Stephen Bateman, Smart Insights

@concentricdots 1

Cortes Distortion, Oil on Canvas by Michael Longhofer. [source: blog.art251.com]

ZERO DISTORTION CONTENT MARKETING

Seven Non-Negotiable Disciplines For Success in 2016

Stephen Bateman. SmartInsights.com

A tried, tested and trusted framework that blows the fuzz and distortion off content marketing, so that strategic digital marketing can succeed.

http://blog.art251.com

@concentricdots 2

Hello

About Stephen Bateman

o Career marketer since 1995

o DipM CIM / CAM Dip o Author of 2 Smart Insights

content marketing strategy guides and e-learning toolkit

o Founder of concentricdotscontentmarketing.com and iGlimpse.co.uk

o Consultant / trainer in digital marketing since 2013

o Past: educational / trade publisher

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shbateman

http://concentricdotscontentmarketing.com

http://iglimpse.co.uk


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“Hands up if you’re exploring ways to position and promote your marketing content so that it reaches your target audiences and converts them into

subscribers and customers, and keeps them coming back.”

@concentricdots

WorldwideUnited StatesUnited KingdomIreland

Interest in content marketing.

Google Trends

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My early experimentation with content marketing.

I started blogging here in early 2012For a year, I didn’t break 100 visits/day Then a post got some attentionBut visits flatlined againMost people would have given up hereBut I’m glad I saw it through

Analytics

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Stephen’s Healthy Back Blog.

I started blogging here in early 2012For a year, I didn’t break 100 visits/day Then a post got some attentionBut visits flatlined againMost people would have given up hereBut I’m glad I saw it through

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For a year, I didn’t break 100 visits/day


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Then a post got some attention


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But visits flatlined again


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Most people would have given up here


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I’m glad I saw it through


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The Hype Cycle concept is an accurate way to follow the adoption curve of a disruptive technology.

1. The technology trigger point for content marketing: Any business can publish on the web. Big platforms, huge

audiences. No fees.Aspirant status

2. Content marketing seen as shiny, amazing, and novel. We

all jump on the wagon. Explorer status.

3. Slide into trough. This isn’t as easy as we thought. It

doesn’t work. Blame the tool. Disillusioned status. Most

give up here.

4. With expert help we can learn the process. Find the optimal way. Enlightened

status.

5. This works. Greta ROI. Experienced, knowledgeable

status.

Content Marketing Through the lens of Gartner’s Five Step Hype Cycle

Gartner Five Step Hype Cycle

@concentricdots 13http://bit.ly/Content-Marketing-Strategy-e-Learning-Course

What’s your content marketing maturity level?

Assess your capability.

http://bit.ly/Content-Marketing-Strategy-e-Learning-Course

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USAGE & EFFECTIVENESS

How would you describe your organization’s content marketing maturity level?

This was a new question this year. In general, effectiveness levels are greater among marketers with higher levels of content marketing maturity.

Among those who reported being the most effective:• 78% were in the sophisticated/mature phase• 22% were in the adolescent phase• 0% were in the young/first steps phase

SAY SOPHISTICATED OR MATURE32% SOPHISTICATED

MATURE

ADOLESCENT

FIRST STEPS

YOUNG

Providing accurate measurement to thebusiness, scaling across the organization

Finding success, yetchallenged with integrationacross the organization

Have developed a business case,seeing early success, becoming more sophisticated with measurement and scaling

Growing pains, challengedwith creating a cohesive strategyand a measurement plan

Doing some aspects of content,but have not yet begun to makecontent marketing a process

9%

14%

23%

30%

23%

How UK Marketers Assess Their Content Marketing Maturity Level

Content Marketing in the UK 2016: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Content Marketing Institute

SPONSORED BY

7

http://bit.ly/cmi-uk-benchmarks-2016

Content marketing maturity levels in the UK 2016


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The return on content marketing lags, and the benefits aren’t apparent until later.

Rule 1.

http://bit.ly/content-roi-webinar

http://bit.ly/content-roi-webinar

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30 day trials don’t work. Content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t give up too soon.

