Sharpen Your Content Marketing In 6 Steps

Sharpen Your
Content Marketing Strategy
In 6 Steps
Stephen Bateman
The Content Marketing
Strategy Expert
All content is © Copyright Concentric Dots Limited 2013
Registered in England and Wales Number 8159156

13
“How can you ﬁx your
content problem when you
have no plan?”
“Creating content
without a plan is
like building a
house with no
architectural
plans.”
Joe Pulizzi, CMI

14
Great content needs a plan

15
Every plan needs a goal

53
Outposts
Your objectives need to be
smart

15
The best plans are
structured
Content © Copyright Concentric Dots Limited 2013

16
Your Plan - Step 1
Know your audience

17
1 2 3
4 5
6
7
Know your audience

18
Figure out your content
challenge
Attract prospects without
selling to them
How can we cut through the
noise to win attention and
earn trust from prospects?

19
Daniel Day Lewis took 8
months to get into
character for his role in
this My Left Foot. His
performance won him
numerous awards
including best actor.
You need to show the
same commitment in
your quest to know
your customers
Get into character..

20
Set up an observatory..
Use tools

21
Customer Persona
Develop customer proﬁles..

22
To help you develop detailed customer personas use the Empathy Map developed by
XPLANE also called a "really simple customer proﬁler" http://whoisadampayne.com/
empathy-map/
Use Empathy Maps

24
Your plan - Step 2
Audit your content

25
Why do a content audit?
 Topic coverage
 Content types
 Spot gaps
 Provide a better user
experience

26
How much content should
you be creating?

27
Research demonstrates
that 52 is the magic
number at which traffic
increases due to the
presence of deeper, more
expert and tenacious
content.
http://labs.openviewpartners.com/how-much-content-should-you-be-creating/
For expert views and opinions on this topic go to:
Magic Number

28
 Benchmark competition
 Validate popular sources
 Check Influencers
External audit

29
KEEP POLISH CREATE
Your Existing Assets
Calendar
Content users want Content we want Other
1
2
3
4
TRASH
Internal audit

30
Keep audit organised
Use an Inventory

 Content audits are tedious
 Keep your audit organised
 Download an inventory spreadsheet
 Create the basis for mapping (next
step)
32
Summary - Step 2
Audit your content

 Question: “If we don't have enough content experts in-house to create
well-rounded content, do you suggest we link to other sources from our
site, or should we pay outside sources to create content for us?”
 Answer: Yes, curating content is a key component of content
marketing success which needs to integrate with your content creation
strategy. I suggest you identify external experts who can write expert
content for you. In exchange you can put them in front of larger
audiences than they’re able to reach themselves. You can provide this
because you have a reputable blog, far reaching social media channels
and pro-active content promotion + your eNewsletter mailing (assuming
you have decent sized list, open and click-though rates). Curation is a
win win partnership, which benefits each party mutually. Paying for
content should only be done as a last resort when you’re sure the benefit
outweighs the cost.
33
Q & A

34
Your plan - Step 3
Map content to buyer

Search personas
35
James
Justin
Emma
Search Personas

36
Content for each stage of cycle

37
JamesJustinEmma
Fill any existing gaps

Become aware
The Bystander
Just getting started in
search. Does not yet fully
realise that a need exists
in the organisation
Consider / compare
The Detective
Acknowledges a need. Is
looking at options.
Aware of the bigger
suppliers. Not aware of
us yet.
Make a choice / prefer
The judge
The judge is more
sophisticated, well
informed and able to
discern.
Purchase
The Jury
Ready to purchase.
The bystander picks up
general information at
events, on your website,
in blog posts, in videos, at
conferences, in
pamphlets, brochures, in
the press, specialist
media, on referral sites, in
emails
Content that is targeted
to keywords and key
phrases via optimised
pages is the best way to
make self discoverable to
the detectives. Creating
content that helps solve
speciﬁc problems this
segment is struggling
with
A deeper level of
content is needed to get
on the judges shortlist.
The job is to get to
known them. Content
needs to be good enough
to earn their trust and
contact details (e.g. email
address)
Make it drop dead easy
to obvious how to
purchase. Call to action
CycleSegmentCharacteristicsContentrequirements
1 2 3 4
To be effective you need to provide a range of content
that is relevant & informative, at each stage of the cycle
Align content, persona & stage

40
JamesJustinEmma
• Blue = create
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
4
5
Align content, persona & stage

