Presentation from Susan Johnston, freelance journalist, and Tom Musbach, director of content marketing at Pearl.com, given to journalists at the NLGJA convention in Boston, Aug. 24, 2013.

1. 
Content Marketing:
The New Opportunity for Journalists
Tom Musbach
Director of Content Marketing, Pearl.com
Susan Johnston
Freelance Journalist

2. Agenda
• Tom’s story
• What is (and is not) content marketing?
• Growth of content marketing
• The journalist’s big advantages
• Case study and current examples (social media)
• Susan’s story
• Branded journalism – examples
• Are you selling out?
• What else journalists bring to the table
• Key skills, tools, and resources to know about
• Q&A

3. Who am I?
Tom Musbach
@TomMusbach
Director of Content Marketing, Pearl.com (1.5 years)
• Create and manage Wisdom Wire blog
• Manage and create content for all social media channels
• Coordinate webinar series
Senior Editor, Yahoo.com (5 years)
• Yahoo! HotJobs (editor and spokesman)
• Yahoo! Front Page team (syndicated version, Trending Now and Video modules)
• Yahoo! Small Business (blog and content programs)
Blogger on career issues – TheCareerBeat.com (7 years)

4. What is content marketing?
While there are many definitions of this relatively new discipline,
here is a common one that is most accurate:
Content marketing is communicating with an audience (of
potential and/or customers) in a way that:
1 – The audience enjoys paying attention to, and
2 – Demonstrates that you’d be a good person/organization to do
business with.
How?

5. The emerging brand paradigm:
“Think like a publisher!”
These and countless other brands have blogs, Facebook pages, YouTube channels, and more.
… And they are all driven by CONTENT!

6. What content marketing is NOT…
(Am I going to the Dark Side?)
• Writing press releases
• Pitching journalists or
working media relations
• Writing copy for ads
or marketing brochures
• Creating sales materials
• Writing FAQs or product descriptions
Flickr: Jeremy Keith

7. Content marketing is growing
While many jobs in traditional journalism are disappearing, jobs in
the content/content marketing field are on the rise.
Using LinkedIn, the Content Marketing Institute found an
“explosion” of people with “content” in their job titles. And these
“skills” increases in the past year:
• Content marketing – up 23%
• Branded content development – up 12%
• Content strategy – up 16%

8. Content marketing is growing
And journalists are poised to take advantage of this! Why?…
Source: Demand Metric

9. It’s all about stories!

10. The journalist’s big advantages
They know not only how to write/tell stories, they also:
• Find new and interesting angles to a story.
• Draw connections and put stories in context.
• Know how to get to the essence of a brand (who, what, when,
where, why, how).
• Write to a specific audience & have a point of view.
• Know how to write within voice and brand guidelines.

11. The jolt from Coke’s ‘Content 2020’
Two years ago Coca-Cola made a huge investment in developing content excellence
through stories as a major marketing strategy.
The strategy -- laid out in an engaging, animated 2-part video – has influenced countless
brands in their approach to content.
For more, visit: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/01/coca-cola-content-marketing-20-20/

12. Case study: Pearl.com

13. Content pillar:WisdomWire blog
Daily Answer (spotlight from the Q&A archive):

14. Content pillar:WisdomWire blog
Seasonal features & articles from professionals:

15. Creative trend: Newsjacking
Use content to piggyback on timely/trending news stories:

16. Other types of content
Webinars (audio/video) featuring professionals on Pearl.com:

17. Pearl.com’s Social Media Presence
(in addition toWisdomWire blog)
Facebook
Twitter
Google +
YouTube
Pinterest
LinkedIn
SlideShare

18. Other examples: Social media
WyzAnt – Facebook slide show Oreo - Twitter Pearl.com - Pinterest

19. Example: Infographic

20. Example: Pop culture/timely

21. Example: Pop culture/timely

22. 
What is brand journalism?
See also: content marketing or branded content
Brands are increasingly recognizing the value of storytelling and investing
in reportage that complements the products or services they provide.
Examples:

23. Who am I?
Susan Johnston
www.susan-johnston.com, @UrbanMuseWriter
Boston-based freelancer for 5.5 years
Beats
• Personal finance
• Small business
• Entrepreneurship
Traditional journalism credits
• The Boston Globe and The Boston Globe Magazine
• The Christian Science Monitor
• Parade Magazine
Brand journalism credits
• Match.com’s HappenMag
• Intuit (Intuit Small Business Blog and Mint.com)
• American Express (GetCurrency.com, OpenForum.com)

24. Article Example #1:
Client: Mint.com
Readers: Consumers interested in
personal finance who may or may
not use Mint to track their money
Covered: What consumers should
know about workplace
compensation, benefits and more
Sources: Data and interviews with
experts from three workplace
consulting firms

25. Article Example #2:
Client: Intuit Small Business Blog
Readers: Small business owners
who may or may not use Intuit’s
payroll products
Covered: Tips for small business
owners considering hiring
through Craigslist
Sources: Craigslist company fact
sheet and interviews with three
small business owners

26. Article Example #3:
Client: Match.com
Readers: Single people who
may or may not have a
Match.com profile
Covered: Tips for dating a pet-
owner if you aren’t an animal
lover yourself (or you’re
allergic)
Sources: Survey data from
Petside.com and Associated
Press, interviews with three
real people and two experts

27. Is brand journalism selling out?
Not necessarily.
Smart brands understand:
• Readers want valuable content that doesn’t mention the brand in ways that
feel forced.
• Salesy copy may turn off potential customers instead of convincing them to
buy, while well-written content can help build trust in the brand.
• The principles of good journalism (careful sourcing and fact-checking,
attention to news hooks, etc) still apply.

28. What do journalists bring to the table?
• An understanding of what makes a compelling story.
• An innate sense of how to create a narrative arc.
• An ability to parse information for a layperson or niche
audience.
• A knack for finding and interviewing real people and expert
sources.
• (In some cases) a large readership in social media or
elsewhere.

29. What are the job titles in this space?
• Content strategist
• Brand storyteller
• Chief content officer
• Social media director
 Sometimes brand journalism is farmed out to an agency that
subcontracts assignments to freelancers or the in-house
content person might manage a team of freelancers.

30. What do brand journalists need to know?
• Not all brands give complete editorial control; for instance, they may
not want a competitor quoted on their website and they certainly
won’t want a story that runs counter to the brand’s core values.
• If you’re freelancing for a brand, most contracts are work for hire
agreements, meaning they can use your content however they’d like
and may or may not provide a byline.
• Because of the channels required for approval, most brands focus on
trends, analysis, or evergreen content rather than covering breaking
news.
• Publishing content isn’t a brand’s top priority, so priorities and
timelines can shift.

31. Key skills/tools you’ll need for success
• Blogging
• Social media expertise
• Photo and video familiarity
• SEO (key is great content, headline, scannable)
• Interviewing (also good for webinars, videos)
• Long-form articles (white papers/ebooks, speeches)
• Thought leadership
• KPIs – Google Analytics and other measuring tools

32. Great resources to help develop skills
Content Marketing Institute
Copyblogger
Contently.com
Moz.com (great for SEO)
LinkedIn
MediaBistro

33. Q&A
Thank you!
Tom Musbach
@TomMusbach, www.thecareerbeat.com
tmusbach@sbcglobal.net
Susan Johnston
www.susan-johnston.com, @UrbanMuseWriter
#NLGJA13