Jess Cook’s Post

5 tips for crafting questions that practically write the content for you. (Use these in your next SME or customer interview.) 👉 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱'𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. This requires some research. Review their podcast appearances, social posts, etc. to find the overlap. 👉 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵, "𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻..." This will almost always elicit a story rich with insights and emotions. This story can be used as a practical example within your content. 👉 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲. Ask about frustrations, excitement, annoyances, relief, etc. This approach is another that will almost always elicit a story. 👉 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 — 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗮 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹, 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 — 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁. This gets you the context behind the topic, which helps you build the foundation of your content. You can go a few levels deep on this; keep asking, "And why is 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 important?" until you've gotten to the bottom of it. 👉 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀. Experts always have one. And a human's opinion on these matters is way more powerful than a company's. Instant pull quote.

An overlooked (but crazy important) part of your content strategy: The content you choose NOT to create Because: • It's not a novel idea • It's not niche enough • It's not broad enough • It's not a fit for your brand • It's not a fit for your audience • It would dilute your brand message • It would start a war with competitors • It's not tied to current business goals • It would tarnish your brand's credibility • It would diminish public or investor trust • It's not something your company is uniquely positioned to address No matter the reason (this list just scratches the surface), exclude with intention. Deciding what your brand won't say, do, or touch with a 39-1/2-foot pole is just as strategic as what it will.

Am I an expert SEO? No. But am I confident in my ability to use keyword research to draft well-structured content on my own? Also, no. Do I let it stop me from creating high-performing, SEO-focused content? Definitely not. Instead, I lean into my friends and colleagues who are experts. AND I experiment with all kinds of tools. The latest one being ContentShake AI from Semrush. I did a quick screen share to show you: 🪄 how I used ContentShake AI to build a blog post from 5 key pieces of info 🖼️ the royalty-free image recommendations it offers up ✂️ what I would keep and what I would cut or replace 💬 how the built-in chat function helps get you to an ugly first draft, fast You can generate unlimited articles free for 7 days. That's a weeklong, all-you-can-eat buffet for us content-lovin' tool nerds! 🍗 Get in there. Give it a try. Leave no crumbs: https://lnkd.in/dkJ96B5K #SemrushPartner

5 content marketing practices you will never regret: 1. Talking to customers 2. Testing small before executing big 3. Repurposing more than you create 4. Building relationships with your SMEs 5. Repeating your message every which way All of these take time. All of these require saying "no" to other things. All of these are worth it.

Lindsay McGuire practices what she preaches. As the Associate Director of Content & Campaigns at Goldcast, she not only creates content about how marketers can use events as a top revenue-driving channel. She also uses events as a top revenue-driving channel. Lindsay joined me on the latest episode of That's Marketing, Baby to talk about: ▶️ Her transition to Goldcast and marketing to marketers (02:26) ▶️ How she juggles and differentiates multiple event series for varied audiences (06:15) ▶️ Ways to engage live event audiences that spark stories, social proof, and future content ideas (12:50) ▶️ The importance of engaging with an event audience BEFORE an event (17:33) ▶️ Adopting an event-driven, video-first strategy and the ease of converting video content into text assets (19:47) If your company runs any kind of event, this is a MUST-listen. Get the full ep right here: https://lnkd.in/eKVzJ-tY

A marketer's fatal flaw: (Myself included) 👉 Thinking we have a better eye than most when it comes to recognizing content that resonates with our audience. We assume that, after years in this role, we can intuit what works and what doesn't. In my opinion, this is partly what fuels our love/hate relationship with AI. 😍 We love how fast it synthesizes information and gives us new ideas. 😬 We're unsettled by the idea of actually using its output. Now, we've got new data that shows us just how jaded that thinking can be. Semrush's massive (148 pages!) 2024 AI Content Marketing Report gives us new insight into how companies are using AI to generate content and how that content is performing. Here's just a taste: ⇢ 79% of businesses report increased content quality when using AI tools. ⇢ 65% report an improvement in their SEO results. ⇢ 40% of companies using AI now spend less than 5 hours on content per week vs. 24% before they started using AI. But the most surprising findings to me were the results of the AI vs. Human content battles. 🥊 The same 6 prompts given to both human and GenAI writers 🥊 Shown to 700 people asked to pick the best one The overwhelming winner blew. me. away. 😳 (Jump to page 100 if you're curious!) Ready to see how top content marketers are using AI to create content that gets real results? Grab the report for yourself: https://lnkd.in/eC5HmM7u #SemrushPartner

