Copyblogger Book Club: Master Content Strategy

You might have noticed that we tend to be pretty big on content marketing strategy around here.

“Throw a ton of content onto the blog and hope someone likes it” is not a strategy.

“Publish a bunch of listicles based on what we think our keywords probably are” is not a strategy.

Even publishing tons of content that people love is not actually a strategy. (Although strategy is a good way to get there.)

Many businesses, large and small, know that “content marketing is a thing,” so they bring on a writer to throw together some posts and wait for the magic results to happen.

If you’ve tried this out, you know that it’s a long, long wait.

Our one-time colleague Pamela Wilson knows a ton about solid content marketing — she even wrote a book about it.

And her newest companion book is just as powerful. It’s called Master Content Strategy, and if your content is doing a whole bunch of nothing, I’d strongly recommend you read it.

My own physical copy of the book has tons of notes and Post-it flags, and I bet yours will as well.

And when Pamela and I first started talking about it, I knew it would be a natural fit for the Copyblogger book club.

We conduct the book club inside our Killers and Poets Facebook group — a cozy, drama-free little corner of Facebook where we like to talk copywriting strategy, ask and answer questions, and occasionally commiserate over those head-desk career moments.

(If “killers and poets” seems like a weird phrase, here’s where it comes from.)

So if you want to share notes, favorite quotes, and Post-it flags (virtual or physical), drop by the Facebook group! We’d love to hear about your insights, questions, and aha moments.

(And if you’d like to discuss her earlier book, Master Content Marketing, that’s fine and dandy as well.)

We were fortunate enough to have Pamela on our team for two and a half years, and in that time, I saw up-close that Pamela truly defines what it means to be a conversion content marketer.

Her book shares insights including:

• Strategic areas of focus for different stages of your site (a brand-new site needs a completely different focus from a mature site like Copyblogger)
• Why it’s crucial to create what Pamela calls “Very Important Content,” and how to get there
• Road maps for yearly, quarterly, and monthly content plans to keep your strategy on track
• Why even the best content needs thoughtful promotion, and how to build that into your plan
• An idea bank, to help you repurpose your excellent content (this is crucial for creating a high volume of content without burning out)

And because Pamela is incredibly organized and productive, she even includes a free content strategy planner as a bonus.

I loved reading her newest book, and I think you will, too.

Here’s the link to join the group.

Please note that you will not be approved unless you answer the questions! They’re there to keep the spammers to a minimum, and they do a pretty darned good job of it. Your answers don’t have to be amazing; they just have to make minimal sense in a language I can read. 🙂

The book is available in print, ebook, and audiobook formats, and the links here are not affiliate links.