When your startup masters content marketing, you set yourself up for great SEO with killer backlink opportunities. This content marketing playbook is made for startups. It breaks content marketing into 7 simple steps - with worksheets along the way. So you can engage in content marketing (including content creation and promotion) like a pro. And get incredible short- and long-term results.
2. Content marketing gets 3x the number of leads vs paid search
Content creation is the single most effective SEO technique
27 million pieces of content are shared every day
80% of decision-makers want to learn new info from articles vs ads
82% of consumers feel more positive about a business after
consuming custom content
Why you're 100% right to
be focusing on content:
3. How to Use This
Content Marketing Playbook
1. Read these seven repeatable, proven steps.
2. Remember that content creation and content
marketing aren’t part of a perfectly linear process.
3. Get a sense of the big picture (especially if you’re
just getting your content marketing plan off the
ground) and return to each step when you need to.
4. Set Your Direction
01 Define why you’re creating
content, who you’re creating
it for, and what you want to
achieve from it.
5. Answer these 6 Questions:
1. What do you hope to accomplish with your content marketing?
2. Is there demand for your content? What are the pain points you can solve with
your content and are there enough people paying attention to justify your plan?
3. What valuable experience can you deliver at each stage of the buyer’s journey?
4. What resources do you have to execute your plan? Will it impact other
marketing initiatives? Do you have the team to execute? If not, what's missing?
5. Do you have the time? Not only to execute but to start seeing results? Are you
willing to put in the work, over the long term?
6. What happens if your strategy fails? What do you have to lose if it does? Is it
worth the risk?
6. We’ll become the best ________________ for
___________________ who are interested in
__________________. This will help us become
the ________________ and ________________.
And unlike _____________, we do
______________ differently by _______________.
Now fill in the blanks
Your Content Marketing Mission Statement:
8. Use the 'Jobs‐to‐be‐done' Framework
JTBD Framework takes out the “who” and focuses instead on the
“what” and “why” of consumer behavior. It frames purchasing
decisions as a choice to “hire” a product or service to do a job.
“The customer is the wrong unit of analysis for
innovators to focus on. Instead, focus on the job
that customers are trying to get done when they
use your product or service.”
9. 1. Start by interviewing people who have purchased and used your
product or service or one similar to it.
2. Interview in teams of 2. That way, while you’re jotting down a note or
thinking about a response, your interview partner can jump in and keep things
moving.
3. Ask them actual questions about their struggles. For example, start
with, “Take me back to the last time you did your taxes.” Then, like a
cameraman, inspect that moment from all angles until you find the story. Then
move on to the next point in their journey, looking for the struggle.
4. Avoid assumptions. We may think that a person is doing their taxes while
sitting at home, when in fact, it’s the week before taxes are due, they’re on a
cramped airplane that’s about to land, and they’re desperately trying to finish
before the steward comes by and tells them to close their laptop.
Implement JTBD for better interviews
10. 03
Choose Your Channel
Pick the best place to deliver
your content and maximize it for
each stage in the buying cycle.
16. #2 ‐ Idea Intake Machine
Keep a living doc in Google docs or Airstory
for worthy topics you come across or come
up with to delve into.
Sort by type to maintain content diversity:
Educational
Topical
Self-interest
Storytelling & Case Studies
Curation
Fresh Spin on an old idea
18. Find a blog, a group or a social media platform hosted by
someone talking to people who want your content.
Give those people awesome, useful content.
Make them say, “Holy hell! Where can I get more of that?”
Include a link to more of your content.
Keep on producing the kind of content that’s so good they’ll
cry when it’s gone because nobody else does it like you do.
#5 A Happening Place to Share Your Ideas
19. Promote More Than
Seems Reasonable
05Exhaust every relevant outlet to
get people talking about your
content and see long-term returns.
21. 3 Ways To Ensure You're
Maxing Out On Promotion
1. Create a “Marketing Promotion Checklist” spreadsheet
Track what you're doing, when you did it, and what happened
2. Make a list of all of the places you could be promoting your content
Prioritize opportunities in the channels you decided to focus on in step 3
3. Each time you create a new piece of content, consult your
"Marketing Promotion Checklist" results to guide you
See what channels are giving you the best results and if you're already doing
great, start experimenting with your next channel of choice.
23. 4 Key Metrics for Measuring Success
Measuring the ROI for content takes time. In some cases, it can take a
minimum of six months for a campaign to produce enough data to even
analyze whether or not it’s working.
But that doesn’t mean you have to wait to monetize your business...
Consumption
Sharing
Leads
Sales