ContentMarketingWorkbook

Learnhowtocreateacontentplanthathelpsyoumeetyourcontentobjectives.

INTRODUCTION

Engineersandscientistsaresearchingforinformationthroughouttheentirebuyingcyclefromtheinitialresearch“awareness”stageatthetopofthefunneltotheirpurchasedecisionatthebottom.

Themajorityofthebuyer’sjourneyhappensonlinebeforetheprospecttalkstosales,soit’simportanttocarefullyplanyourcontentdevelopment,targetittoyourkeypersonas,developrelevantthemes,andmapcontenttoeachstagetoengageyourtargetaudiencethroughtheprocess.

Throughourproventreat-your-content-like-a-productapproach,westepyouthroughthekeystagesofdevelopingyourplan,withfocusonyourobjectivesandassociatedsuccessmetricstoprovereturnoninvestment.

TableofContents:

Setyourcontentobjectives 3

Defineyouraudience 4

Treatyourcontentlikeaproduct 5

Developcontentthemes 6

Determinecontenttorepurpose 7

Optimizethroughkeywords 8

Mapcontenttothefunnel 9

Amplifyyourcontent 10

Setyoursuccessmetrics 11

ContentMarketingWorkbook 2

OBJECTIVES

Themostsuccessfulcontentplansstartwithestablishingcontentobjectives.Whatdoyouhopetoachievebydevelopingyourcontent?

Yourobjectivescanbeexternallyfocused,internallyfocused,orperhapsamixofboth.

Hereisalistofexamplecontentdevelopmentobjectives:

q Increasebrandawareness

q Demonstratethoughtleadership

q Developanonlinerapportwithyourcustomers

q Penetrateamarketorapplicationspace

q Launchanewproductorservice

q Createausercommunity

q Increasewebvisits

q Increaseleads

q Communicatewithemployeesorpartners

q _____________________________________

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AUDIENCE

Personaname:_____________________________________

Jobtitle:__________________________________________

Gender:__________________________________________

Keyresponsibilities:_________________________________

Primarypainpoints:_________________________________

__________________________________________________

Goals:____________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Wheretheygoforinformation:________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Contentpreferences:________________________________

_________________________________________________

Criteriaconsideredwhenselectingavendor:_____________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Mostcommonobjections:____________________________

__________________________________________________

Knowingwhomyouarecommunicatingwithiskeytocreatingcontentthatconverts.Thisstartswithidentifyingyourprimarybuyerpersona.Apersonaisdefinedasarepresentationofyouridealaudience.

Defineyourprimarypersonainthespacetotheright.

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TREATYOURCONTENTLIKEAPRODUCT

Contentisthefuelthatdrivesmodernmarketing.Nomatterwhatchannelsyou’reusing– tradeshows,web,emailmarketing,PR,socialmedia– youcan’texpectareturnforyoureffortswithouthigh-qualitycontentbeingattheheartofthateffort.

Withyourcustomerpersonadefined,youarereadytocreateyourplan.Startingwiththeirkeyattributesandyourdefinedobjectives,followtheprocessbelow:

q Develop2 contentthemesofinteresttoyourpersona

q Optimize yourcontentthemesbyidentifying4keywordsyou’llusetoattractyourpersona

q Determinehowyouwillamplify yourcontenttoachievedesiredresults

q Createacontentmapalongthefunnel

q Considerhowyoucanrepurpose thelead-generatingcontentyouwillcreateorthatalreadyexists

q Determinehowyouwillmeasurethesuccessofyourcontentmarketingefforts

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DEVELOP4CONTENTTHEMES

Listbroadthemesontheleftandspecifictopicsontheright.

Armedwiththekeyattributesofyourpersona,youarenowreadytocreatealistoftopicsthatwillbeofinteresttothem.Tobegin,createalistof4broadthemes.

Forexample,intheindustrialautomationspace,onethememightbe“LeanManufacturingProcess.”

Whenyouhavelistedoutyour4broadthemes,drilldownalevelandmakethemmorespecific.

Anexampleofmakingabroadthemelike“LeanManufacturingProcess”morespecificmightbe“4TipstoEnsuringYourManufacturingProcessisMoreEfficient”.

Broad Themes Specific Topic

ContentMarketingWorkbook 6

LISTEXISTINGCONTENTTOREPURPOSE

Listoutexistingcontentrelatedtoyourthemeandpersonaandidentifythecontenttype.Then,checkoffhowyouwillrepurposeit.

