Engaging Content Marketing Strategy You Can Stick To
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The document provides guidance on developing an effective content marketing strategy. It discusses challenges with content marketing, including lack of clear goals, unengaging content, inconsistent production and distribution, and inability to measure effectiveness. It then outlines steps to create engaging content, such as understanding buyer personas, mapping content to the buyer's journey, and ensuring content is findable online. The document also discusses ways to efficiently produce content at scale, such as repurposing existing content, and how to promote content through various channels. It stresses the importance of testing content to determine what is most effective and driving ROI.
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Engaging Content Marketing Strategy You Can Stick To
- 1. © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Engaging Content Marketing: A Strategy You Can Stick To Heidi Bullock, VP Demand Generation @HeidiBullock
- 2. © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Content Marketing!
- 3. © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential
- 4. Page 4© 2014 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential 2900 Marketing messages per day vying for your customer’s attention2 But Today’s Digital World has Made it Hard 1. Sirius Decisions 2. Forrester 3. Marketing Sherpa 90%Of a customer’s journey today is self directed1 50%of all purchasing decisions are influenced by third- parties3
- 5. Page 5 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Content marketing helps your brand stand out.
- 6. Page 6 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential …and reduces risk for your buyers.
- 7. © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Many marketers face challenges with content marketing.
- 8. Page 8 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential
- 10. Page 10 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential 5 Main Challenges – Boiled Down 1. Clarity on your goal or purpose. 2. Creating engaging content. i.e. -> not a snooze-fest for your buyer 3. Consistent and scalable production of content 4. Successful amplification of your content. If no one can find it – that’s a problem. 5. Measurement – what works? How effective is your content?
- 11. © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Identify / Prioritize Your Goals
- 12. Page 12 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential
- 13. Page 13 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Do not just jump to content tactics… ebooks blog webinars slideshare white papers infographics I just love infographics!
- 14. Page 14 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Goals for Content Marketing
- 15. Page 15 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Set and prioritize your goals Content Marketing Goal Related Metrics Drive thought leadership Ex: Klout, pr mentions, increase in social (Twitter, FB) Increase brand awareness Ex: share of voice (can measure share of traffic), increase in social (Twitter, FB) Lead generation Ex: Increase in key metrics (tofu, mofu, bofu) -> # downloads, # leads, # opps Customer acquisition Ex: # new customers, time to acquire Customer retention / loyalty Ex: NPS, #existing customers, renewals, turnover
- 16. © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Creating Engaging Content – 7 Step Plan
- 17. Page 17 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential New! 7 golden rules for content 1. Meaningful to the reader 2. Actionable 3. Sharable 4. Findable 5. Relevant to your company 6. Readable 7. Consistent online and offline
- 18. Page 18 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Step 1: Buyer Personas + Research Who are you selling to? What do they care about?
- 19. Page 19 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Step 2: Understand the buyer’s journey
- 20. Page 20 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Step 3: Tell a story and have a point of view 1. Compile your data 2. Create a narrative 3. Have a unifying theme – your POV! I’m the customer and I’m the hero!
- 21. Page 21 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Example: Creating Your Story • Digital marketing has changed how we buy • Unique opportunity for marketers • To succeed, marketers need become stewards of the customer journey, and to build bonds with customers wherever they are • How? • Marketo can help marketers communicate across channels that is consistent, personal, and targeted.
- 22. Page 22 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Style Guide • Target audience • Your brand message • Voice • Tone • Layout • Brand elements
- 23. Page 23 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Research data, funny videos, curated lists, infographics, thought leadership Step 4: Map content to buying stage Thought leadership and entertainment to build brand and awareness Tools that help buyers find you when they are looking for solutions Company-specific information to help evaluate and reaffirm selection Buying guides, RFP templates, ROI calculators, whitepapers, analyst reports, webinars Pricing, demos, services information, 3rd party reviews, customer case studies Early Stage - Awareness Middle Stage - Evaluation Late Stage - Purchase
- 24. Page 24 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Use common sense No, it’s our first date! I’m not ready for a trial of your software either! Will you marry me?
- 25. Page 25 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Step 5: Figure out what you have, what you need
- 26. Page 26 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Step 6: Is your Content ‘Findable’ 1. Social promotion 2. H1 Tag 3. >2 H2 Tags 4. Metadata – including title, descriptors, keywords 5. Links to related content 6. Alt tags for images
- 27. Page 27 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Step 7: Frequency
- 28. © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Lean Content Creation
- 29. Page 29 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Content creation can be tricky
- 30. Page 30 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential But, how do you create more content without a team of 40 writers? My budget is cut… I only have the PPC manager…
- 31. Page 31 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Content is not just whitepapers! • eBooks • Blog posts • Videos • Podcasts • SlideShare presentations • Infographics • Moving Infographics • Activity books/worksheets • Articles • Webinars • And of course landing pages!
