Content Marketing Crash Course

Already registered? Sign in to access classes and course materials.

In the age of ever-diminishing attention spans, it's critical that you have content that not only captures a prospect's attention but also helps convert them to a customer and then to a lifelong advocate of your company or product. Register now for Content Marketing Crash Course and become an expert in all things content marketing.

MarketingProfs University's Content Marketing Crash Course is a 14-class course that will take you from one to done with real advice, practical teaching, and easily implemented tactics. This course is taught by expert content marketing instructors such as Mack Collier, Jay Baer, Joe Chernov, Jason Falls, Erika Napoletano, Nancy Duarte, and MarketingProfs' own Ann Handley, Matt Grant, and Corey O'Loughlin. Check out the class descriptions below and register now to ensure your content is the cornerstone (and highlight) of your marketing program!

Each class can be viewed on demand, so you may watch (and re-watch) at your convenience. In addition to the recorded class (streaming), the course materials for each class include the class slides (PDF), audio track from the class (MP3) (so you can listen to the lectures on other devices), the class transcript (PDF), and a Cheat Sheet for the class (PDF). Once you view all of the classes, you can download a Certificate of Completion (PDF). As part of the course, you'll also get access to our course-exclusive Facebook group to network and share your own questions and insight with MPU students, staff, and instructors.

As a Content Marketing Crash Course student, you'll get these free course materials (an $848 value): An electronic copy of the book Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman ($24.95 value). Access to the How-To Guide: Content Machine: The Street Guide to Building a Successful Content Marketing Program in 7 Weeks ($49 value). Access to the 5-star MarketingProfs PRO seminar How to Rapidly Grow Your Business by NOT Marketing ($129 value). Plus 5 popular bonus classes hand-picked from our 2010 Content Marketing Crash Course (see descriptions below—$645 value).

Content Marketing Crash Course includes these 14 classes (each 60 or 90 minutes long):

1. REIMAGINE: How to Build and Maintain a Thriving Content Ecosystem
2. STORYTELLING: 7 Online Publishing Tricks You Can Learn From Redbook
3. STAFFING: The Elements of Style—Hiring a Brand Journalist
4. BUDGET: Selling Content to the C-Suite
5. STRATEGY: Content Hoarding—Why Having a Content Strategy Matters
6. LEAD GEN: Using Content to Create a Unique Buyer Experience
7. PODCASTING: How to Leverage the Dark Horse of Content Marketing
8. BLUEPRINT: The No-BS Guide to Content Marketing—Plan, Launch, Measure
9. SUCCESS STORIES: Three Companies Showing Results With Content Marketing
10. MOBILE: 10 Tips, Tools, and To-Do's to Mobilize Your Marketing
11. B2B: Does "Thought Leadership" Cannibalize Your Ability to Monetize Your Expertise?
12. SEARCH: Getting Found—How to Optimize Your Content for Search
13. SOCIAL: How to Build Fans and Engagement Around Your Blogging and Social Media Efforts
14. PRESENTATIONS: That Resonates With Me! How to Persuade Any Audience

Plus, you'll get these 5 bonus classes from Content Marketing Crash Course 2010:

1. SOCIAL: How to Make Your Content More Shareable
2. VIDEOS: 6 Easy Ways to Produce Compelling Video
3. WEBINARS: 3 Surefire Ways to Get Killer Content from Your Presenters
4. LEAD GEN: 6 Ways to Use Content to Drive Website Conversions
5. WHAT'S NEXT: Agile Content Creation in a Real-Time World

How to Build and Maintain a Thriving Content Ecosystem

Speakers:
Ann Handley—Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs
Matthew Grant—Managing Editor, MarketingProfs

Creating content is hard work, which is why you need to squeeze every last drop of goodness out of the content assets you develop. The key to making content creation easier is "reimagining"—not merely recycling—your content. What does that mean? It means treating every piece of content you create not as a one-off, but as a critical piece of a larger whole and an important link in a sustainable content ecosystem—a Content Circle of Life. We're talking about cultivating a garden of content in which continual cross-pollination produces new and surprising varieties of flowers and where, to further mix metaphors, each little blog post can actually drive a great big content engine ("I think I can! I think I can!")!

You will learn:

• How reimagining content begins with a thoughtful strategy and sustainable content plan
• How to move beyond recycling your content to truly reimagining it
• About organizations that have successfully reimagined their content
• Ideas on using the assets and resources you already have to tell your story

back to top

7 Online Publishing Tricks You Can Learn From Redbook

Speaker:
Paul Gillin—Principal, Paul Gillin Communications

Effective content marketing is all about grabbing your audience's attention with compelling, well-packaged content and then drawing them in to learn more. The problem is that we're all competing with lots of other sources for that precious slice of the reader's continually shortening attention span. How do you stand out from the crowd?

