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Another week, another news roundup...Read on for the top four content marketing news stories that came out during the week of August 6 - 10th. And, yes, I know it's normally "top five" – check out our last entry for the week. (HINT: remember GDPR?)...it's technically not a content marketing news story, but worth the read and you can bet you'll see it on our radar as it plays out. 

1. How to align your content marketing and PR strategies (Forbes) 
   An interesting perspective on a topic we see many brands struggle with – how to align the two major roles of PR and content marketing.   
2. Can content marketing exist in a non digital space? (Skyword's ContentStandard)
   This may be my fave article of the week (both content marketing related and non...). Often, we hear clients lamenting the idea that "their customer" doesn't read blogs or care about social, so why should they use content marketing in their branding efforts?  (I'd argue they should be asking "how").
3. 'Social has gotten more difficult': Marketers mull the pitfalls of content marketing (Digiday) 
   Real, timely, relatable reactions to how social has changed everything from how customer service and complaints go down, to internal issues stemming from a social presence – quotes recorded directly from town halls and working groups at the Digiday Content Marketing Summit in Vail, CO this week. 
4. Where to turn for content marketing inspiration (Thomas)
   From analyzing competitive research to looking at customer conversations to staying on top of Google trends, this handy no-fuss checklist gives struggling content marketing strategists plenty of ideas to work from. 
5. The United States finally starts to talk about data privacy legislation (MarTech) 
   While this last one technically isn't a direct content marketing piece, I feel it's important enough to include in this week's roundup. The beginning of 2018, I spent countless hours researching, understanding, advising and reporting on Europe's GDPR legislation (in case you've been under a rock and didn't hear about the EU's widespread, powerful, heavy handed privacy laws that were put into place a few months ago, you can catch up with these past blogs on the topic: [INFOGRAPHIC] The Ultimate Guide to GDPR and Top 3 GDPR resources...because you're almost out of time!). 

Have you been staying on top of the latest trends and news in the world of content marketing lately? Summer is a busy time, we know. The team here at Flair Interactive has gathered the top five content marketing news updates for this week, so read on to get your fill of industry news. 

1. How do you set smart SEO goals for your team/agency/project? - Whiteboard Friday (Moz)

When it comes time to make SEO goals for your company, project or otherwise, are you gung-ho to get right in there and start crafting your actual SEO goals right off the bat? If that's the case, you're doing it wrong, according to Rand Fishkin on this Whiteboard Friday from Moz. He recommends a different approach that he explains in this blog. 

With the much-anticipated Royal Wedding having finally graced us all with its presence, we thought this quote uniquely apropos. So in the spirit of all-things-Royal, let’s break down this idea from social media guru-ess Mari Smith –

“Content is King but engagement is Queen, and the lady rules the house!”

Think about this: Engagement is Queen…

Honestly? This just could not ring truer. Because the truth is, you could post a blog every day, tweet multiple times a week, pin every gorgeous board you can imagine and Instagram the heck out of your insightful thoughts and nuggets of experienced, useful wisdom, but if your audience isn’t engaging with any of it…

...really, what is the point?

You can't just Ronco your content marketing - it simply isn't a set-it-and-forget it deal. You have to think about it, research it, plan it, craft it, edit it, revise it, post it...and that’s all just the background work.

THEN, you have to make sure it’s reaching your audience.

How? It’s exasperatingly very simple yet remarkably complicated, all at the same time.

The tricky part about engagement is it's about more than just what content you put out there…it’s also about how you put it out there.

Your goal is to give users what they want and need (even if they don't know it yet), which in turn fosters engagement. Your content marketing stategy should be developing content that's relatable, convenient and, ultimately, that solves a problem.

THIS is what nurtures engagement. And brands that engage, rule the house.