Content Marketing: How To Sell Executives On The Idea & Cost 12 Industry Experts share the best ways to sell your company's executives on the value of content marketing.

1. Content Marketing: How
To Sell Executives
On The Idea & Cost
By Greg Shuey

2. What is content marketing?
Content marketing is the process of publishing
content that helps to engage or entertain a
prospect and then move them into the sales
funnel.

3. Content Ownership Benefits
Content marketing, when executed over a long
period of time (36+ months) yields 3X as many
leads, dollar for dollar, when compared to paid
search.
Graph by Kapost and Eloqua

4. Let’s Hear From Industry Leaders
• Ash Buckles – SEO.com
• Toby Murdock – Kapost
• Arnie Kuenn – Vertical Measures
• Neil Patel – KISS Metrics
• Andrew Melchior – Dream Systems Media
• Robert Rose – Big Blue Moose
• Garrett French Citation Labs
• Jeremy Dearringer – Slingshot SEO
• Lori Gilson – PRMarketing.com
• Monique Pouget – Thunder SEO
• Chris Tynski – BlueGlass
• Kate Morris - Distilled

5. Ash Buckles – SEO.com Part 1
• Deciding where to publish your content is a
key element of content strategy.
• Publish in areas where you have control, and
promote through Facebook, Twitter, Google+,
etc.
• A company blog is a great place to publish on
a regular basis.
• Since the Google Panda update – they have
focused more on credible, content-rich pages.

6. Ash Buckles – SEO.com Part 2
• Putting together a dashboard of metrics for
executives is critical in getting approval for a
new content creation campaign. This will
provide:
– Perspective on the purpose of your campaign.
– Visibility to your progress
– Ability to choose a new direction if necessary
• A focused effort on content converts more of
your visitors into leads/sales.

7. Toby Murdock - Kapost
• Traditionally marketing campaigns are about
renting someone else’s audience.
• Content marketing turns this on its head.
• Now you get to own your own audience:
Owning vs Renting = 3X More Cost Effective.
• Marketers who do not develop content
marketing campaigns will soon find they
cannot compete in acquiring customers.

8. Arnie Kuenn – Vertical Measures
2 Very Important Factors When Pitching
Management
1. Traditional media is renting
– When your campaign is over, it’s over.
– However, content you create will be there for many
years to come.
2. Content Marketing can be done at a much
lower cost and risk.
– On a campaign-by-campaign basis
– Easier to test and focus on your target market.

9. Neil Patel – KISSmetrics
Most important thing when pitching an
executive: ROI
– If you want X dollars, show them how you are
going to make Y dollars, and how long it will take.
– And break it down, not just numbers, but what
you are doing and how it will make them more
money.

10. Andrew Melchior – Dream Systems Media
• Biggest value that needs to be conveyed: Long-
Term benefit through increased traffic flow and
SERP improvements.
– If executed properly, clear ROI within weeks.
– Content marketing pieces will become true assets that
can be used over the lifetime of their business, not
simply as a one-time link bait tactic.
• Also pitch the added gain the other marketing
channels (SEO, PPC) will receive through
successful coupling with the content campaign.

11. Robert Rose – Big Blue Moose
• Make a business case, not promising some
kind of magic ROI.
• Build a case for WHY this new process will
help solve a business goal.
– SEO improvement, more leads, better leads, more
efficient funnel, or simply a decrease in customer
service costs.
• Identify a particularly ripe part of your funnel,
and then test a content marketing process on
top of it.

12. Garrett French – Citation Labs
• Content (all media, from written to video to
tools) is the final frontier and the only way
forward.
• Connect the content to existing business
objectives.
• Look at audience growth (subscribers +
followers) as THE primary contributor.

13. Jeremy Dearringer – Slingshot SEO
• Content marketing achieves amazing returns when an
entire company has bought into its importance.
• Single most important factor to discuss: content
marketing is the foundation of most forms of internet
marketing, and without it other marketing channels
will suffer.
• The highest ROI internet marketing channels directly
benefit from great content that answers customers
questions.
• Study of over 1,000 marketing professionals has shown
that content marketing is the single most effective
form of SEO.

14. Lori Gilson – PRMarketing.com
• Content marketing is key to building trust,
credibility, and authority online.
• Every website requires its own content
marketing strategy.
• The best results are obtained by researching
where your customers are online.
• Find the delicate balance of providing value
and a clear call-to-action.

15. Monique Pouget – Thunder SEO
• Consumers are constantly bombarded by branded ads
that interrupt their web experience – brands need to
invest in content marketing that earns the audience
they are pursuing.
• Extraordinary content compels people to share, which
leads to more traffic, mentions, links, and conversions.
• Content marketing isn’t easy, and isn’t short-term; it
requires and investment in time and resources.
• Smart marketers understand the value of gaining a
consumer’s trust and interest before asking them to
buy.

16. Chris Tynski - BlueGlass
• Executives need to have a clear understanding
of their goals, and their goals need to align
with the content marketing strategy.
• Content marketing is great for: link building,
thought leadership positioning, increasing
brand loyalty, and increasing social
engagement.
– Get executives to understand that they can
grow these, and it will be an easy sell.

17. Kate Morris - Distilled
• Most important thing: the value of developing
content for your site.
• Start small – get a test approved.
• Run the test, track the results, and prove to
the top brass how effective content marketing
can be for your company.

18. Thanks to the Contributors
Thank you to all that contributed.
Visit the www.SEO.com/blog for more info on
content marketing.