9 Expert Content Marketing Tips from Joe Pulizzi

I’ve been a fan of Joe Pulizzi since I attended his first Content Marketing World conference oh so many years ago. Joe is not only the founder of the Content Marketing Institute, he’s a best-selling author, speaker, podcaster, and highly successful entrepreneur. He’s also one of the world’s top content marketing experts.

There are a lot of people out there that will preach the do’s and don’ts of content marketing, but not all advice is as spot-on as the pearls that Joe offers. These nine expert content marketing tips may seem deceptively simple, but they have the power to drive incredible results.

1. Develop Content for a Specific Audience

When you try to serve everyone, you seldom serve anyone well. To be extraordinary, your content needs to serve a specific audience. Focus on a specific audience and make it crystal clear that you audience that audience well.

2. Your Audience Needs Come First; Your Needs Come Second

3. Focus on Your Top Goals

When a content marketing campaign strays from the original business goal, it has little to no chance of producing results. Yet, we see marketers make this critical error time and time again.

Whether you’re developing content yourself, or have a team to do it for you, make sure that your top goals are foremost in mind. If you have lots of big goals and to too little time to pursue them all, edit your goals list. Strip away all activity that doesn’t serve your highest needs.

4. Make Email a Priority

There are a lot of places to promote your content. Joe Pulizzi says that email is hands-down his favorite.

I’m not surprised Joe said this, because I too have seen the power of email marketing to deliver amazing results. Unlike social media or other promotional outlets, email gives you much greater control over who sees the content, when, and how frequently. You can build a one-on-one relationship with your ideal audience via email. Email is extremely cost-efficient. And, you control the narrative.

5. Serve Your Audience

There’s a big difference between selling to an audience and serving them. Remember, content marketing isn’t the same as advertising; content marketing allows more time and space for finesse. When your content is packed with sales language, it comes as across pushy or even manipulative. The language of service comes across as caring and personal. When you have a heart for service and bring that philosophy into your business and content, it shows. And, in the end, a service orientation will help you sell more than a hard sales pitch ever could.

6. Keep Your Content Fresh with Frequent Updates

Letting dated content live on your channels could hurt your credibility. Allowing valuable content that to expire is a waste of precious resources. You invest a lot of time and money developing content. Don’t let that content whither on the vine through neglect.

7. Don't Sacrifice Quality for Quantity

In the pressure to put your content in front of your ideal audience as much as possible, are you churning out content that is less than amazing? That’s a mistake.

Sometimes you need to take a look at your content calendar and ask yourself, “can I do all of this well in this timeframe?” The more aggressive your content plans, the more important it is to ask this question.

8. Be Consistent & 9. Be Interesting

Your content should be consistent. It should consistently align with your brand’s voice and values; it should also be delivered consistently. Consistency boosts your credibility, keeps your audience more engaged with you, builds trust, and helps you land better leads and more sales.

Last but not least, develop content that’s interesting. There’s a sea of dull, same-ol-same-ol content out there; the last thing your audience wants from your is more of same stuff they see everywhere else. Show your personality. Add some pizzazz to your content. Be interesting!