DM Notes Module 2 - Content Marketing Flashcards
Digital Marketing
Why is it important to align content creation with business objectives and audience expectations?
Aligning content with business objectives and audience expectations helps determine the value of the content and its likely outcomes.
What are some questions you should ask yourself when creating content?
Why am I creating this? What business outcome is it likely to deliver? Why would my audience engage with this content? What are they likely to do after engaging?
Why is personalized content important?
Personalized content helps create a bond and build trust with intended customers.
What makes content valuable to the audience?
Content that is useful, educational, or entertaining is valuable to the audience.
Why is it important to address the buyer’s needs or interests in content creation?
Addressing the buyer’s needs or interests helps them make decisions and choose your offering.
What should effective content always include?
Effective content always includes a call-to-action (CTA).
How does content that presents a solution impact a brand?
Content that presents a solution builds a brand’s reputation as reliable and trustworthy.
What should content be aligned with?
Content should be aligned with different stages of the buyer’s journey.
Name some content formats suitable for the awareness phase.
Imagery, short-form video, social ads, GIFs, advertorials, templates, and banner ads.
What type of content is appropriate for the interest phase?
Blogs, long-form videos, white papers, podcasts, e-books, and infographics.
How can engagement be encouraged in the consideration phase?
Engagement can be encouraged through mechanics like community management and social engagement.
What are some formats suitable for the consideration phase?
Carousels, case studies, webinars, FAQs, testimonials, newsletters, Facebook Messenger, and social display advertising.
What happens in the conversion phase?
The goal is to convert customers, and a clear call-to-action should be provided.
What are some examples of similar problems?
Case studies, advertising tag lines, or campaigns.
What should you try to learn and understand about the audience, product, or problem?
As much as you can.
What should you observe about a product or problem you are trying to solve?
How and why it is used or might be used.
What questions should you ask to find out more about the people who might use a product?
Who are the people, what are their motivations, and why is it useful to them?
What is the second stage of the five-stage process?
Incubate.
What should you do with the findings of your research in the incubate stage?
Write them down and let them simmer.
What should you do after writing down your research findings?
Leave them for a while and then try writing them another way.
What should you do in the incubate stage to let your mind wander?
Take a walk, take a bath, read, daydream, or do something else.
What is the third stage of the five-stage process?
Illuminate.
What happens in the ‘eureka’ stage of the process?
All the elements connect in your subconscious and an idea forms in your conscious mind.
What mantra should you remember in the illuminate stage?
‘Write it straight, then write it great’.
What should you do once you’ve written down your idea?
Leave it alone.
What is the fourth stage of the five-stage process?
Verify.
What should you do in the verify stage?
Sense check your idea against the original problem and critically assess whether it satisfies all elements of the problem.
What questions should you ask yourself in the verify stage?
Will it solve the problem? Will it drive awareness? Is the tone right? Will team operations work more efficiently?
What should you do if your idea doesn’t solve the original problem?
Put it aside and work on your next idea.
What should you do once you’ve settled on an idea?
Craft and refine the idea.
What is the fifth stage of the five-stage process?
Practice.
What does practicing generating ideas using the five-stage process help with?
Coming up with better solutions and discounting poor ideas early on.
What does familiarity with the process help to naturalize?
Creativity in your thinking.
What is one of the most common barriers to creativity?
Fear of failure.
What is the benefit of adapting your idea to the objector’s viewpoint?
To ease the strain on your relationship and potentially win them over.
How can you verify the expertise of the objector?
By inquiring about their assumptions.
What should you use when responding to objections?
Facts and hard data.
What did Jim Barksdale, CEO of Netscape, say about using opinions?
“If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.”
How can you explain your reasoning to someone who doesn’t see the full picture?
Use the word ‘because’ to provide valid reasons and sound arguments.
How should you wrap up a discussion after receiving objections?
With a motivated response to find a solution and a positive note.
What can you ask to get input on improving your idea?
“How do you think this idea could be improved?”
How can you maintain working relationships when your idea is rejected?
By refining your original idea or coming up with a new solution that is acceptable to all.
What should you do if your idea is rejected?
