5 Critical Elements of a Blog Post for Content Marketing Success

Has your district ever considered content marketing?

Wondering how content marketing might fit into your overall marketing strategy?

Many school districts have never considered content marketing as a valuable communications strategy, and many one-person departments feel they don’t have the time to start something so complicated.  

But what if I told you starting is as simple as creating a blog? 

In this podcast, you’ll discover why content marketing is so useful, why a blog is the most important element to start your strategy, and the five most important things to do to build an epic blog post.

5 Critical Elements of a Blog Post for Content Marketing Success

• Why Content Marketing - 1:13
• The Headline - 2:50
• Strong Visuals - 3:22
• The Opening Paragraph - 4:08
• Top Keywords - 4:50
• Call to Action - 5:54

The insights in the podcast are a great place to start in creating your content marketing strategy.

Articles Referenced in Podcast:

• How to Write Catchy Headlines and Blog Titles Your Readers Can't Resist 
• 20 Awesome Tools for Creating Engaging Visuals for Your Blog 
• How to Nail the Opening of Your Blog Post 
• Blog SEO: How to Search Engine Optimize Your Blog Content 
• 8 Types of CTAs You Should Absolutely Try on Your Blog

Having a blog is a powerful tool to help brand your district as the “Education Experts”, which will gain the trust of parents. And trust will go a long way in persuading a parent to enroll their child in your district.

Do you have any questions about Content Marketing or Blogs? Leave your questions in the comment section below.

My Top 5 Books I Read in 2016

For as long as I can remember I always preferred non-fiction, business books to fiction novels.  I always had a thirst for knowledge.  This year was no exception as my favorite books I read this year are all marketing books.

I read many books for my job that deal with education, but my true passion is marketing. My top five books for 2016 concentrate on content marketing, digital marketing and analytics.  One of the top five books was even written by a graduate of the very district I work for.

So without further delay, in no order, here are my top five books of 2016:

1. Welcome to the Funnel by Jason Miller

I got to here Jason speak at Social Media Marketing World 2016 and really enjoyed his passion for marketing and rock and roll.  While I was at the conference, I picked up his book and had it read before I left San Diego. Very nice ideas about content marketing and social media.

Buy the Book Here: Welcome to the Funnel

From Amazon.com

Raising brand awareness, building trust, establishing credibility, and ultimately driving revenue, that’s what the top of the funnel is all about. It can be a marketer’s “Paradise City”, but without focus, it can quickly become overwhelming. The one-two punch of social media and content marketing is a vital part of any successfully integrated marketing approach. If you are not pairing these two powerhouses together then you are simply missing opportunities to grow your business. The tactics and strategies in this book have come together through a tremendous amount of research, trial and error, expert input, and real world applications. 

From startups to enterprise—what’s included here works across the board and can very quickly make an impact. Just like your favorite double album, this book is separated into four sides, each one addressing a different aspect of Content and Social Media.

2. Momentum by Shama Hyder

I have been a fan of Shama since her first book The Zen of Social Media Marketing. Like her bio says, she is one of the top voices in marketing and social. She is also a graduate of the district I currently work in. Her book is chock full of great digital marketing examples to use in your own business or school district.

Buy the Book Here: Momentum

From Amazon.com

Today's online ecosystem can be summed up in one word: overwhelming. With new social media platforms popping up all the time and new technologies disrupting even the most “reliable” marketing strategies, business and nonprofit leaders and marketers are faced with the challenge of getting ahead in an environment that makes it seem impossible to keep up.

Momentum: How to Propel Your Marketing and Transform Your Brand in the Digital Age will help you figure out what’s important and what can safely be set aside. No matter your industry, if want to gain momentum for your marketing efforts—along with the just rewards—Momentum is the resource you’ve been waiting for. Based on her experience as CEO of The Marketing ZenGroup and her work with clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, Shama Hyder cuts through the complexity and explains the five essential principles required to develop a successful marketing plan that will withstand the digital world’s constant changes and result in real ROI.

3. Content Inc. by Joe Pulizzi  

When I first fell in love the with the strategy of Content Marketing it was because of Joe Pulizzi and his book, Epic Content Marketing. He is the go to source for all things content marketing. I also highly recommend his podcasts called Content Inc. and This Old Marketing.

Buy the Book Here: Content Inc.

From Amazon.com

In Content Inc., one of today's most sought-after content-marketing strategists reveals a new model for entrepreneurial success. Simply put, it's about developing valuable content, building an audience around that content, and then creating a product for that audience.
Notice a shift?
 
Author Joe Pulizzi flips the traditional entrepreneurial approach of first creating a product and then trying to find customers. It's a brilliant reverse-engineering of a model that rarely succeeds.
 
The radical six-step business-building process revealed in this book is smart, simple, practical, and cost-effective. And best of all, it works. It's a strategy Pulizzi used to build his own successful company, Content Marketing Institute, which has landed on Inc. magazine's list of fastest growing private companies for three years straight. It's also a strategy countless other entrepreneurs use to build their own multi-million dollar companies. Build an audience and you'll be able to sell pretty much anything you want. 

