Secrets of 2014’s CMI Content Marketing Mavens

Secrets of 2014’s CMI Content Marketing Mavens

March 2, 2015 by Holly Rollins

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CMI Content Mavens Anthony Gaenzle and Holly Rollins

The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) each year designates their list of Content Marketing Mavens around the world. We spoke with two of the mavens (one being our own Holly Rollins), and asked about their experiences with content marketing and their advice for others. The secrets and strategies of these content pros can make it easier than ever to achieve your content marketing goals in 2015.

How did you get started in content marketing; why is it viable?

Secret 1: Successful content marketing 101: understanding its value and reach.

“EnVeritas Group has been in business since 1999. While the business has evolved through the years, content marketing has always been at the core, even before the term was coined. As director of marketing at EVG, content marketing is a large part of our overall marketing strategy. As a content marketing agency, we understand our value and we’ve benefitted greatly from the expertise within our team.”

Anthony Gaenzle, Director of Marketing, Enveritas Group

“I began offering content marketing almost four years ago, when I saw that the marketing landscape was changing. As the world was becoming more digitally focused, I saw many opportunities for companies to be their own publishers. Content marketing needs to work in tandem with PR with an organic link between the two. Clients are now seeing how content marketing can increase their bottom line, brand awareness and lead generation.”

Holly Rollins, President, 10-x Group

What attributes make a stellar content marketer?

Secret: The best content marketers are always improving, whether it’s by attending conferences and classes or building relationships within their community.

“I think that one of the key characteristics of a stellar content marketer is having a desire to constantly be learning. In our industry, not staying on top of trends can spell out certain doom. Another important trait is the ability to build and strengthen relationships. Success in the content marketing field goes far beyond being a talented content creator.” -Gaenzle

“The person or company needs to be up to speed on the best practices in the industry, attending conferences like the CMI annual meeting, content master classes, webinars, and reading industry publications. The effective content marketer is always seeing what works for clients, benchmarking clients’ competitors and seeing what methods are effective.” -Rollins

Is there a difference between consumer and business-to-business content marketing?

Secret: Know your target market and cater to their needs.

“While many of the same concepts apply to both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer marketing (B2C), the audiences are largely different. While B2B consumers are seeking solutions to their business problems, your B2C consumers are looking for something on a more personal level. The important thing is to really study and know your audience before you start producing content.” -Gaenzle

“In consumer content marketing, you can typically be less formal and less technical. You can use more channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Business to business content marketing requires a person to drill down a particular industry, many times the presentation of information must be more technical (e.g. white papers, e-books, case studies).” -Rollins

What trends should we be looking for in 2015?

Secret: Look out for video, collaborative content, SEO, and tailored-to-audience content in 2015.

“In 2015, I’d look out for video and collaborative content.” -Gaenzle

“In general, I see a bigger partnership with search engine optimization. Considering business trends, we will probably see more content that is relevant to the target audience, not content based on the latest algorithm change.” -Rollins