When looking for inspiration to help streamline your content strategy in 2018, there are some key names in the trade to turn to.
Read and listen to what these content marketing, writing and SEO gurus have to say on their industry-leading websites, personal blogs and podcasts, or pick up their latest books.
Their advice comes from years of devising content strategies and launching some of the biggest companies in the sector.
Neil Patel
An entrepreneur at heart, Neil Patel is the founder of web traffic and conversion companies Crazy Egg, Hello Bar and KISSmetrics, who confesses to having fallen into content marketing. We think he’s playing it down though, as he’s now a marketing consultant for Amazon, NBC, GM, HP and Viacom, helping them to grow their revenue.
To follow Neil’s work you can catch him on various mediums, including writing on his company websites, as well as his own blog Quick Sprout (another of his web traffic start-up tools). Neil also contributes to Huffington Post and Entrepreneur, who cited him as creating one of the 100 most brilliant companies in the world.
Sonia Simone
Owner of Remarkable Communication since 1999, Sonia Simone worked in content marketing long before content marketing was even a concept. And in 2010 Sonia was a founding partner of the highly successful Copyblogger Media, which was set-up to teach bloggers how to produce top-notch content. Copyblogger later evolved to become digital marketing technology and client services firm, Rainmaker Digital, with the Copyblogger website still going strong.
As Copyblogger’s chief content officer Sonia pens regular blog pieces for the website, she also hosts a dedicated content marketing podcast at CopyBloggerFM. You can also read Sonia’s personal blog and look up her opinionated ‘Confessions of a Pink-Haired Marketer’ podcast on her website.
Joe Pulizzi
Chances are if you work in content marketing you’re either a member of the Content Marketing Institute, have attended one of its events, taken part in its training or used its industry resources. Well, Joe Pulizzi founded the CMI and has gone on to be awarded the 2014 John Caldwell Lifetime Achievement Award from the Content Council for success at promoting the use of content as a marketing channel.
He has his own blog section on the CMI website, delivers regular podcasts and has authored no fewer than five books. Pick up Epic Content Marketing, which was named one of ‘Five Must-Read Business Books of 2013’ by Fortune Magazine, or his latest, Killing Marketing, about how to turn marketing cost into profit.
Rand Fishkin
Known as the ‘Wizard of Moz’, the co-founder of SEO software giant Moz hosts the blog’s popular Whiteboard Friday. Rand provides articles featuring video tutorials on new topics, such as ‘What Do Google’s New, Longer Snippets Mean for SEO?’
Check out his other venture, inbound.org, in order to get curated marketing topics of your choice in a feed and/or delivered to your inbox how frequently you want. If that isn’t enough reading for you, Rand has authored two books – Inbound Marketing and SEO: Insights from the Moz Blog and Lost and Founder: The Mostly Awful, Sometimes Awesome Truth About Building a Tech Startup.
Ann Handley
Chief content officer of MarketingProfs, co-founder of interactive marketing news website ClickZ.com author, writer, speaker, podcaster, and LinkedIn influencer – Ann Handley has a lot under her belt. Having consulted on and written about content marketing for 20 years, it’s no wonder she’s ranked as one of the top 20 bloggers in the world.
Take a look at her writing on MarketingProfs, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post and Mashable. And be sure to pick up one of her books – The Wall Street Journal bestseller, Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content or Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business.
Now that 2018 is officially in full swing, it’s time to delve into the minds of some of content strategy’s finest thinkers and get inspired.
If you need help with copywriting or creating a content strategy, get in touch today; as a copywriting agency, WooContent can support you with all of your content needs.