by Berrak Sarikaya | Jan 3, 2018 | Content Marketing, Running Your Business
When it comes to content marketing, you don’t need a full newsroom or a large budget to be effective. Whether you’re an enterprise-level organization or a startup, a lean content marketing strategy can take you a long way.
I had the pleasure of speaking at Content Marketing World 2018 about building a content team, creating a content marketing strategy that goes the distance, and getting to know your audience – on a budget.
When it comes to statistics around content marketing, my go-to resource is The State of Content Marketing from CMI and they didn’t disappoint. Here are the numbers I focused on at the beginning of my presentation.
- 68% of consumers feel more positive about a brand after consuming content from it.
- 70% of people would rather learn more about a company through articles rather than an ad.
- 75% of marketers are increasing investment in content marketing
These numbers alone prove that content marketing is here to stay. The methods and the platforms may be evolving, but at the heart of it, great content marketing builds trust, loyalty, and engagement.
So, if you’re a startup or a small business, or a small team within a large organization, where do you begin? (more…)
by Berrak Sarikaya | Sep 5, 2017 | Conferences, Content Marketing
(I wrote this post right before heading to Content Marketing World in 2017. Lucky for us, the community and the conference are consistent in their amazingness , making these tips evergreen.)
It’s that time of year again – the orange takes over, excitement fills the air, and we all descend on to Cleveland to attend Content Marketing World.
It’s no secret that Content Marketing World has a special place in my heart, along with the entire CMI team, and the incredible people I’ve met over the past three years.
But it can also be overwhelming. I’m an ambivert and conferences where I am “on” all the time for 4 days straight can take a lot out of me. My energy gets zapped once the adrenaline wears off, especially if I’m not practicing self-care throughout the conference. Over the past few years, I’ve gotten a lot better at preserving my energy in order to survive the week as an introvert.
I want to share a few of those tricks with you. I also reached out to the #CMWorld Slack Community to get their input.
So, here are a few ways you can survive Content Marketing World as an introvert. (more…)
by Berrak Sarikaya | Aug 4, 2017 | Content Marketing, Twitter
On July 31, I got a news alert. Scaramucci was out as the White House Communications Director after 10 days. I don’t know why but the first thing I thought of was avocados. So, my very first tweet that had the link to the news article had that reference.
I even thought it was funny enough to post as my Facebook status that morning, which received a lot of engagement. I was going to go on with my day. I needed to get ready for my flight.
Then, I got hit with a couple more ideas to post on Twitter. After all, the entire internet was on board. This was the creative relief we needed from the onslaught of, well, reality. So, I tweeted out a few different references. I used different hashtags. I sometimes referred to him as The Mooch and other times, used #Scaramucci.
A couple got likes. Some retweets here and there, but nothing major.
Until.
This was actually a throwaway tweet. I just kind of posted it as I thought about it and then posted my favorite, which had a Game of Thrones reference. I thought if any of my tweets that day got any traction, it would obviously be the Game of Thrones one.
To my surprise, it wasn’t. It was my ‘throwaway’ tweet that resonated the most with people for some reason. It was even included in a Buzzfeed News roundup.
I said RIP to my notifications and got ready for my flight.
My one “viral” tweet reinforced what I’ve been telling my clients about content marketing and social media all along. So, here are my learnings from my 24 hours of internet fame.
You have to be flexible with your content
Once you have a content strategy and editorial plan in place (and for the love of coffee, please have these in place), what you put out into the world cannot be repetitive. You won’t know what resonates with your audience until you’re putting out content that actually resonates with your audience. This means that you have to be flexible enough to play around with the wording and types of content you’re releasing into the world.
While it’s important to have a consistent voice, that doesn’t mean your voice has to be rigid.
Hashtags don’t guarantee exposure
I really thought that this tweet would be the one that got the most engagement. I was using multiple references, and #GameofThrones is still relatively active on Monday mornings.
As you can see, I was wrong.
Numbers don’t tell the whole story
My viral tweet received over 153K impressions, but what does that mean? Not much, to be honest. It means that with over 900 retweets, it made its way in front of a lot of eyeballs on Twitter, but I only got a single follower from it. 87 people cared enough to click over to my profile to learn more about me.
When you’re asking your social media manager or content manager to create viral posts, are you thinking about the implications? Just because something strikes a chord with your audience doesn’t mean it’ll lead to money in the bank for you.
Want to break down the actual ROI of content marketing? Jay Baer has a great formula. Spoiler: It involves actual math.
Don’t squander the first impression opportunity
My tweet had nothing to do with the content marketing and strategy services I offer. The audience it would drive to my profile were most likely not my target customers. But what if one set of eyeballs belonged to a small business owner scrolling through Twitter between phone calls or while eating lunch? My pinned tweet when I woke up that morning was a general post about the services I offer, linking to my website.
After the tweet picked up traction, I quickly drafted another tweet that I pinned to the top of my profile:
Cheesy? Yes. But potentially effective.
It was an unexpected experiment that was fun while it lasted. That’s the thing about content marketing and social media. Not everything will be a home run.
Amplifying your voice through the noise requires planning, tenacity, and a whole lot of flexibility.
Have you ever had a tweet go unexpectedly viral? What was your experience like?
Oh, by the way, are you going to Content Marketing World this September? I’m speaking about leveraging content to elevate your community with an amazing group of professionals. We’d love to see you in our session! If you haven’t registered yet, you can use BERRAKBIZ100 to save an additional $100!
by Berrak Sarikaya | Jun 2, 2017 | Industry News, Social Media
(Source: Sprout Social)
When we see brands being funny or snarky on social media, we either groan or it gives us momentary comic relief, but does a brand’s snarky attitude translate into sales? How do your customers really feel about it? According to the Q2 2017 Sprout Social Index, snark doesn’t always sell. (more…)
by Berrak Sarikaya | Mar 21, 2017 | Content Marketing, Hiring, Tips and Tricks
I’ve always considered writing to be my passion.
My mom taught me how to read and write when I was four, and the running joke of my life has been that no one has been able to stop me since.
However, it was never supposed to be a career path, especially ghostwriting.
When I went into law, writing would be a crucial part of my career, but to get paid to be a writer? That seemed utterly ridiculous. So ridiculous, in fact, I wrote under a pen name for the first part of my freelance career.
I wrote for content mills, for local real estate companies, and for agencies that paid me next to nothing for my work.
I was essentially a glorified ghostwriter, and ironically, there’s really no glory in being a ghostwriter. (more…)