🤫 (You’re Missing the Good Stuff)

mlns='> If you’re just listening for an opening to share your content, are you really listening? [View Message in Browser]( / [Add Us to Safe Sender List]( Weekly News 4.15.22 Connect With CMI [How To Make Paid Content Promotion Pay Off for Your Content Marketing]( Paid content promotion drives stronger performance. Try these tips to help with paid search, native advertising, influencer marketing, and social media platform advertising on Meta platforms, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok. [Read more]( By Jodi Harris More of the week's best stuff: - [Think Outside the Search Box for SEO Keyword Opportunities]( by Daniel Brunell - [For Better Content Marketing, Listen First, Create Last [Rose-Colored Glasses]]( by Robert Rose - [Skyscraper Content the Right Way: How to Truly Help Your Readers]( by Mark Walker - [10+ Tools To Help With Reusing and Repurposing Content]( by Irina Weber  Listen To Learn, Not for Your Turn Think about that last Zoom meeting you had. Your coworker was talking about the state of the business, the results from last quarter, or the proposed new project. Did you have an internal dialogue going on as you nodded at the camera? “Wow, that’s a lot of data she just laid out. Do I agree with it? Which statements should I respond to? Should I ask a question now? How about now? I’m ready with an answer. What should I say to sound smart? I wonder what time the dry cleaner closes.” Many people (including content marketers) do this. They hear, but they’re not listening. Hearing is a simple physiological act. But listening involves taking in the meaning of the words and the implied communication in the silences in between. As the writer Henri Nouwen put it, “Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond.” Many of my clients feel confident that the company they work for knows what kind of content it wants to produce for audiences. But they feel less convinced that the company understands what these audiences want. Too often, content marketers are waiting to speak (or offer content) rather than listening to what’s happening with the audiences we’re trying to serve. Here’s an example. The marketing team at a B2B IT services firm I worked with a few months ago sends leads to the sales team based on the number of articles or thought leadership papers a visitor downloaded. In one case, an audience member had downloaded two papers in one visit to the site. Conversion triggered! The algorithm automatically tagged this person as a lead, and sales got the notification to call. The salesperson felt frustrated when the “lead” indicated she had no intention of buying and wasn’t even convinced she needed to change. In this case, the prospect was saying, “I’m trying to understand this concept, and I have unanswered questions about why I would change.” But marketing was waiting for the chance to say, “Great, thanks for all that information. How much change would you like to purchase today?” The answer to the “waiting to speak” challenge is active listening. This skill involves concentrating on what someone says, responding to it, and remembering it. Active listening can improve relationships, promote deeper trust, and motivate those we communicate with. A critical component of active listening is to be present but resist the urge to improve, repair, or have a prepared response to the information given. This may be one of the hardest things for marketers and sales practitioners to do. Most of us are trained to provide the next piece of compelling advice to fix a customer’s challenge or serve a need or want. But listening to customers without the intention to prepare a response offers real value. In [Rose-Colored Glasses]( this week, I share some ways you can use active listening to improve your content marketing. Are you actively listening to your audience? Let me know how (in the [article's comments section]( or [by email](mailto:cmi_info@informa.com)). In the meantime, remember: It's your story. Tell it well. Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute Do you have colleagues or friends who would benefit from Robert's weekly updates? If so, please invite them to [subscribe]( here.   Sponsored Content Share your business ideas for a chance to win $500! .Online Domains is inviting women to share their business ideas for a chance to win a $500 cash prize every week. Head to @getdotonline on Instagram to participate. [Take me there → @getdotonline »](  Sponsored Content Multilingual SEO & Content Marketing Learn how to engage with your audience in their language through multilingual content marketing and SEO. Our authors share their expertise on multilingual content strategy, transcreation and much more. [Download your free copy now! »](   Content Marketing Job Listings Currently on a job search? Thinking about switching gears with your career? Please check out our job listings below. Available positions: - [Senior Content Marketing Manager]( Blueprint Test Prep – Remote/Work from Home – [Learn More]( - Content Marketing Project Manager, Masthead Media – New York or Remote – [Learn More]( - Digital Content Delivery Specialist, Informa Connect, Life Sciences Division – Boston – [Learn More]( - Digital Content Delivery Specialist, Informa Connect, Life Sciences Division – London – [Learn More]( Interested in posting a job here? Please see our [CMI Careers page]( for more info.  More from CMI Free Webinar | The 3 Cs of Content Creation Management Join Robert Rose next Thursday, April 21, as he shares best practices for strategic planning that will help with the clarity and measurability of your content creation lifecycle. Learn how to apply the 3 Cs – Collaboration, Calendaring, and Communication – to build an intentional brand experience and, ultimately, a single source of truth in content marketing. [Sign Up to Attend »](    ContentTECH Summit Preview: Foolproof Content Design Systems With audiences’ growing demands for visual content, marketers today have to continually produce engaging media just to keep up. But that often means sacrificing quality for efficiency. This week, we sat down with Amy Balliett to preview her upcoming ContentTECH Summit session on how you can empower your marketing team to create compelling visual content. Watch the video, and then make plans to join us May 31 - June 2, in San Diego! Save $300 when you sign up during our Spring Flash Sale – just register by next Friday, April 22, and enter promo code SPRING2ACTION. [Watch Video »]( [Register for ContentTECH Summit »](   [Content Strategy Resources]( Events [Content Marketing World]( [ContentTECH Summit]( [Content Marketing Awards]( Resources [Research]( [White Paper/eBook Library]( [Content VIPs]( [CMI Business Directory]( Education [Content Marketing University]( [Chief Content Officer]( [Webinars]( [Job Listings]( Interested in advertising with CMI? [Learn more.]( To stop receiving future Content Marketing Institute update emails, please respond [here](. Copyright © 2022 Informa Connect, All rights reserved Content Marketing Institute, an Informa Connect brand 605 3rd Ave | New York | NY 10158 [Terms of Service]( | [Privacy Statement]( [informa tech]