ContenttoRepurpose/ContentType

1.________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

q Blogq BlogSeriesq WhitePaperq EBookq Video/Webinarq ExistingSlideDecksq Other____________________________________

2.________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

q Blogq BlogSeriesq WhitePaperq EBookq Video/Webinarq ExistingSlideDecksq Other____________________________________

Inadditiontowritingfreshcontentonyouridentifiedthemes,you’llalsowanttoconsiderrepurposingorcuratingexistingcontentthatisrelatedtoyourthemeandrelevanttoyourpersona.

Forexample:Youmayhaveawhitepaperonarelatedtopicthatismanyyearsold,butisakeydriverofvisitstoyoursite.Canyouupdatethispiecetomakeitcurrent,byaddinginnewtrendsintheindustry,newdatapoints,andincludingthekeywordsyounotedonpage7?

Youcanalsorepurposeablogseriesintoawhitepaper,awhitepaperintoablogseries,or4relatedwhitepapersintoanebook.

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OPTIMIZEYOURCONTENTWITH4KEYWORDS

Nowthatyouknowwhomyouarewritingyourcontentforandwhatyouwillwriteabout,orrepurposetoattractthem,gobacktoyourpersonaworksheetonpage4andreviewtheirpainpoints.Thiswillgiveyousomecluesintokeywordstheywilllikelysearchonwhenresearchingvendorproductsandsolutions.

Youshouldalsoconsiderkeytermsinyourindustryand/orrelatedtoyourapplicationsand/orservices.

Topracticekeywordselection,startbypickingout1themefrompage6andlistout4keywordsthatrelatetothisthemeandyourpersona.

Theme___________________________________________

Keywords

1._____________________________________

2._____________________________________

3._____________________________________

4._____________________________________

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MAPYOURCONTENTTOTHEFUNNEL

ContentTitle Stageofthe

Funnel

ContentType

Keywords Call-to-Action

Herearesomeexamplesofcontenttypesalongthefunnel:

Top-of-FunnelContent• BlogPost/Series• CaseStudies• Top-LevelWebProduct/ServicePage

Middle-of-FunnelContent• WhitePapers• Webinars• SoftwareEvaluation

Bottom-of-FunnelContent• ProductorServiceConfigurator• EvaluationKit• ROICalculator

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HOWWILLYOUAMPLIFYYOURCONTENT?

Consideringyourcontentthemeandkeywords,writeout2blogtitlesand2socialmediapoststoamplifyyourcontent:

BlogTitles

1.________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

2.________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

SocialMediaPosts:LinkedIn

1.________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

2.________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

SocialMediaPosts:Twitter(140characterlimit)

1.________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

2.________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Whenyoucreateyourcontent,it’simportanttoamplifyit– or,saidanotherway– promoteit.TwooptimalchannelsforB2Bcontentamplificationincludebloggingandsocialmedia.

Withamplification,youincreasethechangesthatyourpersonawillbeabletofindyourcontentintheirresearch.

It’salsokeythatyouramplificationplanconsidersfrequencyofposts.Agoodruleofthumbistowriteatleast2blogpostspromotingyourcontentanddrivingreaderstoyourwebsitetoaccessthecontentandreadmore.Forsocialmedia,bestpracticesforB2BtechnicalmarketsincludepostingtoLinkedInandTwitter(andYouTubeforvideocontent)atleastupto2timesamonthperpieceofcontentthroughitsfirstyear.

ContentMarketingWorkbook 10

SETYOURSUCCESSMEASURES

Basedonthecontenttypesyouselectedonthepreviousslide,herearesomeexamplesofkeysuccessmetricsyoushouldtrackmonthly,alongwithB2Bbenchmarkswhereapplicable:

Top-of-FunnelContent• NumberofPageVisits(3pages)• TimeonPage(>2minutes)• TotalBlogPageViews

Middle-of-FunnelContent• NumberofLandingPageVisits• NumberofLeads• ConversiontoLeadPercentage(>20%)• NumberofNewOpportunitiesGenerated

Bottom-of-FunnelContent• NumberofROICalculatorCompletes• NumberofConfiguratorsCompleted• NumberofEvaluationKitSales

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AboutTREWMarketing: AtTREW,westrivetobethesmartest,mostcollaborativemarketingpartnerservingengineeringandtechnologycompanies.BasedinAustin,Texas,withdecadesofexperiencemarketingtotechnicalaudiences,weofferfull-servicemarketingprogramstailoredtomeetyouruniquegoalsandobjectives.