Why you should invest in content marketing & 7 key factors to success

Content Marketing = helping peoplefind solutions for their problems

Vincent Dumon, december 2015

The answer is not in talking aboutproducts…

“people care much more

about their own problemsthan they care

about your products”

… which has an impact on yourmarketing model.

on your product oriented model…

… and it has an

From the 4P model

product place

price promotion

I do not care about thefeatures

…

I do not care about the placewhere you wontto seal the deal

…

I do not want one way

communication(with internet as

an extra channel)

Price isn’t mymain concern

…

to the SAVE model.

solution access

value education

I do care about the

problems yousolve

It’s about myentire buyer

journey

I want to beinvolved at each

point in the buying cycle

Price comesafter my

concern aboutvalue

Interruption marketing is out.

“We need to stop interruptingwhat people are interested in

and bewhat people are interested in.

”

- Craig Davis -

Technology put the customer in control.

“Today’s buyers might be anywhere from two-thirds to 90% of the way through their journey before the reach out to a vendor.”

- Lori Wizdo, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research -

Technology alteredthe way buyersdiscover, understandand choose products.

It’s the experience that counts.“

the sales funnelhas become

a self-service loop

”

It’s the relationship that counts.Make the shift from

transaction to relationship !

Marketers must adapt.

Marketers must enable and empower,

not just persuadeand promote.

enter Content Marketing

content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributingvaluable, relevant and consistent content to

attract and retain a clearly defined audience andto drive profitable custom action

- the content marketing institute -

Content Marketing is relatively simple“

The buyer journeyis nothing more

than a series of questionsthat must be answered.

”

but don’t take it up too lightly…But wait a second before you rush in…

Avoid producing crap !There’s more and more content to come…from more and more sources…from inexperienced content creators, pushed to the limit…

A LOT OF CRAP !

It will make people more reluctant to trust the next content that comes along : our content…

(looking like the good stuff)

Trusting relationships need qualitycontent.

The winners will be the companies that evolvebeyond the sum of their products.

Through quality content, they will be the thought leaders.

Quality content thus supports trusting relationships.

The promise of content marketing

to earn your audience

versus

buying it…

key factors tocontent marketing success

1. Document your content strategy

2. Build a content team

3. Map content to customer journey

4. Publish quality content

5. Distribute your content

6. Track content marketing ROI

7. Integrate a strong technology

Make clear what you want to accomplishandwho you’re trying to motivate.

Align people and processes. Ad priorities around common goals.Increase effectiveness.


#1 – business goals : why are you creating content ?

All content should directly support or complement your larger business goals.

Examples : put in your business goals…


Define the elements each piece of content should contain to effectivelysupport your business needs.

Examples : put in your content goals…

#2 – content goals : what do you want the content to do ?


The most successful content marketing campaigns align production anddistribution to the needs, goals and concerns of a specific audience.

Examples : put in your audience description…

#3 – audience : who will your content speak to ?


Determine where you fit in the industry. Take note of how crowded the space for content is, and how far behind or ahead you are.Take note of the formats that seem to stand out.

Examples : your competitor research…

#4 – competitor research : what are your competitors doing online andwhere can you find competitive advantage ?


Directly involves implementation.

Prioritize quality and frequency over aspirational formats until you have a solid content library.

Examples : put in your evaluation…

#5 – format : what are the content formats we can produce ?


Promotion is about driving your audience to your content, distribution is about driving your content to your audience.

#6 – publishing, distributing en promoting content : Where will the content live and how will it beshared ? How often will you publish content ?

Content is pulled.Nobody pulls what they don’t want.


There should at least be one person in the company dedicated to content marketing success, one who thinks and acts like a publisher.

Someone must be accountable for content and manage it as an asset (ROI).

#7 – implementation : who will produce, publish and promote yourcontent ? Budget ?


Set metrics and KPIs that align with your business goals, content goals, and strategic initiatives during the strategy processto make sure you analyze your results within the right context.

