I spent last Monday afternoon talking 2o17 content marketing goals with the wild crew on #ContentChat , hosted by our own cat lovin’, hostess with the mostest, Erika Heald.
Let me first say this, I don’t really get all that nervous in presentation settings and I’m certainly at home in social situations, but I was scared out of my mind to be a guest on #ContentChat.
There is something about Twitter chats that just make me uptight.
They move so fast and I feel like I can’t give everyone the attention they deserve.
Plus, I’m loquacious, so Twitter is not a natural platform for me.
I need the free space to wax lyrically, which Facebook and Instagram provide.
But that said, I survived and had a lot of fun.
For those who haven’t attended before, the chat is every Monday at 3pm EST.
The #ContentChat crew is intelligent, insightful, and just really a lot of fun.
Erika has trained them all to have a lot of cat GIFs on hand (and I mean A LOT), so if you attend be sure to have a stockpile prepared (I was not prepared and felt rather embarrassed at my lack of cat GIFs).
The topic was 2017 content marketing goals, but we focused a lot on how to stick to, and succeed at any type of goal or resolution.
Erika did a great recap you can see here.
Today I want to talk a bit more about my content marketing goals for 2017, and hear about yours.
My 2017 Content Marketing Goals
When it comes to content marketing goals, I have two main points of focus:
- Write valuable posts for Spin Sucks that drive traffic and engagement.
- Create and lead better content strategy plans for our clients to support their goals (leads, sales, world domination).
Therefore, I choose my content resolutions on things I believe will support my ability to do so.
Often we only look at specific tactics when trying to reach our goals, and overlook skills necessary to support what we are trying to do.
You’ll notice all three of my resolutions are in place to build or improve specific skills.
Skills that support my goals.
Creative Writing Inspires Better Content
I used to write creatively all the time.
Mostly poetry, short stories, and spoof stories (aka: The Onion style).
And I loved it.
In fact, in elementary school I wrote a five part novella called “The Brandy Chronicles,” which I’m pretty sure I sent to a few publishers (presented on notebook paper and scribbled in pencil).
Anyway, I continued to write often, until about five years ago or so and then lacked both inspiration and time….so slowly fell away.
During the last several months I’ve really almost craved the ability to do this again and I know it will be valuable for me professionally.
Fostering creativity daily in an important task for communications professionals and it is a crucial skill to grow and nurture.
Creativity supports our work beyond simple creative thinking and strategy development, it supports overall critical thinking skills, activates our prefrontal cortex, and improves brain function because the creative process requires many interacting cognitive processes.
Putting yourself in a creative place—whether through reading, writing, or simply imagination games (which I do all the time) will help you be a better professional.
I’m determined to make time this year to cultivate this skill again.
My goal is one creative work each month.
Create Interview Enhanced Posts
One of my favorite blog posts was when I interviewed James W. Balassone, executive in residence at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics about ethical decision making .
Bringing in this added insight, particularly someone in a field different from ours, really helps add depth to an article.
We often get stuck in our own little communications world and forget it causes us to have a very filtered view of the world.
That’s not good for a communications pro.
Interviews help us, and our audience think outside our box.
My goal is one interview enhanced post each month.
Handwrite to Write Right
Say that four times fast!
A couple of years ago I wrote about the importance of handwriting for communications pros and vowed to start writing things by hand more often.
Yeah, well…I didn’t do that.
Like, at all.
I totally failed.
And that makes me sad, because I really want to do more handwriting.
So this year is my year.
I’m going to do this through letter writing and a bullet journal.
I’m going to write one letter per week (send me your address if you want to be on my recipient list) and use my bullet journal daily.
What Are Your Content Marketing Goals?
Those are my content marketing goals for 2017.
What are yours?
And what’s your plan to stay accountable?
