As the idea of content marketing as a game changer continues to grow, there is no shortage of posts, articles, podcasts and webinars about the whys, whats and hows of the subject. Like every other hot digital marketing topic there is so much information that is is hard to figure out what to pay attention to.

While reading our regular feeds last week, we came across the terrific info-graphic that outlines seven content marketing best practices. You might have absorbed a few of these before and if so, this is a great refresher on what’s important. If you are new to content marketing, this is a great reference list. To briefly summarize:

1. Reflect Your Brand: Balance subjects that are interesting to your customers and authentic and credible or your brand
2. Make it Inspirational and Educational: The more someone learns from or is inspired by your content, the more likely it will be shared
3. Be Original: Have a point of view, be provocative. Make someone care, one way or the other.
4. If Using Third Party Content, Show Your Sources: Studies show that over half of readers acknowledge that credibility will be lost if information sources cannot be verified
5. Earn Attention: Having your content shared organically (see #2 above) adds credibility
6. Give it Legs: Make your content shareable across platforms
7. Avoid a Sales Pitch: An occasional post about you if fine but focus primarily on useful information that directly or indirectly elevates the brand

More detail can be found in this infographic.