3. Leveraging Co-workers For tips on Take a look around and you may discover that you are surrounded by thought leaders who you can interview to getting your create great content, amateur bloggers who you can get to write a post or two, or social media enthusiasts who co-workers engaged are happy to help promote your content online. in content marketing, see page 74 in the The point is that successful content marketing teams find allies across their companies to leverage. By taking Appendix. the time to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your co-workers, determining where their natural affinities lie, and thinking about how to best leverage their time, it will be easier for you to produce and distribute better content. The trick is getting people outside of the marketing team to jump on board the content marketing bandwagon. Building and Deploying a Roster of Content Talent The key to building and managing a successful content marketing team isn’t having dozens of people on the payroll. It’s all about making a handful of key hires, leveraging the right people within and outside of your organization, and ultimately putting everyone’s individual skills and talents to use. Doing so — rather than approaching content marketing as an add-on to your existing marketing team’s responsibilities — will allow you to create a content factory that’s not only efficient, but that also yields true value for your business. “Always remember that facts tell and stories sell. To convert your readers into buyers, your content not only has to be use- ful, but also connect brand themes and narratives with the topics your buyers are demanding most. To create high-impact content, make sure that you not only understand your buyers, but also know how to engage them using a visually creative, contrarian, or clever angle. Doing so will allow you to find the right mix of familiarity so that your readers can relate to the problem you are solving, while also helping you to really connect with your audience on an emotional level. Meaningful, not mechanical, content is where real impact happens.” Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Online Marketing It Takes a Content Factory! | 23