#8 – measurement : How will you measure succes ?


TL;DR version first :

YOU NEED EXPERTS

Use your documented strategyand make sure

everybodyknows

the overarchingpurpose of your content.



Editor

Oversees content

projects, ensures

brand consistency

and aligns

content with

business

objectives.

Community

Manager

Distributes content

across social

channels, engages

online communities.

Designer

Brings content to life

through the user

experience and rich

visuals.

Contributor

Content creator who

contributes to your

project.

SEO / SEA

Specialist

Manages the

distribution of

content online.

Analyst

Reports on the

defined KPIs.

Curator

Finds the best

content from around

the web.

Don’t think the content has to be all about you.

Think and act like a publisher !


The required skillset is more associated withnewsrooms than with traditional marketing agencies.

The approval process will need tosupport a swift publishing process.

3. Map content to buyer personasand buyer journeys

to understand your audience’stop concerns

and to ensure that your content engages at every buying stage…


Fictional representationsof our buyers to helpus think about…

Where do they get

theirinformation

?

How do they

consumetheir

information ?

Which kind of content

do theyneed

?

What topics should we

write about?

What toneand style is

needed?

Best delivery strategy

?

…

The buyer’s journey is the activeresearch process a potential buyer

goes through leading up to a purchase.


4. consistently publish quality content

Quality content is the content that solves a problem best, quickest, and on-demand.

Start with a

content audit.


Use an editorial calender.Plan ahead.Prepare to be reactive.


COPE

CREATE

ONCE

PUBLISH

EVERYWHERE

use existing components of content in multiple ways


Look for the ideal mix of types of content

Original

User generated / crowdsourced

Licensed from other sources

“The best place tohide a dead body is page 2 of the

google search results.”


One of the biggest mistakesafter creating and publishinga piece of content is to stop.

Promote it to your target audience.


Effective distribution is a combination of paid, owned & earned media.

“Marketers must

market their marketing.

”

average Hollywood movie budget split :40-50 % on production50-60 % on distribution


CONTENT MARKETING(owned, earned and paid media)

PERFORMANCE OPERATIONS

consumption retention sharing

engagementmarketing pipeline

impact (mpi)sales pipeline impact (spi)

production cost

6. Track content marketing ROIco

nsu

mp

tio

nre

ten

tio

nsh

arin

gen

gage

men

t

site / blog asset social media email

• page views• unique visitors• avg time on site

• downloads• form

completions

• link clickthroughs

• open rate• Clickthroughs

• % returning• bounce rate• number of visits• pages/visit

• Followers • subscribers• unsubscribers• opt-outs

• Forwards• social media link shares• retweets• likes

• session duration• page depth

• comments andsocial media chatter

6. Track content marketing ROIo

per

tio

ns

RO

I

site / blog asset social media email

• new leads generated (first, last, multi touch)• existing leads touched• content score

• % and € value of opportunities influenced/generated• % and € value of opportunities won

• return on investment• influence

mp

isp

i

Production• time to live• content throughput• content backlog

Cost• production cost per post• distribution cost per post• promotion costs

7. integrate a strong technology

Technology doesn’t create structure.

People do !


The right software makes iteasier to get the work doneand measure the results.


You need a single location where you canfind, share, and measure the impact of content across the sales cycle.


accessible

relevant

trackable

Content should become ART.

to internal teams

to buying stages & personas

impact

to remember…

Earn your audience vs buying it…

Evolve beyond the sum of your products.

Think SAVE !

Become a thought leader through quality content.

Build relationships.

Marketers must enable and empower.

topics to tackle








Thank you !

• Harvard Business Review

• Content Marketing Institute

• Vertical Measures blog & white papers

• Curata blog & white papers

• Appinions blog

• Velocity Partners – slideshare

• NewsCred blog & white papers

• Relevance blog & white papers

• Marketo white papers

Recommended reading

Why you should invest in content marketing & 7 key factors to success

Marketing

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