Make small tweaks or start over with a new solution.
What is the purpose of the DMI PRO practice exam?
To help students prepare for the DMI PRO certification exam.
What is the pass mark for the DMI PRO practice exam and certification exam?
60%
How likely are students to pass the certification exam after passing the practice exam?
5 times more likely.
What percentage of students who pass the practice exam also pass the certification exam?
95%
How many questions are included in the DMI PRO practice exam?
100
What is the time limit for completing the DMI PRO practice exam?
1.5 hours (90 minutes)
Can the DMI PRO practice exam be retaken?
Yes, it can be retaken any number of times.
What can content marketing include?
Content marketing can include all content types associated with brand building and driving positive affinity and connections to attract or retain customers.
How can affinity content be measured?
Affinity content can be measured by ranking social media engagement through reactions, comments, and feedback signals in terms of positive or negative sentiment towards the brand or organization.
What are advocacy goals in content marketing?
Advocacy goals are a continuation of affinity goals and involve retaining existing customers and turning them into brand advocates or champions who recommend the brand to others.
How is advocacy determined in content marketing?
Advocacy is determined by measuring ongoing positive engagement, user-generated content, reviews, ratings, and recommendations.
What are some key considerations when aligning content marketing goals with overall business goals?
Some key considerations include consistency in language and messaging, timing to support other campaigns, input and ideas from the wider business, and assessing the impact on website content, SEO goals, and ecommerce conversions.
What are buyer personas and why are they important in content marketing?
Buyer personas are imaginary characters based on research and data that represent the ideal buyers or target audience. They are important for understanding customers and shaping content, messaging, and product development to meet their needs.
How can audience insights help in developing buyer personas?
Audience insights such as social media platform usage, device usage, content consumption behavior, and access to high-speed internet can help shape buyer personas and inform content strategy.
What is the purpose of targeting in content marketing?
The purpose of targeting is to position products as relevant and convey messages effectively, through market research, advertising, website design, usability testing, and SEO.
How does understanding individual creative and digital formats help in content marketing?
Understanding the formats your target audience consumes helps in crafting brand messages and creating compelling content, as well as determining the platforms and media to use.
What is the importance of discovering the channels your audience inhabits in content marketing?
Discovering the channels your audience uses allows you to understand their behavior and have conversations where they are, which helps in reaching and engaging with them effectively.
What is the purpose of retargeting in digital marketing?
To remind people who have shown interest in your business and encourage them to become customers.
What are some formats used for retargeting?
Retargeting can utilize formats like imagery, carousels, social display, canvas, and cards.
How can you create content to retain customers?
Create content that reminds consumers of why they engaged with you, highlight user-generated content, and offer exclusive incentives.
What are some formats used for content retention?
Formats like imagery, rewards, reviews, value additions, and discounts can be used for content retention.
What are the two broad categories of content?
The two broad categories of content are topical content and evergreen content.
What is topical content?
Topical content is newsworthy, time-sensitive content linked to a particular moment in time.
What are some examples of formats used for topical content?
Short written pieces, tweets, social media posts, memes, videos, and images can be used for topical content.
Give an example of a brand that created topical content.
Specsavers created topical content around ‘The Dress’ phenomenon, sparking online debates.
What is evergreen content?
Evergreen content is content that can be used at different stages of the buyer’s journey and has a longer lifespan.
What are some examples of formats used for evergreen content?
‘How-to’ articles, video tutorials, beginner’s guides, FAQs, case studies, list articles, and checklists can be used for evergreen content.
What is a content marketing strategy?
A content marketing strategy is an ever-evolving plan that outlines goals, target audience, content needs, user journey, formats, and aligns with business objectives.
Why is a content marketing strategy essential?
A content marketing strategy sets objectives for quality content marketing and provides a roadmap for execution and adaptation to market changes.
What is content curation?
Content curation is using or sharing other people’s or third-party content as part of your content strategy.
What are the benefits of content curation for content producers?
The benefits of content curation for content producers include appearing less promotional, generating goodwill, developing relationships with similar audiences, positioning as an industry leader, and connecting with the original creator.
What are the four main types of curated content?
