Content Marketing Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Sporadically blogging or participating every now and again on social media is not effective. You can't engage your customers with a few random Facebook posts or newsletters. It's a process.
Week after week you have to come up with new and interesting things to write about. You have to find new angles, new ideas, and new stories. You have to consistently create content that gets people to say, "That's interesting. Tell me more."
And the operative word here is "consistently." Writing one great article is not enough. Content marketing demands you do that month after month, if not day after day. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
Pace yourself: one post at a time
A marathon is twenty six miles, and you probably won't finish it if you don't pace yourself. Content marketing is similar.
For example, I publish a blog every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:00 a.m. EST. My articles are between 350 to 500 words, and they have an introduction, two to three sub-headings, and a conclusion.
This is my pace, and it's something I can comfortably maintain. Instead of worrying about form and format, I can focus on ideas, concepts, and insights I think will resonate with you and deliver value.
What's your pace?
- How often will you publish?
- How long are your posts?
- What is the format of your content?
Nourish yourself with good content
You can't complete a marathon if you don't maintain your energy. You need food and water to keep going.
The same is true for content marketing. You need to constantly consume other's content to
consistently produce your own content.
I consume content from three primary sources:
- Feedly. I subscribe to a couple hundred blogs and magazines, and read it every morning. It's like the morning paper, and I get a fresh dose of content and ideas every day.
- Podcasts. I listen to podcasts in the car, and I gain a ton of ideas from the interviews with experts.
- Books. There's no better source of ideas than reading long form content. It gives me time to digest an idea and expand my thinking.
Consuming content is part of my routine, and gives me the fuel to share new content week after week.
How do you fuel your content marketing?
Pick yourself up when you fall down
Inevitably you will hit a bump in the road, trip, or something will sideline you: an illness, a major deadline, a family emergency, a vacation, or something else.
Have backup content for these days. I like to keep a content vault, and draw from these articles when life or business gets in the way.
Keep writing
You have to run to run a marathon. You've got to put one foot in front of the other and just keep going.
This is true for content marketing. Once you commit to a blog or an email newsletter you are going to be doing it for a long time. Blogs and newsletters don't have a finish line. They go on for years at a time.
Commit to your pace, produce great content, and publish again and again. The more consistent you are with content marketing, the better your results will be.
