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Carla Johnson of Type A Communications presented “Building the Beast: 5 Steps to Creating an Actionable Content Marketing Strategy” at the Business Marketing Association of Kansas City November meeting. Marketing has changed significantly in the last few years. As the number and ways we can connect with customers continues to expand, so does our ability to listen, get feedback and respond. But there’s a difference between just pumping out content because technology now makes it easier and having something relevant to say. Today’s B2B marketers needs to know how content marketing feeds the new buyer’s journey and why you need a thoughtful strategy in place to drive the sales and marketing engine. Smart marketers know they can’t do everything and be everywhere. But how do you determine your priorities? Developing a content strategy that tells a consistent story to a specific audience serves as the first step. But that strategy requires a relevant, contextual approach and sustainable storyline that reflects the social nature of business today. During this presentation, Carla covered: - Why a content strategy matters - How it affects the success of a content marketing program - Specific steps to create a content strategy - What two questions to ask as soon as you leave this program About the Speaker: Carla Johnson, Principal, Type A Communications, helps companies tell better stories in order to build stronger brand awareness, create employee and customer engagement, align marketing with sales, and, ultimately, generate top-line revenue. She’s a consultant to the Content Marketing Institute, director on the international board of the Business Marketing Association, a frequent speaker, contributing author to the book, Advice from the Top: The Expert Guide to B2B Marketing, an Instructor for the Online Marketing Institute, and writes on the power of storytelling, content marketing, B2B marketing, and innovation for the Content Marketing Institute, Chief Content Officer magazine, CMSwire and other high-tech, industry and business audiences. Follow her on Twitter @carlajohnson.
Citation preview
Building the Beast: 5 Steps to Creating an Actionable
Content Marketing Strategy
Carla Johnson
Principal, Type A Communications
CARLA
JOHNSON Principal
@CarlaJohnson
93%
44% 42%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
% B2B MarketersWho Say They UseContent Marketing
% Who Have aDocumented
Strategy
% Who Say TheyAre Effective at
Content Marketing
WHY
CONTENT
STRATEGY
MATTERS
2014 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends, North America, Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
WHY CONTENT
STRATEGY MATTERS 1
PURPOSE
OF A
CONTENT
STRATEGY
• Call out the goals of your
content marketing program and
how you’ll accomplish them
• Persuade your internal audience
(i.e. those who approve
budgets) that content is a true
resource and game changer for
your customers and prospects
• Create a ‘profile’ of successful
content types that others can
see for future reference and use
CONTENT
STRATEGY
VS.
CONTENT
MARKETING
Content
Strategy
• Why, Who and How
• Knowing what your
audience wants
• Directs content with the goal of
generating a financial return
Content
Marketing
• What and When
• Creating and distributing what
your audience wants
• Guided by and overall strategy
that delivers specific content at
the right time and place
BUILDING A
BUSINESS CASE 2
BUILDING
A
BUSINESS
CASE of B2B marketers
say that it’s a
challenge to get
executive buy-in
for a content
marketing
program.
22%
2014 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends, North America, Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
BUILDING
A
BUSINESS
CASE
1. Tell them your purpose
2. Describe the current situation
3. Define content marketing and its value
4. Use data
5. Create an action plan
6. Ask for what you want
DEVELOPING A
CONTENT STRATEGY 3
CREATING
YOUR
STRATEGY
1.Define your objectives − What business objectives do you
want to accomplish?
─ What do you want your content to do?
─ Prioritize what’s most important, i.e….
• Build brand awareness • Establish your expertise • Educate buyers • Move leads through the sales
process • Improve retention
EXAMPLE
DEFINE
OBJECTIVES
A software consulting company wanted to shift the perception that consumers and prospects had of them from a vendor to one of a trusted advisor so they seek their advice earlier in the sales process. • They wanted their content to educate
people about changing technologies in our industry and how it impacts the business performance of companies
• Priorities: Establish expertise, educate buyers, build relationships with influencers
EXERCISE
DEFINE
YOUR
OBJECTIVES
Write down your business objective for the next 6-12 months
What does marketing need to do to help accomplish this? Build awareness Educate buyers Engage influencers Generate leads Lead nurturing Better engage existing customers Cross sell / up sell
CREATING
YOUR
STRATEGY
2. Develop Your Story − Understand and articulate
what business you’re really in
─ It’s not about features and benefits; it’s about the difference you’re trying to make in your customers’ lives
─ Answer WHY
TOO MANY
COMPANIES
SOUND
LIKE THIS
ACME is one of the leading providers Florida. Since its inception in 1976, ACME’s signature has been its responsiveness to clients and its delivery of a superior product. Our commitment to excellence, combined with our responsiveness, has gained us an outstanding reputation in the transportation industry and more importantly, the trust and confidence of our clients. Today, we are one of the largest minority owned civil engineering firms in Florida and among the top in consulting engineering firms specializing in civil and transportation related projects. Our corporate headquarters are located in Miami with regional offices located in Pensacola, Tampa and Jacksonville.
EXAMPLE
DEVELOP
YOUR
STORY
Old Story: We’re the leading organization in North America focused on marketing analytics, optimization and automation. New Story: We empower marketers to do their jobs better and with less effort.
Your
Competition
Isn’t
Your
Competition
What Does the Fox Say? 234,606,896 Views 1,673 Years of Human Time
Your
Competition
Isn’t
Your
Competition
Gangnam Style 1,824,814,573 Views 14,545 Years of Human Time
EXAMPLE
DEVELOP
YOUR
STORY
Old Story: We’re the leading organization in North America focused on marketing analytics, optimization and automation. New Story: We empower marketers to do their jobs better and with less effort.
