{"id":1501,"date":"2017-06-20T15:38:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-20T15:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commarts.pleather.us\/2017\/06\/20\/qa-how-hubspot-keeps-its-content-machine-running\/"},"modified":"2017-06-20T15:38:00","modified_gmt":"2017-06-20T15:38:00","slug":"qa-how-hubspot-keeps-its-content-machine-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/2017\/06\/20\/qa-how-hubspot-keeps-its-content-machine-running\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: HOW HUBSPOT KEEPS ITS CONTENT MACHINE RUNNING"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared on\u00a0Column Five<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

From ideating and writing to editing and managing, HubSpot Marketing Blog<\/a>\u00a0Editor\u00a0Carly Stec<\/a> knows a thing or two about the value of content\u2014and what it takes to create it. In our latest Q&A, she shares her thoughts on the keys to great content, the trends she\u2019s most excited about, the challenges of managing a major brand publication, and why sometimes you should just hit publish.<\/p>\n

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C5: Tell us a bit about your role. What do you do at HubSpot?<\/b><\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong> I\u2019ve been the Editor of HubSpot\u2019s Marketing Blog for a little over a year now. Previously, I held a seat on this team as a writer\u2014contributing to both our marketing and agency publications.<\/p>\n

In the editor role, I oversee the editorial strategy and vision for the marketing section of the blog. This includes providing feedback to our contributors (both internal and external), generating post ideas to feed our pipeline, working across teams to organize campaigns, optimizing our content for both search and lead generation, and conducting experiments and analytical projects designed to improve<\/p>\n

That said, I\u2019ve recently stepped away from the day-to-day editing a bit to focus on some larger blog team projects: our blog redesign and our email subscription overhaul. These are two high-impact projects that I\u2019m really excited to have a chance to work on. So \u2026 stay tuned! We\u2019ve got some really interesting updates in store for our audience in those areas.<\/p>\n

C5: What role does content play in your overall branding and marketing efforts?<\/b><\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong> To say that content plays a meaningful role in HubSpot\u2019s branding and marketing efforts would be an understatement. After all, it\u2019s the sole reason why my team exists: We are, quite literally, the content team. And there are a lot of us. The bloggers. The multimedia content strategists. The podcast crew. The Medium folks. The Inbound.org team. We\u2019re all creating original content for our respective audiences on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

But content creation exceeds the limitations of just our team\u2014it\u2019s truly engrained in everything we do here at HubSpot. We use content to get found by our potential customers. We use content to help solve our existing customers\u2019 problems. We use content to train our teams and partners. We use content to attract new talent. We\u2019re sort of known for it.<\/p>\n

And the best part? We\u2019re always experimenting to find new ways to make content work for us and our audience. We\u2019ve recently started testing out \u201cposts as podcasts\u201d as a way to introduce audio into our traditional, text-based blog posts. We\u2019re messing around with video recaps there, too.<\/p>\n

C5: What does your team look like?<\/b><\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong> As I mentioned before, I work on a pretty large content team. But my particular role falls under the blogging subset of that team. On the blogging team, we have seven full-time employees that span across our two main blogs\u2014Marketing and Sales\u2014as well as our agency division.<\/p>\n

I work under our Managing Editor, Emma Brudner, who oversees all of the publications. Each blog has a respective editor (that\u2019s where I come in) who then works directly with the team of writers to plan and execute on the editorial calendar. It\u2019s a great mix that\u2019s worked out really well for us.<\/p>\n

C5: How do you measure results?<\/b><\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong> Our team looks after two main metrics: traffic and leads. Recently, we\u2019ve shifted our focus to sit a little higher up at the top of the funnel, so traffic often takes priority when we\u2019re mapping out our editorial efforts for any given month.<\/p>\n

Aside from those two, there are a lot of little things we make note of\u2014maybe something we write gets picked up by another publication or it takes off on a particular social channel. Those mini victories are important to acknowledge because the more in-tune you are with what works, the easier it becomes to replicate those successes.<\/p>\n

C5: Which marketing trends are on the horizon within the next year?<\/b><\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong> Ephemeral content, live streaming, and bots.<\/p>\n

Personally, I\u2019m looking forward to seeing ephemeral content take shape and find its place this year. Coming from someone whose job it is to fine-tune content before publishing, I\u2019m really intrigued by the raw, unpolished nature of content that simply disappears. The other really interesting thing about ephemeral content is that it demands your attention. Think about it: if you blink, you might miss it. And in a world of eight-second attention spans, this concept presents a unique advantage for marketers that get it right.<\/p>\n

C5: What have been the most valuable lessons you\u2019ve learned about content creation\/management over the last few years?<\/b><\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong> 1) Know when to just ship it. People often spend far too long obsessing over all of the little details. Accuracy and comprehensiveness are extremely important, but it\u2019s sometimes better to get something live and then iterate once you have an opportunity to gather some feedback.<\/p>\n

2) Scale up gradually. You have to be realistic about what you want to produce and what you actually have the time to produce well. The quality\/quantity debate is a tricky space to navigate, but I always lean in favor of quality. Remember: People want to come back to blogs that offer consistent content\u2014in terms of volume and value\u2014so don\u2019t bite off more than you can chew.<\/p>\n

3) You\u2019re going to spell things wrong \u2026 and people are going to call you out on it. Life goes on \"🙂\"<\/p>\n