The four main types of curated content are aggregation, distillation, mashups, and chronology.
Where can you start looking for shareable content?
You can start looking for shareable content on your own social channels, follow brands related to your products or services, search on Google, or use tools like Buzzsumo.
What is the difference between content curation and content creation?
Content curation involves using third-party content, requires lower resource investment, limited ownership, and has great potential for community engagement. Content creation involves producing original content, requires higher resource investment, full ownership, and has greater credibility with online audiences.
How can you use LinkedIn’s content curation feature?
You can use LinkedIn’s content curation feature by navigating to the Content section on your company page, selecting the industry, location, and job function, reviewing the content topics, and sharing topics by clicking the Share button.
What are the benefits of engaging with other people’s blogs?
Engaging with other people’s blogs generates awareness of your blog, goodwill from other bloggers and their communities, and may lead to increased blog visits and social post shares.
What should you do to create the best piece of content?
To create the best piece of content, identify a question in the mind of your target audience and answer it in a way that surpasses any existing content.
How can content curation help in content marketing?
Content curation in content marketing can help appear less promotional, generate goodwill, develop relationships, position as an industry leader, and connect with the original creator.
What should you consider when curating content?
When curating content, consider the relevance, quality, and permission to share the content, and ensure proper credit is given to the original content creator.
How can you identify ways to reproduce compelling headlines or images?
Examine the content that was particularly effective.
What should you note to help with future content scheduling?
Note the best performing times and days when content performs best.
How can you determine the return on investment (ROI) from your content marketing efforts?
Divide the most important metric improvements by the cost of the campaign.
How can you calculate the actual increase in metrics?
Subtract the benchmark metrics from the campaign metrics.
What metrics can you calculate by dividing the campaign spend by the increased metrics?
Cost per new engagement, cost per new conversion, and cost per increased brand search.
How can you determine the value of your activity?
Divide the spend by the increased metrics to create your own metrics.
What kind of language should you use when creating metrics for non-analysts?
Use simple language like ‘increase in people looking for our brand on Google’ instead of technical terms.
What elements should be included in a content marketing report?
All produced content, associated costs, campaign metrics, overall performance, insights derived from data, and recommendations.
Why is creative thinking important in the workplace?
It can lead to new solutions, product development, marketing campaigns, business growth, and increased revenues.
What is the first stage of creative thinking?
The first stage is preparation, which involves researching the problem.
What does the preparation stage of creative thinking involve?
Researching the problem, product, audience, market, and competitors.
What are some examples of SMART goals?
Sales cycles, peak sales periods, planned special offers/promotions
What are the different tools and access in digital marketing?
Website analytics, paid channels, organic channels
What demographics should be considered for creating target personas?
Persona name, age/gender, location, income
What are some factors to consider regarding interests and personal habits of target personas?
Likes and dislikes, habits and skills
What are some media habits to consider when targeting personas?
Traditional media consumption, digital channels, research methods, trusted resources
What aspects of buyer behavior should be analyzed?
Stage in purchase journey, buyer type, reachability, persona value
What factors are important in the decision-making process of target personas?
Buying power, monthly/annual spend, other decision-makers/stakeholders
How can social listening benefit a content strategy?
Identify talking points, spot potential risks, understand brand sentiment
What are the benefits of competitor monitoring in content marketing?
Define successful competitor content, spot content gaps, identify innovation in platform usage, avoid clash of content or ideas
What can SparkToro reveal about your chosen audience?
Size of the audience, hashtags they use, top phrases used in their bios, social accounts they engage with, websites they are on, podcasts they listen to, YouTube channels they watch
How can you connect with your audience in a human way?
By putting a face or voice to your offering
What are some visual aids that can be used in webinars?
Videos, animations, or slide decks
What are podcasts?
Audio recordings that users can listen to on smartphone apps or through audio streaming services
What are some types of podcasts?
Interviews, conversations, reviews, storytelling, show recordings, and Q&A
What should you focus on when creating a podcast?
A single theme
What is the benefit of using a variety of content types and formats in content marketing?
Increasing brand awareness, developing thought leadership, generating excitement and advocacy, and reaching wider audiences
What are some best practice guidelines for content creation?