One industry has been dealing with this problem for decades: consumer magazine publishers. Those who produce Redbook, People, Cosmopolitan, Woman's Day, and other newsstand staples are experts at enticing people in supermarket checkout lines to buy copies and become subscribers. The tricks they use to grab and keep attention are every bit as relevant online as they are in print—even for B2B companies.

In this unique session, we'll dissect a copy of Redbook and reveal the subtle, but effective, techniques publishers use to turn passersby into buyers.

You will learn:

• Tactics for making your content more compelling by appealing to readers' gut-level instincts
• How to write headlines, subheads, and callouts that create multiple opportunities to keep visitors engaged
• The secrets of effective storytelling

back to top

The Elements of Style: Hiring a Brand Journalist

Speaker:
Joe Chernov—VP of Content Marketing, Eloqua

Your next marketing hire shouldn't be a marketer. It shouldn't even be someone fond of marketing or marketing-speak. The smartest companies are hiring reporters (yes, reporters!) to create content for them. Why? Because a reporter can serve as a kind of "embedded journalist" with a nose for news, an innate sense of what interests audiences, and the skills to create interesting and stylish content. In the end, hiring a brand journalist will help you simplify your language; crank out (way) more content; and, above all, continually remind you to look at your company from an outsider's perspective.

You will learn:

• Why to hire a journalist to create content on your company's behalf
• What to look for in the right person
• The challenges and pitfalls to avoid
• The benefit of having a dedicated content creator on staff

back to top

Selling Content to the C-Suite

Speaker:
Joe Pulizzi—Founder, Chief Content Officer, Junta42

When it comes to marketing initiatives, the C-Suite cares about three things: 1) Are we making more money? 2) Are we saving money? 3) Are we keeping our customers happy? (Because the longer you hang on to your customers, the more money you make!)

Unfortunately, most organizations struggle with making the connection between their content marketing efforts and these three questions. The good news is: content can increase revenue, reduce costs, and help retain customers. In this session, we'll look at the most effective ways to make the case for creating compelling content.

You will learn:

• How you can develop a plan to sell your content marketing strategy to the C-Suite
• How you can get more budget for your content plan
• How to make sure the dollars you have don't disappear

back to top

Content Hoarding: Why Having a Content Strategy Matters

Speaker:
Margot Bloomstein—Principal, Appropriate Inc.

Are you a marketer, or are you a hoarder? You've seen it before: Some of us amass stuff because it's on sale or because we think we "need" it. Pretty soon, our homes are packed to the rafters with so much stuff we don't have room to live. But junk drawers and packed pantries exist online, too, in the form of websites that keep adding content with only a vague notion as to how it fits into an overall content strategy.

Are you hoarding content? Do you post information that may not appeal to your audience, possibly in formats your audience doesn't like? How do you know when you have enough, or how much budget you should allocate to creating, curating, and repurposing different content types? How do you avoid being overwhelmed by volume and ensure you're posting relevant, useful content that your audience will actually want to consume?

In this class, we'll share content strategy techniques that you can use to stop the insanity.

You will learn:

• How and why you should use message architecture to help manage your content
• How to conduct a content audit now—and use it forever
• How to move from audit to "shopping list" with an editorial style guide and editorial calendar

back to top

Using Content to Create a Unique Buyer Experience

Speaker:
Ardath Albee—CEO & Marketing Strategist, Marketing Interactions

It's critical that your marketing content connects with prospective buyers on their terms. Recent research from IDG Connect found that buyers spend 56% of their buying experience searching for and reading relevant content. Unfortunately, IDG also found that 62% of buyers say that the content they find is either irrelevant or not useful.

If marketers want to quantify how their content marketing programs are contributing to the bottom line, they need to ensure the content they're using is creating a unique (and productive) buyer experience.

In this class, you'll learn how to design and use content that turns prospects into buyers. You'll understand how buyers experience the buying process and how to get your company's ideas in the room—even if your salespeople are nowhere in sight.

You will learn:

• The 10 things your content must convey to buyers
• How to make your calls to action seem like a natural next step
• How to identify and use overlays to address influencer's needs

back to top

How to Leverage the Dark Horse of Content Marketing

Speaker:
Corey O'Loughlin—Content Marketing Specialist, MarketingProfs

Podcasting can serve as an effective and engaging component of any content marketing program. So why aren't more companies taking advantage of it? This class will walk you through the basics of podcasting—what it is, how it works, and why should you use it—and demonstrate how podcasts can help you broaden your reach, improve your search rankings, and much more.

Podcasting is the dark horse of content; here's how to leverage its potential to become best in show in your industry.