Takeaway #1

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For more on costs, KPIs, measurement and ROI.

ROI =Return

Investment £ cost of producing content £ cost of sourcing content £ time planning / managing strategy £ time distributing content £ paid promotion £ software and tools

£ visibility in search £ share of voice, brand uplift £ thought leadership, mentions £ conversions £ leads and revenue

http://bit.ly/Content-ROI-Guide

http://bit.ly/Content-ROI-Guide

@concentricdots 18http://bit.ly/curata-ultimate-tool-list

http://bit.ly/curata-ultimate-tool-list

@concentricdots 19http://bit.ly/curata-ultimate-tool-list

http://bit.ly/curata-ultimate-tool-list

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Let’s untangle the distortion.

In seven interdependent steps.

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Work on

4 Manage the editorial.

4 Themes, topics, 12 month calendar, production plan, content hub.

5 Create great content.

5 Writing, headlines, formatting, on-page SEO, curation, atomisation.

6 Market your marketing.

6 Channel management, influencers, paid promotion.

Non-negotiable

1 Audit and set clear goals.

1 Capability assessment, content audit, smart goals, metrics.

2 Define audiences and personas.

2 Customer segments, ideal buyer personas, buying cycle, keywords.

3 Create a strategy.

3 One pager: Mission statement, value proposition, sweet spot, governance.

7 Evaluation and measurement ROI.

7 Costs, metrics, analytics, reporting.

7 Critical success factors.

http://bit.ly/cm-strategy-guide


@concentricdots 22http://bit.ly/cmi-uk-benchmarks-2016


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5 critical focus areas.#1

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4 Techniques

1. A content marketing mission statement to define the purpose of your content marketing

2. A customer buyer persona to avoid publishing egocentric content and focus your content production on “buyer-relevance.” so you can develop themes and topics that stick and a 12 month calendar of content.

3. A content curation system to help you get inspiration and ideas you don’t lose track of, which inspire you to create even better content.

4. A great content creation checklist to make you content attractive, discoverable, consumable, shareable.

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Three-step content marketing mission statement#1

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Persona Profile: Laura | Age: 24 – 34 years old | Demographic: B or C1

Job: Laura is employed within the same sector in which she did her degree. Either an office based, professional services job or a nurturing role such as a teacher or healthcare. Laura is determined to keep climbing her chosen career ladder and is currently working toward a promotion into middle management, if she isn’t there already!

“I wish there was an

extra hour in the day!” Between organizing her active social life, staying late at work, catching up with mum, reviewing the wedding budget with her fiancé and replying to numerous WhatsApp messages from her bridesmaids – Laura finds herself saying this phrase often! Anything that can help her spend her time more efficiently, is King.

Her main online frustration is:

“There is a glut of information available

online, but most of it isn’t relevant to me. I haven’t got time to wade through it all!”

Laura loves visual,

graphical and concise content!

Laura knows her Facebook usage is out of control! She can’t help checking Facebook on her smartphone throughout the working day. She also uses her smartphone to browse Pinterest and wedding blogs during her commute to work. In the evening, if she isn’t out at the latest bar or restaurant in town, she curls up on the sofa with her tablet or laptop to continue her Pinterest search, whilst checking in on Facebook and Instagram throughout the evening.

Family, friends and social acceptance are central to Laura’s decision making process.

Laura has a realistic, but not bottomless, budget. She wants to avoid cutting corners so will

invest her precious time in ensuring that she is spending

her money wisely.

In her spare time, Laura catches up with friends at local foodie establishments. She is prepared to pay for quality food and drink if she has heard positive reviews from her social circle.

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For B2B Buyer Persona generation visit:http://bit.ly/B2B-Buyer-Persona-Generation


http://bit.ly/B2B-Buyer-Persona-Generation

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tThree-step content curation system

Select the most important evergreen content. Organise / tag and file it in a content repository. Filter-out the mediocre stuff. Act like a museum curator working on an outstanding exhibit. Curation is a human practice.

