{"id":54273,"date":"2025-01-28T23:51:12","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T23:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/marketing\/content-marketing-experiments-that-worked-for-us-in-2024\/"},"modified":"2025-01-28T23:51:12","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T23:51:12","slug":"content-marketing-experiments-that-worked-for-us-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=54273","title":{"rendered":"Content Marketing Experiments That Worked for Us in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":" \r\n
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As we wrap up 2024, I want to share what’s worked well for us this year, so you can use these insights to inform your 2025 content strategy. (And I get to do a “year in review” without calling it that. \ud83d\ude0a)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communities as a Sounding Board<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve relied on communities like LinkedIn and Superpath as sounding boards for testing and sourcing content ideas. Two tactics worked particularly well:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Run a poll to gather insights<\/strong>, then reach out to respondents personally to ask follow-up questions or schedule an interview.<\/li>
  2. Reach out to folks with hot content marketing takes<\/strong> and then invite them for a conversation or guest post.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    “Blockbuster Blogs: How Breakthrough Ideas Are Born<\/a>” is a great example. We tested potential headlines in a LinkedIn poll before writing the article. The feedback steered us away from using the term \u201cblogbusters\u201d in the final piece and<\/em> connected us with readers who became sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

    Other pieces that benefited from this approach in 2024:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

    Content Formats Unlocked by AI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    AI allowed us to experiment with content formats that previously weren’t viable. Such pieces would have been too time-consuming relative to their expected longevity and traffic potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Two formats proved particularly valuable:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. “Newsy” articles responding to industry updates and trends<\/strong>, like \u201cGoogle\u2019s March 2024 Search Update: The Battle Against AI-Generated Content<\/a>.\u201d We created this piece in just a few hours with the help of AI research tools<\/a>.<\/li>
    2. Q&A interview articles<\/strong>, like \u201cWhy Megan Morreale Thinks Content Marketing As We Know It Is Dying (And What\u2019s Next)<\/a>.\u201d Previously, transcription and processing the interview would have taken hours, but AI now handles most of the workload, making this content type viable for our blog.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"<\/a>
      AI impacts content creation in three ways. For excellent content, it enhances quality without saving time. For good content, it can reduce production time. Most interestingly, it makes previously unviable content formats possible by significantly reducing effort requirements. (Diagram source: LinkedIn post Tim<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

      The results: our two items about Google\u2019s updates attracted around 5,000 new visitors \u2014 much more than we expected. And the Q&A interviews<\/a> got shared by most interviewees across their networks (which is what we hoped for but weren\u2019t sure of).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \ud83d\udca1\u00a0Speaking of AI unlocks: We\u2019ve been using AI writing tool Lex\u2019s integration with (Convert)Kit<\/a> to create our newsletters. Lex takes the style, content, and metrics of your previous newsletters directly from Kit and uses those references to spin up your next email from input you provide (e.g., an article draft or an outline).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Unconventional Content Concepts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      We launched several initiatives this year that were unconventional in their format or in their approach:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Content marketing budgeting transparency:<\/strong><\/a> We added an option in several blog articles allowing readers to request an emailed pricing breakdown (\u201dWhat would it cost to produce something like this for your<\/em> blog?\u201d).<\/li>
      2. Revive<\/a>:<\/strong> A free tool we built that analyzes decaying content in your library based on your GA4 data. Revive identifies which articles have lost the most organic traffic, helping you prioritize your content refresh<\/a> efforts.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
        \"\"<\/a>
        Our CEO Ty Magnin shares the launch of Revive with a post and video on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

        Each of these concepts has generated more than 500 new email addresses for our newsletter<\/a> (and both launched in the second half of the year).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"\"<\/a>
        The sign up boxes that let you request pricing breakdowns for some of our content.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

        Multiple Thought Leadership Voices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        We’ve always aimed to share forward-thinking, insightful, and sometimes contrarian perspectives on content marketing on the Animalz blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        This year, articles like \u201cStay Strong: Never Let AI Fill Your Blank Page<\/a>,\u201d \u201cBlockbuster Blogs: How Breakthrough Ideas Are Born<\/a>,\u201d and \u201cWelcome to the Distribution-First Era, Where Strategy Starts With Channels and Ends With ROI<\/a>\u201d hit that mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        But there was a twist in our 2024 approach: not all thought leadership came from us. We also featured insights and hot takes from people who aren\u2019t on the Animalz team (anymore), such as Mark Rogers, Megan Morreale, and Jess Cook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Some of our most impactful pieces this year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n