For a recreational runner training for a big autumn distance race, the months of July and August are soul-crushing.
You’re getting into the heavy slog weeks of long, slow distance runs, mentally taxing mid-week speed work, and weekly mileage counts approaching 30, 40, 50 miles or even more. You wake up earlier each morning to combat higher temperatures and stifling humidity, factors that slow your natural pace down by a full minute for every 10 degrees of temperature rise.
I’m training for my second marathon. Like a lot of runners, I find it hard to stay focused. Digging deep for daily motivation is a challenge.
Yet the key to any successful distance race is to put in the work, week after week, day after day, mile after mile. As any coach will tell you, if you follow the plan, and put in the miles, you have a better-than-decent chance of hitting your goal, whether it’s to qualify for the Boston Marathon, notch a personal record, or just cross the finish line.
But you’ve got to put in the work. You can’t expect to successfully run 26.2 or 13.1 miles without training hard for three or four months. You can’t complete a distance event drawing on just one workout a week. Or by skipping your long runs when you feel tired.
Content marketing works the same way.
There is no magic marketing formula that works for every business. Some organizations publish regular blog posts on topics of interest to their target audience. Others create long-form thought leadership content like white papers or e-books. Still others seek out expert interview slots, guest posts and podcasts, and bylined articles in relevant industry journals to expand their universe of qualified leads.
All approaches are valid. But no method will work for your business unless it’s done regularly, consistently, and strategically. A white paper may present the most brilliant and unorthodox solution to a problem the world has ever seen. But if you don’t promote the content across multiple channels (like press releases, social media, and sales meetings), and repurpose it in other forms (articles, blog posts, webinars) it will have limited impact. Besides, one white paper alone won’t do much for you over the long term. The goal should be to develop a thought leadership platform, and build an audience that begins to think of your company as the go-to knowledge expert within your field.
The same goes for blogging. Too many businesses start a blog with the best of intentions, only to peter out after a few posts. It takes time to attract an audience, and once you have one, you must work to keep them engaged. A regular, active blog with relevant content improves search engine optimization (SEO), and drives traffic to your site. An inconsistent, stale blog with broken links and obsolete info has the opposite effect.
Be in it for the long haul. Develop a solid plan and stick with it, mile after mile.
That’s how you cross the finish line.
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Looking to kick your content marketing plan into race-day shape? Let’s talk! Contact me at ted@tedgoldwyn.com or www.tedgoldwyn.com.