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The Viral StoryeBay Journey in Content Marketing

Twitter: jtkoeneLinkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jordankoene

Jordan KoeneEvangelist for Searchmetrics Former Head of SEO @ eBay

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Joined eBay in 2010

Managed SEO and Content Development 2011-2014

2014 Joined Searchmetrics as Chief Evangelist

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Infographic about eBay

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eBay Historical Infographic

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Building on Initial Success

Within 3 months: 1/2 million unique visitors• Our primary goal was to build links and drive

SEO value • Leverage internal resources

- eBay Motors Blog- eBay Collectables Blog- eBay Ink Blog- eBay-Stories

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Seasonal Events

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Creating a Support System

1 Support from internal teams- PR- Social or marketing teams

2 Leverage a good cause or partner

3 Building relationships early… - Designers - High Profile Sites - Blogs or News/Media

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Going Global

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Scaling Our Effort

1 More and more resources

2 Understand your audience

3 Partner fatigue

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That’s Easy…You’re:

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We Still Needed to Learn!

1. What is viral and content marketing is often misunderstood

2. Measuring content is a dynamic effect which is not isolated

3. Scale is not equal to the number of content pieces

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2010-2011 All internal effort

2011-2012 Scale through a variety of partners

2012-2014 Exclusivity to one partner with a long term strategy

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50+

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What’s Next

eBay and Fractl embarked on a

long-term content marketing

engagement in order to grow

organic traffic to eBay.

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Results Part Two

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eBay Campaign

“What Makes Me Feel Beautiful”

• Joy, admiration, curiosity, and surprise were the main emotions that fueled this campaign.

• Top-tier coverage included features on Mashable, Buzzfeed, Mirror, Mic.com, and Bustle.

What Makes Me Feel Beautiful

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We Are Human

• Most common emotions:- Amusement- Interest- Surprise- Happiness- Delight- Pleasure- Joy- Hope- Affection- Excitement

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eBay Campaign

“Visual Car Evolution”

• Elicited curiosity, surprise, and nostalgia for both car enthusiasts and non-car enthusiasts alike.

• 170+ digital publishers covered this campaign, including Yahoo, Business Insider, Car and Driver, Motor Authority, IB Times, and more.

Visual Car Evolution

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Why is Content Marketing Difficult?

Too much noise!

Writers at top-tier publications receive more than 100pitches a day – yet 45% of writers only publish one story per day.

In a week, this adds up to 500 pitches for only 5 story spots!

How do you break through the noise?

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Ask first!

We conducted a survey of 500+ leading digital publishers to discover what they look for in both pitches and the

content being pitched.

What did they say?

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What Do Publishers Want?

• Breaking news

• Exclusive research

• Emotional stories

• Timeliness

• Relevance

• Data

• New hook

• A story

• Interview opportunities

• Data visualizations

• Useful information

• Innovative

• Well-researched

• Meets editorial mission

• Original content

• Solutions to problems

• Engaging

• Amusing

• Useful insights

• Humor

• Unique angles

• High-quality graphics

• Interesting analysis

• Storytelling

Feedback from our survey

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How to Build a Pitch

• Do your research.

• Know the publication.

• Be relevant.

• Make it newsworthy.

• Know their beat.

• Don’t use all caps.

• Be personal.

• Be concise.

• Don’t cold call.

• Tailor your subject lines.

• No giant attachments.

• Don’t pitch on social media.

• Know their audience.

• Avoid phony friendliness.

• Get their name right.

• Avoid the fluff.

• Use spellcheck.

• Give them a story.

Feedback from our survey

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We still have questions?

What is Content Marketing?• Technically, to go “viral” means that more than

one new viewer is brought about (on average) through the sharing of a previous viewer.

K > 1

*K = viewers

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eBay Campaign

• Original data, unique visualization, an emerging trend, and timing.

• 115+ pickups, including Huffington Post, Mashable, Fast Company,

Today.com, Celebuzz, and more.

• Appealed to multiple publisher verticals, such as tech, social

media, pop culture, lifestyle, and others.

The #Selfie Revolution

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eBay Campaign

• 140+ pickups, including MSN, Yahoo, Business Insider, SF Chronicle, Daily Finance, Credit.com, and others.

• Exclusive research, unique visual format, useful information,

interesting analysis, and broad appeal.

• Included interactive tool for personalization.

Trading Time

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Content Marketing Trend Over Time

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Looking for Averages

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Tenets of Content Marketing

• Simple presentation• Great research

• Connect with your audience• Timeliness • Emotion

• Keep it human

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April 21st Mobile Update http://bit.ly/pubconmobile

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Mobile Update Steps

1. Configuration1. Responsive design2. Dynamic serving3. Separate mobile URL

2. Mobile Content and Performance1. Shorter, yet more holistic content2. Quicker loading times than on desktops3. Fewer backlinks4. Fewer internal links in content5. Fewer and smaller images in content

3. Avoid Problems and Bad Usability1. Blocked Javascript, CSS and image files (Unavailable content)2. Faulty redirects3. Mobile-specific 404 errors4. App download 5. Irrelevant reciprocal links 6. Slow mobile pages

http://bit.ly/pubconmobile

Thank you

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