Content marketing guide

Puncturing the hyPe and getting Practical

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it’s becoming clear that simply trying to sell your product

or service isn’t working anymore.

Our attention spans are shorter. the internet has changed

the way we receive news. Social media has given us a new

way to share useful and interesting stuff while connecting

with our friends. We now expect to interact with brands and

for them to listen to us. tV is catching up to the curve too,

with time-shifted on-demand programming, apps and web

browsing. all this means straightforward sales messages need

to be very special – or very lucky – to cut through the noise.

to get your customers interested, content marketing offers

a way to engage your audiences and prove your business’s

worth as a trusted source of information. as such, it has

had a transformative effect on the way brands reach and

retain their customers, but with so many voices on the

matter, getting to grips with content marketing best practice

is not easy.

to help cut through the hype, Waggener edstrom has spoken

to more than 150 marketers across europe, the Middle east

and africa and asked them for their content marketing

experiences and opinions. in this booklet you’ll find a

summary of the results of this in-depth survey, as well as

contributions from some big-name advocates of content

marketing, including Microsoft and aVg.

i hope you enjoy our content!

chris talago,Executive vice president and general manager EMEA at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide

Visit www.waggeneredstrom.com/content-marketing

to view videos, blogs and case studies.

tweet us @We_uK using #contentmarketing.

Or if you’re interested in attending future events focused

on content marketing, please email us at:

[email protected]

the reality Of cOntent MarKeting

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What it MeanS tO yOu

To many, content marketing is just a new name for

old tricks, something they’ve been doing for years.

To others, it’s a useful label that describes a new way

to reach customers – an ever-changing approach to

marketing. For some it’s nothing more than an

empty buzzword.

Whatever your view, it’s true that ‘implementing content

marketing’ and ‘implementing content marketing that works’

are two entirely different things. to help clarify the difference,

Waggener edstrom carried out an online survey in early 2013.

We polled 150 eMea marketing and communications

professionals, all with decision-making responsibilities (79 per

cent communicate with business audiences, 36 per cent

consumer and 31 per cent the public sector).

The results in brief

• content marketing produces results: 61 per cent of

respondents reported an increase in sales after

implementing a content marketing strategy.

• there’s a gap between understanding and

implementation: 70 per cent of marketers believe

content marketing will help them drive sales, only

38 per cent think it delivers measurable rOi.

• Over half of marketers expect to increase the use of

external creative resources to help produce content.

• there’s a requirement for the right mix of skills to

produce engaging content, with 46 per cent feeling

an increased need for editorial/journalistic skills to tell

authentic and relevant stories. }

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A match made in marketing heaven?We wanted to take stock of the content creation landscape as it

stands today – and we uncovered some telling results. What’s

certain is that marketers’ love affair with content is far from a

fleeting romance: over half of respondents have implemented,

or are currently implementing, a content marketing strategy,

and almost one-third plan to implement ‘in the near future’.

But what defines content marketing? While at times proving

difficult to pin down, there is consistency in how it is interpreted.

it is characterised by a drive to engage with customers and

prospects beyond traditional marketing collateral, which naturally

– combined with its potential for measurable rOi and interactive

capabilities – makes it a hot topic for marketers.

Waggener edstrom, as an integrated communications and

content marketing agency, views content marketing as a

process of creating and deploying audience-centric material

that is interesting or useful (or both). crucially, all of this

content needs to be governed and guided by the brand

story and overarching objectives.

clearly the onus is on results, and this is where insight and

analytics take centre stage. greater interaction with customers,

brand awareness, sales lead generation and increased website

traffic were highlighted as the most important KPis for content

marketing. and these results are being realised: 81 per cent saw

an improvement in their website traffic, and 61 per cent saw an

increase in sales leads.

despite a significant number of respondents praising the

business-enhancing capabilities of content creation, nearly one

in five (18 per cent) are not currently implementing a content

marketing strategy. So what’s stopping them? the usual suspects

of budget, available skills and senior management buy-in. to add

to the mix, many are of the opinion that content marketing is

nothing new; that there is ‘difficulty in proving rOi’ and ‘too

much hype’ (something we are trying to address with this survey).

What’s more, the challenges identified by the content marketing

sceptics are shared by respondents who have already

implemented content marketing strategies (budget and

content expertise).

