This Thursday, many of us will gather with family and friends to celebrate and give thanks by indulging in a wide spread of delicious food. Whether it’s a simple roast turkey or a fancy turducken, there’s nothing like food for bringing people together.
The LinkedIn Marketing Solutions team wanted to throw a dinner party for all of you. But we know it’s hard to coordinate schedules during the holidays, so we settled for a virtual content marketing potluck. And all you need to bring is yourself, because some of our favorite marketers have got the contributions covered. When we asked these industry leaders what they'd prefer to bring to the table, their answers were as informative and entertaining as they are mouth-watering. Tuck in your napkin and dig into this gif-happy feast:
The Guest: Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs
The Dish: “I'll bring the stuffing, which in this case is created with ridiculously good writing and laced with big, bold, brave content flavors. Stuffing is really the thing that turns an ordinary roast turkey into a special celebration.”
The Guest: Michael Brenner, CEO, Marketing Insider Group
The Dish: “I'm bringing the wine to the feast. Turkey is a once a year thing. But wine is something doctors recommend we enjoy every single day. The wine won't be too sweet or too dry or too expensive. It will be just right for an everyday kind of wine. Because despite all the conventional thinking that content has to be great (it does), great content must be delivered every single day to your audience. The more you publish (great, helpful content), the more of the right people you can reach, engage and convert. Cheers!”
The Guest: Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Online Marketing
The Dish: “The potluck of content marketing is often a crapshoot when it comes to a meal everyone will enjoy. That’s why, in addition to following a menu of tested and proven content deliciousness, my team would learn guests’ favorite dishes from juicy fried turkey ebooks to sweet interactive infographics and bring a little something everyone will love. The best part? Spicy SEO, social media and influencer activation smells that will make the whole neighborhood take notice.”
The Guest: Matt Heinz, President, Heinz Marketing Inc.
The Dish: “I will be bringing a fine selection of pre-prohibition cocktails to share before and/or after dinner. Why? Because sometimes the best advice is the oldest advice. One of my favorite direct marketing books of all time is Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins. He wrote it in 1922. It’s a short read; download it for a two-hour plane ride and you’ll absolutely be done with it before you land. Classic advice for today’s marketers covering everything from copywriting to offer strategy to testing.
Amidst all the great new tools and best practices out there, it’s still important to learn from the classics!”
The Guest: Ardath Albee, Author, Digital Relevance
The Dish: “I’m bringing a variety of yummy leftover recipes to satisfy the taste buds of the different personas at the party. I’m all about truly understanding audiences to be able to provide the right content at the right time and in the right channel, whether a hearty turkey noodle soup in front of the fire or tasty turkey croquettes at half-time for those watching the game.”
The Guest: Justin Gray, CEO, LeadMD
The Dish: “Turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole – the same old staples every year. If you’re like us it leaves you scurrying for the condiments tray to liven up that meal. Rarely do friends bring the spice to a potluck, but that’s exactly what our team does. Not afraid to be playful, snarky, witty and even, truthful, LeadMD takes the standard fix’ins and cranks them up a notch with Sriracha, Tabasco, Cholula and of course some horseradish mustard. We make a meal content stand out in the crowd.”
The Guest: Doug Kessler, Creative Director & Co-Founder, Velocity Partners Ltd
The Dish: “I'm bringing bread sauce. Bread sauce is an abomination served with turkey over here in the UK. It's what it sounds like: bread that's so wet it's a lumpy ooze that looks and tastes like wallpaper paste.
I'm doing that because content marketing should surprise.
You expect gravy and brussel sprouts and stuffing.
You do NOT expect damp, bland, pale goop -- and THAT's what everyone will be talking about it.
And sharing it.
And shoveling it under the turkey skin at the side of the plate.”
The Guest: Andy Crestodina , Co-Founder & Strategic Director, Orbit Media
The Dish: “I would bring a post-feast workout, to shed those unnecessary content pounds. These three analytics-based tips are a great way to get ready for a lean and mean new year of content.
- Bloated email list?
Try a re-engagement campaign, then remove the subscribers who haven't opened or clicked. - Extra pounds in your analytics?
Make sure you've created a filter to remove traffic from your office IP address. - Overweight pages?
Check load time per page with the Behavior > Site Speed > Page Timings report. Use the "comparison" view to quickly find chubby content, then make sure images on that page are resized, compressed and slimmed down for the new year.”
The Guest: Jason Miller, Global Content Marketing Leader, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
The Dish: “What my team brings is the turkey sandwiches the day after the feast and the day after that. We’re all about repurposing content, creating infographics, SlideShares, blog posts, and shareable social media images from the content we’ve already created, to make sure it gets in front of our target audience.”
As for myself, I'd bring the dessert: Apple pie à la mode, pecan pie, or maybe something a bit unconventional like a chocolate fountain. It's important to have fun and inject your personality into your content. And this light-hearted, sweet & sharable course is the one that will have everyone coming back for seconds.
What delectable dishes are you serving up to your audience this holiday season? Tweet us with the hashtag #ContentPotLuck and let us know.
To learn how to create remarkable content that leaves your audience pleasantly stuffed, download Attention is a Currency.