C5: What are some of the biggest challenges in maintaining a big brand publication?<\/b><\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong> I\u2019m willing to bet that a lot of people would assume the biggest challenge I face is coming up with enough post ideas to support our editorial pipeline, but that\u2019s not actually the case. Instead, it\u2019s managing and organizing all of the ideas that we do have that\u2019s proven to be really challenging.<\/p>\n

The thing about running a big brand publication is that there are a lot of moving parts. We have ideas sourced from our team\u2019s internal brainstorm, requests for campaign support from our larger marketing team, external guest contributions, etc. So finding a way to organize all of these ideas in a simple, streamlined way is a big undertaking\u2014especially as our team scales. Right now, we\u2019ve landed on Trello as the best place to house our backlog of ideas\u2014as well as our publishing schedule for the next few weeks\u2014but I think this is something we\u2019ll have to iterate on as our strategy matures.<\/p>\n

Another challenge? Building and documenting a process for everything we do. I was lucky enough to inherit a really exhaustive written style guide when I stepped into this role, and it\u2019s made training new writers and maintaining a consistent voice across all of our content a lot easier.<\/p>\n

But we\u2019re constantly presented with new challenges that force us to stop, think, and make a decision that we all agree on as a team. For example, what are the guidelines around selecting stock imagery? How do we want to talk about product XYZ? How should we think about CTA alignment? These are all important considerations, and as our team grows, the need for documentation in these areas becomes more and more apparent.<<\/p>\n

C5: How much content are you personally creating versus managing?<\/b><\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong> Truth be told, it\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve sat down to write a blog post. But what I\u2019ve learned by taking a break from writing to explore editing and content management is that that muscle doesn\u2019t go away. It takes a long time to \u201cfind your flow\u201d as a writer, but once you do, everything sort of just clicks.<\/p>\n

C5: What makes content great?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

CS:<\/strong> I view great content through two lenses:<\/p>\n

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  1. Content that solves a problem.<\/li>\n
  2. Content that is memorable.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Content that solves a problem might not come equipped with a super sexy title or a stunning visual element, but if it answers a question that someone has in a really clear and concise way, it\u2019s a win. It\u2019s great because it\u2019s valuable.<\/p>\n

    Content that is memorable is an entirely different beast. Memorable content is the type of content you can\u2019t wait to run and tell your friend, spouse, colleague, or mom about. It\u2019s the type of content that makes you feel something\u2014whether that be inspired, mad, sad, frustrated, motivated, validated \u2026 whatever.<\/p>\n

    The challenge here? You have to learn when and where each type makes the most sense. Strike that balance right and you\u2019ll be in great shape.<\/p>\n

    C5: What type of feedback do you find yourself giving marketers\/writers most frequently?<\/b><\/p>\n

    CS:<\/strong> \u201cLearn how to anticipate the reader\u2019s next question, and answer it before they can ask it.\u201d<\/p>\n

    For us, this is the key to comprehensiveness and quality. If we want to write the best piece of content on the Internet about topic XYZ, we have to cover all the bases. I think a lot of the time it\u2019s difficult for people that are writing for a professional audience to get out of their own head. They make assumptions based on what they already know about a topic but don\u2019t stop to consider how the information might translate to someone who\u2019s less informed. This is often referred to as the \u201ccurse of knowledge,\u201d and it can be really tricky for people to overcome it.<\/p>\n

    C5: What are the most rewarding and frustrating parts of your job?<\/b><\/p>\n

    CS:<\/strong> Quite simply, I really enjoy helping people. I love helping our readers get better at their jobs. I love helping our team hit goals we didn\u2019t think we stood a chance against. I love helping writers hone their strengths and shake their bad habits. To me, that\u2019s the most rewarding part.<\/p>\n

    That said, the most frustrating part has been coming to terms with the idea that blogging isn\u2019t an exact science. I\u2019m very process-driven\u2014I love to have a game plan so I can anticipate a certain set of outcomes. But that\u2019s not the way blogging works. It\u2019s actually really messy. Sometimes the post you pour your heart and soul into comes up short. And more often than not, the posts you don\u2019t expect to take off, well, they do. The key here is to take note of what happens, what works, and what doesn\u2019t work, and learn from i\u2014even when things don\u2019t go according to plan.<\/p>\n

    C5: Who are some writers that you really look up to and find yourself regularly inspired by?<\/b><\/p>\n

    CS:<\/strong> I really admire Ann Handley\u2019s authenticity. I think her approach to writing is refreshing and a little quirky, but always clear. She was one of the first marketers I felt inspired by\u2014and she remains one of my favorites to this day.<\/p>\n

    If you haven\u2019t already read \u201cEverybody Writes<\/a>,\u201d go pick up a copy.<\/p>\n

    C5: What one\u00a0piece of advice would you give someone interested in getting into content marketing?<\/b><\/p>\n

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    CS:<\/strong> Start writing a little something every single day. It\u2019s much easier to ease into the habit than it is to force it all at once. Even if the world of content marketing is heading in a more video\/audio direction, being able to articulate your thoughts or an idea well will always be important.<\/p>\n

    Many thanks to Carly for sharing her thoughts. Follow her posts on the HubSpot blog<\/a>\u00a0to keep up with her. F<\/i><\/b>or more wisdom from game-changers in content marketing and content strategy, check out these Q&As:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n