Identify big trends from small musings. Mash up / merge content to create fresh perspectives. Publish to your social networks. Distribution is semi- automated.

Use a combination of tools to grab / trap / scoop gather content from scattered places and bring them into one place. Aggregation is a technology.

Content Curation

I

Adapted HiveFire Inc

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Content Elevation


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Attractive1

Discoverable 2

Consumable3

Understandable 4

Shareable 5

Actionable 6


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Takeaway: Spend minimum 20% of your time researching and testing headlines

Pay special attention to headlinesOn average, five times as

many people read the headline as read the copy

body. When you have written your headline, you have

spent eighty cents of your dollar.

David Ogilvy

80% of people make a decision about whether or not they should check out an article based on the headline.

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PersonaliseWords that stand out from the crowd

You and Your

• “You” is the 5th most popular word in viral headlines.*

• “Your” is in the Top 20.

• Combined, these two pronouns appear in 16 per cent of all the headlines in the study.*

Takeaway: Use You and Your to signal your content is about the reader, not about the writer.

*Rippen survey: http://bit.ly/viral-headlines

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http://bit.ly/viral-headlines

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Test your headline for attractiveness

http://bit.ly/headline-analyser

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http://bit.ly/headline-analyser

@concentricdots 32http://bit.ly/cmi-uk-benchmarks-2016


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2 critical focus areas.#2

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2 Simple Techniques

1. A content auditing system to stop you haemorrhaging potential customers, reduce your bounce rate, and increase your reader engagement and conversion levels.

3. A simple reporting system to report your content marketing KPIs, get buy-in and earn more budget.

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A goldmine of data

Content analytics

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POLISH / optimise KEEP / do more

3 TRASH

4Spreadsheet

Existing Content Assets1

RubbishStar content Moderate2

Gaps

Ideate /CREATE


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A content auditing system


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A simple reporting system

Source: Ryan Skinner for Forrester


@concentricdots 38http://bit.ly/Content-Marketing-Strategy-e-Learning-Course

Plan your journey to content marketing excellence

Assess your capability.

• What’s my capability? • Is content marketing right

for me and my business? • How much does it cost? • How do I get buy-in? • How do I decide what skills

and disciplines to focus on? • What techniques can I learn

to improve my content marketing ROI.

• What tools will help me promote my content and increase my reach?

http://bit.ly/Content-Marketing-Strategy-e-Learning-Course

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1. Ideal buyer personas are non-negotiable: we can only create content that works when we understand what out target audience is looking for.

2. Understand your buyers issues and challenges: Define eight category themes and topics in your sweet spot, stick to them, relentlessly, if you want search engines to index and rank your content as expert and authoritative.

3. Know your buyer cycle intimately: There are 6 phases and 13 touch points in the buying cycle (funnels) where your potential buyer is open to influence. This is where your content marketing can win or lose the battle. This is where you pick your formats. It’ your marketing, but it’s their time. Have you got the formats that are required for the job, or are you leaking profit?

4. It’s better to publish one truly excellent post per week than five mediocre posts every week. 5. If you’re creating great content, but have poor on-page SEO, you might as well not be creating content. 6. If you’re still in the early stages of earning your domain authority and page rank, use programmatic paid solutions to

promote your content. 7. Allocate 25% of your time and budget to paid promotion. 8. Define your process. At Concentric Dots / Smart Insights we use a seven step process. 9. Don’t aim for perfection with your strategy, rough is enough. Create a simple one-page content marketing strategy which

has your goals, metrics, mission statement, target audiences, editorial ideas, frequency, and channel management plans. 10.Get specialist training and support in creating great content that has the six attributes, without which you will just waste

your precious time and money.

My 10 departing best practice tips.

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Thank you! Let’s Connect! Questions & discussion welcome after the show,

or via social media

Free, Basic member toolsManaging Digital Marketing 2015 reportManaging Customer Experiences 2015 reportSample planning templatesPlanning infographicswww.smartinsights.com/membership

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Stephen Bateman, Smart Insights

Marketing

Transcript of Stephen Bateman, Smart Insights