Introducing The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to Content Marketing [eBook]

Content marketing is at a crossroads. The Internet is groaning underneath the weight of mountains of content. Some of it engages an audience. Much of it fails to make a connection. Over half of it may go completely unread. Still, we keep creating more. Are we making a difference? Or just adding to the pile?

We know that good content paired with excellent content strategy will succeed. We know this because even with a glut of content, people’s needs haven’t changed. They still want to be entertained. Informed. Moved to take action.

Content marketers are also at a make-or-break moment. That doesn’t mean content marketing will somehow go away if we don’t get it right. It means only those who excel will survive.

It’s time for marketers to gain a holistic understanding of content marketing and content strategy. Time to understand it as a process, from audience identification to content creation to measurement and improvement. If you can take that leap forward—if you can bring sophistication to your content marketing—you can make content that makes a difference.

At LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, we have studied content marketing theory and put it into practice. We want to help you create content that gets seen. Content people want to read. Content that makes you the best answer for your audience. When truly helpful, extraordinary content meets thoughtful strategy, everyone wins.

That’s why we spent a massive amount of time and effort to create The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to Content Marketing. It’s a definitive guide to audience identification, content strategy, content creation, and measurement. At over 100 pages, it’s the most substantial eBook we’ve published. You can read it front-to-back if you’re just starting out. But it’s also designed to be modular, so you can use it as a reference, diving into the topics that interest you most.

Of course, we couldn’t produce something this comprehensive without help from our friends. So we invited a star-studded team of marketing masterminds to weigh in on their areas of expertise:

• Joe Pulizzi on Content At Large
• Michael Brenner on Strategy
• Ann Handley on Writing Bigger, Bolder, Braver Content
• Doug Kessler on Global Strategy and Scaling
• Andy Crestodina on Measurement
• Pawan Deshpande on Curation
• Lee Odden on PR and SEO
• Ardath Albee on Persona Creation
• Craig Rosenberg on Marketing and Sales Alignment
• Rand Fishkin on SEO

Here’s what our contributors had to say when they read the finished product:

“If you want a method to the madness of content marketing, this is the guide that will help you rethink, rework, and revive your approach to creating and using relevant content aligned with buyers—and your business’ objectives.”

-- Ardath Albee, CEO & B2B Marketing Strategist at Marketing Interactions

"As a sophisticated marketer, you already understand the importance of content marketing. The real challenge is how to sell it to the executives in your company and then deliver results. This guide provides everything you need. From developing the business case for content marketing to demonstrating results your business can take to the bank, this guide has it all.” 

-- Michael Brenner, CEO at Marketing Insider Group and author of The Content Formula

The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to Content Marketing will help you achieve content marketing maturity, moving from theory to enlightened practice. It’s designed to change the way you think about content—how it’s created, how it’s delivered, how it’s received, and what it’s for.

Download it to learn:

• How to create a culture of content
• How to conceptualize and create a Big Rock
• How to develop each of the three types of thought leadership
• How to develop an influencer marketing campaign
• How to activate employees to create and amplify content

…and a whole lot more. You will also see these ideas into action, with examples from brands such as Symantec, Microsoft, and Marketo.

Most marketers have at least tried content marketing in the last few years. Some have seen incredible results. Most have not. And the more content there is in the world, the harder content marketing is for everyone. It’s a challenge that will only get more challenging over time.

But we’re marketers. We’re smart. We’re adaptable. We are driven to learn, change, measure, and improve. It’s time to apply the rigor of our other marketing efforts to content marketing. The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to Content Marketing can help.

Download The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to Content Marketing to get informed, inspired, and motivated to rock content marketing in your organization.