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The top content marketing advice I gave last year covered everything from keeping recurring promotional copy interesting to planning a content calendar.
If you didn’t join one of my Ask Monika Anything (About Marketing) sessions in 2025, be sure to join this year. The discussions are always lively, but more importantly, I provide actionable advice so you can tackle marketing challenges that have been nagging at you.
Below are my favorite questions from last year.
Top content marketing advice anyone can use
Alex S.: We have recurring programs and events that we regularly promote via our newsletter. How do we share the same information in new ways so that people don’t get bored?
Love this question! Most companies – no matter the size or industry – promote the same offerings over and over.
Here are a few ideas to keep your recurring promotional content interesting:
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Share one actionable tip or strategy that people will get when attending the event, buying the course, buying a service – and be clear that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
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Write up short case studies/customer stories to drive home the value of the offering.
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Share statistics related to your offerings.
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For an in-person event or program, share participant takeaways and key “aha” moments.
Dawit A.: How effective are social media boosters?
Social media boosters work like ads – except they boost regular posts.
There are two big drawbacks to boosting:
You can typically only target age, gender, and location, while ads let you get deeper into demographics.
The other drawback is the call-to-action. If Instagram tells you your post is doing better than 90% of similar ones, you can boost it – but you can’t add a call-to-action. You can only boost the original post.
Also, a lot of marketers view them as money-grabs by Meta.
Since you have to pay to boost and pay for ads, stick with ads. They are more flexible, support detailed targeting, and let you choose your call-to-action.
Carolyn K.: How can I grow relevant email customers at a faster pace versus a sign-up form on our homepage?
Carolyn owns an online cat boutique, but even if you’re B2B, growing your email list isn’t much different than a B2C company:
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In your newsletter sign-up form, add what information people will get in your newsletter.
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Automatically add new customers if you don’t already. I like to ask for forgiveness instead of permission, so I add clients and prospects. No one has yet to complain.
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Ask your web developer to create a pop-up window on your home page that offers a discount on their first purchase in exchange for their email. (This is a better B2C strategy.)
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Offer free resources (guides, worksheets, etc.) and capture emails when someone downloads them.
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Do a cross-promotion with a related small business.
(Here’s a deeper dive into how to grow an email list the right way.)
Monika K.: I struggle with building content – specifically when I have a “blank slate” which should sound easy and yet is not.
This is the marketing equivalent of writer’s block, and it’s super common. I always advise starting with FAQs and customer stories.
FAQs: No matter your industry, people are seeking answers. Jot down every question you can think of – including the ones people don’t know they need to ask.
Customer stories: These demonstrate the problems you solve and results you deliver. They also allow potential customers to better understand how you can help them in more concrete terms.
Both ideas allow you to share your deep expertise/experience.
Use these ideas as a basis for blog posts, social media posts, email marketing, and even lunch and learns with clients or presentations to industry groups.
Michelle Z.: For someone just getting started with a blog, what’s realistic traffic numbers in month 1, 2, 3, and 6?
It takes Google anywhere from a few seconds to several weeks to index a new blog post. Older, more established websites get indexed faster, which makes sense – they’re already recognized in the system.
So, for months 1 – 3, it’s up to you to get traffic. Send your blog posts in emails and them as articles on LinkedIn.
By month 6, you should start to appear in Google searches and therefore you should see traffic tick up.
Maggy S.: How can I keep marketing simple AND robust?
For me, simple and robust means you go deep in select places.
Create content on the ONE channel you own – your blog (website). Distribute content on the channels you don’t own – email marketing platform and social media.
Whenever you write a blog post, go in-depth on the topic.
Only use the channels where your ideal clients are engaged and active. This could be LinkedIn and email. Or it could be Instagram and trade shows.
If you don’t have brand messaging guidelines (this is different from visual identity), invest in it. It will keep your messaging consistent.
One thing “simple and robust” is NOT: trying every new thing that comes along.
Gina W.: How do I turn information about an assessment I offer from features and learning to the expected outcomes or transformation?
It’s very common to focus on features first, benefits second. So put yourself in your prospects’ shoes.
If I was reading about the assessment, I’d want to know what’s in it for me.
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What will I learn from the assessment?
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Are there statistics out there that support expected outcomes?
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What transformations have you seen in clients?
And of course, as more people take the assessment, add their testimonials.
Erin A.: How far ahead do you plan a marketing calendar? I feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants every week in multiple businesses (on different platforms) for content (posts and blogs that I do monthly).
You could plan an entire year at once, but that could be overwhelming, especially for multiple businesses. Aim for two to three months in advance. If that seems like too much, just do a month in advance, one month at a time.
Stay organized with one master content calendar and keep the schedule consistent. Write and publish blog and social posts on the same day every month. For example, maybe you write your monthly blog post on the first Tuesday of the month and schedule it to publish on the first Wednesday of the month.
To further streamline the time you spend on creating and publishing content:
- Keep a running list of blog topics and add them to your calendar. Sometimes I’ve got this mapped out three months in advance, sometimes one month.
- Don’t fuss over social copy. Just pull tips from your blog posts, share client conversations/stories, and write about recent insights you’ve had.
Related: Why Your Website Clicks Are Dropping — And How GAIO Can Actually Make Your Business More Visible