4. The Analytical Marketer by Adele Sweetwood 

My professional goal for the year was to heighten my knowledge on analytics. I use Google Analytics, but I needed better background to really drive our districts strategies. This book not only discusses analytics, but it also explains how to build an organization around the concept. It is a great book for anyone wanting to expand their knowledge on the subject.

Buy the Book Here: The Analytical Marketer 

From Amazon.com

Analytics are driving big changes, not only in what marketing departments do but in how they are organized, staffed, led, and run. Leaders are grappling with issues that range from building an analytically driven marketing organization and determining the kinds of structure and talent that are needed to leading interactions with IT, finance, and sales and creating a unified view of the customer. The Analytical Marketer provides critical insight into the changing marketing organization—digital, agile, and analytical—and the tools for reinventing it.

Written by the head of global marketing for SAS, The Analytical Marketer is based on the author’s firsthand experience of transforming a marketing organization from “art” to “art and science.” Challenged and inspired by their company’s own analytics products, the SAS marketing team was forced to rethink itself in order to take advantage of the new capabilities that those tools offer the modern marketer. Key marketers and managers at SAS tell their stories alongside the author’s candid lessons learned as she led the marketing organization’s transformation. With additional examples from other leading companies, this book is a practical guide and set of best practices for creating a new marketing culture that thrives on and adds value through data and analytics.

5. #AskGaryVee by Gary Vaynerchuk

What's not to love about the fouled-mouth marketer from New York? Gary tells it how it is and what he is saying is always spot-on. His fast-growing Vayner Media is on of the fastest growing digital agencies in the country. His short burst of insights in his book are a great resource for any entrepreneur and marketer who wants to take the digital age by storm.

Buy the book Here: #AskGaryVee

From Amazon.com 

The New York Times bestselling author draws from his popular show #AskGaryVee to offer surprising, often outrageous, and imminently useful and honest answers to everything you’ve ever wanted to know—and more—about navigating the new world.

Gary Vaynerchuk—the inspiring and unconventional entrepreneur who introduced us to the concept of crush it—knows how to get things done, have fun, and be massively successful. A marketing and business genius, Gary had the foresight to go beyond traditional methods and use social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to reach an untapped audience that continues to grow.

#AskGaryVee showcases the most useful and interesting questions Gary has addressed on his popular show. Distilling and expanding on the podcast’s most urgent and evergreen themes, Gary presents practical, timely, and timeless advice on marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and everything else you’ve been afraid to ask but are dying to know. Gary gives you the insights and information you need on everything from effectively using Twitter to launching a small business, hiring superstars to creating a personal brand, launching products effectively to staying healthy—and even buying wine.

Whether you’re planning to start your own company, working in digital media, or have landed your first job in a traditional company, #AskGaryVee is your essential guide to making things happen in a big way.

What are your top choices for books in 2016? Leave your list in the comment section below or let me know on Twitter at @wheelercfb

 

5 Things I Do to Start my Day to be Successful

I am a morning person.  I like to get to the office by 6:00 a.m. each morning.

Getting to the office this early allows me to get things done before most of my staff arrives to start the day.  The quiet time with no disturbances from co-workers means I can get a lot done.

Here is my morning ritual during the first two hours when I arrive at work.

1. Energy Boost for the Day

I do not dive into my work when I first walk into the office. I have to have my morning coffee.  Walking to the break room allows me turn on all the lights around the administration building while I take a deep breath before I dig into the day.

I always fix my pecan-flavored coffee with no sugar and a bit of cream.  After my levels are correct, I crack open my laptop and begin my workday.

2. Current Events and my Love of Marketing

I am obsessed with news.   I want to be in the know.  This is why each morning I read the headlines and jump over to my favorite blogs to see what is trending in marketing and social media.  It is crucial to stay current with your industry and see what is hot. 

Here are some of my favorite blogs to read in the morning:

Social Media Examiner

CMO by Adobe

Content Marketing Institute

Hubspot Marketing Blog

I highly recommend bookmarking these pages to get your daily dose of marketing and social media tips. They are great reads by industry professionals.

3. Moneyball my School Marketing

My second obsession is data.  I love numbers and I love spreadsheets.  That is why I always check my website and social media analytics each morning.  My big three are Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and Twitter Analytics.

Google Analytics is my go to analytics platform for my website visitor data.  I use Google for both our main district website and our School-A-Hoop parenting blog.

My favorite dashboards and numbers to look at are:

• Content Analysis- what were the most popular sections of my website
• Referral Traffic- how did people get to my website
• Bounce Rate- are they exploring more of my site, or one and done?
• Location of Visitors- where do my visitors come from? Local?
• Navigation Summary- what did they do once they made it to our site?

Most of our parents are on Facebook. This is their social media platform of choice.  That is why it is crucial that I check Facebook Insights each morning.  It gives me a great breakdown of how people are engaging with my content.  It also lets us know what content is working and what is not working.