You will learn:

• Why a podcast is like the redheaded stepchild of content marketing
• What you need to get a podcast off the ground quickly and easily
• How to create a show that is not only listened to but also eagerly anticipated

back to top

The No-BS Guide to Content Marketing: Plan, Launch, Measure

Speaker:
Jason Falls—Principal, Social Media Explorer

Content may be king, but very few of us are royalty. We're the worker bees who have to plan, execute, and measure it all. This class will spell out, in a no-nonsense fashion, how to build a content marketing strategy, execute it across multiple channels, and, most importantly, measure the impact in the context of your specific business goals.

You will learn:

• How to build a content marketing blueprint for your company
• How to select and prioritize digital and social channels for your content
• How to measure the impact of your content marketing strategy

back to top

Doin' It Right: Three Companies Showing Results With Content Marketing

Speakers:
Stephanie Tilton—Owner, Ten Ton Marketing
Marcus Sheridan—CEO, River Pools & Spas; Founder, The Sales Lion
Eric Granof—Chief Marketing Officer, AIA Holdings/ExpertBail
Maria Pergolino—Senior Director of Marketing, Marketo

Sure, content marketing is all the rage, but where are the results? Can you tie real revenue back to your marketing activities? Can you prove brand awareness?

Those answers and more are right here. This class highlights content marketing success stories featuring real companies, real people—and real dollars.

You will learn:

• How one swimming pool company went from being just another big-ticket retailer to a credible source of information that increased engagement with prospects and (most importantly!) drove sales
• How one bail bond company successfully shifted to content marketing to shake off its industry's shady past and rebrand for the future
• How one company's thought leadership and content is driving growth and building a content marketing blueprint for their company

back to top

10 Tips, Tools, and To-Do's to Mobilize Your Marketing

Speaker:
Christina "CK" Kerley—Modern B2B Marketing Specialist, CK B2B Marketing

Content marketing has shown itself to be a powerful tool for increasing brand awareness, converting buyers, improving search rankings, and deepening user engagement. Now, the anytime, anywhere, always-on nature of mobile provides marketers with even more opportunities to use their content to reach, engage, and influence an ever growing audience, figuring out how to integrate mobile in a way that will have the greatest business impact remains a challenge for many marketers.

This class—relevant for both B2B and B2C marketers—replaces confusion with clear direction on leveraging mobile as a valuable new content platform. Through tips, tools, and to-do's, we'll explore optimizing and reimagining content for mobile devices and harnessing the capabilities of mobile tools, allowing you to inject new levels of creativity into your content and deliver new layers of utility for your target audiences.

You will learn:

• Helpful tips for leveraging your current content in mobile programs
• How to integrate a range of mobile capabilities—SMS campaigns, mobile apps, mobile websites and mobile barcodes—into your content marketing
• Essential content to-do's that ensure a better mobile experience for the audience you're seeking to engage

back to top

Does "Thought Leadership" Cannibalize Your Ability to Monetize Your Expertise?

Speaker:
Jay Baer—Social Media Strategy Consultant, Convince & Convert

Does giving away "information snacks" enable you to sell "knowledge meals," or does your blogging and content program actually cost you paying customers? Do you publish everything you know, or hold something back?

Such questions are of primary concern in the B2B space, where executives are being called on to share their "thought leadership" without concern for the repercussions. To answer them, this class will examine a thoughtful (and practical) approach to thought leadership.

You will learn:

• The six types of thought leadership—their characteristics and advantages
• How to evaluate the real success of your content marketing program
• Case studies from companies and individuals that have opened (and closed) the kimono

back to top

Getting Found: How to Optimize Your Content for Search

Speaker:
Erika Napoletano—Head Redhead, Redhead Writing

If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? The same holds true for content. Great content is only great when your audience can actually find it.

This class will show you how to develop a content optimization strategy and discuss best practices for developing searcher personas, an editorial plan, keyword glossaries, and content curation.

You will learn:

• How to create an editorial plan by translating customer needs, keywords, and your marketing objectives into a useable framework
• How to map your search engine optimization strategy to your content
• Tools for customer research, search keywords, social keywords, and content curation

back to top

Think Like a Rock Star: How to Build Fans and Engagement Around Your Blogging and Social Media Efforts

Speaker:
Mack Collier—Social Media Marketing Strategist, MackCollier.com

Engagement and interaction are key elements of a successful social media strategy. That's why so many companies want more participation on their blogs and stronger connections with their customers via social media. Still, so few truly get it.

What lessons can we learn from rock stars about converting customers into fans? How do rock stars ignite passion? And, more to the point, can you take these lessons and use them to build a community around your business's social media efforts?