Horses for resourcesrising to the content challenge seems to call for improved

resources to handle the forecast production duties. Over half

(52 per cent) expect this additional content creation will require

increased agency and freelance resources, and more than

two-thirds (69 per cent) expect greater use of internal resources.

additionally, editorial, journalism and media production

backgrounds are a focus when hiring new staff.

effective content marketing requires dedication and commitment,

a seasoned combination of resources (replete with editorial

arsenal), available budget and management buy-in. With these

in place and a sturdy understanding of your objectives, brand

narrative, and a clear strategy, your business will be well placed

to see tangible results from content marketing.

The infographic opposite provides an at-a-glance view

of the results. Have the results had you nodding in

agreement or shaking your head in despair?

Let us know at [email protected]

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CONTENT MARKETINGDOES IT PRODUCE RESULTS?CONTENT MARKETINGDOES IT PRODUCE RESULTS?

65%

35%42%

30%

50%

39%

61%

81%

WHERE MARKETERSSEE RESULTS

BARRIERS AND CHALLENGESTO AN EFFECTIVE CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY

83%76%

51%49%

79% 70% 62% 54% 50%

WHAT KIND OF CONTENTWILL BE REQUIRED?

WHERE MARKETERSEXPECT RESULTS

VIEWS

Ricardo Adame, corporate vice president of global communications at AVG Technologies,

gives us an insight into the content strategy and tactics his team uses to get results

A sHot in tHe Arm for your mArketing cAmpAign

t here’s currently a lot of hype surrounding the term ‘content

marketing’, but cut away the frenzy and there is a valuable

marketing technique at its core. that’s why it has become

an increasingly important part of our communications strategy

at aVg. content marketing holds enormous potential, particularly

when combined with the ever-increasing reach and variety of

digital channels, it offers a fantastic opportunity to engage more

directly with the relevant audience.

But for content to fulfil its true potential, the traditional ‘tell’

approach – a one-way communication tactic – has to give way

to an interactive conversation. this is understandably unsettling

for some brands, especially those that have always held tight

control of their identity, but it is absolutely integral to today’s

socially enabled internet era. this transparent, two-way

conversation is something aVg now does on a daily basis through

social channels such as twitter and via our 2.2 million-strong

facebook community. While listening to thousands of comments

and responding to many of them takes commitment and

investment, we find this social conversation extremely positive

overall, giving us far greater audience insight and valuable instant

feedback on our products.

establishing an authentic conversation and building an engaged

audience via social media gives you a fantastic channel through

which to deliver content and push out your marketing messages.

and in today’s connected, social landscape, if you continue to

produce content that fails to reflect what your audience is

thinking about, or show that you’ve paid no attention to your

customers’ concerns, it will not be successful.

the greatest opportunity that content marketing presents is

innovation. as technology evolves, it presents exciting new ways

to engage with your customers and prospects. at aVg, we’ve

been experimenting with video with the help of Waggener edstrom.

despite initial concerns that producing broadcast-quality video

was beyond our reach, the team has shown that’s not the case.

advances in technology have made first-rate production

equipment more accessible, and we’ve been able to tap into a

talented team of media professionals that have the skills to deliver

the highest quality content. however, access to production talent

and technology is not enough on its own – successful video must

be underlined by good communications: great storytelling.

another opportunity for change brought about by content

marketing is in the activation process. the traditional channels

are still available, but when looking to maximise the impact of

your content, your approach must integrate online and offline.

for example, when we produce a video we ensure our social

media team is promoting it across appropriate channels. More

importantly, we plan how to make our content work harder, both

in analysing the conversations our key audiences are involved in

and ensuring that content reflects our SeO keywords to maximise

Building an engaged audience via social media gives you a fantastic channel through which to deliver content and marketing messages

its effectiveness in ranking terms. naturally, measurement

has always been key to demonstrating the success of

communications and marketing programmes, but i would

argue that today – particularly with content marketing – there

is an opportunity to be even more accurate.