My favorite insights are:

• People- who was my audience for the last seven days?
• Reach- how far did my content go? Did it go beyond my fans?
• Engagement- did my post cause the audience to take an action
• Competitor Analysis- always check to see what other districts are doing

Although Twitter is not as powerful when it comes to audience engagement for our district, I still like to analyze the numbers to see what content is working for us.

Here are the statistics I look at:

• Tweet Impressions- how many people saw my post
• Follower Count- check to see how my content pulled in new audiences
• Engagements- see how people are interacting with my posts and my CTA’s

Remember, numbers are your friends.  They can help prove the effectiveness of your campaigns and social media content.

4. Social Media for the Carpool Crowd

Every morning during the school week, I plan a Facebook post and a tweet to be delivered during our morningcarpool.  It’s a great way to target a captivated audience as they wait for the school doors to open.  

My morning ritual for social media is to find engaging content that is most likely going to be shared, and then write a eye-catching headline for the post.  An awesome visual is a must for my posts.  I never post on social media without a visual.

The content always determines what time I schedule my post.  If it is an elementary school story I post during their carpool.  If it is a middle school story I post during their drop-off.  If the morning story has to do with one of our high schools, I will post about 15 minutes before the first period bell rings.  High school students love to hang with their friends and their smartphones before school starts.

Another great time to schedule a social media post is during the afternoon pick-up times.  Parents typically have to wait in front of the school much longer waiting on their child.

5. Exercise While I Podcast

The last fifteen minutes before my team arrives for the day is my daily walk around the board room.  This allows for me to get some steps on my Fitbit before I start my morning meetings.  It also allows for me to listen to marketing podcasts while I exercise.  Most of the time I finish a podcast that was not quite finished during my morning commute.

I love catching up on all the industry and marketing trends while I walk.  The majority of the time I listen to marketing or social media content, but occasionally I will listen to some MLB podcasts to get he latest headlines for my favorite sport.

*Creating Content Marketing Gold

The above rituals are the norm four of the five days of the week.  Wednesday is a tad bit different.  On Wednesday I put on my publisher hat and edit blog posts for our School-a-Hoop parenting blog.

Every Wednesday I will take an expertly written piece of content from teachers and administrators in our district and I will prepare it to be published on our blog.

Here the editorial steps I take to get it ready to be published:

• Read for Grammar- I always read for typos and grammatical mistakes
• SEO Optimization- I write my headline and create SEO tags for the post
• Photshop my Visuals- I always prepare visual content for my posts
• Prepare a Social Media Post- I create a separate visual and engaging copy

Writing the article is only the first step when you write for a blog.  You must prep your article to be seen by the masses.

My First Morning is Now Complete

The stuff above is usually accomplished before my co-workers hit the office.  I am tired by the end of the week, but I always feel accomplished. Luckily I have my own key and alarm code for the building.  It would be pretty lonely waiting in the parking lot trying to find a WiFi signal.

4 Quick Tips to Build a Better District Blog

Is your blog a strategic tool or a glorified newsletter?

Do your posts help your reader or do they just recap district news?

The type of content on your blog could determine the success of your blog.

Crafting content that is useful, or creating content that solves a problem for your audience, can help build trust and define your district as the leading experts in the field of education.

In this post, I will break down key elements of what makes our blog posts impact and drive engagement with our audience.

1. Headlines are Very, Very Important

Most parents won’t read past your headline if it is not engaging or personal to them or their child. You need to create headlines that describe your post, but more importantly, headlines should feel like they are talking to the reader.

Figure out key words that will trigger a response with your audience.  Here are three headlines from recent posts on our blog:

Notice that our headlines use key words that will trigger parents to click on our articles. They are all about helping our audience be better parents. We want them to think that if they don’t click on the post, they are going to be losing valuable information that can help their child.

2. Keep it Short and Simple

We are not writing War and Peace. We don’t want to waste our parent’s time.

All of your posts should use easy to read language, chunked into short paragraphs.  Lists and bullet points are a great way to deliver information quickly to your audience.

Here are a few examples of how we use short paragraphs, lists and bullet points:

http://schoolahoop.com/the-importance-of-social-studies-in-the-elementary-classroom-you-can-help/ 

http://schoolahoop.com/20-ways-of-identifying-gifted-children/

3. Encourage Your Parents to Leave a Comment

You don’t want to end the conversation when your blog post ends.  Your district is here to help. Encourage parents to leave questions they have about your post in the comment section. 

This gives you the opportunity to interact with your audience and further become their trusted source on childhood education.

4. Always Include Social Media Share Buttons

The best way to build your audience is by word of mouth.  Parents are more likely to trust other parents.  By enabling your audience to share your material is the best way to spread the greatness of your posts.

Some of the best buttons to include are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.  The more your article is shared on these networks, the more times people are going to see your posts.

Do you have other tips about building a blog for your school district? Leave your tips in the comment section below.