Providing utility to your audience, ensuring it is fit for the platform, measuring its effect, maintaining consistent appearance and style with your brand, and aligning it with your business goals
What are the four most common motivations for users to share content?
Incentives, fame, utility, and topicality and trends
What are some good practices for creating image content?
Using simple and clear images, using dominant colors, adding copy that develops the story or drives action, framing the image well, and following the rule of thirds or golden ratio for composition
What are infographics?
A way to present a large amount of data in a visual and shareable format
What are some tips for creating infographics?
Considering flow, making statistics and copy visual, choosing appropriate fonts, and taking the viewer on a journey towards a final piece of information
Why is it important to be creative with content development?
Being creative adds color and personality to the content and brings it to life.
What are the key steps in the creative process?
The key steps are thinking and absorbing research, brainstorming, taking a break, critiquing or validating ideas, creating prototypes, and creating the content.
What are white papers and how can they be beneficial?
White papers are knowledge sharing resources that help build thought leadership and credibility within the industry.
How are ebooks different from white papers?
Ebooks are shorter and more interactive, focusing on multimedia content and ‘how-to’ guides.
What can infographics be created from?
Infographics can be created from large sets of data, user research, customer data, or information from a historical context.
What is the purpose of blogging?
Blogging allows businesses to journal their activity and create a structure that drives search engine ranking.
How can case studies contribute to content marketing?
Case studies can serve as evergreen content and develop thought leadership and credibility with potential customers.
What is the advantage of interactive content?
Interactive content encourages users to take action and delivers over 500% more engagement than static posts.
What is the most popular content format on the web?
Videos are the number one content format on the web.
What are some video formats?
Video formats include ephemeral, live, short-form, and social TV.
What are articles in the context of content marketing?
Articles are long-form social posts that build thought leadership and demonstrate expertise in a specific area.
What are templates and checklists useful for?
Templates and checklists can be useful for seeding content, building credibility, and helping solve pain points.
What are webinars?
Webinars are web-based seminars that provide opportunities for engagement and learning.
What is the purpose of developing a content marketing strategy?
To adapt content in relation to marketing goals and create meaningful content for the target audience.
Why is consistency important in a content strategy?
Consistency helps people recognize the brand’s content across different creative assets and channels.
What does the creative strategy set out?
The messaging and tone to be applied to all creative assets and content pieces.
What type of content falls under the ‘Awareness’ goal of content marketing?
Social media posts, banner ads, videos, and images that drive visibility with the target audience.
How is the effectiveness of awareness content measured?
It is largely measured by impressions, number of people reached, and number of searches for the brand online.
What type of content falls under the ‘Consideration’ goal of content marketing?
Blogs, demonstration videos, or specifications that outline product benefits and features.
How can consideration content be measured?
By looking at the number and quality of comments, shares, likes, and replies from the target audience.
What type of content falls under the ‘Conversion’ goal of content marketing?
Digital advertising, lead magnets, and purchase landing pages that drive users towards ecommerce or lead generation areas.
What is the purpose of conversion content?
To build on the effectiveness of awareness and consideration content and get valuable actions from potential customers.
How can conversion content be measured?
By tracking the number of sales or leads received via the conversion content.
What is a lead magnet?
When a person enters their contact details into a web form in return for valuable content from the company.
Give examples of lead magnets.
eBooks, free trials of a product, access to a webinar, podcast, or video content.
What is the purpose of an affinity goal?
To establish and cultivate a strong emotional connection between the brand and its target audience.
How can social listening be used to build relationships?
By paying attention to what people say about you and engaging with them online.
What is the value of measuring KPIs in digital marketing?
To show the success of content marketing efforts and justify resource allocation.
What are the benefits of measuring content marketing efforts?
Justify spend, provide learnings, uncover insights, create a content strategy roadmap, and clarify audience resonance.
What are some examples of engagement metrics in content marketing?
Higher time on site, reduced bounce rates, more pages viewed, scroll depth, growth in discovery, and increased social shares.
What does measuring conversion metrics in content marketing involve?
Tracking goals achieved, conversion rate, path to purchase, and cost per sale or lead.