By defining our metrics carefully, and building in additional

measures to provide context and diagnosis, a detailed picture

is created, highlighting the way each element of the activity

is working. this gives us the insight to not only measure the

rOi after a campaign has completed, but to also adjust our

approach during its lifespan and extend its impact.

it’s important we recognise content marketing for what it is

– a fantastic opportunity for communications professionals to

implement innovative, integrated campaigns that build authentic

conversations with our audiences. What’s really exciting is the

way a brand can now combine so many techniques to drive

impact across multiple platforms on a global scale.

mAke ‘em lAugH, mAke ‘em cry, mAke ‘em wAtcH

There is little doubt that over the years the

power of the moving image has motivated and

engaged millions of people to experience the whole

gamut of emotions. Whether it is scenes of Olympic

glory, protests in Tiananmen Square, or Neil

Armstrong walking on the moon, video is able

to harness, engage, and motivate an audience in

ways that no other medium can.

But it isn’t easy. Iconic news images are based on

real events. Constructing a narrative from scratch

and filming it in such a way that the audience will be

compelled to watch isn’t easy. Technical production

and storytelling should move seamlessly to deliver

video that the audience understands and is prepared

to invest valuable time in. Visual trickery will only

take you so far.

When creating one minute of video, every word and

every shot counts. It’s always worth employing the

best script writers and production team you can

afford – because if you fail to engage your audience,

you might as well go and spend your hard-earned

budget on a day at the races.

And that will definitely make you cry.

Nick Lawrence

Waggener Edstrom’s vice-president of broadcast

and editorial strategies

[email protected]

a t Kyriba, content marketing is now well established

and a key component of our marketing strategy.

each time we launch a new integrated marketing

programme, we develop campaigns around content – this is

our foundation. Most of the time, we therefore find ourselves

behaving as authors and publishers. But while content has

become a really big part of B2B marketing, it remains

something the rest of the company finds a little difficult

to understand, and so education and training is required

to explain its value.

in the past, there was no real marketing activity at all at Kyriba,

so when i joined the business, some of my colleagues didn’t

fully understand why the team and i were so focused on

writing whitepapers, or putting out articles through different

online and offline channels. it was also a challenge finding the

necessary time and the right in-house skills to develop our

content marketing activities. now, to ensure we’re able to

produce enough engaging, relevant content on a regular basis,

and that it’s seen by the right people, our internal team is

supported by an external team.

as well as skilled resources, storytelling is crucial for getting

content marketing right. this is because each piece of content

looks at a different topic – it’s inconsistent, so we use effective

storytelling to ensure we’re comprehensive and logical about

the way we deliver content and that there is some commonality.

ultimately, we want to produce smart, high-quality content

that engages prospects and customers, because often this is

the first contact we have with them.

to capture these prospects, targeting and segmenting your

audience is critical. Sending the same content to everyone

doesn’t make sense. for instance, cfOs have very specific

concerns, so when we target them we have to create

dedicated and highly focused content. When we target

treasurers this requires another message, and then for

ciOs the content is much more technical. We have to be

sure that we’ve got the right story for the right audience.

then, of course, you need to align the right content with

the right channel. While nowadays social media is crucial,

it’s important to use a good mix of different platforms: this

might involve some information on the website or blogs, and

in some cases delivering webcasts and video content. We try

to be very logical and ensure we are using the right tactics

and platforms for the specific campaign. this is all part of

the storytelling process.

as an example of tailoring content to specific audiences, this

summer we’ve worked on tactics for our Payment factory

solution. Working with our product marketing team in france,

we have delivered a whitepaper on the topic in french, english,

Spanish and italian. then in September, we used different

Barbara Borrel, senior manager of EMEA field marketing at finance software firm Kyriba, reveals why content marketing is a crucial tool for lead generation

leAd generAtion? you cAn put your money on it

Sending the same content to everyone doesn’t make sense. We have to be sure that we’ve got the right story for the right audience

platforms depending upon the country. in france we held

a webcast through which we distributed the whitepaper,

and then pushed it out via social media. for italy and

Spain, our approach was quite different. Because we are

not yet very well known in these countries, we have

focused on our linkedin group members and used linkedin

advertising to improve brand awareness.

chiefly, there are three reasons we use content marketing:

brand awareness, customer retention and lead generation.

