Comments on: 12 Flavors of Content To Attract Your Audience

By: Michael Herman

Michael Herman — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:20:34 +0000

Excellent article Lisa. The 2 only additions I’d recommend are related to the “Long-Form Content” and “Q&A” item you mention above.

First, portals such as AOL.com, MSN.com & Yahoo.com are constantly featuring articles that are in the format of lists (e.g. “7 Things You Don’t Need Anymore,” “10 things we can’t live without (but Grandma did)” and “10 commandments for cubicle dwellers”). These articles combine the list format with compelling content, for entertainment, education, help, etc. This makes their viral aspect as strong as any other type of content on the web.

Second, the long-form format of “How to” articles are also high in viral value. It’s taking the Q&A site idea and bringing the content to your own site (or into a content syndication system that spreads it across the Internet. Some examples of this idea would be: “How to Open a Money Market Account” and “How to Keep Your Pool Clean with Much Less Effort.” Sites such as eHow.com and other like sites are raking in traffic. Some of that traffic could be traveling over to your site if you take a model that works and make it work for you.

Both of these tactics support the truth that quality content attracts quality back-links, bringing about stronger rankings.

Thank you again for the stronger ideas, Lisa.

By: Sebastian

Sebastian — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 22:37:05 +0000

Hey Jason,

I agree I think crowdsouring is a great addition but I personally would look at this addition as an overarching them not a specific task or tactic. Crowdsourcing is an objective in my eyes and is applicable to all the tactics listed above. Thoughts?

By: Trish

Trish — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 18:26:19 +0000

Lisa,

Thanks for such a great mention and compliment! We appreciate it. These are 12 really great “flavors” and I personally love the idea of holding offline events.

Best wishes,
Trish, Community Manager at Radian6

By: Irischka

Irischka — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:37:13 +0000

Good article. Good material. I can complement on the topic, that there must be a clear structure in a blog. All material must be located clearly on divisions. That is why as is will find an interesting site, like information much, and to find nothing can. I from such sites leave at once.

By: Scott Hepburn

Scott Hepburn — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:37:28 +0000

Hey Chris, what about using some sort of curation tool like Storify to bundle text, Tweets, video and more, then embedding the entire Storify into a Google+ post? Or does that defeat the purpose?

By: Scott Hepburn

Scott Hepburn — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:57:17 +0000

It’s funny — that middle step of content creation seems to be the missing piece, whether they’re in a search mindset or a social mindset, a lead gen mindset or a brand awareness mindset. Ironic, considering it’s such a critical piece — and a powerful differentiator.

I’m glad to hear when your clients think social, they think blogging. I’ve noticed the opposite (in some markets): They think social = Facebook, Twitter, MAYBE LinkedIn, MAYBE YouTube. Even among Internet marketers in Charlotte, I’ve heard “blogging isn’t part of social.” It’s weird.

By: Chris Brogan...

Chris Brogan... — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:54:01 +0000

My blogging attempt was a failure, but I *will* crack that nut. : )

And thanks.

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:52:20 +0000

Congratulations on the launch. I love me a good Twitter Party ;), and blog carnivals are great way to get people engaged and build buzz. I’ll have to go check out what you’re doing! :)

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:50:01 +0000

Great addition! Crowdsourcing via posting a question to industry leaders and then sharing their responses is another great way to both educate and attract readers. Thanks for including it!

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:48:16 +0000

I would say that most clients who come to us for blogging services are doing so in conjunction with a larger campaign – whether it’s SEO, link building, social media, branding, etc. I hope I didn’t make it sound like they WEREN’T using blogging as part of a social media campaign, I just highlighted the others because I feel like, historically, that’s been less the norm. When most of our clients think social media, they think blogging. That hasn’t necessarily always been the case when talking about some of the other areas.

But you’re so on point. It’s amazing how many clients don’t think about the content creation process. They know the results they want, but they’re not seeing that big middle step needed to help them get there. Or at least they weren’t. To their credit, I think more are now.