What are the steps to choose metrics for content marketing campaigns?
Begin with objectives, choose appropriate metric sets, and look for changes in metrics before, during, and after the campaign.
How can insights be derived from content’s activity?
Choose metrics to measure, group them with themes and formats, examine performance, dig deeper for insights, and analyze best performing channels and elements.
What is the purpose of examining elements in content marketing?
To identify the best performing distribution channels and optimize them in future campaigns.
What is the purpose of writing a creative brief?
To distill insights into a document of usable actions for content teams.
What are some benefits of writing a creative brief?
Developing a better understanding of audience, goals, and campaign idea; Developing consistent engaging messaging across channels and formats; Using time and budget more efficiently.
What are the key steps to consider when writing a creative brief?
Identify campaign idea and objectives; Describe the audience and brand personality; Determine campaign channels, formats, budget, and deadline.
What research elements should be included in a creative brief?
Personas, customer insights, social listening, competitor analysis, keyword research, audit of current content library.
How can you generate content ideas using Google?
Anticipate consumer questions, create content that answers these questions, position product as the solution.
What is the purpose of conducting keyword research?
To understand what people are actively searching for and generate content topics.
How can Moz’s Keyword Explorer help with keyword research?
It reveals monthly volume, difficulty, organic CTR, and priority for a keyword; It suggests related keywords; It provides a list of questions related to a keyword.
What does having a strong brand purpose mean?
Standing out in the market with unique and recognizable content that connects with the audience.
What elements contribute to a company’s brand?
Commercial and non-commercial actions, stories created by customers and communities, customer service, experiences with the company, image and style associated with the company.
What are some examples of social platforms’ own upload functions?
Twitter Studio or Facebook Publishing Tools
What are some third-party applications used for scheduling and spreading content?
Buffer, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social
What are the benefits of scheduling content for content marketers?
Time efficiency and cross-posting
What should be considered before cross-posting content automatically?
Platform specifications, usernames, hashtags, and audience-building
Why is it important not to post too far in advance when scheduling content?
To avoid posting insensitive or inappropriate content in case of changes in the world or market
How can you ensure flexibility with scheduled posts?
By keeping track of them and having the ability to edit or remove them at short notice
How is content promotion defined?
As the strategic approach to getting content seen by a wider audience
What are some examples of paid methods for content promotion?
Paid media and advertising, influencer marketing, and affiliate marketing
What are some examples of unpaid methods for content promotion?
Owned media channels, hashtags and tagging, guest blogging and takeovers, and interviews or Q&A
What is community management in the context of content marketing?
Engaging with and handling feedback on content, brand, and organization to drive better customer relationships
Why is community management important for a content marketing strategy?
To manage negative experiences, respond to queries, gain insights, and find networking opportunities
What elements should a complete content calendar contain?
Copy, creative, theme, date and time, platform
What are the key considerations when creating a content calendar?
Theming content, business priorities, marketing activities, sponsorship, in-store promotions
Why is it important to consider how content will appear on different platforms?
Audience mindsets change across platforms, people engage with content in different ways
What should you consider in terms of formats and tone when planning content?
Avoiding mismatched formats and tones across different platforms
What is content seeding?
Strategically publishing content on various platforms to reach and engage with the intended audience
What are the benefits of content seeding?
Reach a wider audience, ensure relevancy, build brand credibility
What are the steps for seeding content to be picked up by influencers?
Social listening, identifying influencers, connecting with them through hashtags or introductions
What is content scheduling?
The method of uploading content for future publishing
What are the two main ways to schedule content for publishing?
Native scheduling and third-party scheduling
Why is it beneficial to regularly check out your competitor’s social media, website, and email activities?
To understand what kind of content audiences are interacting with.
What are some key considerations when doing a competitor content audit?
Questions like content development schedule, customer feedback, search engine rankings, backlinks, website optimization, social following, influencer connections, tone of voice, new formats/channels.
Name some competitor analysis tools for social listening and competitor content analysis.
TweetDeck, TweetReach, BuzzSumo, SparkToro, Google Alert, Fanpage Karma.
How can Google Alerts be used to stay on top of brand and competitor mentions?
