inputs > outcomes: how to make your content marketing invincible
TRANSCRIPT
A Process of Discovery
“Michelin Man”
CARDIO
Under-ate
Smaller, Not Healthier
A Journey That Changed My Worldview
Discovery #1
Prioritized lean body mass (LBM), not overall weight
Discovery #2
Focused on “simple but not easy,” especially with regard to exercise
selection
Discovery #3
Different from everyone else—focused on moving better, not simply
looking—in their approach
Discovery #4
Focused on the process—better looking, better movement, better
health was a by-product of the work, not the focus of it.
Discovery #5
Main variables determining success or failure: diet, exercise, recovery,
stress management and sleep
Putting It Together
Goal (e.g., more LBM, less fat) baked into the Process (e.g., exercise, etc.)
Eureka Moment!
Inputs > Outcomes
Same Soup, Different Bowl
More and better content
Same Soup, Different Bowl
More and better content
Grow traffic & links
Same Soup, Different Bowl
MelbourneSEO
Same Soup, Different Bowl
More and better content
More traffic & links
Be No. 1 on the Google
Get Real
Lack Resources
10/15/16 23
Grow traffic & links Website trapped in
1997
24
Branding is
Nonexistent
Same Soup, New Bowl
More and better content
More traffic & links
Be No. 1 on the Google
Outcomes
Same Soup, New Bowl
Mastered Boring stuff
Didn’t chase shiny things
Did things differently
Inputs
In Content Marketing, the thinking goes…
We Know the Right Inputs
+ More Content
More Links = CItations
We Know The Work That Matters vs. Doesn’t
Don’t Do Do Every Day
Create Blog Posts Manual Link Outreach
Posting to Google Plus New Facebook Posts
Asking for Google Reviews Monitor Review Sites
A Focus on Outcome vs. Input Metrics Can Yield Success
Outcome
Outcome
Outcome
Focusing on Outcome Metrics vs. Inputs Will Bring Success
My Single Best SEO Tip for Improved Web Traffic, by Cyrsu Shepard
How Do We Remedy This?
Goals For Content Marketing 3
#1 — Awareness & Visibility
#2 — Reputation & Brand Trust
#3 — Loyalty
Via Contently
We’re good at #1 and #2; Few truly understand #3
Instead of Measuring What Matters, We Measure
Everything
Blindly Chase Shiny Things
These elements might be well correlated with sites that tend to rank well, but that doesn’t mean they’re the best investments your
site can make?
Via Moz’s 2015 Google Ranking Factors
Via Rand Fishkin’s Art of Product Marketing Presentation
We Don’t Foster a Culture of Iteration
We Don’t Understand The ‘Why’
Our Comfort Zone Is Measuring Output
Via Moz’s 1Metric Content Tracking System
Our biggest challenge to finding consistent content marketing success.
Identifying the Work that Creates Improvement
Identifying the Best Targets for the Correct Metrics
Theory for Content Marketing Success
Tolerance
Adherence
Repetition
Putting Theory To The Test
Each Effort Can be Broken Down:
Work Metrics Goal(s)
Eat less, train more
Scale weight < 230 lbs
Lose weight
Each Effort Can be Broken Down:
Work Metrics Goal(s)
Eat less, train more &
test
Scale weight < 230 lbs
Lose weight
Output
Waist: 37
Hips: 42.5
Jan. — Mar.
Output
Input
The Work That Moved The Needle
Input
The Work That Moved The Needle
Train: 2 -3X/week
Jan. — Mar. Apr. — Oct.
Train: 4X/week + 30-45m walk/day
Tracked meals/snacks
Tracked meals/snacks
Waist: 37
Hips: 42.5
Jan. — Mar. Apr. — Oct.
Waist: 35 1/8
Hips: 41 1/8 Output
The Results Don’t Tell The Story
“There is growth in every process, but not in ANY outcome.” — Eric Cressey, Cressey Sports Performance
“An outcome is result. It’s what happens when the work is done.
