A Guest Tutor presentation created for Heather Lloyd-Martin's seocopywriting.com group. Content Marketing is now one of the hottest terms in the ever-growing list of buzzwords for online marketing and SEO. Like most buzzwords, there are a lot of misunderstandings and misuses of the term, which is somewhat ironic for a buzzword about communicating more effectively. In this presentation I cover what Content Marketing really is, how to root it firmly in the marketing plan, and how the function of the content will often shape the format. The approach is pragmatic and practical, with several examples, and all designed to be used in the imperfect, resource-limited real world.

1. Powerful Content Marketing
( For the Real World )
Powerful Content Marketing
( For the Real World )
None of that 'perfect case' stuff.
Content Marketing,
you can do,
forreal.

2. Content MarketingContent Marketing
● Is marketing
● Through the medium of content
● You begin with the marketing needs and plan
● Then create content that does the job

3. Content MarketingContent Marketing
● Is not always text
● Beautiful images can be used
● Audio formats can include podcasts or songs
● Video can be superb for content marketing
● But this is a copywriters' group

4. A few sample writing formatsA few sample writing formats
● A blog or journal
● Newsletters and e-zines
● The free e-book
● 'How to' guides
● Articles for other's publications

5. Form Fits FunctionForm Fits Function
● Look at the marketing plan/need
● Know your market (customers)
● Who are you trying to reach?
● Where will you be trying to reach them?
● When, or in what context?

6. e.g. Reselling to prior customerse.g. Reselling to prior customers
If the marketing plan included reselling to
existing and past customers you might:
● Use a newsletter or e-zine you can email to past
customers
● Use your blog or website to get your readers used to
revisiting regularly
● Use how-to guides that encourage them to use the
product more (wear it out or use it up)

7. e.g. Reaching new prospectse.g. Reaching new prospects
● You might write appealing articles for publications that
already have just the kind of audience you want to
reach
● You might create a free e-book to draw in fresh
prospects (and the e-book might create demand by
using or showcasing the product you sell)
● You might create 'How-to' guides for issues where
people could use your product

8. The key to making your Content Marketing
powerful
and yet
realistic
is
efficiencyefficiency
Work smarter, not harder.
The key to making your Content Marketing
powerful
and yet
realistic
is
efficiencyefficiency
Work smarter, not harder.

9. Content MarketingContent Marketing
● Know what you want to achieve
● Who you want to reach
● Where/when you can reach them
● How to motivate or appeal to them
● That gives you the content plan

10. Common ObjectivesCommon Objectives
● Increasing sales or profits
● Increasing market share
● Branding as an authority or expert
● Branding as popular or a market leader
● Building brand/product awareness
● Improving customer satisfaction

11. SEO overly-specific objectivesSEO overly-specific objectives
● Gaining links
● Building website traffic
● Ranking for relevant common searches
● Increasing engagement (reducing bounce rates)
● Building social media presence
Relate these things to the common objectives!

12. SEO overly-specific objectivesSEO overly-specific objectives
● Gaining links branding, awareness, customer service
● Building website traffic sales, market share
● Ranking in search sales, popularity, market share
● Increasing engagement branding, satisfaction, sales
● Building social media Authority, Popularity, Satisfaction
Keep it real by using real business objectives!

13. Common TargetsCommon Targets
● Untouched or unknowing prospects
● Customers of rivals and competitors
● Prior and existing customers
● Journalists, and 'authorities'
● Everyone! No! Try untouched prospects
● Lost customers

14. Where/When PlacementWhere/When Placement
● Direct mail/newsletter
● The primary business website
● A secondary, audience-building website (e.g. blog)
● Other popular/authority websites and newsletters
● Search engines

15. Motivation and AppealMotivation and Appeal
● Sadly, an appeal to laziness, greed, and/or pleasure tends
to be the safest bet. Of those 3 things, people still usually
want at least 2 together.
● So, present saving money (greed) as also being smarter
(pleasure)
● Present saving effort (laziness) as also being smarter
(pleasure)
● Pleasure may be its own reward, (but it will help if they feel
they get a bargain or don't have to work for it). Hilarious or
Salacious content canstandalone.

16. Above all else:
It is not about what you want to say
Its about what they want to read

17. Getting RealGetting Real
With a plan to your content, firmly based in marketing you
can:
● Think about the right tone of voice for the specific
content
● Devise sensible performance metrics to measure
results
● Mix and match various realistic tactics within your
content strategy

18. Tone of VoiceTone of Voice
There are several specific aspects that relate to overall
tone and voice in content.
● Real author, or crafted persona?
● Avoid the bland and impersonal. Make it human.
● Make it as genuine as possible
● Decide whether the audience have an important voice
too via comments and user-generated content.
● Even an authority voice can be a personal 'friend'.

19. Better MetricsBetter Metrics
● Where possible, use qualitative rather than
quantitative metrics
● Measure indirect results as much as direct.
● People may not often buy immediately after reading
your article, but people who once read your articles
may buy more.
● Many KPIs become their own goals and lessen
attention on the real objective. Think carefully and
creatively.

20. Content Marketing TacticsContent Marketing Tactics
● Be realistic about what you can actually do with the
resources (especially time) that you have.
● If you don't have 'expertise' you can still build a
reputation as someone who curates answers or finds
out.
● The most powerful content takes time and effort. Don't
plan to write a killer article every day – you can't.
● Quality over quantity every time.

21. The Real World Nitty-GrittyThe Real World Nitty-Gritty
Easy regular news in 30 minutes:
● Think of some great news and authority sites that cover
things of interest to your market and that relate to your site
● Over that first cup of coffee each morning, spend 15-20
minutes skimming the news and pick a few stories that
interested you.
● Spend 10-15 minutes writing a quick post linking to those
stories with an editorial paragraph on why they interested
you.

22. The Real World Nitty-GrittyThe Real World Nitty-Gritty
Researching content:
● Ask the sales and customer services people to take notes
of interesting or common questions or issues. Those are
what the customers are interested in, obviously.
● Consider 'interviewing' members of staff. It gives a human
interest aspect to the business, and can highlight passion
in design, sales, or other aspects of the business.
● Don't shy away from the big, hard, awesome stuff. I may
often spend upwards of 20 hours on a single article. Try to
make one awesome piece each month at least.

23. Something not on the cards
Just for those who attended

24. Thank you!Thank you!
I'm now available for any questions. Please ask
me anything you like relating to content and the
real world issues thereof.
Remember:
There is no such thing as a dumb question, except, perhaps,
the question you needed to ask and didn't.