Content Marketing LinkedIn Group Helps You Stay Up To Date
The mission of the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) is to advance the practice of content marketing.
And what does that mean, really?
Have you ever had one of these questions?
- What IS content marketing? What ISN'T content marketing?
- How do I justify the additional costs involved with starting a content marketing strategy at my company?
- How can I measure, clean up, or improve my existing content marketing approach?
These are the questions the team at CMI live with everyday. Their aim is not only to provide practical guidance and research in the short term, but also the latest news, advances, and information that sets healthy strategy in the long term.
I interviewed Cathy McPhillips, Marketing Director at Content Marketing Institute and manager of their LinkedIn group. If you are looking to engage other professionals in the trenches of content marketing, you will find this group worth your while.
Take a look at our conversation below, and be sure to answer the question Cathy asks. Also, you this presentation can be downloaded to get access to her answer to the secret *bonus* question!
Download the 3 "must haves" for any content marketing strategy. --> Click this link to download
Q: When did you start your forum/group, and why did you create it?
A: The Content Marketing Institute Group formed in March of 2012. At CMI, our mission is to advance the practice of content marketing. LinkedIn is an ideal channel for us to educate, inform and learn from the content marketing community.
Q: What do you feel makes your community special?
A: We take great pride in the content that is shared within this community. We diligently moderate each most which involves verifying links, reading articles, and ensuring that our community has access to the best and brightest information. Our high standards in the posts shared by others has proved useful to the community. No sales pitches, no gated content, just useful information that sparks great conversations. Isn’t that the point of a LinkedIn group?
Q: If you could magically give all of your community members one thing in this world, what would it be, and why?
A: A ticket to Content Marketing World in Cleveland. Our 5th event is happening September 8-11, 2015. I think it would help the content marketing industry – all of us – to be under one roof, listening to the same presentations, experts and thought leaders, and the practitioners who are in the trenches creating content marketing each and every day. There’s something magical about a building full of “competitors,” by definition, willing to share their secrets, learnings, successes and failures. It makes us all better.
Q: If you could ask your group members one thing and get an answer from all of them, what would that question be?
A: How has this LinkedIn group helped you? What could we be doing differently to help you advance the practice of content marketing within your organization?
Q: Feel free to give a shout-out to some of your power-users or most active members. Does anyone come to mind, and what do you like most about them?
A: There are ebbs and flows within our group, but some constants are Ben Hollom, Anthony Gaenzle and Shannon Doubleday. These members not only add valuable content, but also contribute to conversations. It’s really necessary to do both within a LinkedIn group, and they understand that.
Q: What are some of the hot topics that seem to always be discussed within the group?
A: Logically, with a group on LinkedIn, workflow, employment and department structures are all hot topics. How can we structure our marketing departments – and beyond – to be set up to create the best content for our customers?
Q: For someone new to this community, how do they get the most out of it?
A: Jump on in. Monina Wagner, CMI’s Community Manager, has done a great job with some posts so the group can get to know each other, give members a chance to share why they are active in the group, etc. Find some of those “Manager’s Choice” posts. Other than that, find some discussions that interest you and comment. You might just comment on a post by a brand new member to the group.
Q: Has anything surprised you about owning a forum about content marketing?
A: Initially, I was surprised by the number of members who joined solely to blast out their content, but didn’t stick around, engage, or even follow up on their own posts if someone had a comment or question – not exactly an ideal scenario when trying to reach content marketers. With our more stringent moderating of the group, this has subsided.
*Bonus Question*
Q: For those who want to get the most out of their content marketing strategy what three tools would you consider "must-haves" (software, specific process, employee....whatever comes to mind)
A: Wanna know what she said? Download the answer below...
Download the 3 "must haves" for any content marketing strategy. --> Click this link to download
Special thanks to:
Cathy McPhillips | Content Marketing Institute |Marketing Director | @cmcphillips
You can join the LinkedIn group, Content Marketing Institute by clicking here