So for each campaign we deliver, we’ve got an internal

tracking process. this means we are able to say we’ve

generated ‘x’ leads, and at the end can see how content

marketing contributed to the sales pipeline and revenue.

for example, when we decided to create a new dedicated

french website, many thought it unnecessary as we already

had a corporate site. But since we launched – and we are

pushing out content through it almost every week – we’ve

achieved a 30 per cent conversion rate on incoming

requests through the website. this, to me, is proof that

content marketing drives real business results.

wHy All content must be sociAl

Ten years ago, you could write a whitepaper,

interview a customer for a case study, or commission

a survey to find out what people think of your

widget – and get away with just publishing something

about it on your website, perhaps accompanied by a

press release. Things have changed. Today, marketing

communication and public relations needs to focus on

content you create, curate and distribute that your

customers will value, want, discuss and share.

Research from eConsultancy shows that effective

content marketing relies on its promotion to the largest

possible qualified audience in ways that match their

preferences for discovering and consuming content,

and sharing their experiences. Therefore, any content

strategy must include a methodology for ensuring your

content is discoverable in the places your target audiences

will readily find it – and there is no better method to

do this than social media. As such, all content should:

• Be available on and via multiple social channels

that make it pivotal in driving more traffic to your

website or other presence on the social web.

• Help create a better experience that customers

value and talk about, and derive more value from

existing customers.

• Generate leads that enable you to identify and

engage with future new customers.

• Be tailored to suit individual social platforms.

Content marketing and social media should be joined

at the hip – they now represent key components of the

modern sales funnel. Making the most of them only

requires that you see things from a different angle.

Neville Hobson

Independent communications consultant

content marketing is critical to reaching our customers.

it enables us to establish Microsoft as a trusted, relevant

source of information. through the centralisation of our

marketing strategies, we can funnel our content efforts in the

same direction across the different african subsidiaries we service

– and at the same time ensure they are locally tailored.

this type of audience reach proves essential, especially as there’s

too much information available to today’s customer, spread

across so many channels. no longer is marketing about pushing

information out to our customers. this is why we’ve introduced

the always-on momentum: customers have matured to such an

extent that they now decide when and where they want to find

information, and we need to cater to that.

We use content marketing to build customer loyalty. We want

our customers to find relevance in the content we provide them,

so that the next time they’re

hunting down information,

they’ll come to us.

Because the marketing space

changes day by day, we find it

very important to put the onus

on an up-to-date web portal.

this acts as the backbone for all

our various content channels,

where we update information

that will then feed through to

the various platforms people use to access our brand. Social

media content and blogs are all sourced from this same web

portal for consistency and to ensure they’re always accessible to

the customer. What’s more, because on twitter, for example, you

are character-limited, you need to create content that will intrigue

the target audience and eventually land them somewhere they

can find all relevant information – in our case, our website.

in the past we’ve been very product-driven, but now we aim to

better incorporate the customers’ perspective, so we’re more

customer-centric. We do that

through listening to them, and

understanding them. customer

research, data and insight are

crucial to the effectiveness of

content marketing. this listening

piece is now really important in

the rhythm of our business.

the biggest challenge of content

marketing is its ever-evolving

nature. there is always some

Dora Mbuyi, integrated marketing communications lead at Microsoft South Africa, talks real-time momentum and the value of audience insight

mAximising impAct witH An AlwAys-on Audience

4Afrika: one of Microsoft’s key African web portals

We want customers to find relevance in the content we provide, so that the next time they’re hunting down information, they’ll come to us

level of resistance because everyone wants to stick to things

they are used to – the traditional modes of marketing. But the

maturity of our customers means our Microsoft teams realise

we have to move fast and adapt strategies as we go.

We’re achieving a good level of listening, and this constantly

gives us greater audience insight. in turn, this allows us to be

cleverer about how we plan, create and deliver our content.

together with the implementation of our always-on momentum,

this encourages us to develop content that can be made locally

relevant. While this process is something the team is slowly

getting to grips with, what’s certain is that we need to invest

time, money and skills to ensure we remain a market leader.

getting the most from content marketing requires three

stages. firstly, you need to acquire customer insight into your

target audience to establish what is relevant to them, and this

includes continuous listening. then, establish a content plan

that keeps customer insight in mind: creating a short- to

long-term plan ensures content will click with customers.

the third and final strand is the process of continually

learning, strategising and tweaking this plan. experiment,

test, refine – and repeat that process all over again.

in my opinion, this always-on momentum is the future of

content marketing. When you look at the younger generation,

they don’t want to wait to receive information; they actively

seek what they need and what is relevant. So if you’re not in

that space – and easy to find – you will definitely lose out.

better blogging And tHe need for AutHentic AutHors

A corporate blog is often a company’s first experience

of content marketing, and it’s also where many make

their first mistake. People expect two things from a blog:

for it to be interesting, and for it to be authentic. The first

should be obvious; the second less so.

