Content Marketing World 2015, the mecca for content nerds the world over, officially ended last week. This was my first year making the pilgrimage to Cleveland, and the trip was well worth it.
For those looking for a distillation of all the content marketing knowledge that was laid down over those magical four days, these posts are for you.
This week I’ll be offering some the Top Content Marketing Quotes, 10 things that Content Marketing World inspired me to do my first week back, and 10 things you probably already know (but need to hear again and again and again).
In the coming days we’ll be doing a deeper dive into particular topics that resonated throughout CMW, so stay tuned for that.
For now, on to the bon mots!
Top Content Marketing Quotes from CMWorld 2015
I thought this would be a “top ten” list, but it quickly grew way beyond that. The content gems were thick on the ground in Cleveland, that’s for sure.
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Planning, Refining, and Measuring SEO for Content Marketing (pre-conference workshop)
Planning, Refining, and Measuring SEO for Content Marketing (pre-conference workshop)Stephan Spencer @sspencer
“A brand is a promise, and your domain name should also be a promise.”
“Your customers are not the linkerati. To earn links you need to target influencers too.”
“There’s no point in trying to build links to mediocre content.”
Welcome to the Content Marketing Revolution
Joe Pulizzi @joepulizzi
“The only way we can differentiate is how we communicate.” – Don Schulz
“You know the stats. You created them.”
Content vs. The Customer
Kristina Halvorson @halvorson
“Are there other more foundational things that we need to care for and invest in so that we can do content marketing right so that it will have the kind of lasting results that our business needs to thrive?”
“Make great content, and make great choices. Your sanity will thank you for it. And your customers will thank you for it.”
Why Marriott is Going “All In” As a Media Company
David Beebe @davidbeebe
“Content marketing is really like a first date. If all you do is talk about yourself, there won’t be a second date.”
“Brands may not be people, but great brands can be built if you focus on people first.”
“Always, always, always focus on people.”
Does Your Content Pass the Mom Test?
Jay Baer @jaybaer
“We don’t actually need anymore content marketers, thank you very much. What we need are people who have a passion for connections. Who understand that there’s a point to all of this that transcends clicks and downloads and all of that.”
“The mission of content is this: content is the emotional and informational bridge between commerce and consumer. Building that bridge requires more than a budget, an editorial calendar, analytics, and a strategy. It requires people who LOVE content and what it can do.”
“It’s easy to fall out of love with content and content creation…but don’t give up.”
“Everything you know can and will be copied by your competition. But if you fundamentally care more about content and its role in improving the lives of real people they can’t copy that.”
Advanced SEO Practices that Will Blow Your Mind
Rand Fishkin @randfish
“Only the machine knows…” (On how Googlers don’t even know what’s in the algorithm anymore, because it’s learning on its own)
“In the future we’ll be optimizing less for ranking inputs and more for searcher outputs.”
“Fulfill the searcher’s task, not just their query. Resolve their mission.”
Content Marketing Hacks: 50+ Best Practices That Will Double Your Engagement and Conversion Rates
Matt Heinz @HeinzMarketing
“You’re selling a hole, not a drill.”
“No content should ever have a dead end.”
The Content Wheel: A Playbook to Sustain Publishing, Drive ROI, and Most Importantly Punch Unicorns in the Face
Jay Acunzo @Jay_zo
“It’s hard to be concise…because words exist.”
“You must have the almighty Why: a stake in the ground around which your whole team can dance.”
“If something succeeds, don’t do more like it, do more with it.”
“As soon as you leave your customer out you’re doing fake work.”
“Actually talk to your customers. Use the language that they use. Talk about the things they talk about. Never feed salad to a lion.”
“Don’t find customers for your content, find content for your customers.”
“Live at the intersection of smart intuition, hard data, and customer feedback.”
The Content Marketing Metrics that Matter: How to Measure, Visualize and Report on Content Performance
Paul Roetzer @paulroetzer
“You can’t teach analytics to everybody.”
“Data without analysis is simply noise.”
The New Normal for Content Architecture: Grow Slow or Die Fast
Cleve Gibbon @cleveg
“Content architecture helps bridge the gap between content strategy and content management to better serve marketing.”
“Prior planning prevents piss poor performance.”
Words+Pictures: A Content Marketer’s Guide to Visual Storytelling
Buddy Scalera @MarketingBuddy
“Story IS NOT an autobiography about your brand. Your brand can be a plot point, but it’s THEIR story.”
“Your visual language needs to adapt to the channel it’s on (but Batman is always Batman regardless of the context).”
“Respect the social customs of the channel you’re on, and seed your content according to the rules of that social network.”
Full Social Media Integration with Content Marketing
Cathy McPhillips @cmcphillips and Monina Wagner @MoninaW
“Not everything in social media has to be done instantly.”
“Social media helps us find the intersection of business objectives and member objectives.”
How to Hire, Train, and Manage a Content Team
Jaelithe Gillette @JaelitheG
To nurture a creative team, “invite tough conversations and encourage debate. Engage people the way that they want to be engaged: in person or in private.”
Your Favorite Content Quotes?
CMWorld attendees: Did I miss you favorite quote? I know there were times when I was too engrossed to type (*cough* John Cleese *cough*), so feel free to add them in the comments!