38
✓To entertain
✓To inspire
✓To educate
✓To convince
Focus on content function

39
Use
Smart
Insights
Content
Matrix

 Create search personas
 Plan content functions / types
 Map content to personas / journeys
 Keep it visual !!
41
Summary - Step 3
Map content to buyer

 Question: “We've got a huge amount of content, largely trapped in PDF
downloads. How can we work out what to prioritise?”
 Answer: Auditing existing content is tedious painstaking work, especially
when there are many pages on your website. The diagram on slide 29 is
your best friend. There are no shortcuts! Once you know what your
customers are searching for, and you understand the information and
content types they need and prefer, go through your PDFs with a tooth
comb and a spreadsheet using labeled columns to track the content, the
purpose, and value of the content, and decide what to do with the
different pieces, whilst scoring their value, engagement, “stickiness” etc,
some will be worth keeping, polishing, repurposing, whilst others will
simply just go in the bin. For a page to remain it must play a function,
drive toward a goal, perform a purpose for the visitor and the business at
a specific point long the buying cycle ..
42
Q & A

43
Your plan - Step 4
Create the editorial calendar

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✓Content headline
✓Content type
✓The buyer persona you’re writing this piece for
✓Person who will write/create the content
✓Date due
✓Person who will edit the content
✓Channels — where does this get published
✓ Those “meta data” tags
✓ Publish date
✓ Status (perhaps indicated by green, yellow, or red)
✓ Any notes
✓ Metrics (e.g., comments posted, page views,
downloads, etc.)
✓ Call to Action (the primary action or behaviour you’ve
asked for)
See it all in one place

45
96 page A4
PDF eBook
More detail in the Expert Guide

46
Daily Monthly Quarterly
Write a blog posts
Updates and ideas (Tweet.
FB, LinkedIn, G+)
Respond / comment onsite /
offsite
Curate news
Do a Webinar
Create how-to video or event
video
Write meatier blog post
Create case studies
Do guest blog post on
influential third-party web site
Create and post
presentations to SlideShare
Quarterly
Publish an e-book, guide or
white paper
Attend one big event and
interview people
Produce a video series of 4-5
items
Use calendar to plan ahead

47
Use proven techniques to jump
start the creation process

48
Write with purpose

49
Relevant
Word count
Educational
Meaningful (metaphor)
Visual
Restrained marketing
Chunked
Linked
Key words / phrases
Call To Action
Follow proven editorial guidelines

50
 Create with real reader in mind
 See all content in one place
 Guide production / budget
 Exploit time-specific opportunities
 Build in time for proofing / correction
Summary - Step 4
Create editorial calendar

51
Your plan - Step 5
Promote your content

52
Outposts
Outposts
Get found
Optimise your
Social media outposts

53
Outposts
Underpin strategy with metrics

54
Outposts
Your own turf
Blog
E-Newsletter
Website
Offline cross-promotion
Email footer
Social
Twitter
LinkedIn (inc. Groups)
Facebook
Google+ (author rank)
YouTube
Flickr
Social bookmarks (Digg)
BrightTalk
SlideShare
Paid
Banners
PPC (in social channels)
Sponsored broadcasts
Paid Webinar
PR web
Manage your channels

Outposts
Leverage influencer marketing

Get tooled up!
56
Outposts

57
 Promote tour content in best channels
 Hit & hit again
 Remember to engage influencers
 Make is seamless - Tool up!!
Summary - Step 5
Promote your content

 Question: “What's the best way to push content externally? Which
channels work best?”
 Answer: Your best channels or outposts for content promotion are those
that most closely match the places your audiences like to hang out. It’s in
these channels that you need to focus the majority of your promotion.
But, remember, resist the temptation to “push” your content out. Place
content tactically, sensitively. If you use social channels as broadcast
channels you will abuse social media protocols and turn people away.
Engage, engage, engage. That means listen, converse, and restrain
from using sales and marketing messages. Apply this to your direct
marketing outposts like your newsletters. Content promotion is a skill that
requires time and patience to master. It’s like learning a new language.
Studying a phrasebook won’t get you there. You need to live and
immerse yourself in the channels.
58
Q & A

59
Your plan - Step 6
Measure your performance

Measure against goals and metrics
60

61
If it’s worth doing, it’s worth
doing properly

65
View Our BrightTalk Webcast
https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/8551/72901

Sharpen Your Content Marketing In 6 Steps

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