Steps to Creating Compelling Marketing Content that Gets Noticed Jennifer Culbertson | Looking Glass Marketing October 21, 2013

What is Content Marketing and Why Does it Matter?

What’s Happening Today? B2B Benchmark Study

Tips for Creating Great Content

Content Exercises –

• Blog

• Landing Page

• Email

Today’s Agenda

What is Content Marketing?

• Content marketing isn’t necessarily new, it is rapidly evolving.

• Content marketing is the art of creating and delivering the relevant content, to the right audience, at the right time to improve awareness, acquisition and retention and ultimately spur organizational growth.

• Helps to drive trust in a company or brand and creates a connection.

• Needs to map to business goals and be a core part of your marketing plan and strategy.

Marketing is Next Impossible Without Great Content

• Content marketing needs to be part of your process, not something separate. Quality content impacts all parts of marketing: – SEO: Search engines reward businesses that publish

quality, consistent content.

– PPC: For PPC to work, you need great content behind it.

– Social media sites: gain attention and feed information with quality content

– Inbound marketing: Content is key to driving inbound traffic and leads to your website

2014 B2B Benchmark Study

What’s Happening Today?

2014 B2B Content Marketing Benchmark Report reveals that B2B marketers are:

• Spending more on content marketing

• Using more tactics

• Using more social networks

Content Marketing Benchmark

Over 90% are using content marketing

Top Tactics

1. Social Media (other than blogs)

2. Articles on Website

3. eNewsletters

4. Blogs

5. In-person Events

6. Case Studies

7. Videos

B-to-B Content Marketing Tactic Usage

Average 6 platforms used:

1. LinkedIn

2. Twitter

3. Facebook

4. YouTube

5. Google+

6. Slideshare

Top Social Media Sites Used

Top 5 Challenges:

1. Lack of Time

2. Producing Enough Content

3. Producing Engaging Content

4. Lack of Budget

5. Producing Variety of Content

Content Marketing Challenges

• What are your issues?

– Time

– Resources

– Ideas

– Budget

– Buy-in

Issues with Creating Great Content

• To help, some marketers outsource writing, design, content distribution, etc.

What’s Being Outsourced?

• Improved Web Traffic

• Better Lead Quality

• Increased Social Media Sharing

• Improved SEO Ranking

• More Time Spent on Website

• Some Direct Sales

Top B2B Content Successes

Most Effective Content Marketers…

Tips to Creating Great Content

10 Tips for Creating Great Content

1. Know Your Audience 2. Deliver Value 3. Stick to a Strategy 4. Repurpose Content 5. Dedicate Resources, Time and Expertise 6. Experiment with Content Types 7. Map Content to Sales Cycle 8. Consider Outsourcing 9. Use Analytics 10. Be Consistent, Repeat and Adjust

1. Know Your Audience

• Beyond typical demographics, look at: – What are the common questions among target audience? – What are their common pain points or frustrations? – What are the common strengths and weaknesses with

target? – What does a typical day look like within target audience? – What type of content are they accessing and where? – What’s their role in purchasing process?

• Develop buyer personas that help answer these questions

• Buyer Persona Template - http://offers.hubspot.com/free-template-creating-buyer-personas

1. Findable – Can the reader find you? – Include header tags and meta tags – Links to other content on site – Alt tag description for images

2. Readable – Can they read the content? – Most important information upfront – Keep paragraphs short, use bullets and lists

3. Understandable – Do they understand it? – Include visuals – Match content to audience – Never underestimate reader

4. Actionable – Will the reader want to take action? – Tell people what to do – call to action – Provide a place for comments/feedback – Link to related information they may like to read

5. Shareable – Will the reader want to share content? – Ask reader to share and make it easy for them with

buttons, etc. – Provide a reason to share i.e. this might help

someone else with same issue

2. Deliver Value

3. Stick to a Strategy

• Align content with business and sales goals

• Have a goal for each type of content

– Download information

– Sign-up for webinar

• Create an editorial calendar to schedule content, frequency and accountability

4. Repurpose Content

• Don’t recreate the wheel each time. What can you repurpose? – Conference/event material – Well-received Presentations – Case Studies – Strong Performing Pieces – Highly Trafficked Content – Book – what pieces are strong and repackage – Blog posts – highlight top posts of the month – Newsletter content – Develop an Infographic – Develop Videos – Customer Testimonials

5. Dedicate Resources, Time and Expertise

• Content Team:

– Content Leadership/Management – A person who will champion the content cause in the organization.