— Eric Cressey, Cressey Sports Performance
Outcome-oriented
I want to be lean and ripped in 30 days
Process-oriented I’m going to eat more lean protein and
vegetables, in addition to getting 60 minutes of exercise per day.
What Ultimately Matters
Exercising in am
Adding to schedule
Plan all meals
No snacks before first meal
200g/protein daily
200 oz./water daily
200 oz./water daily
Nudges
This is what’s missing from our current approach to content marketing.
We ignore the inputs that create those outcomes.
We measure the outcomes.
NUDGES, which make consistent success more reliable.
We aren’t even aware of our
What are the (unspoken) everyday actions that consistently improve your content marketing efforts?
When we commit to _______, we achieve success by _______.
When we commit to blogging more frequently, we achieve success by
attaining more links.
When we commit to on page SEO, we achieve success by increased web visits.
Our Job: Find the Best Targets
Regular Content Creation?
Establish metrics for content cadence, and
you’ll know the benefits of 1X/week
vs. 1X/month.
Customer Service?
Great customer service helps move
the needle with reviews.
Infrequent, Higher-Effort Content?
Many times, one piece of extraordinary content every quarter or even every year
can be enough.
See Rand’s List of 10X Content
Social Shares? Or Social Followers?
What actions earn social engagement? Are they worthwhile?
Via Followerwonk
Interacting in Online Communities?
A few replies a week, or each month, may have a
compounding impact
Mainstream or Niche Media Coverage
Press outreach, or crafting a press-worthy story/event each month could be a worthwhile
endeavor
More Keyword-Focused Pages? A handful of
keyword-focused pages could have a
big, long term impact.
Site Crawl to Find and Fix Issues
Fixing, redirecting, and/or finding the linking sources to these may drive
additional rankings & traffic.
Comment Marketing?
Guest Blogging
Via Eric Enge, Search Engine Land
Concerted-Effort Outreach
Each Effort Can be Broken Down:
Work Put up two Facebook
posts/week
Fix any broken links
Pitch a guest contribution 1X/month
Participate in three discussion threads/week
Each Effort Can be Broken Down:
Work Metrics Put up two Facebook
posts/week
Fix any broken links
Pitch a guest contribution 1X/month
Participate in three discussion threads/week
FB shares, new page likes, traffic
Traffic increase
Acceptance of post, traffic driven
Traffic from discussion site
Each Effort Can be Broken Down:
Work Metrics Goal(s) Put up two Facebook
posts/week
Fix any broken links
Pitch a guest contribution 1X/month
Participate in three discussion threads/week
FB shares, new page likes, traffic
Traffic increase
Acceptance of post, traffic driven
Traffic from discussion site
Grow reach on & through Facebook
Direct+search bump
Visibility to new audience, traffic
Brand awareness, branded search
Each Effort Can be Broken Down:
Work Metrics Goal(s)
Fix any broken links
Traffic Increase
Direct+search bump
Curtail daily meetings
Nudge
The Wrong Way to do Content Marketing:
Grow Traffic to the Blog
Our site’s traffic blows, folks.
Assign Target(s)
Let’s get traffic to the site up by 300% this
month, guys.
Do Work Assumed To Help Us Reach Goals
Looks like we can find some links over there, y’all.
Measure Results
Wake me when this gets interesting
A NEW WAY to Do MARKETING:
Determine Nudges, Work Items & Metrics to Monitor
You have my attention.
Limit all meetings to only essential parties Post two blogs
per week
Increased social sharing, distribution, engagement, reach Brand mentions,
traffic and links
Discern What Work Moves Which Needles
We can do this. Right?
Measure the work against work targets, not simply
metrics goals
I’ve never been more proud of you.
Double Down on Work that Improves the Metrics
You Care About Most
We go this.
Improve The Time to Goal Achievement
I never doubted you.
Make it a Habit
Refine
Revise
Repeat
Tool(s):
My favorite tool: Trello
Trello