- 32. Page 32 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Visual content can help you stand out VS.eBook - 29,000 Views Slideshare - 367,000 Views
- 33. Page 33 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential THE 3 R’s OF CONTENT MARKETING Optimization Repurpose, Rewrite, Retire
- 34. Page 34 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Rewrite and redesign Before After
- 35. Page 35 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Repurpose: Taco Bell Content Strategy
- 36. Page 36 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential “Big Rock” content example Definitive Guide to MA: Webinars: Ebooks: Infographics:
- 37. Page 37 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Repurpose blogs
- 38. Page 38 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Blog
- 39. Page 39 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Retire I was the best webinar in 2012.
- 40. © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Promoting Your Content: A Sample Plan
- 41. Page 41 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential The Asset The Definitive Guide to Social Marketing
- 42. Page 42 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Webinars • Webinar 1: The Definitive Guide to Social Marketing • Registrants: 2,775 Attendees: 588 • Recorded Asset: 14,000 Views • Webinar 2: The ROI of Social Marketing • Registrants: 2,289 Attendees: 568 • Recorded Asset: 3,000 Views
- 43. Page 43 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential On Your Website 238K views
- 44. Page 44 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential On Your Blog
- 45. Page 45 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Email Promotions Rolling Launch: 4 Email Sends to Database
- 46. Page 46 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Social Promotions • Facebook Tab: 10,854 Views, 2,680 Form Fill-outs • Facebook Ads: 2620 Downloads • Twitter Ads: 1,430 views, 31 Form Fill-outs • SlideShare: 7,641 views, 312 Downloads
- 47. © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Optimize for Mid-Funnel.
- 48. Page 48 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Successful nurture
- 49. Page 49 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Lead Nurturing Relevance 1. Buying Stages 2. Persona 3. Interest/Industry/Location 4. Dynamic Content
- 50. Page 50 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Content Approach - Nurturing Early (Pre-Opp) Be a Better Marketer Blog Posts Funny Videos Infographics Thought Leadership Mid (Pre-Opp) Why Marketing Automation Buying Guides RFP Templates ROI Calculators Whitepapers Research Late (Post-Opp) Why Marketo Pricing Demos Video Testimonials Case Studies
- 51. © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Program ROI
- 52. Page 52 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Key questions to ask • Which content assets work best for you at TOFU, MOFU, BOFU • Which content assets are best performing for a particular vendor (ex: paid email)? • Which assets are good for bringing in qualified leads? • Which assets are good for opportunity creation? • What content works best in nurturing? • What blog post topics have the best engagement?
- 53. Page 53 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Source: Marketo Revenue Cycle Analytics, Apr 2014 * Percentage of all programs in channel that achieve MT Ratio > 5 Inbound + Nurture = 58% of (MT) Pipeline Paid Programs = 42% of (MT) Pipeline
- 54. Page 54 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Example Website – 23K views, 10,283 downloads Email – 2,730 clicked Slideshare – 7,693 views Social impressions – 1,149 Good BEST
- 55. Page 55 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Leverage Data to Determine Best Offer For Each Vendor Consider offer data, program goal, content asset, and content stage to make final determination.
- 56. Page 56 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Content ROI Make sure stakeholders agree on the criteria. Establish Goals and ROI Estimates Up-Front Design Programs to Be Measurable Focus on the Decisions that Improve ROI
- 57. Page 57 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential Tweetable Takeaways 1.Without a goal – you can’t score. Be clear on your objectives for content. 2.Your content needs to be engaging! Make sure you are telling a story with your content. 3.Ensure your content message is consistent across channels – including offline! 4.If your content can’t be found – it sort of doesn’t matter. 5.Think lean – repurpose when possible. 6.Test and compare your content offers - know what works for your business. @heidi.bullock
- 58. Page 58 © 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential But wait, there’s more!!! http://bit.ly/1nzavZS
Editor's Notes
- Hi, my name is Heidi Bullock and I’m the VP of Demand Generation here at Marketo. Today I am going to talk to you about engaging content marketing – and developing a plan you can stick to! There is a lot available on content marketing and it can feel overwhelming – so my goal today is to go through a process that is straightforward and manageable. So with that, let’s get started!
- As you know – content marketing is a critical component of digital marketing. Content marketing generates more inbound traffic to your website, helps increase engagement with target audiences, and can be a great way to drive leads in a cost effective way. But why is content marketing more important now than ever before – it is not a new concept….
