Hello friends. 

Hope your week is going fabulous. It's Masters week. The world is good!

Are you ready to jump into part two of our series on Content Marketing that Works? If you need a refresh on part one, you can click here.

Last time we talked about the thought process behind content concept creation and planning. During this phase, our goal is to get as many ideas down as possible. This helps ensure there will be some good ones and if you dig deep enough, great ones. 

Next comes choosing the best ideas.

Marketing concepts in the past should have been translatable to print, radio and tv. We've graduated beyond that in the modern marketing age. Now, good concepts have to be executed on the web, mobile, social, etc, as well as traditional mediums. Our goal, in fact, is to create a Magnificent 7 with every content concept. 

What is the Magnificent 7? 

There is an old western (based on Seven Samurai) where gunman are hired to protect a village. Each of the men have specific skills and unique attributes. Together, they're an unstoppable force. We try to create the same dynamite team with our content so it can be used at least seven different ways. 

For example, a concept for your product or service could include a blog series, social media campaign, email, live event, tv, web videos and a mobile app. If the idea is only good for a Facebook contest, it isn't strong enough. 

Once we've played around with the different executions for each concept, we can identify which ones are the strongest. The winning ideas then graduate to a planning phase. 

Planning is when considerations are made for editorial, production, and available resources. Then it's time to roll up the sleeves and get to shipping. 

Still tracking? Cool.

Ok, in part three we'll discuss how design and user experience impact content marketing. Please reply if you have any questions or comments. We're here to help.

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p.s. You are amazing. We really appreciate you being a part of the Whatupdate community.