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It was a big week in the world of content marketing, but don't worry if you weren't able to keep up.

We've rounded up the top five industry articles for you, so you can be confident that you're in the know when it comes to the latest trends in the powerful world of marketing. Content marketing, that is...

5 content marketing ideas for September 2019 (Practical eCommerce)

Sharing everything from the no-brainer (stop procrastinating) to the head scratcher (Batman Day), Practical eCommerce give concrete ideas that any brand can (and should) implement to keep their finger on the pulse of the content marketing world. 

Conferences are great for many things: learning, networking, growing your knowledge base to get closer to your goals...but how do you know which to attend? Each month, we let you know our faves, so you can book your tickets and show up, ready to learn without the fear or anxiety of not knowing what you're getting yourself in to. 

What? HubSpot's Inbound
When? September 4-7, 2018
Where? Boston, MA
The holy grail of all-things-marketing. Join the more-than-20,000 attendees for what's sure to be one of the top conferences of the year, put on by the industry leaders at HubSpot. Oh and did we mention DEEPAK CHOPRA will be there? #BowDown.

Good marketing makes the company look smart.

Great marketing makes the customer feel smart"

~ Joe Chernov

Which is more important to you? How your brand LOOKS? Or how you make your customers feel?

It's an interesting question, and one that Joe Chernov sums up nicely - because while good marketing isn't actually all that hard to do, GREAT marketing isn't something you can just wing. There's a sort of formula you can follow, a recipe to create and implement a great marketing strategy - whether you're launching a website, rebranding, creating packaging, blogging, email marketing, or really, anything else, you simply need to:

• Research
• Write/create
• Post
• Promote
• Rinse
• Repeat

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!). 

Are you attending any great events coming up in the next few months? Here's a look at our top five marketing events in August. Think of it like our wish list of events...if we didn't have to work, we'd hit them all! 

What? DigitaLatest
When? August 6-9, 2018
Where? Industry City, NY

Targeting CMOs and senior marketers, brand leaders, agencies and media partners, DigitaLatest was designed to keep marketing executives and leaders in the know with the most up-to-date technology and tools in the industry.

What? Digiday's Content Marketing Summit
When? August 6-8, 2018
Where? Vail, CO

Digiday's content marketing summit has it all...stellar speakers, engaging activities and networking opportunities galore. Throw in the morning yoga sessions and you will NOT want to miss this event. See how content marketing has changed and what your brand needs to do to keep up. 

In the words of The Content Advisory's Robert Rose:

"Marketing is telling the world you’re a rock star.
Content Marketing is showing the world you are one."

I couldn't agree more. Your content marketing strategy needs to be more than just your blog, or just your Facebook page or just the premium downloadables on your site. 

Content marketing is an all-encompassing feat. It's strategic, a road map, with multiple courses and dozens of routes and so many winding trails, all that lead your user-slash-reader-slash-customer to one very detailed, well-thought out, premeditated, specific place...to the belief that YOU, are a rock star. And why do they believe this?

Because you showed them. 

Now I'll be the first to admit, this is no easy task. Mapping out your content marketing strategy to show the world that you are in fact, a bona fide, legit, authoritative, one-of-a-kind rock star isn't something that happens over night. It takes time, and a honed view of the big picture.

But I promise you...it is achievable. It sounds scary, but all it really takes are the right stories in the right place at the right time.