The 23 Top Content Marketing Blogs

The Favorite Blogs of 19 Content Marketing Experts

photo of an appleFor content marketers, back-to-school means checking your blog reading to ensure that you’re on top of the latest developments.

To get insight on what to read, here are the 23 top content marketing blogs recommended by 19 experts, who are also bloggers and content creators.

Overwhelmingly, Content Marketing Institute was at the top of everyone’s list. Its position is attributable to the fact that its founder Joe Pulizzi has been one of the major voices that’s helped develop this marketing form. Content Marketing Institute leverages the power of a community that contributes content to its efforts and a professional editor to help keep this blog on course.

23 Top content marketing blogs

(Note: These content marketing blogs are listed in alphabetical order with the exception of Content Marketing Institute which was the overwhelmingly the top choice, although Copyblogger gave it a good run for its money!)

  1. ContentMarketingInstitute.com “The definitive source. It covers all the bases.” Jay Baer. “The top Content Marketing Blog is Content Marketing Institute by far.” Michael Brenner. “This blog is a good source for all kinds of content marketing statistics and templates. This is where you should go to look for data on the social media industry and statistics on how the industry is growing and evolving.” Dave Kerpen. “Content Marketing Institute – because it is 100% content marketing from THE leaders in content marketing.” Arnie Kuenn. “The Content Marketing Institute blog is on everyone’s list since it’s the primary resource of advice and knowledge in content marketing in the world.” Nenad Senic.
  2. Jonathon Colman “I’ve found some great resources via Jonathan’s blog and he also publishes some great slidedecks. He’s recently joined Facebook’s Content Strategy team, so I hope he plans to keep blogging and not get lost in the borg.” Nick Kellet.
  3. Content Marketing Association. The CMA blog is a must as it publishes posts by their members; the Association is made up of content marketing agencies that are really good at what they do. In addition, the majority of posts are not your regular how-to-do posts, rather they’re more a commentary on the industry and the look forward. Nenad Senic. 
  4. Convince & Convert “I’m also a big fan of Barry Feldman’s work. He guest posts on many blogs, including Convince & Convert.” Jay Baer.
  5. Copyblogger “Copyblogger – consistently gets me thinking. No B.S.” Jay Baer.  “I never take my eyes off Copyblogger. I don’t think any publisher has a crystal ball like theirs. That said, what they do isn’t mystical. Copyblogger is forever in touch with the information needs of content marketers and proactively answering their questions.” Barry Feldman. “Copyblogger – because Brain Clark started his company by writing one blog post, then another, then another.  He has lived it for several years. Besides some of the best headlines in the industry. “Arnie Kuenn. “Copyblogger.com: This is one of my go-to spots for content marketing best practices and tips. The content is always fresh and I enjoy the playful tone of the blog overall. Another aspect of this blog that appeals to me is its readability—if I am looking for a daily content quick-fix, Copyblogger is definitely a great resource.” Dayna Rothman. “Copyblogger. The guy has brilliance.” Peter Shankman.
  6. Copypress
  7. Digiday “I love because of the content marketing case studies.” Joe Pulizzi.
  8. EnMast. “I think new players such as Andy and Brad Farris at Enmast at doing some interesting things.” Gini Dietrich.
  9. Hubspot
  10. The Lefsetz Letter. “Because it is not about marketing, rather it is about succeeding with content.” David Meerman Scott.
  11. MarketingProfs
  12. Moz Blog “I live them because SEO is at their roots, just like me. They have really transitioned all of their knowledge and expertise into marketing, but have a strong data and optimization mindset.” Arnie Kuenn.
  13. Orbit Media “I love what Andy Crestodina is doing at the Orbit Media blog.” Gini Dietrich. “I loved Andy’s book, Content Chemistry, and have also found plenty of gems on OrbitMedia’s blog. Andy is such a good writer and his team’s blog just always looks great – they pay a lot of attention to visuals. They deliver great writing, great content and great visuals, a powerful trio.” Nick Kellet.
  14. PortentI’m ever-amazed that Ian Lurie, CEO of Portent Interactive, wrote a book called “Conversation Marketing” back in 2006, even before Twitter and Facebook became the forces that they are today. His blog is one of my “must reads” on a consistent basis. This latest post proves the point: How to Create a Content Strategy (In Only 652 Steps).” Ric Dragon.
  15. ProBlogger
  16. Quick Sprout. “Neil Patel has created and shared guides such as “The Advanced Guide to Content Marketing” that others would publish as books or high priced courses. He’s a must for every content marketer.” Heidi Cohen.
  17. Six Pixels of Separation. “I try to read ones focused more on marketing as a whole because they tend to cover what is truly important. The top of my must read list in this category is Six Pixels of Separation from Mitch Joel.” CC Chapman.
  18. Social Media Examiner “ This blog is clearly written and posts come regularly (once a day). It covers a wide range of subjects and all different types of media are used to support the blogs.” Dave Kerpen.
  19. Brian Solis “This one is a bit more marketing generalist, but I love this blog because I can always find insights on unique, cutting edge topics in marketing. I also enjoy the provocative stance he takes on many subjects.” Dayna Rothman Marketo.
  20. Sparksheet “There is just a lot to this blog. I love the easy-to-navigate layout, the spark quotes on the side, the different columns, and the Q&A. I could get lost for hours on this blog… “Dayna Rothman.
  21. TopRank Blog
  22. The Sales Lion “The truth from the trenches.” Jay Baer “Marcus Sheridan of The Sales Lion is almost always an eye-opening experience. You may say you’ve already known what Marcus argues in his posts, but we all need someone to make it clear. Also, Marcus doesn’t rely on more content is better, rather on regular and quality content is better.” Nenad Senic.
  23. Vertical Measures. “This company practices what they preach every day. I give them bonus points for tremendous design, endless variety across media, relationship building and opening their platforms to guests big and small that know the terrain.” Barry Feldman.