Authenticity is what compels us to interact with a brand

beyond our initial interest in a topic. It’s what inspires us to

continue reading, to click on a link and revisit the blog for

another day. Without a narrator we trust, a blog is nothing

more than yet another anodyne corporate monologue.

So how do you ensure authenticity? The most effective

blogs are delivered in the first person, mixing professional

opinions with personal insights. This enables the audience

to relate to the author, demonstrating shared challenges

and motivations.

The more senior the exec the more time-pressured they are,

but it is possible to write on behalf of an author

in his or her voice and still be authentic. Here’s how:

• Do ask the right questions – why is this important to

your audience? How will they benefit? What action do

you want them to take as a result of reading the post?

• Don’t hide behind faceless corporate speak.

• Do adhere to the principles of good storytelling.

Russell Simmons

Waggener Edstrom’s head of content

[email protected]

Avanade’s global sponsor programme manager, Katy Shrimpton, explains the role of content marketing at a major B2B technology company

wHy content mArketing is only just reAcHing top geAr

i’ve been working at avanade – a global business technology

solutions provider employing over 18,000 professionals – since

early 2011, and even within that relatively short time i’ve seen

a new emphasis on content-focused marketing. Over the past six

months, the phrase ‘content marketing’ has been used more

and more around avanade’s offices, and not just by the

marketing team.

the catalyst has been greater recognition of how content

marketing dovetails into our customers’ decision-making process,

and how it can help us influence their choices. avanade is a B2B

tech company, and large it transformation projects are our bread

and butter: amongst other things, we are Microsoft experts who

specialise in building line-of-business applications like erP, crM

and collaboration tools. as such, our customers are looking to

find the right partner for these projects, which often have

major business impact and take many months or even years

to complete.

for avanade, content marketing is a buzzword, yes, but it is

also a viable way of talking to our

customers. it’s both a natural

progression for us, and fits with

the way our customers seek

out and buy our services.

Because our customers aren’t

so much buying a product but

a solution to their challenges,

we need to show insight and

influence into the growing trends in the it market. content is a

valuable way of doing this – showing thought-leadership and

helping our customers through the decision-making process.

Most importantly, content marketing helps us show our

customers that they are working with the right partner; one

that understands their needs and is actively thinking about the

problems facing ciOs today. avanade is still developing and

fine-tuning the way it tackles content marketing, but taking a

content-led approach has helped us ask more questions of our

own assumptions: do we really need to produce whitepapers in

the format we do? is a downloadable Pdf the best way? are

there other options that suit our customers – our audience –

better than what we do right now?

i really believe content marketing

yields results, and we’ve started

to see that over the past year.

there’s a long way to go, but the

value is there and has been

proven. there’s definitely more to

come from content marketing.

the next step in the content

marketing evolution is to Smart Banking: The Future Today animated video

the value is there and has been proven. there’s definitely more to come from content marketing.

seo And content mArketing: best of friends

With regular search engine algorithm updates,

such as Google’s Penguin 2.0, placing content at

the heart of your search marketing strategy has never

been so important. Your content and SEO strategies

should work hand-in-hand: good content on your site

will help it rank higher, and optimisation of your

content when it appears on third-party sites will help

fuel your wider marketing strategy while taking up

valuable search engine result page (SERP) real-estate.

The continuous algorithm updates are the nemesis

of so-called ‘black-hat’ SEO techniques. A developed,

engaging and useful content strategy is a much

better way to grow long-term organic traffic. A good

way of looking at content is thinking of it as the glue

that joins search and social together.

Link building isn’t dead, but it is no longer SEO’s

primary weapon. Search engine algorithms aren’t

just about the number of ‘backlinks’ (the number

websites that link back to your site), but also the

overall quality of the websites the links appear on,

as well as the buzz around your brand online and

through social interaction.