- We know today’s buyer has changed. And this should be pretty obvious to us. Just think about how you bought a car 10 or 15 years ago… Not that long ago, there were few 3rd party sources of information – information scarcity – which meant that a buyer had to get most of their information from sales. But now, there is an explosion of readily available information… This is a recent phenomenon… The web as a mainstream solution is only 13 years old Over the next 4 years, we will generate more data than the entire previous history of the world!
- But with all this data and information comes some challenges….. Consumers on average are bombarded with 2,900 messages a day. As a marketer – how do you get your message to stand out? 90% of a customer’s journey is self-directed. Your buyers are doing research on their own -- so as a marketer – how do you ensure your message is found and resonates? And 50% of all purchasing decisions are influenced by third parties – how do you make sure you are part of the conversation? So clearly this is an awesome build up for why content marketing is not new –more important than ever!
- Content marketing (when done well) will help your brand and company cut through the noise and stand out.
- It also reduces risk for your buyers – they have a way of getting to know your company and what you stand for. People trust thought leaders. Nobody got fired by buying IBM. But (and we knew there would be one!) --
- Content marketing is hard!
- This is 2013 data from eMarketer showing for b2b and b2c marketers that content creation and content marketing are ranked as the most difficult tactics to execute on…..
- New data from CMI and Marketing Profs gets a bit more granular – and for B2C marketers measuring effectiveness is top ranked at 51% and for B2B, producing engaging content is ranked the highest (54%)
- So, in general, here are the top challenges I see marketers struggle with: Having clarity around the goal and or purpose for content Creating good and engaging content that people actually like Scaling content production and being consistent across channels Ensuring content is findable And lastly, measuring content effectiveness These are the key areas I will address today.
- -
- So, you are ready to get going ----but where to start?
- Let me start with what NOT do. Do not just jump into content tactics. This is a tempting place to begin – infographics are fun! – but you will not obtain the results you ultimately want.
- It is really crucial to understand what your goals are for content marketing. Here is a chart from CMI and marketing profs that breaks down goals by B2B and B2C. For example, for your business - is it to drive brand awareness or customer acquisition? Maybe it’s both – but be very clear on this with your team and key stakeholders. To me, this is one of the most important exercises because it will inform your entire strategy – all the way from how you distribute your content to how you measure!
- Now let’s get even more granular. Here is a chart I made with the respective goals, and then the related metrics. If driving lead gen is your goal – look at # of asset downloads, #of leads and mqls, and # opps associated with the content asset (I will show an example of this late) Hopefully this is a helpful example of what you should put together so feel free to steal this!
- Now you have your goals and metrics, it’s time to create your plan.
- Before I cover steps, let’s just touch on some fundamentals. If you follow these 7 rules, your content should be pretty solid! First, your content needs to be meaningful to the reader (not promotional, relevant, closes a gap, addresses a pain point) Ask yourself if your content is Actionable (is there a CTA – what do you want them to do?) Sharable (is there a reason to share, do you make it easy?) Findable (metadata and tags) – I’ll go over this one more later – but keep in mind you could have the best piece of content in the world but if no one can find it – that’s a problem! Relevant to your company Readable (is it well-written and in a format your audience prefers?) Lastly, good content should be consistent online and offline (does your sales team, folks at events, or in-store teams have the ability to tell the story?) Now that we have covered those points – let’s get into creating your plan ->
- Step one – Know WHO you are selling to I have seen people go crazy on this exercise, but I recommend keeping it simple. While it’s ideal to have specific personas for every person involved in the buying process – it is fine to start with two or three key personas, and work through the process. For example, for if you are selling technical software - you will have the user, the influencer and the buyer. This is a really important step to go through is the exercise to really get to know your buyers. Do your research – look at website engagement analytics, organic traffic, keyword analysis? What is your target audience doing offline? Ask people – what do they care about? What are there biggest challenges? Can also get input from customer facing groups like support or sales. Consider sending a survey Check out the competition
- Step 2: Map out what the journey of your buyer persona This is a very important exercise and as you can see from this image, the process can be complex --- but boil it down to something manageable: Awareness Consideration Purchase Understand what questions the buyer is asking at these different time points. What is the information they need and in what format?
- Step 3: After you have mapped out your persona’s buyer’s journey – you then want to think about the story you want to be able to tell So it is essential to start with a point of view and be consistent with that viewpoint. Your customer is the hero – not YOU. Storytelling is not intended to be a “selling” tool; it’s a method of building strong relationships with your customers and potential customers over time. Your story identifies what your passions are and serves as the foundation for all your future content developments. Think thought leadership not talking about your products and services. I like to think about it in 3 phases: Compile your data (should have this from the persona exercise) Create a narrative Have a unifying theme- have a point of view- this should be present across all your assets If you want more details or even templates -> CMI is a great resource
- Here is an example of what we do at Marketo.