Other content marketing advice

To understand what your content marketing has to accomplish, listen to what some of the experts say about these blogs.  It’s not a matter of which blogs they recommend but the value and usefulness the content delivers.

  • “Each of these blogs has expert writers who truly understand the art and science of content marketing. Each covers a diverse mix of topics ranging from SEO to email marketing in the context of get-the-job-done content marketing. This diversity makes them comprehensive resources for marketers.”  Bernie Borges –  Find and Convert and author of Marketing 2.0.
  •  “Consistently relevant and well written content makes them stand out for me. I know when I got to their website, I’ll find useful content.” Peg Fitzpatrick.
  •  “Three of my favorites that mostly focus on content marketing are Content Marketing Institute, Copyblogger, and Copypress. I have them in my RSS feed, and I rarely pass one of their posts without reading them. And considering that I subscribe to over 250 blogs and scan through the headlines from them daily, that goes to show they have some pretty impressive headlines and content.”  Kristi Hines.
  •  “These blogs succeed because they are simple. Simplicity is key on social media and people will turn away if your content is too confusing. These blogs are able to simplify complex subjects and give actionable advice that can be understood and applied by anyone who has an interest in social media.” Dave Kerpen.
  •  “Copyblogger, Moz, and Problogger are 3 great blogs on content marketing. If you combine them all you will learn how to create content, how to drive traffic to your content, and how to convert those visitors into customers.” Neil Patel Co-founder of KISSmetrics and Crazy Egg. Blogger at Quick Sprout.

19 Content Marketing Experts Worth Following

Here’s the list of the 19 content marketing experts with links to their blogs and books (affiliates):

  1. Jay Baer of Convince and Convert and author of Youtility
  2. Bernie Borges of Find and Convert and author of Marketing 2.0
  3. Michael Brenner of SAP and the B2B Insider blog.
  4. C.C. Chapman author of Author of Amazing Things Will Happen and co-author of  Content Rules
  5. Heidi Cohen of Riverside Marketing Strategies.
  6. Gini Dietrich of Arment Dietrich, SpinSucks and co-author of Marketing in the Round
  7. Ric Dragon of Dragon Search and Author of Social Marketology.
  8. Barry Feldman author of The Plan to Grow Your Business with Effective Online Marketinga free e-book.
  9. Peg Fitzpatrick is one of the ringleaders at 12Most.
  10. Kristi Hines is creator Blog Post Promotion.
  11. Nick Kellet of Listly
  12. Dave Kerpen of Likeable Media and Author of  Likeable Business and  Likeable Social Media.
  13. Arnie Kuenn of Vertical Measures and author of Accelerate
  14. Neil Patel of Kiss Metrics and Crazy Egg and blogger at QuickSprout.
  15. Joe Pulizzi of Content Marketing Institute and Author of Managing Content Marketing and Get Content Get Customers.
  16. Dayna Rothman of Marketo.
  17. David Meerman Scott, author of Real Time Marketing and PR,
  18. Peter Shankman of Shankman/Honig  and author of Customer Service: New Rules for a Social Media World and Nice Companies Finish First
  19. Nenad Senic of Disput.is

 

The bottom line is that no matter how good your content marketing is, you can still improve and learn more from other experts.

What other content marketing blogs would you add to this list and why?

BTW—If you haven’t registered yet, there’s still time to join me and many of these experts at Content Marketing World next week.

Happy Marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Please note that I excluded references to my blog.


 

 

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Photo Credit: Apple watercolor by Kathleen T. Finnegan (c) 2013 – All rights reserved

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