Content Marketing on a Budget

Big League Content Marketing Building a Content Marketing Machine on a Budget

About this presentationI created it myself

I used only publicly available content

I used only free tools, images, templates, fonts

My biggest investment was time… It took me about 4 hours (and 5 years)

Good content requires expertise and subject-matter knowledge

Source: Kapost and Eloqua study http://www.eloqua.com/content/dam/eloqua/Downloads/ebook/Kapost-Eloqua_ebook_Content_Marketing.pdf

Why Content Marketing?

93%68%

63%67%48%

42%

57%

What’s challenging for companies?

Main content marketing challenges1. Lack of time

2. Producing enough content

3. Producing the kind of content that engages

4. Producing a variety of content

5. Lack of budget

6. Inability to measure effectiveness

Main content marketing challenges1. Lack of time

2. Producing enough content

3. Producing the kind of content that engages

4. Producing a variety of content

5. Lack of budget

6. Inability to measure effectiveness

Here’s the blueprint

Content Marketing

Message Format Channel Promotion

Message

Start with your buyers

Demographic, firmographic

Location, online, networks, subscriptions

Topics, hobbies, activities, content

Functional, financial, emotional

One product

Who are they? ……………………………………

Where are they? ………………………………..

What are they interested in? …………….

What is their pain? …………………………….

How can you help them? ………………….

Decide on ONE productWhy do they buy?

Why would they buy from you?

If they bought from you, would they be happy?

Define your buyers’ journey

Stage Awareness Interest Consideration Decision

/Purchase

Descripti

on

Buyers aware

of the problem,

business goal,

pain or

category of

solutions

Buyers are

interested in

solving the

problem and

are actively

looking for

solutions

Buyers are

considering the

set of solutions

to solve their

problem

Buyer decide

on a solution

and are making

the purchase

decision

Buyers’

goal

Educate on

problem

Learn about

possible

solutions

Narrow

solutions to a

short list of

alternatives

Compare short

list, pick a

solution

Align goals with stage

Stage Awareness Interest Consideration Decision

/Purchase

Buyers’

goal

Educate on

problem

Learn about

possible

solutions

Narrow

solutions to a

short list of

alternatives

Compare short

list, pick a

solution

Your

goal

Capture buyers

and provide

value through

education

Educate buyers

on types of

solutions and

highlight the

benefits of

yours

Make the short

list, connect

with the buyers

Qualify the

buyers, sell!

Write down all the questions your buyers have at each stageStage Awareness Interest Consideration Decision

/Purchase

Buyers’

goal

Educate on

problem

Learn about

possible

solutions

Narrow

solutions to a

short list of

alternatives

Compare short

list, pick a

solution

Buyers’

Questio

ns

What is it

(definition)?

Who else has

it?

Is it bad?

Can it be

solved?

What are the

solutions?

How do the

differ?

What are the

pros and cons

for each?

What are the

important

features?

Who are the

potential

vendors?

Are they

What is the

price?

What do I get?

Who else is

using it?

Answer all the questions

Question Answer

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

How to do it on a budget?1. Do it yourself

2. Do it in-house

3. Freelance or an agency

4. CrowdSource:

a. Brafton

b. WritersAccess –www.writeraccess.com

c. NewsCred

d. Scripted

e. TextBroker

f. Zerys

g. Curata

Format

Plan one canonical piecehttp://www.quicksprout.com/the-advanced-guide-to-content-marketing/

http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo

http://www.hubspot.com/inbound-marketing

http://www.marketo.com/marketing-automation\

Create peripheral content that supports and points to it

Optimize the page for conversion

Diversify formats

Format ideas

How to do it on a budget?1. Do it yourself:

a. Wordb. PowerPointc. Design tools (Adobe)d. Video tool (Your iPhone, Camtasia)e. Recording tools

2. Do it in-housea. Designerb. Writer/copy editorc. Videographerd. Uncover talent

3. Freelance or an agency

4. CrowdSource:a. 99designs: http://99designs.com/b. DesignCrowd: www.designcrowd.comc. LogoTournament:

http://logotournament.com/d. LaunchSite: https://launchsite.com/e. CoContest: https://www.cocontest.com/f. eLance https://www.elance.com/g. http://www.designcrowd.com/h. More here: http://list.ly/list/3xr-20-creative-

crowdsourcing-websites-for-logo-website-design-and-more

Channel & distribution

The format (not the message) determines the medium

Format Mediums

Blog post RSS, email, social media

Video YouTube, Vimeo, Blogs, Web Pages, social media

Infogrpahic Web page, social media, slideshare,

Podcast iTunes, Music store (Google), Audible (Amazon)

PDF Landing page, social media, slidesahre, Scribd

Print Mail, store, events

eBooks Amazon, Google, iTunes

Presentation Slideshare, Prezi, web page

Webinar YouTube, Vimeo, BrightTALK

Press release Web page, press “wire”

How to do it on a budget?1. Manage all your subscriptions in one place

2. Assign owners to each channel/medium

3. Have a content distribution checklist

Promotion

I assume you know this part, but…A few tips:

• Plan your promotion campaigns in advance

• Treat content promotion like product promotion: set goals, budget, timeline, action items, etc.

• Track and measure results and KPIs

• Establish a baseline first, then optimize

• Play around with the cadence

Recap on process1. Define the buyer

2. Outline the stages

3. Come up with questions

4. Pick one canonical topic

5. Brainstorm peripheral content and formats

6. Build an editorial calendar

7. Add promotional plan

Step 1:make it a priority

Decide

Commit

Assign real resources

Schedule time

Lead by example

Step 2:plan it

Planning steps• Pick one topic to start with

• Brainstorm

• Prioritize

• Find the experts and assign tasks

• Create an editorial calendar

Step 3:build a process

Proposed process1. Brainstorm

a. Finalize a topic

b. Outline all formats

2. Outline the message (creative brief)

3. Copy + wireframe

4. Review

5. Final Draft

6. Copy editor review and signoff

7. Production

8. Review

9. Polish

10. Final review

11. Promo assets production

12. Publish

Step 4:assign resources

Insource or outsource

Freelance or agencyFreelance Agency

Cost

Time

Flexibility

Capacity

Breadth of Services

Infrastructure

Expertise

Overhead

Step 5:manage the process

Step 5 – manage the process

Step 6:execute

Step 6 - ExecuteStart producing

Think about distribution

Have a PM

Step 7:measure

Measure what makes senseMessage Format Channel Promotion

Marketing qualified

leads

Shares Total leads/visits Cost per acquisition

Engagement post

consumption

Consumption –

downloads, views,

pageviews

Reach Cost per engagement

Returning visitors Relative consumption Engagement Engagement rate

Survey results and

ratings

Velocity/Virility

Comments Marketing

qualified/purchases

Relative shares

Mentions

Reuse/curate by other

sources

TipsDefine activity goals for the first 3-6 months

Measure early indicator

Start measure real results only after 3 months of solid activity

Questions?

Resourceshttp://www.demandmetric.com/content/content-marketing-infographic

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/research/

http://www.cmocouncil.org/images/uploads/262.pdf

http://img.en25.com/Web/Kapost/%7Be2e7c5be-14f8-4cf3-a174-1a29b673cfa6%7D_Content-Marketing-ROI-Kapost-Eloqua-eBook_.pdf

http://www.inboundwriter.com/content-marketing/15-shocking-content-marketing-stats/#sthash.N6PmcB0q.dpuf

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2343039/Content-Marketing-The-4-Most-Critical-Components-to-Measure-Analyze

Thank YouUri Bar-Joseph

@uribarjoseph

in/uribarjoseph

www.marketing-athlete.com