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Content marketing is a commitment, not a campaign. 

How totally (and for some, dauntingly) true is this?! So often (too often, really), we get the same push back when it comes to content marketing.

“We tried. It didn’t work.”

My response, every. single. time. I hear this?

“OK…I understand. I really do. Would you mind sharing a bit more about how or what you tried? What did you do?”

And, it never fails. I get the same answer, time after time.

"We blogged for [insert any length of time…a month, a quarter, a year] and nothing happened."

And there it is. I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it a thousand more times – content marketing is NOT a set it and forget it project. It’s a commitment. A dedicated, consistent, concerted commitment to so much more than just writing and posting a blog. To successfully create and implement a content marketing strategy (that WORKS), you must be willing to do it all.

Clamoring for new ideas to apply to your content marketing strategy? Get helpful content marketing insights from February's top five infographics:

 No matter where you land on the marketing spectrum, these helpful infographics will give you some bold new ideas for your 2017 projects and plans:

As digital marketing evolves, new and revisited modern marketing techniques continue to surface. Content marketing now sits at the peak of these rising marketing trends and is projected to play a lead character in more and more organizations’ strategies moving forward.

As you develop your 2017 plan, how are you staying competitive and poised for growth? What contemporary approaches have you built into your 2017 budget? Take a look at these top trends in content marketing and determine what techniques might be a good fit for your organization.

Writing and establishing a successful social media marketing strategy can be tricky. It’s an ongoing process that takes trial and error. But, by setting goals, knowing your customer base and doing a little market research, you can easily create a social media strategy that will help you successfully connect with your audience.

You know it, and I know it: the holidays are made up of about 20% tradition and 80% marketing. Reminding your customers what you have and why they need it requires extensive planning, flexibility, and commitment. To put it plainly, there's no time for rest when there are prospective customers waiting to be charmed.

Planning is a universally essential and neglected task. Across every industry and at every level of organizational structure, there are the "bad seeds" who seem to have skipped school the day that planning was taught. Initially, it never really appears to be a problem. The issue will absolutely creep up on the guilty non-planners, though, regardless of their role. Marketers, too, are extremely susceptible to the pitfalls of failing to plan properly. There's a reason that marketing professionals carry on about marketing strategies, editorial calendars, buyer personas, and so forth. While none of it is fun, it's all part of the very necessary planning process.

The majority of marketers today will tell you that content marketing is nothing without a plan. That may be a bit of an overstatement, but the underlying concept really hits home.  Creating a solid plan for your marketing initiatives gives you a much better shot at success, and a detailed content marketing strategy should be a part of that plan.

This quote from a German proverb says it all...

I've seen a ton of online marketers and business owners spend countless hours on their marketing efforts, only to throw their hands up in frustration and say, "I don't understand what I'm doing wrong!" Do any of these symptoms sound like you?

• You've spent money on every online marketing tactic out there, but none of them get you the results that you need
• You try to stay up-to-date about the newest online marketing trends and best practices, but you barely have time to do your real job or actually implement anything due to all of that time spent learning
• You spend a lot of time writing blog posts, social media posts and other content, but you're never really sure which ones are paying off or which ones are a giant waste of your time
• You've hired a writer, online marketer or freelancer in the past, but they can't seem to connect with your audience or speak their language
• You're attracting a lot of traffic and leads, but they're not the right kinds of leads or they're not converting into paying customers
• You and your team clear your schedules for big marketing campaigns every few months, but they never pay off so you don't make marketing a priority

Well folks, if that's you, then I'm happy to tell you that there IS a better way!

Think of the last time you created or attempted to create a marketing strategy.

Chances are, you spent a lot of time thinking about what your boss wanted, talking to other stakeholders within your organization and perhaps even looking at your competitors' online marketing tactics to see how you could compete. But the key to creating a really solid strategy is simple and is frequently overlooked by the majority of online marketers: understand your users and deliver what they need!