building your strategy 10 guiding principals to execute ... · 2 own your content own your media...

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OWN YOUR CONTENT OWN YOUR MEDIA

Creating an Effective Content Marketing Strategy

Building Your Strategy

10 Guiding Principals to Execute the Strategy

Building a Full Funnel Content Marketing Plan

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Content marketing is the voluntary delivery of highly relevant, educational, inspirational information to a targeted audience of prospects and existing customers with the objective of increasing awareness, consideration, brand advocacy, and driving customer acquisition.

What Is Content Marketing?

Roy Williams, an advertising pro who’s been studying why people do what they do for decades, once said:

“In marketing, you must choose between boredom,

shouting and seduction…. Which do you want?”

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What is “Content”?

Content in the broadest sense of the word.

Source

“Editorially” Created

Curated

Evidence-Based

Purpose

Customer-Serving

Self-Serving

Content TypesText

AudioVideo

ImageryTools

InteractivePollsLive

FormatsArticleseZinesApps

Slide ShowsInfographics

MicrositesSocial Posts

Guides/White PaperseBooksBlogs

NewslettersContinuity Series

Web Casts/WebinarsPodcasts

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Developing and Implementing an Effective Strategy“A good strategy is a specific and coherent response

to – and approach for – overcoming the obstacles for progress”Richard Rumelt, Author, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy


THE CHALLENGE: Become the “go-to resource” for small to mid-sized businesses that need IT expertise and technology infrastructure to fuel their growth.

GUIDING PRINCIPALSExpand IT services portfolio to appeal to a broader audience and opportunity to sell deeper.Communicate our thought leadership, expertise and knowledge of the market more effectively.

Action Plan: Content• Build trust in our market

by helping prospects and customers better understand how and why technology can fuel their growth.

• Develop and deploy a thought leadership platform and full funnel content marketing plan to broaden our reach, increase consideration and generate demand.

Developing and Implementing an Effective Strategy

Execution eats strategy’s lunch…

THE SITUATION Cloud-based IT services are the firm’s core revenue generators.

ACME Technology Services Serving the IT needs of small to mid-sized entrepreneurial companies.

THE DILEMMACloud based services is a crowded, hyper-competitive market where “product” and service is perceived to be a commodity.

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#1: Philosophy: Give Before You Ask

We live in a world of “ask”… follow the different path and give before you ask.

Great content marketing is rooted in effectively influencing customers and prospects to buy.

Executing a Content Marketing Plan

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#2: Get Buy-in from All Stakeholders

Understand ContentMarketing’s Value

Driving brand differentiationBuilding sales relationships

Retaining customersIncreasing share of customerCreating brand advocatesGenerating qualified leads

Lowering cost per lead

Communicate ContentMarketing Value

EmployeesManagement

InvestorsCustomersVendors

Present Your CaseYour current challenge

The role of content marketing to overcome the challenge

The action plan

Launch, Build, Test, Improve Performance

Social followingsRe-blogs

Keyword rankingsSite visitsBacklinks

Inbound callsLeadsSales


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#3: Know and Understand Your Objectives

0% 50% 100%

OrganizationalGoals for Content

Marketing

82%: Brand Awareness

74%: Lead Generation

71%: Customer Acquisition

68% : Thought Leadership

64%: Engagement

57%: Website Traffic

57%_ Retention/Loyalty

47%: Lead Nurturing/Sales

* Source – 2017 B2B Content Marketing Trends, North America

Enterprise-Level Marketing Organizations


9Help your customers and prospects solve problems and challenges; address and appeal to their interests.

#4: Understand Your Audience (Their Commonalities and Differences)

Technology Services Buyer Personas (All entrepreneurial companies have two things in common)

They’re Looking for:

They’re Focused On:

Their Enemy:

Their Vulnerability:

Their Key Challenges:

A great idea to change MY world A great idea to change THE world

The product The business

Failure Complacency

Risk aversion with tendency to Embracing failure too much with anot see the forest for the trees tendency not to see the tree for the

forest

Expertise, knowledge, stability, service Opportunity, innovation, vision Their Core Values:

Staying current, deepening knowledge, Focus/choosing a courseprotecting my niche

The Artisan The Crusader


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#5: Know the Difference Between Market-Serving and Marketer-Serving Content and When To Use Each Type Independently and Together

Market-Serving Content

Serves customer needs and

interests only.“The Give”

Marketer-ServingContent

Serves the interests of the

marketer.The “Ask

Market- and Marketer-Serving The juxtapositionor adjacency of

market and marketer serving

content

Avoid the thinly veiled sales pitch!


ObjectiveBroaden reach to

drive maximum engagementand increase consideration.

ObjectiveLeverage

engagement and consideration in

product and service

messaging.

ObjectiveTo drive cross-selling, lead

generation, and activation,

typically deeper in the sales funnel.