- The next thing to consider is a style guide. I have already mentioned how important it is to be consistent – your message and your story should have the same brand message, voice, and tone. Again, you don’t have to go crazy on this- but if you can put together a brief document this will help keep your team on track – especially if you outsource any of your content pieces.
- Step 4: Map your content to the right buying stage.
- I really like thinking of the dating analogy for this exercise. You would not ask someone to marry you on your first date. Think about what you are asking your buyers. The majority are probably not ready to sign up for an online trial if they are unfamiliar with your company.
- Step 5 –Understand what you ALREADY have. Perform a content audit. You may find you have a lot of great early stage content, but maybe you have less for late stage. Also, make sure to be honest – if an asset is very out dated – you may need to retire it.
- Step 6: Ask yourself – is your content findable??? It is like if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" - you can have the best content ever and if no one can find it – so what! Social promotion H1 Tag >2 H2 Tags Metadata – including title, descriptors, keywords Links to related content Alt tags for images This is a very important topic and something to make sure you or folks on your team are current on.
- Step 7: Lastly think about the frequency of your content assets. Ideally you should have a calendar and have all of your assets mapped out.
- Now, let’s discuss how you are going to create all this amazing content.
- We know content creation can be tricky for marketers. 55% of all marketers struggle with producing enough content… ---
- Many of us are faced with limited resources, time, etc. and the thought of developing a lot of great content is overwhelming. That’s where lean content creation comes in…..
- Keep in mind, content is not just white papers or eBooks! Can be simple and short blog posts, 4 minute videos, infographics, etc.
- Think about visual content!
- Remember the 3 R’s
- Repurpose like taco bell
- Thought leaders Contributors with in company part of MBO – management by objectives gamification – ex: Blog Wars – prizes
- Every piece of content should have a limited shelf life Ask yourself: How is this content piece performing? Could we rewrite or redesign? Obvious content to retire: Reports that are dated Assets around an event Topic is no longer relevant
- Now, let’s go through an example of how to promote your content asset. At Marketo we have Definitive Guides – which our considered our larger ‘big rock’ assets.
- So here we have the Definitive Guide to Social Marketing. We really think about launching a content asset just like you would a product launch.
- Content kind of a big deal
- So how do you nurture those 98%? Saying the Right thing to right person at RIGHT TIME!! How do we do it? How we do it is through relevancy -The right piece of content to the right person at the right time -Determining who are your audiences and how do we speak to each of them because a message that works for one person doesn’t mean it will necessarily work for someone else -To be relevant you need to segment the most part is a simple concept. –
- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApzbS2Hifm0ZdE54bmo4N2ozLVN1aF9pNU9qYl9jYUE#gid=0
- And what you see is that the inbound and the nurture, together make up about 58% of our pipeline. And these are the channels without marginal program dollars, like the website, blog, nurture emails. The paid programs make up the rest – 42% of all pipeline. And this supports the point I made earlier, which is that while inbound is great, but if all we did is inbound, we’d be about half the company we are today. We need them both working together to drive the growth that we’re driving.
- Feb 28, 2014 on slideshare
- This is an analysis with all the same vendor. Which offer performed better? Important to keep data on WHICH offers perform more effectively for a particular vendor, or even channel.
- I think marketers struggle to measure content ROI for two reasons. One is because they might not think about measurement upfront and then fail to create the right structure/framework to measure results. Two, there is not alignment on what metrics matter. For example, if you have to show ROI from a white paper to a CMO, you should probably avoid vanity metrics like downloads, opens, likes, etc. – it is better to show the # of opportunities or pipeline that was created. It is very important to agree on what will be measured and have goals around the content piece. First you need to clearly understand and define the goal for the content. (ex: Is the content being used to build brand awareness or drive leads?) Establish goals and ROI estimates upfront – or you will not know if the results met the respective expectations. 2. Make sure you think about HOW you will measure results. Are you measuring reach, engagement, time on your website, likes, shares, or leads and revenue? 3. Make sure everyone agrees on the criteria. You can measure early stage metrics (ex: sharing) and more late stage like leads/revenue but if stakeholders are not on the same page on what the ROI metric is no one will be happy.
- Clarity on your goal or purpose. Creating engaging content. i.e. -> not a snooze-fest for your buyer Consistent and scalable production of content Successful amplification of your content. If no one can find it – that’s a problem. Measurement – what works? How effective is your content?