February is the shortest month of the year, but there was no shortage of useful, popular, and downright awesome content marketing articles published over the last few weeks.
So, what happened in content marketing world during the month of February? Let’s take a look.
(Editor’s Note: These articles are listed in no particular order, and this list is completely subjective.)
12 Actionable Content Marketing Tips To Yield Sales by Heidi Cohen 
So, you’ve created an awesome piece of content. Go you. Now, what do you do with it? Sell it? Give it away for free? Build a publishing conglomerate backed by a pack of rabid fans? If you are looking to get the most mileage out of your work you’ll want to read this article published on Content Marketing Institute by marketing expert Heidi Cohen. She provides 12 actionable tips to make money with your content. And who better to provide that information than a previous senior-level marketer at book-selling giant Bertelsmann.
There is No Perfect Content Marketing Metric — Here’s Why by Kelsey Meyer
If you have ever wondered how to tell if your content marketing is actually working, you will want to read this article on the SEMrush blog. Some people base success on shares, views, or downloads. But now there are other factors to consider such as brand lift and engagement. With all those metrics, how can you really tell if what you are doing works?
According to Meyer, “it depends, (as) brands have different goals for content and ideas of success; one metric couldn’t possibly account for every variation.” She then goes on to discuss a few ‘action metrics’ that many content marketers might not have thought to look at. You might just find a few new ways to measure your success.
Your 16-Point Content Publishing Checklist by Arnie Kuenn
Checklists are a great way to keep yourself organized, particularly in today’s age when there is always something just waiting to distract you. (Oh, look a new Linkedin connection! And now an email. And a Gchat message. Wait, what was I doing?) Checklists like this one published on Convince and Convert make it simple to make sure you don’t miss any steps – even when you know what you are doing. So, while I don’t think this article has any surprising steps, it is still a great tool to make sure you cover all your bases.
Making The Case For Content Marketing by Jonathan Blank
Most content marketers understand and can easily explain the value of content marketing. Discussing the issue with clients who don’t focus on marketing is one matter. This article on Marketing Land, however, focuses on how to make a case for content marketing internally, specifically to high level management within your own company. Plus, Blank does the research for you by providing you with statistics to back up your claims. All you have to do is take those numbers to your CMO.
Rev Up The Content Marketing Engine To Achieve Local Liftoff by Chris Silver Smith
If you have ever worked with local businesses, you know how much of struggle local SEO can be. This article focuses on how to use content marketing to ignite your local SEO strategy. Some of the examples are pretty basic, but still valid, for a seasoned marketer, such as using social. But, Smith offers several tips I wouldn’t have thought would be particularly helpful for local SEO – such as slide sharing and white papers.
Bonus Pick:
50 Quotes That Will Make You a Better Content Marketer
For this list, I try to choose meaty articles with actionable tips that will actually improve your content marketing strategy. While this article might not tell you how to get more e-book downloads, I do think it will provide a bit of inspiration. My favorite quote from this list:
We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays awake all night, telling itself stories. – Jonathan Gottschall
Pretty poetic, I think.
The Takeaway
Content marketing is an ever-changing field – to the chagrin of many marketers. But, instead of looking at it as a frustrating moving target it is important to keep trying new things and researching what other marketers are doing. One thing is for sure – it will never get boring!
What do you think? Are there any content marketing articles published this month that should have made the list? Share your top articles in the comments below.
Image Sources:
Featured image by SEJ
Image 1: Shutterstock
Image 2: Shutterstock
