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This piece was written by Ardath Albee, I selected it because I thought her insights were very helpful for anyone who is using content marketing to reach their customers. Her suggestions are good for original and curated content.

 

To paraphrase:

 

Everything has changed, B2B executives need to change their mindset to fit the realities of the "always connected consumer" They are bombarded with too much information. It's important to shift your thinking and change the way you relate to them. The old way won't work.

 

Excerpt:

 

"Selling content marketing to B2B executives is hard. At least harder than it should be. But what strikes me as odd is their willingness to requestion their decision after they've finally been convinced".

 

Here are some highlights:

 

**Content marketing is not a campaign  With no stop date, it violates the nature of traditionalist marketers to be able to box in a final result and say "it worked"

 

or "it could have been better." At least not quickly

 

**content marketing isn't three touches and a sales pitch, your department may not be shuffling as many leads to sales.

 

**If the change we make isn't driven by what our buyers want, it's driven by what we want. What we want isn't going to convince buyers to buy. Especially over the longer-term, complex buying process.

 

**Here is two things to do to combat Shiny Object Syndrome:

 

First - determine ways to measure your incremental wins with content marketing that tie to business KPIs. That's one thing that marketing automation technology and analytics can help you with.

 

It's also something that salespeople can help you with. When's the last time you spoke with them about the leads you sent over?

 

Here are more insights from Matt Johnson who  has more to say about KPI's

 

"Only by compartmentalizing our distinct lives as brand stewards, lead generators and media mavens, can we help educate others (CEOs, peers, our teams, ourselves), who may think of “marketing” as a monolithic and mysterious blob......

 

Second - put some fun into your content marketing!

 

**Take a look at your personas and figure out a new way to approach them. Put a new spin on a topic you've grown bored with

 

**Use a new format. Do it to engage yourself as much as you do it to engage your buyers.

 

Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Content Marketing, Social Media and Beyond"

 

See full article here: [http://tinyurl.com/73xam22]

Via janlgordon

I selected this piece from the Curata blog because I thought it has great insights and reinforces some of the reasons you should be why content curation is a very valuable tool to add to your content marketing strategy. 

 

Here are some highlights:

 

**Most B2B marketers likely would agree that the primary purpose for content marketing, and hence content curation, is its role in stimulating revenue.

 

**Like all other marketing activities, content curation aims to build a sales funnel, directly or indirectly.

 

Although it may be hard to measure, content curation also has value for other parts of the enterprise, typically taking the form of enhanced organizational efficiency.

 

Here are some of the ways:

 

**content curation improves collaboration between:

**content creators

**thought leaders

**product development,

**R&D,

**marketing

**content consumers

**potential customers   

**organization service

**support 

**sales

**product development staffs 

**channel partners 

**prospects and customers 

 

Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond"

 

Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/zn0XoK]

Via janlgordon

 

This piece was written by Jean-Paul De Clerck for Selligent. I selected it because it reconfirms what we already know as consumers of content and as content marketers trying to reach their audiences.  

 

Magnify's  "Digital Lifestyle" research shows that it's becoming more difficult for so-called professional web users to:

 

**cope with the stream of communication and

 

**to distinguish essential information from less important information.

 

A massive tidal wave in figures

**64% of the participants said that the information they receive had increased over 50% in comparison to the previous year

 

**Nearly 73% of the respondents described the information overload with superlative terms souch as a "roaring river" or a massive tital wave

 

It is simply becoming more difficult for people to filter information. And it's very important to realize that this is not caused by technology only, and that it will not be solved by technology.

 

**In their interactions with consumers and customers, companies have a responsibility to make it as easy and valuable as possible for people.

 

Here are some takeaways:

 

**Simplify your cross-channel messaging: improve and personalize your communication

 

**Marketers must ensure that their messages are targeted and synchronized.

 

**They should avoid overlapping communication and marketing fatigue. Read white paper 

 

**They should also let people choose their own communication channels more.

 

**Provide alternatives, because people will increasingly search for them in their quest for coping with information.

Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond"

 

Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/x46IR4]

Curatti was founded to address this issue and much more. Please visit us at our fan page.

Via janlgordon

This piece was written by Eric Brown for social media explorer.

 

I selected this article because it reaffirms what many of us already know but it's still good to see this in writing: Content curation and Media Curation (a mix of  machine aggregation and Human Curation) are starting to pick up steam.

 

Here are some highlights:

 

Curation comes up when search stops working,” says author and NYU Professor Clay Shirky. But it’s more than a human-powered filter.

 

**“Curation comes up when people realize that it isn’t just about information seeking, it’s also about synchronizing a community.”

 

The author says and I agree with him:

 

 

**"The value will be in the expertise of the curator, people will not read junk, and the best of the best curators will create digital domination with vibrant communities".

 

There is also a great quote from Fred Wilson's AVB blog in which he details what he would do if he were starting the Village Voice now:

 

**I would not print anything. I would not hire a ton of writers. I would build a website and a mobile app (or two or three). I would hire a Publisher and a few salespeople.

 

**I would hire an editor and a few journalists. And then I’d go out and find every blog, twitter, facebook, flickr, youtube, and other social media feed out there that is related to downtown NYC

 

**and I would pull it all into an aggregation system where my editor and journalists could cull through the posts coming in, curate them, and then publish them

 

Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond"

 

Read full article: [http://bit.ly/kmZvJg]

 

Via janlgordon