether you’re just getting started or looking to boost your performance, these blogging best practices will help you convert more visitors and improve your results.
5 Go-to Sources to Build Your Topic Pipeline
Struggling to come up with new ideas? Here are five ways you can jump-start your brainstorming and build out a full backlog of topics and projects to take on.

Content Creation Quick Guides

Blog posts
B2B Blogging 101: A Down & Dirty Guide to Launching a Corporate Blog that Doesn’t Suck

Case Studies
Your Guide to Creating Compelling Case Studies

eBooks
How to Write a High-Quality eBook in 30 Days

Landing Pages
The 5 Stages of Writing Irresistible Landing Page Copy

White Papers
Quick Guide to Writing White Papers that Convert

Videos
Your Guide to Creating Award-Winning B2B Video Content

Podcasts
Your Quick and Easy Podcasting Primer

Infographics
A Quick Guide to Creating Compelling Infographics

Newsletters
Your Quick Guide to Launching an Email Newsletter

Webinars
Create and Run Better Webinars: A Quick Guide

Books
The Marketer’s Quick Guide to Writing Books

Resources for Creating More Visual Content

The Science of Memorable Marketing: Why You Should Be Using More Visuals
Is there a simple secret to creating content that grabs your audience’s attention and leaves a lasting impression? Indeed there is. Use more visuals — the weirder the better. It’s science.
Beginner’s Guide to Stunning Visual Content Marketing
When it comes to your content marketing strategy, creating striking visual content is no longer a “nice to have”. This guide explores the visual content revolution and offers easy how-to examples and advice for capturing and engaging your audience.

How Colors Affect Conversion Rate by Neil Patel
Did you know that color accounts for 85% of the reason why you purchased a specific product? Neil Patel breaks down the impact colors have on buying behavior — and how you can use that impact to your advantage — in this illuminating infographic.

The Marketer’s Crash Course in Visual Content Creation by HubSpot
HubSpot’s in-house designers teamed up with their marketing team to provide a great package of helpful content creation resources, including 20 free tools for creating vibrant visuals on a budget and pre-sized PowerPoint templates for creating quick & easy images for social media.

Measuring Success: Content Marketing Metrics

Are You Focusing on the Right Content Marketing Metrics?
A Beginner’s Guide to Measuring Content Marketing
A quick breakdown of the four key areas you should be tracking your performance in.
The Comprehensive Guide to Content Marketing Analytics and Metrics
From the folks at Curata, learn how to create a multi-channel dashboard and chart a course to stronger ROI.
Are You Distracted by the Wrong Content Marketing Metrics?
Content Marketing Institute’s Chief Strategist Robert Rose explains how to cut through the noise and focus on what’s truly important: achieving strategic goals and developing relationships with customers.

Pulling it All Together

Looking for more advice on how all this fits together? Download the our free guide to establishing and optimizing your content marketing function, complete with additional templates, tools, and resources to get you on the right track.


//

Additional Go-To Resources

What did you find the most useful in this guide? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments.
Feature image courtesy of Colton Witt
 

Senior Content Manager

<strong>Jonathan Crowe</strong> is Senior Content Manager at <a href="https://www.barkly.com/">Barkly</a>. He was previously the Managing Editor of OpenView Labs.