When considering how SEO affects your content

strategy, you first need to think about keyphrases

and audience. Getting your content shared on other

sites, with brand mentions and, crucially, backlinks

to your site, complement the cycle. Remember this

content will rank on its own too, taking up valuable

SERP space for your target keyphrases, and not only

text results but also video and images too.

Tom Telford

CEO of Waggener Edstrom’s SEO partner, 3 White Hats

understand audiences in more depth – primarily how, when

and where content is consumed. this really is vital, and it’s

something in which we’re investing time and resources to

gain even more insight.

One of the products of this is a greater appreciation of

targeting the right channels at the right time with the right

message. Most B2B firms would immediately ignore facebook

as an option as it is seen as a B2c channel, but are our

customers definitely not on facebook? again, content

marketing provokes interesting questions.

avanade has recently begun a sponsorship and systems

integration contract with lotus f1® team, with avanade’s

logo appearing on the car and avanade helping the

Oxford-based team with its managed services and number-

crunching. the deal is giving us a wealth of new opportunities

to create engaging content. ultimately, everyone responds to

topics they are interested in, and working with lotus f1® team

gives us even more angles to grab our customers’ attention

while still being it-related.

Content marketing spans a huge number of tactics and

techniques, but three things you have to get right are:

1. Making sure the message fits with your clients and services.

2. ensuring your content supports the buying process.

3. Making intelligent strategic decisions – don’t over-saturate

with a deluge of untargeted content.

You’ve read the survey results and learnt how other marketers are embracing content, but you’re busy and it’s a lot to take in, so here’s a quick recap:

turn your content up to 11.

1. ignore the hype: to be successful, content marketing should be an integral and strategic part of the wider marketing mix, with measurable KPIs and buy-in from senior management.

2. research your audience: you need to know who they are, what matters to them, what they’re talking about, and which services and channels they use. Then tailor your content to them.

3. tell great stories: think like a journalist and sniff out stories your audience will care about, while always bearing in mind the three principles of great storytelling: people, plot and place.

4. .…but don’t broadcast: content marketing should be interactive and stimulate conversation with your audience, especially through social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

5. think quality not quantity: content is often a person’s first experience of a brand, so it must reflect the brand’s values – but remember short and snappy is as powerful as big and brash.

6. be authentic: kill the corporate speak and be ready to engage in open, honest dialogue with customers and prospects. They’re people too, so treat them with respect and go easy on the sell.

7. work the right way: develop your campaigns around content, not the other way around, and remember that content marketing is a medium- to long-term strategy, not a fast, easy fix.

8. keep it fresh: always ask (and be honest) ‘Is this new? Will my audience be interested in this?’, and experiment with a variety of channels – it’s vital your methods evolve with your audience.

9. plan ahead: think like an editor and plan your content as far in advance as possible. Then ensure you have the right internal and external resources in place to stick to your editorial calendar.

10. maximise everything: creating quality content is resource-intensive, so ensure everything you create is amplified across all the most relevant channels, all of the time.

11. don’t forget the seo: search algorithm updates put the emphasis on quality content, but to grow long-term organic traffic it’s vital you still keep up with the latest developments in SEO.

DATACONTENT

MARKETING


BLOGGING

ARTICLE






CUSTOMER-CENTRIC




CONVERSATIONS


IDEAS




RESEARCH REPORTS

INSIGHT

MICROSITE

VIDEO

STRATEGY




DATACONTENT

MARKETING


BLOGGING

ARTICLE






CUSTOMER-CENTRIC


ECOMMERCE



CONVERSATIONS


IDEAS




RESEARCH REPORTS

INSIGHT

MICROSITE

VIDEO

STRATEGY







RESEARCH REPORTS

INSIGHT

DATACONTENT

MARKETING

MARKETING


BLOGGING

ARTICLE






CUSTOMER-CENTRIC


HIGH-IMPACT



VIDEO

STRATEGY




content marketing can make a positive difference to your

sales leads, search engine ranking and brand awareness.

if you’d like to maximise the impact of your content and

ensure it delivers tangible business results, please...

call us: +44 (0) 207 632 3832

drop us a line: [email protected]

Or tweet us: @Waggeneredstrom

to see further examples of content in action, please visit:www.waggeneredstrom.com/content-marketing

What tO dO next

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Content marketing guide

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Transcript of Content marketing guide