EXERCISE
DEVELOP
YOUR
STORY
Answer these questions: Why was your company started?
What have you always done well?
What have you failed at miserably?
If your company went away tomorrow, what would be missed?
CREATING
YOUR
STRATEGY
3.Develop Buyer Personas ─ Composite of characteristics of a
group of people
─ Help you to understand their perspective, fears, drivers and content needs
─ Types of content: • How they access it
• What messages resonate with them
• What matters when in the buyer’s cycle
Senior Director, Director (head of e-commerce)
Profile Technology background - online/digital marketing, programming, web development. Oversees a team comprised of online strategists within the marketing organization that may also include social media, marketing automation, demand generation, campaigns, database administration, mobile and marketing infrastructure. Oversees a small team usually ranging from three to 15 employees. Consumption of content depends on time of day – smart phones and tablets in the morning, addition of laptops during the day. Uses laptop in the evening for heavy reading. Primarily use laptop when looking for content for research and decision-making.
Frustrations/Pressures/Concerns:
• Battling a preconceived notion of what e-commerce entails and that the B2B experience is the same as B2C
• Spends a great deal of time getting management / executives to commit to e-commerce as a main part of their business strategy
• Wants to control the customer experience and is concerned about making the wrong e-commerce choice and being “stuck” with it
• Challenged to keep up with changes in technology
Priorities/Drivers:
• Raising the profile of e-commerce so that the company commits to it as part of the business strategy and doesn’t operate from a tactical level
• Establishing and communicating the need to improve IT applications and infrastructure and overall efficiency through a flexible platform
• Improving how e-commerce integrates with the overall IT infrastructure
• Creating the ideal e-commerce shopping experience that supplements / enhances the offline experience
Messaging: • Flexible, multi-branded, multi-store front capability • Can run different price points, images and brand experiences from
a single database • Ease of use of use of the architecture and platform, including mobile • B2B-specific component • Demystifying the technology by telling a story that relates it to people
and the business • Set the context by starting with the business perspective and get down
to the technical • Flexible and modular; not necessary to engage vendor to make changes • Ability to “test drive” software before making a decision
Content Needs: Type of content depends on where he is in the buying cycle. Conducts initial research through analyst reports and white papers. The closer he gets to the desired vendor of choice, the more he wants to interact with them directly. Requires one-to-one interaction before making a decision.
Content Sources/Types: • Webinars • Research reports • Analyst reports • White papers • Case studies • Vendor demo sites • Google search • Conferences –programming and technical • Peers/Word of Mouth • Blog posts
Persona 1 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Persona 2 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Persona 3 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Persona 4 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CREATING
YOUR
STRATEGY 4. Content Audit / Mapping
─ What content do you already have that you want to continue to use?
─ What type is it? What topic?
─ What persona does it address?
─ What condition is it in?
─ Once you’ve created the list, are the obvious holes that you need to address?
EXAMPLE
CONTENT
AUDIT
Content Type
Content
Topic Target
Persona Location Comment
Web page Product Karen Olson URL Content is solid but needs updating to reflect brand story
White Paper (PDF)
Trends in marketing automation platforms
Jeff Smith Online (URL) Marketing portal
Highly technical product information for last stage decision making
Video 3 Things to Look for in a Marketing Automation Partner
Maria Jensen
YouTube (URL)
90 seconds, geared toward YouTube to help ignite the conversation of what to look for in a partner
BUYER’S
JOURNEY Problem Awareness
Something isn’t right
What’s the difference
you want to make?
Education
What’s my problem?
Thought leadership
ID problems
Possible Solutions
What do I need to do?
How you’ve helped others
Vendor Search
Who can help me?
Detailed, technical
information
Selection
I want to feel good about my decision
Prove ROI
Retention Upsell
Evangelism
Reinforce my choice
How to use, Success stories
Bigger Story Detailed Story
+ Proof Points
CONTENT
MAPPING Problem Awareness
Persona #1
White paper
Tradeshow Case
Studies
Education
Persona #1
Persona #2
Cust Event Articles Solution
Briefs
Possible Solutions
Persona #2
Case Studies Videos Blogs
Vendor Search
Persona #2
Persona #3
Product specs
User Stories Testimonials
Selection
Persona #1
Persona #2
Prove ROI Testimonials
Retention Upsell
Evangelism
Persona #2
Persona #3
Cust Events User
Stories Blogs
Bigger Story Detailed Story
+ Proof Points
CONTENT
MAPPING Problem Awareness
Education Possible Solutions
Vendor Search
Selection Retention
Upsell Evangelism
Bigger Story Detailed Story
+ Proof Points
CREATING
YOUR
STRATEGY 5. Determine Measurement
Metrics
─ Tie to your business objectives
─ Know what you’re willing to change
─ Measure what drives the behavior you want
─ Use metrics to make refinement
EXAMPLE
MEASUREMENT
METRICS
FOR CONTENT
CONSUMPTION
Content Consumption
Page Views 1,796
Video Views 323
Document Views 293
Download 197
EXERCISE
What metrics support your business objectives? Build awareness
Educate buyers
Engage influencers
Generate leads
Lead nurturing
Better engage existing customers
Cross sell / up sell
Carla Johnson, Principal Type A Communications
(720) 344-0987 [email protected] www.goTypeA.com
Type A Communications @carlajohnson Carla Johnson
HOMEWORK
Find out how much of
your content is actually
used!
• What’s use most?
• What’s never touched?