Enter alerts related to your brand or competitors, choose alert preferences, receive email summaries of mentions.
Why is keyword research important for content development?
To create content that people are actively searching for and identify new opportunities based on search trends.
How can content marketers benefit from keyword research?
Get the right kind of visitors, identify high search volume keywords, close content gaps, provide statistical rationale, stay fresh with emerging themes.
What are the steps for conducting keyword research?
Pick a topic, brainstorm ideas, enter keyword ideas into an SEO tool, prioritize keywords, focus on writing around priority keywords.
What is the purpose of a creative brief in content marketing?
To identify important insights and understandings for informing creative outputs.
Where can content marketers get insights for their content?
From different types of research.
How can small changes in your work environment lead to a burst of creativity?
Small changes can help you discover things you may have overlooked or see problems in a different light.
What is one example of a small change you can make in your work environment?
Working in a conference room instead of at your desk or in a coffee shop around the corner.
What is one suggestion for changing the order in which you tackle your work?
Doing your most important tasks in the morning instead of the afternoon.
Why is it important to take creative risks?
Taking risks goes hand in hand with innovation and problem solving.
What should you do if your idea is rejected by your boss or other stakeholders?
Be resilient, persevere, and come up with another solution that is acceptable to all involved.
What should you do when your idea is rejected?
Pause, compose yourself, and remain calm.
How can pausing after your idea is rejected help you?
It gives you time to compose yourself and allows the rejector to offer more information or explain their concerns.
How can you reframe an objection to your idea?
Try to see the objection as a request for clarity or more information.
Why is it a good idea to empathize with the person who rejected your idea?
It allows you to put yourself in their shoes and better understand their perspective.
What are some benefits of repurposing content?
Speed, low cost, efficiency, reinforcements
What key considerations should be taken into account when repurposing content?
Video aspect ratios, platform-specific optimizations, content publishing optimization
What is content personalization?
Using different content at different stages of the buying process to be fully relevant to the right user at the right time
Why is personalizing content important for B2B organizations?
To personalize content for individual buyers and stakeholders
What are the benefits of personalizing content?
Targeting the right people, increasing conversion rates, improving brand affinity
What are the steps to give content a personal touch?
Research, target, measure
What is a content calendar?
A centralized document used to plan content across multiple platforms and themes
What are the benefits of using a content calendar?
Efficient content planning, team focus and organization, prevention of delays
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is creating and distributing content to engage and educate consumers.
What are the benefits of using content marketing?
The benefits include growing brand awareness, recruiting brand advocates, improving search engine rankings, generating leads and converting customers, and enhancing understanding of your business proposition.
What are the stages of the buyer’s journey?
The stages are awareness, interest, consideration, conversion, and retention.
What is the purpose of consideration content?
Consideration content is created to provide the information customers need to choose your brand.
What should effective content be?
Effective content should be relevant and align with your business agenda.
What does the practice exam score contribute to?
The practice exam score does not contribute to your overall certification exam result.
How can you access the Practice Exam?
The Practice Exam can be accessed at any time through the Practice Tests link on MyDMI.
What does the ‘Save & Exit’ option in the practice exam tool allow you to do?
The ‘Save & Exit’ option allows you to pause and exit the practice exam tool as well as to return later and continue from where you left off.
What does the practice exam tool display after completion?
Upon completion, the practice exam tool displays results in detail, with both correct and incorrect answers.
Does the practice exam score assess your readiness for the certification examination?
Yes, the practice exam score is a great opportunity to assess your readiness for the certification examination.
What are some common barriers to creativity?
Fear of ridicule and reliance on old ideas.
How can you overcome barriers to creativity?
By thinking outside the box and challenging biases.
What is a bias?
An inclination towards a certain way of thinking.
What tactic can be used to challenge biases and preconceptions?
Examining problems from different angles.
How can you use different thought processes to generate ideas?
Observe how other people think and apply their thought process to your task.
What is ‘Functional Fixity’?
The inability to look beyond how an object is designed to function.
Why is it important to change your daily routine for creativity?
Doing the same thing every day can have a detrimental effect on creativity.
