How to Make Remarkable Content Without the Risk

Presenters

@BecauseSEO@DTCchicago

Kyle Olson

@TheElliottBrown@Visually

Elliott Brown

#RemarkableContent

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(We’ll take questions at the end)

Do any of you use the internet and think “this place

needs more content”?

What about“better content”?

A 2016 Resolution

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Let’s move from a quantity,

to a quality-driven content marketing

strategy

The Problem

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SEO, Content & PR Now Align

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What’s This Look Like?

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Let’s say you have $50,000 in content marketing

budget for 2016

A “Quantity” Approach

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Item Quantity Cost

Blog posts 100 $200

Infographics 4 $5,000

Whitepapers 2 $5,000

TOTAL $50,000

A “Quality” Approach

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Item Quantity Cost

Amazing Interactive 2 $25,000

TOTAL $50,000

How We Feeling?

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No sweat!!!

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Here’s what we’ll cover today:

1. Developing a smart concept2. Planning3. Briefing4. Hedging your bets5. Increasing the impact

Developing your concept

When Does Content Click?

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When It’s Precious Valuable!

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So, Think About Your Audience

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What Will Make Them Happy?

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1. Entertain

2. Solve a Problem

3. Engage

Planning:• Topic• Positionin

g• Channel

• Marketers with a documented content strategy are 60% more likely to be successful

-- CMI/Marketing Profs, 2016 B2B Benchmarks

• Marketers with documented customer personas are twice as likely to exceed their goals

-- Cintell, Understanding B2B Buyers

But First!!

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Identify Your Audience’s Needs

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Tool upGoogle KW PlannerBuzzSumoScribbleLiveEtc.

ListenTalk to customersSurvey themSocial listening

Make new friends:SalesCustomer supportProduct

Look at Competitors& Influencers

Choose a Topic

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Your Product

The customerneed

A GOOD TOPIC!

A Bad Topic (For Visually)

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Testing your concept

The Secret to IDing Your Topic

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Find what’s missing

Step #1: Feed The Trolls

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“Did you guys know this?”

Step #2: Find Influencers

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Step #3: Pitch Your Concept

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Have a clear ask when you do outreach:

• “Do you think there’s anything else to cover in this story?”

• “Do you think this would resonate?” • “WHY/WHY NOT?”

Example of Helpful Feedback

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“What’s your source?”

Boom!

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Positioning

The Right Positioning

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EVia BuzzSumo virality study

The Right Channel

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Q: Where will your remarkable content go?

• Your blog?• Someone else’s blog?• Syndication?• Social media – which social channels)?• PR• Mobile/desktop

A: Wherever the right audience is (or where it helps you build authority)

The Brief

But Wait!!

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And!!

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From a study by Visually

So, You’ve Got This Plan

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1. A big piece of visual or interactive content2. In the right channel3. That fills a customer need4. And gets an emotional response5. But ties to your business objectives6. And is positioned to entertain, solve problem, or engage

But Your Plan’s No Good Alone

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E• Vet it• Present it at kickoff• It’s your map to the creative process

The (Brief) Brief Checklist

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Your project’s objectives Your core message and

3-5 proof points or benefits

The primary call-to-action or takeaway message.

Themes or ideas you want the creative to embrace.

Info on your audience and how the content serves a need

Success metrics Examples of creative you

like Brand, copy, and style

guidelines The specifications for the

final product The full list of assets you

need. Timelines &

responsibilities

Hedging Your

Big Bet

THE RE-USE RUSE

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ECreate derivative content to: • Reach new channels • Get more bang for the buck• Create more chances it will

catch on

AN EXAMPLE

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Increase the impact

Pick One

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RELEVANCE AUTHORITY

SEO: Marginally improves most rankings.PR: Drives more traffic, less qualified.Content: Socially shareable by an earned audience.

SEO: Improves targeted rankings.PR: Drives interested/relevant referral traffic.Content: Socially shareable by your owned audience.

Authority

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Related to ‘Domain Authority’.Think highly shareable, viral content.

Authority Example

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Authority Benefits – Placed On:

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• SEO: Organic up ~20% YoY in following quarter.

• PR: ~6,000 referral visits.

SEO, Content & PR Now Align

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SEO: Improves targeted rankings.PR: Drives interested/relevant referral traffic.Content: Socially shareable by your owned audience.

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Relevance

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Google is focusing on semantics and context. It is getting much better at understanding semantic meaning…Google knows it’s very likely that the word “car” is relevant in an article in which the word “bumper“ occurs, while this is not true for the term “refrigerator.”  This is called Co-Occurrence analysis.

- Steve Rayson @ BuzzSumo

““

Relevance Example

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Relevance Benefits – Placed On:

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E• SEO: “ESL” keywords up from p. 10 + to

p. 1• PR: Average CPC for “ESL” KWs: $30-40

And as a Bonus

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Optimization

Let’s Talk SEO For a Minute

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Keyword Research

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Generates long-term traffic

Keyword Research

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Be Intentional About Titles

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They often direct post titles, copy and anchor text

“ESL” keywords up from p. 10 + to p. 1

On-Page Optimization

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• Care about your page copy• Add internal links (if they

fit)

Questions?#RemarkableContent