There's one big, important aspect of my career that I haven't always felt comfortable sharing: As a marketer, how do you increase your income? Since making the jump to B2B SaaS four years ago, I've more than doubled my salary. And it all started because I finally decided to: 🎰 bet big on myself 💎 stop letting others decide my worth for me I spoke about this with my friend Alli Tunell on her show Shifting Priorities: • Why the sunk cost fallacy is holding you back from dramatic income increases. • The only number that's truly guaranteed in a job offer. • My favorite negotiating hack for a higher salary. • How to advocate for yourself and come equipped for the hard conversations around promotions and salary increases. (If you only have a few minutes, this ☝️ section starts at 25:49. But I promise, the entire conversation is worth it.) Give it a listen right here: https://lnkd.in/eQ5NFnN6

If you’re the first content marketer in your company, part of your job is to build a culture of content. It’s easier than it sounds. ⤵️ And it can skyrocket your career trajectory. I see it in 3 parts: ➡️ Show people how to work with you. Bring people into your process early and often. Encourage teams outside of marketing to bring you ideas. Share drafts and half-baked work for new perspectives and feedback. ➡️ Demonstrate the power of good content. Share wins big and small to as large a group as possible. Quantify the impact on the business — publicly — with stats, stories, and quotes. Identify top-performing content so other teams can easily repurpose for their specific needs. ➡️ Make your partners and SMEs look like rockstars. Publicize others’ contributions. Turn their raw thoughts into compelling stories. Make the lift light so they want to collab with you again and again. The deeper the culture of content, the wider your net of support, the faster you get seats at the tables that matter. 🚀

Knowing where my next best opportunity lies 👆 This is my biggest struggle when it comes to SEO. Theres no shortage of data with today's tools. Which makes prioritizing action items by urgency and impact tough. And getting ahead — and staying ahead – even tougher. Enter Semrush Copilot. 👩🏻✈️ Copilot is an Al assistant that analyzes ALL OF THE DATA across 6 Semrush tools ... 1️⃣ Organic Research 2️⃣ Backlink Analytics 3️⃣ Keyword Gap 4️⃣ Backlinks Gap 5️⃣ Position Tracking 6️⃣ Site Audit ... to give you the best SEO recommendations — all from one dashboard. Insights like: ✨ New keyword opportunities based on your niche ✨ Alerts for lost positions, broken backlinks, or rising competitors ✨ Technical alerts that are critical to your site health All the next right steps needed to boost your organic search efforts. All waiting for you the moment you sign in. No matter which plan you're on (including the free plan!) Get the deets and give it a try: https://lnkd.in/eFwhuQhA #SemrushPartner

Low-hanging fruit is great. But sometimes, you need to make a splash in the market. And while easier said than done, high-effort, high-impact activities can pay big dividends when done right. In this week's episode of That's Marketing, Baby, (Yay! New episode!) Susan and I share 5 tough-to-pull-off marketing efforts — and WHY they're worth the investment. It's a fun, quick 34 mins. I attempt to time travel at one point. But if you only have a few minutes, here are the best bits: • 03:25 → A big creative play that can catapult your brand awareness • 07:26 → Susan's favorite high-stakes paid media activity (and why it can't succeed without a strong content strategy) • 12:30 → My favorite big whale marketing program (and why pre-planning your repurposing efforts here are KEY) • 27:41 → The internal-facing process that helps you scale like nothing else can Give it a listen. ⤵ Apple: https://lnkd.in/exRmPPQc Spotify: https://lnkd.in/erKFj89n