You will learn:

• How rock stars convert customers into fans
• How to create content that will encourage interaction and engagement from your customers
• How you can apply the lessons learned from rock stars to your business's social media efforts
• Examples of companies that are adapting these lessons to their own social media efforts to build fans and create communities

back to top

That Resonates With Me! How to Persuade Any Audience

Speaker:
Nancy Duarte—Founder, Duarte Design

If you say, "I have an idea for something," what you really mean is, "I want to change the world in some way." Look around you. Your clothes, language, furniture, house, city, and nation all began as ideas—visions of change—in someone's mind.

Presentations are the currency of business communications, and those who master communicating with them rise faster than their peers, reach more customers than their competitors, and turn grassroots causes into a groundswell.

This class will demonstrate how to apply the methods from the book Resonate: Presenting Visual Stories That Transform Audiences to build meaningful connections with audiences that compel them to action. This class will show you a new way of structuring a presentation and connecting with an audience.

Changing the world starts with transforming an audience and an audience will change only if you resonate with them. This session is for leaders who are tasked with communicating clearly and persuading through verbal communications.

You will learn:

• How to leverage the hidden story structures inherent in great communication
• How to connect with your audience empathetically
• How to create captivating content and craft ideas that get repeated
• How to inspire enthusiasm and support for your vision

back to top

Best of 2010:
How to Make Your Content More Shareable

Speaker:
Brian Solis—Principal, Founder, FutureWorks

Brian Solis is an expert in articulating why brands are increasingly media companies and how to earn influence through content in the social sphere. Here, he'll share the concepts why, as well as talk about how you can make your content more "social" and shareable. You'll take away:

• The results of a recent study by Brian and Vocus, which demonstrated that creating compelling content is the number one reason people and brands earn influence and community in social media.
• How content can be both useful and social.
• How to create and distribute social objects as the catalysts for meaningful conversations.

back to top

Best of 2010:
6 Easy Ways to Produce Compelling Video (That You Hadn't Thought of Before)

Speaker:
Steve Garfield—SteveGarfield.com

Your video content is 50 times more likely to appear on the first page of search results than your standard text- based content, according to a recent Forrester Research report. Can you see why it's important to include video as part of your content mix? Unless you went to film school, creating videos can be a scary prospect. But the good news is that the ease of recent video innovations makes the prospect less frightening, allowing you more options than ever.

Learn:

• How to create videos on the fly to embed on your site or blog
• Ideas for content that's best suited to video
• All about affordable and easy-to-use cameras and other video options

back to top

Best of 2010:
Three Surefire Ways to Get Killer Content from Your Presenters

Speaker:
Shelley Ryan—Chief Sharpshooter, Killer Webinars

Inviting an expert to speak at your webinar is a little like hiring a guide to escort your audience into new territory. The expert knows the area cold ... but how well can she drive the tour bus? Maybe she can't reach the steering wheel and pedals at the same time, or maybe she handles that bus like a metro Mario Andretti! This is a "crash course" you won't want to miss.

You'll learn:

• That you CAN produce an unforgettable webinar even if your featured expert isn't a veteran driver speaker.
• How and when to take control of the content yourself so that you look good, your expert looks good, and your audience enjoys every minute of the ride.

back to top

Best of 2010:
6 Ways to Use Content to Drive Website Conversions

Speaker:
John Jantsch—Founder, Duct Tape Marketing System

Content marketing isn't just about creating awesome content for content's sake. The best kind of content drives business to you: Generating leads, nurturing prospects, and acting as a kind of online sales team. In this fast-paced session, John Jantsch shares how to create content that'll drive your business.

John will share:

• How to leverage content to drive business
• How to use one bit of content in multiple ways
• How to personalize and automate content production
• How to generate leads with the content you produce or share

back to top

Best of 2010:
Agile Content Creation in a Real-Time World

Speaker:
David Meerman Scott—best-selling author and speaker

Wake up, it's revolution time! Gone are the days when you could plan out your marketing and public relations programs well in advance and release them on your timetable. It's a real-time world now, and if you're not engaged, then you're on your way to marketplace irrelevance. That includes how you manage the Content you produce. Real-time means news breaks over minutes, not days. It means ideas percolate, then suddenly and unpredictably go viral to a global audience. It's when companies develop (or refine) products or services instantly, based on feedback from customers or events in the marketplace. And it's when businesses see an opportunity and are the first to act on it. You'll learn:

• How too many companies remain caught up in old, time-consuming processes of marketing and PR, leaving themselves fatally exposed by flying blind through this new media environment.
• How scale and media buying power are no longer a decisive advantage.
• How to create what counts today: speed and agility. While your competitors scramble to adjust, you can seize the initiative, open new channels, and grow your brand.

back to top