Friday Deep Dives ( How to Start 2023 with a Bang as a Content Marketer/Writer

Welcome to the 7th issue of Friday Deep Dives, a monthly newsletter by Dozie Anyaegbunam, where an industry expert or I go all in on one question on content marketing from you all. I'm glad you're here. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you need your own: Subscribe here.

Happy NEW YEAR, people,

Here’s to a good year for all of us.

I love the energy January brings. And while New Year's resolutions get a lot of stick, I believe in them somewhat.

Mine are usually goals that ladder up into my five-year personal and family goals.

For 2023, my public New Year's resolution is a quote:

“You can’t change the world. And you can’t change people. But you can be a bright light for all to see.”

Now to the world of content marketing.

How do you start the year with a bang?

Read on!

How to hit the ground running in 2023

It’s planning season.

So I thought to share a list of resources to help you create a great content strategy for your employer/client, up-level your content marketing skills this year, and generally be a badass content marketer.

Building out a content strategy

• Steal This Strategy: How to Write Like Animalz: Animalz's content marketing approach is pretty dope. It might not work for everyone. But it wouldn’t harm you to take a peek at some of their best practices and see which you can add to what you have planned for the year. Apply context as always when bringing any concept to your industry.

• Content Marketing in a Down Economy: If all the predictions are correct (and they often are), 2023 will be a rocky one. This piece by Cierra Loflin of Superpath shares some great tactics for running content marketing in uncertain times.

• How to Build Your First Editorial Calendar: This is probably your 30th editorial calendar. But no harm in checking out someone else’s process, right? Here’s one from Matthew Guay to inspire you in the New Year.

• Content Attribution: You always have to find a way to connect your content efforts to revenue, be it content-driven or content-influenced. This piece by Tracey Wallace is a great place to start if you don’t have this fully figured out yet.

• How to Plan & Implement Schema Markup, Avoiding Common Mistakes: Technical SEO should be part of your content strategy. Why put in all the work to create great content if your site’s UX is horrible? Paying off your technical SEO debt can take time, but start by ensuring your schema markup is working correctly.

Books to read

• The Adweek Copywriting Handbook: Great copy is the heart and soul of the advertising business. Scratch that. Excellent copy is the heart and soul of every business. Get this book. It’s one of the best books I have read in the past year on writing.

• Obsessed: Building a Brand People Love from Day One: As content marketers, we really are in the world of brand building. I haven’t read my copy yet, but it came highly recommended. One of the reviews on Amazon calls it “a must-read book for anyone thinking about distinguishing themselves in a crowded landscape.” Isn’t that what we all want for our brands and ourselves?

• The Practical Content Writing Playbook: If you are looking for a helpful content writing blueprint from one of the best content marketers I know, this is it. I also hear it’s getting an update in a couple of weeks.

• Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World: My final book recommendation isn’t a content marketing one. But one that talks about improving performance. It’s tempting to silo ourselves as we grow in our careers. But David Epstein makes a compelling argument for exploring different domains or skills as it helps us think better, become more creative, and perform better at work. So, don’t stop learning how to draw (that last sentence was a note to me.)

Courses to explore

• Baker SEO Course: It’s pricey but worth a punt, folks. Dive in if you can.

• Chima Mmeje’s Topic Cluster Course for Content Marketers: Chima’s course is an oldie but goldie. She shares all she knows about building winning topic clusters in her course, plus templates that help you hit the ground running.

• Content Repurposing Roadmap: Justin Simon’s course is excellent if you haven’t figured out content repurposing and distribution.

And that’s it, folks.

Let’s make bread this year.

If you found it helpful, let me know in the comments or by replying to the email. If you have a question you would like me to explain in-depth, send it in. And even if I don’t have the answer, I’ll find someone who can answer it properly.

Thanks for reading this far. I am grateful!

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

Dozie

P.S.: If you enjoyed this, please consider sharing it on LinkedIn or with a friend! I would be grateful.

P.P.S.: Have you signed up for Not Enough Writers yet? I hear the community is getting a revamp this year. Sign up here or share with someone who might be a fit.