– Content Creators – From copywriters, web developers and creative design

– Internal Subject Matter Experts – core team of staff who provide ideas and can dedicated time

• You are not alone! Ask for help

• People respond to all types of content: – Newsletters

– Whitepapers

– Webinars

– Videos

– Case Studies

– Events

– Blog Posts

– Infographics

– eBooks

– Tip Sheets

• Bricks vs. Feathers

– “Bricks” are content types that take more time to produce but tend to have higher payoff (i.e. whitepaper, video series, case study)

– “Feathers” are small, lower-stakes content (i.e. blog posts, tweets)

– Include a mix, differentiate and see what works

6. Experiment with Different Content Types

• Prospects are hyper-researching everything

• Research indicates that 70 percent of B2B purchase decisions are made before a prospect ever contacts a company

• Key have different pieces of information at various stages of purchase/sales cycle

7. Map Content to Sales Cycle

8. Consider Outsourcing

• Helps keep content fresh and consistent • Saves time with quick turnaround • Take advantage of outside expertise who can:

– write engaging, compelling content – optimize content to get more traffic from search engines – use calls to action

• Consider for: – Whitepapers – Articles – Case Studies – Newsletters – Blogging

9. Use Your Analytics

• Make sure your content is on the right track, and continuously evaluate the success of your content: – Web Traffic Analytics – Review stats, topics that received

most page views – Keyword Search – paid and organic – see what keywords

are showing up more frequently – Social Media – Number of Followers and Shares on

LinkedIn, Twitter, Slideshare – Review and keep track of:

• What the topic was • What the headline/message was • Who created the content • How many people shared the content

10. Be Consistent and Make Adjustments

• Content is a commitment and to be good, you need to be consistent

• Gone are the days of static websites

• You have to consistently "feed the beast", adding and distributing new content on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis

• Repeat successes and keep producing content that people are responding to

• Identify weaker content and adjust where needed

Content Exercises

Blog Content

• Blog Title – – Search engines will only show 65 or so

characters so keep short – Include keywords at beginning of title

• Content – Be useful, answer a question, help solve a problem

• Make Easy to Read – Include bullet points, sub-heads, images, bold, italics, etc.

• Be conversational - Write in a way that speaks to your reader

• Include links to your website and other content that is useful

• Include call to action and offer • Include a byline about author • Make content shareable

Blog - What To Do

• Blog Title – Lack of specific keywords

• Scan-ability – Hard to read and lacks bullet points, sub-heads, images, bold, italics, etc.

• Need to spell out acronyms

• No linking to your website and other content that is useful

• No call to action

• No by-line about author

What’s Wrong with this Blog Post?

Landing Page

• Logo – No brainer! Important that your brand is

consistent with other marketing elements

• Form – Only ask for key information and keep them short

• Tagline - Right from the moment a prospect arrives on your landing page, make sure they understand your offer and all that comes with it thru a captivating and clear tagline (or headline).

• K.I.S.S. Copy - "Keep It Short and Sweet" and it is important that you simplify key benefits with bullet points.

• Visuals - Visuals can be anything from the cover of an eBook to other pieces of your brand that will entertain the eye of a prospect.

• Call To Action - Place below your form and is the most important element of your landing page and should stand out.

• Social Proof - Testimonials, customer logos, and your company's address are trust indicators.

Landing Page - What To Do

• Image is too small

• Tagline not descriptive

• Form asks for too much information

• Call to action button not large enough

• Too much copy

• Testimonial too small and long

What’s Wrong with this Landing Page?

Email Marketing

Email Marketing - What To Do

• Email Subject Line - Beyond testing your subject line through spam filters, ensure your subject line is 50 characters or less.

• 2-Line Headline – First sentence main headline with offer. Second line explaining your offer.

• Personalized Greeting – Adds personal touch and helps engage one-on-one.

• Graphics/Images – Include eye-catching visual that can potentially sell your company's offer.

• 1, 2, 3 Body –

1. Introduction what is the offer

2. Bullet points preview or summarizing points in offer

3. Provoke a sense of urgency and why it’s relevant to them

• Call To Action Button - call to action can also persuade a recipient to visit the landing page for your offer.

• Opt-out – Always include way to people to opt-out of communication

• Contact information – Include your company information at bottom

• Subject line

• Body of email screams “I want to sell you something”

• The email is all about the sender

• Weak call to action

• No contact information at end of email

• No opt out

• No visual

What’s Wrong with this Email?

Content Marketing Resources

• Copyblogger – Copyblogger is one of the premier sites for content marketing. You’ll find tips on copywriting, content marketing, SEO copywriting, e-mail marketing, keyword research, landing pages, internet marketing, and more.

• Content Marketing Institute (CMI) - Site is full of practical, how-to guidance, you’ll also find insight and advice from the experts, and an active community for discussing the latest news, information, and advances that are moving the industry forward.

• How To Create An Editorial Calendar – Learn how to create an editorial calendar for social media (or any content).

• Creating Valuable Content - A Step-By-Step Checklist • Write the Best Titles for Content Marketing - A 10-point checklist • Buyer Persona Template - Customizable Buyer Persona Template • B2B Content Marketing - 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends • Marketing Know-How Blog – Tips and tricks to make you a better marketer

Wrap Up

• Marketing consulting with expertise working with Microsoft Dynamics partner organizations.

• Services include:

– Virtual Marketing Director program

– On-demand Marketing Resource Desk via Email

– Marketing Execution and Project Management

– Writing/Content Development (Case Studies, Blogs, Whitepapers, Web)

• Questions? Contact me:

• Jennifer Culbertson jennifer@lookingglassmarketing.com 614-453-5927

Wrap Up

• Drawing! Provide your email/business card to me and enter to win a free month of Marketing Resource Desk services.

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