The Ultimate Content Marketing Reading List
With the wealth of information available on any topic imaginable through a quick Google search, it can be difficult to know where to start finding truly relevant information on content marketing.
Here, we have accumulated a bounty of articles related to content marketing to help kickstart your research. These posts provide an excellent foundation and will help you dig deeper, from practical tools to inspirational case studies and beyond.
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The Basics
It’s difficult to build a successful content marketing campaign if you don’t know where to begin. The articles in this section provide a great starting point for figuring out what content marketing is all about and how to make it work for your business.
By Sujan Patel, Twitter: @sujanpatel
This article is crammed full of resources and links on the basics of content marketing: building a team; budgeting; designing a content creation process; and helpful tools for each step along the way. If you have no idea where to start with building the content marketing portion of your business, this article provides the initial resources you’ll need to get off the starting line and a sound compass for the journey.
By Content Marketing, Twitter: @CMIContent
This 16-page, downloadable guide from the Content Marketing Institute curates the best advice out there on content marketing for you, so, you don’t have to. It will help you be more confident as you develop and execute an effective content marketing strategy.
This spreadsheet provides a practical framework for developing your content marketing strategy. The categories come with editable examples, so that, as you build your personal strategy, you can be sure not to miss any critical elements.
By Sujan Patel
It might be more accurate to say that this article covers tips for lesser known industries outside of marketing or that don’t obviously lend themselves to interesting blog topics. The guidelines provide invaluable insight into how and why content marketing strategies are essential for all businesses, not just marketing firms.
By Sujan Patel
This article explores some of the best tools currently available for content marketing. These products optimize call to action tools and direct SEO keyword research, among many other helpful resources.
Next Steps, or Digging a Little Deeper
The process of learning anything new is quite predictable, at least initially. Introductory information is incredibly easy to find, but once you move beyond the basics, it feels as though you’re left to stumble around on your own. The articles below take the uncertainty out of the process by providing solid next steps at each stage of your content marketing education.
By Brian Casel Twitter: @CasJam
After launching a new content marketing strategy, it’s important to define what happens next. This post provides important information on how to further organize and enhance your strategy through tools like Trello and Gravity Forms, as well as general best practices to further build your business.
By Karl Sakas Twitter: @KarlSakas
There isn’t a lot of meat to this post, but the tips are really useful as a jumping off point for generating new leads for your business and providing references to guide further research.
By Jenna Dalton Twitter: @DaltonJenna
If you’re having difficulty growing your number of email subscribers, this extensive list of resources is a great place to find new inspiration and easy-to-implement ideas to grow your subscribers list.
By Amanda Walgrove Twitter: @amandawalgrove
Skillshare offers over 1,100 courses on a wide variety of topics, many of which are free or can be accessed for a small monthly charge. This post details the best Skillshare courses for content marketing.
By Avinash Kaushik Twitter: @avinash
Check out this article for top tips on establishing a Digital Marketing and Measurement Model to get the most out of a campaign and how to effectively engage web analytics to measure and drive its success.
By Kevan Lee Twitter: @kevanlee
Quora is an online community where anyone can ask and answer questions. In this post, Kevan Lee explains how content marketers can productively leverage the Quora community.
By Neil Patel Twitter: @neilpatel
If you’re looking for a step-by-step guide with screenshots for increasing traffic from search results, this article is an essential go-to resource.
Case Studies
Instructional reading is great, but concrete examples are often more useful. Here are a few case studies from real businesses and how they developed and implemented game-changing content marketing strategies.
By Luke Kintigh
At 55 pages, this eBook is a lengthier read than everything else on this list, but it is well worth the extra time investment. Kintigh delves into how he took his content marketing for Intel IQ beyond social media and search engines to bring greater visibility to the content.
By Kyle Gray Twitter: @kylethegray
Content promotion runs more smoothly with a solid process in place. This WP Curve case study illustrates this point perfectly.
This is the PDF version of a SlideShare presentation on growth hacks that McGill uses to promote his SaaS tool Workado. Some tips get more explanation than others, but overall it provides helpful hints to grow any digital promotional campaign.
Additional Information and Inspiration
By now, you’ve surveyed articles on a number of topics, but if you’re still feeling a little uncertain, these final posts can offer further inspiration and insight as you jump into the field of content marketing.
By Joe Lazauskas Twitter: @JoeLazauskas
This is a quick read that could be helpful if you’re seeking a little inspiration. It’s an excellent reminder of why content marketing trumps traditional advertising every time.
By Danny Brown Twitter: @DannyBrown
In this article, Danny Brown offers some interesting insight into the power of headlines and how creating powerhouse headlines is no excuse for lame content, which can ultimately harm your content marketing strategy.
By Michelle Rafter Twitter: @MichelleRafter
This is a pithy list of how to get the most out of group brainstorming sessions. Sometimes, the best ideas just need a little breathing room (and a proven brainstorming process) to develop.
Conclusion
These articles and eBooks provide a thorough overview of content marketing, as it stands today.
Whether you are looking for basic information as you start out, specific examples of how others successfully engage content marketing, or just a little extra inspiration, there is something useful in this list for you.
In these articles, you’ll find links and resources to expand your knowledge of content marketing to create your own amazing strategy to fit your unique business.
Is there a blog post or book you’d recommend that’s not on our list? Let us know on Twitter @SweetFishMedia or tell us about it in the comments below.