3-2-1 Fridays: Content marketing inspiration from Lionel Messi, a content refresh checklist, and making the best use of SMEs

Hey friend, welcome to today’s issue of Efikó. This newsletter by Dozie Anyaegbunam helps you make smarter decisions in content marketing and life. Anyway, hello, it’s good to see you. You’re doing great 😀

Happy Friday,

And welcome to the month of LOVE.

Today makes it two years to the day I jumped on a plane and left all I knew behind. And so so much has happened.

Gosh.

Someday, I should sit down and write about all I have experienced since immigrating to Canada.

But the best part of it has been watching these two adults I am raising grow.

I also acknowledge that today was supposed to be a Friday Deep Dive. However, I had some hiccups. And to makeup, we’ll be having two Friday Deep Dives in March.

Get excited.

Okay, let’s talk content insights.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 45 seconds.

1. The best content marketers are similar to Lionel Messi

Insight from me 😀

The best content marketers are no different from Lionel Messi.

Let me explain. Messi is the king of La Pausa (the pause) - when players take an extra second before playing the ball. And Messi's ability to slow the game down and pick the right moment to pass the ball is unparalleled.

The best content marketers are no different.

They have the uncanny ability to slow down no matter all that's happening around them and pick the right channel, tactic, or strategy.

Next, Messi's pass weight and selection are unreal. He rarely overhits a pass. And always makes the right pass choice such that he almost always progresses the ball and creates rotations or overloads.

Killing it in content marketing requires the same sort of skillset. Savvy content marketers know to select the right channels and the right content formats depending on the business's stage, industry, and budget.

Finally, the difference between Messi and the average goalscorer is he strikes the ball cleanly, with power, and accurately.

The best content marketers are similar. They execute purposefully. They execute fast. And they are constantly optimizing and adjusting for the lay of the land.

Be like Messi!

2. A five-step process for refreshing your content (includes a step we usually ignore)

Insight from Yamon Y.

2023 is the year of doing more with less. And as a content marketer/strategist, that means squeezing more juice out of existing content.

The caveat here is you already have a good amount of content published. Here’s Yamon’s approach to content refreshing ( I found the last step interesting cos I rarely ever did it):

1. Choose a focused SEO keyword. Plug the article into your keyword tool and see the keywords it’s already ranking for. And then, pick one aligned with the piece’s angle and your business. Better if the KD is below 30 and the volume is above 100.

2. Next, use a keyword optimization tool like Clearscope or Frase to analyze competitor articles, the list of must-have keywords, word count, etc.

3. Bulk up or edit the content. Move sections around, add new sections depending on your optimization report, and add the additional keywords in sections where they fit in naturally. I would also find additional SMEs (I assume you’ll use SMEs for all your articles these days) and record a video of an SME answering one of the questions the piece tackles.

4. Run on-page SEO optimization. This is a must. And Yamon’s checklist is pretty detailed.

5. Manually re-index the page. I rarely did this. But it’s become an essential step in my content optimization workflow. Go to GSC and ask Google to re-read your updated piece.

3. Six questions that help you get the best answers from your SMEs

Insight from Jacob Statler.

In the coming years, content & SEO professionals will become brand marketers (more on that another day).

And the ability to uncover unique POVs will become crucial. Jacob shared these five questions you can swipe for interviews with an SME:

1. What’s the problem we’re trying to solve with this topic?

2. What’s at risk with this problem?

3. What’s stopping someone from solving this problem?

4. What creates urgency for someone to find a solution?

5. What types of solutions do people usually try, and why might they not work out?

6. What solutions would you recommend to fix this problem? How? Why?

I am definitely trying this out with my February briefs. You can also use these questions in video interviews. But don’t forget to ask follow-up questions, especially when your SME gets into the weeds.

That’s how you discover liquid gold.

2 things I am thinking about

i.

ii.

1 book recommendation

Today, we’ve got an article on how to write an Amazon-styled memo. For me, the biggest takeaway is learning to structure your thoughts and your ask.

Thanks for reading to the end. You all make writing this newsletter worth the trouble.

Be good out there. If you can't be good, be careful.

I'll be back on 2/10.

Dozie.

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