Mapping Content Strategy to

the Modern Customer Journey

Gary DeAsiSenior Manager, Digital Marketing & Brand@gdaz

Ryan PinkhamContent Marketing Manager@RyanPinkham

22

4M+users

25K+organizations

194countries

15+products

33

Marketing Organization

Demand Gen

Creative

Web

Operations

Functionally

“Market Manager” & Product Marketing

X4

Vertically

44

READY! FIRE! AIM! 30%B2B Marketers say they are

effective at content marketing.

55

Limited Supply of Ammo to Hit Targets

(Content)

66

RANDOM

ACTS OF

CONTENT

77

1 Adopting a Stages Model & Key Factors to Consider

Mapping Content Strategy to the Customer Journey

88

Understanding your Customers

SmartBear Confidential and Proprietary

Individual

Job roles, personas

Motivators

Problems, pain points

Terminology & language

Buying triggers

How solve problem before?

Organization

Industry vertical

Company size

Business model, strategy

Technology stack

Org structure

Geo locations

99

Understanding your Business

Product or Service

Value propositions

Key features, capabilities

Differentiators

Complexity of solution

Use cases

Technical specifications

Technology partnerships

Sales

Pricing model

Sales model

Length of sales cycle

$ ASP

Barriers & objections

Complexity of buying decision

Market

Market maturity

Demand type

Market share

Competitive landscape

Positioning

Market trends

SmartBear Confidential and Proprietary

1010

Information

• Search and browsing behavior• Research and nurture needs• Messaging• Barriers to overcome• Questions to answer

INTELLIGENCE

Content

1111

ROAD TO ADVOCACY

1212

Adopting a Customer Journey Stages Model

1313

“Hello, brand, do I like you? are you relevant to me? Do I want to hear more from you in the future?”

EngagementBrand Awareness

1414

“I have a problem?”

EducationProblem identification

1515

“What solutions are available? What factors should I consider? What alternatives are there?”

ResearchEvaluate Solutions

1616

“Does this product solve my problem(s) and meet my specific needs & requirements?”

EvaluationAssess satisfaction of needs

1717

“Why should I choose this? How can I get my boss and team members on board?”

JustificationQuantify & justify value, internal buy-in

1818

“How do I get it? How difficult will it be to implement and change current process?”

PurchaseTransaction & Transition Factors

1919

“How do I successfully implement, get training, and start realizing value asap?”

AdoptionOnboarding & implementation

2020

RetentionSatisfaction and Success

“Does SmartBear care about my success? Value adds? Long-term? Why do I love being a SmartBear customer?”

2121

“What additional value can I get from SmartBear? What other problems can you help me solve?”

ExpansionUp-sell, Cross-Sell

2222

“What I can do to help SmartBear?”

AdvocacyLoyalty & Evangelism

2323Pre-Purchase (Prospects) Post-Purchase (Customers)

2424

2 Content Planning with the Customer Journey in Mind

Mapping Content Strategy to the Customer Journey

2525

Feeding the Content Beast

2626

MetricsGoals &

ObjectivesContent

AuditContent

Plan

Aligning Content Strategy: Planning Process

TrafficFree tool downloads

Leads GeneratedContent Downloads

QLsTrials

Trial ActivationsOpportunities

Opportunities WonRenewals

Upsell, Cross-sell

%

2727

Content Overflow

2828SmartBear Confidential and Proprietary

Aligning Content Strategy: Content Audit

2929

Content Audit: Identify Content Gaps

SmartBear Confidential and Proprietary

Number assets / stage Types of assets / stage Performance of assets Age of content Location of content Distribution strategy Optimization, enhancement,

and re-purposing Keyword research

3030

MetricsGoals &

ObjectivesContent

AuditContent

Plan

Content Strategy: Planning Process

TrafficLeads Generated

Content DownloadsQLs

TrialsTrial ActivationsOpportunities

Opportunities WonRenewals

Upsell, Cross-sell

%

TopicsFormatsTimelineBudget

Resources

3131

Lifetime Value: Repurposing Content

3232

Make the investment

3333

3 Aligning Multi-Channel Content Distribution

Mapping Content Strategy to the Customer Journey

Website

Social

Blog Email

Nurture

Paid

PR

Events

Community

3434

Web: Learning/Resource Centers

SmartBear Confidential and Proprietary

3535

Properties and Communities

Blog & Social

Resource Centers

Product Sections

Community & Support

3636

Paid Advertising

Paid Social

3rd party EmailSponsored Content

adwords

Re-marketing

3737

Lead Scoring and Nurturing

SmartBear Confidential and Proprietary

Top Funnel

During Trial

Bottom Funnel

Customer

3838

Stages Metrics

Engagement,Education,Research

Blog traffic Resource traffic Content Downloads QLs (Non-trial score-ups)

Evaluation Product section traffic Trials Trial Activations

Justification,Purchase

Opportunities opened Opportunities closed won

Adoption,Retention,Expansion,Advocacy

Renewals Up-sell, Cross-sell opportunities Influitive members/activity

Thank you!

Gary DeAsiSenior Manager, Digital Marketing & Brand@gdaz

Ryan PinkhamContent Marketing Manager@RyanPinkham