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The Juxtaposition of Market- and Marketer-Serving ContentMarketer-Serving Market-Serving Market-Serving Marketer-Serving

Market-serving content increases consideration that leads to higher engagement in marketer serving content

Comcast Michael Hyatt


#6: Understand the Type of Sales Relationships You Need to Build and Nurture

Contractual Customer

purchasing through formal

agreement. Profitable on net present value of

contract, but susceptible to

aggressive tactics from competitors.

Transactional

Repeat purchasing of product or

service stimulated with promotion or rewards programs.

Loyalty can be difficult to sustain

and rewards programs are

ubiquitous.

Functional

Product attributes are perceived as

superior. Often the first hope of efforts to differentiate. But

with perceivedcommodity-like

services, this level is difficult to

sustain.

Affinity

The customer develops

preference to product or service based on appeal

to individual’s needs, values,

sensibilities, unique characteristics.

A well-executed content marketing strategy helps drive all types of salesrelationships, leading to more durable—and profitable—affinity relationships.

Marketers must nurture the relationship between contract cycles.

Marketers need to drive customers into deeper levels of sales relationships.

Marketers must focus on building multi-level sales relationships.

Customers identify with your brand seeking nonfunctional benefits from the association or experience.


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Create content relevant to your customer profiles or personas…

Quality of Content Over QuantityInform, educate, inspire

to scale engagement

Tap independent contractorsto write and edit your content

Consider hiring college studentspart-time to write and edit content

#7: Develop the Right Resources and Create Quality Content for Maximum Engagement

—


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#8: Know—and Understand—the Metrics You Need to Measure

Brand Awareness

Thought Leadership

Consideration

Lead Generation

ActivationLoyalty

Sales

Lead Qualification

Community

Brand Advocacy

Engagement

Referrals

Social Following

Cross-Selling

Retention

LifetimeValue

Convert


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#9: Measure Performance for Trending and Improvement Over Time

Where is it working?

SearchMetricsSpyFuSEMRush

Track keyword rankings

Authority LabsSEOmozRank TrackerGoogle keyword tool

Backlink growth

Open Site ExplorerMajestic SEOLink Diagnosis

Engagement Analytics


WEBSITE

E-NEWSLETTERS

SOCIAL MEDIA

TRADE GROUPS

SALES ORG

ArticlesVideos

White PapersWebinars

InfographicsProducts &

Services

Leverage Content AcrossMultiple Distribution

Channels

Content Engagement Builds Contextually Relevant Audiences

Prospects Interactor Download

Content

Qualified Leads to Sales Organization

and NurturingPrograms

OWN YOUR CONTENT OWN YOUR MEDIA16

BLOGS

#10: Leverage Your Content Across Multiple Distribution Channels to Maximize the Return on Your Investment


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LET’S BRING YOU INTO THE CONVERSATION

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WWW.ONCOREMEDIA.NET

BOB LAPOINTEPRESIDENT & FOUNDING PARTNER [email protected]

Thematic Pillars“Pillars” synchronizedto strategy for credibility and engagement

“Give”: Market-serving, short-form content tells the storyand fuels the top of the engagement funnel.

Short-form content types: Videos, Articles, Social Posts

“Give and Ask”: Market-serving content with product and service integration creates need, increases consideration.

“Ask”: Email address, customerprospect data

collection

ActivationCross Sell

Thematic/Inspirational -Short form to drive scale ofengagement, and-Thematic content posted withfrequency across distribution channels.

Organic SearchSEO, SEM

Informative/Educational - Short-form content with productand service integration,- Social posts, and- Case study posts with product/serviceintegration;

Build Brand Voice, Awareness, Consideration, and ActivationContent Engagement

Instructional / Solutions Gated community requiring registration.Access to deeper, long form content

Develop and Deploy a Unique, First-in-class, Strategic, “Full Funnel” Content Marketing Initiative That Clearly and Quantifiably:1) Underscores and communicates your understanding of, and commitmentto, entrepreneurial companies;

2) Fuels the top of the sales funnel by delivery of highly relevant content to increase engagement and activity;

3) Increases consideration for your products and services by providing mutual value; and

4) Pulls engaged entrepreneurs, community members, social media followers and existing customers to activation.

Registration Gate

Product and

Service

Build Community Leveraged Distribution

Third Party Distribution Outbrain, YouMe, Dataxu, Nativo, Zapp360

Nurturing ProgramsLeverage content for retention;

Media Partner DistributionNative advertising

Social Media SyndicationLinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

PR CampaignsRecurring releases, trade journals

CloudPower

Remote Office

Content Strategy, Implementation, and Leveraged Distribution

Tech As CompetitiveAdvantage

Influencer Network Socialization

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WWW.ONCOREMEDIA.NET

BOB LAPOINTEPRESIDENT & FOUNDING PARTNER [email protected]

building your strategy 10 guiding principals to execute ... · 2 own your content own your media...

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