View this SlideShare to learn 45+ costly mistakes for why content marketing fails, and actionable tips, resources and examples for how to correct them.
In a digital world where customers have all the power and everyone is a publisher, increasingly high competition and standards are pressuring marketing teams into a race to produce higher quality content, in greater volumes, and at a faster rate than ever before, often with the same amount of resources. But while content is the fuel for every digital marketing engine, not everyone gets the same mileage out of it. A 2016 report from Content Marketing Institute found that while 88% of B2B organizations are using content marketing, only 30% rated their content efforts as being effective for reaching their goals.
This presentation delivers an insightful overview of common costly mistakes that can be killing your content marketing results, and a deep dive on how to maximize content marketing ROI with actionable tips and steps to amplify the impact of every content initiative, including:
The 7 Step Content Marketing Process
1) Personas and Customers: Understanding target customer personas and how to attract and convert them with the right content topics
2) Content Planning and Strategy. Creating monthly and quarterly content plans aligned with each stage of the customer journey, and key business goals, metrics and objectives.
3) Content Production and Design. Digital content creation approaches optimized for search, engagement and conversion.
4) Content Publishing and Promotion. Integrated multi-channel content distribution tactics to reach both larger—and more qualified—target audiences across platforms, and the utilization of data, automation and marketing technology to test, measure and enhance targeting to optimize results.
5) Content Performance and Metrics. Understanding what metrics to track to measure the impact of your content marketing
6) Re-purposing and refining. Smart ways to get more out of your content and increase it lifespan through designing content for re-purposing.
7) People and Process. Building a team with the right skills, knowledge and roles, and implementing an efficient, repeatable content process.
3. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is the
marketing and business
process for creating and
distributing relevant and
valuable content to attract,
acquire, and engage a
clearly defined and
understood target audience
– with the objective of driving
profitable customer action.
“Traditional marketing
and advertising is
telling the world you’re
a rock star.
Content Marketing is
showing the world that
you are one.”
-Robert Rose, Chief
Strategy Officer, CMI
18. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You pull a “Trojan Horse”
Outside:
Looks like free
educational content
(to help me)
Inside:
Selling the
product/service
(all about you)
19. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Your Content Doesn’t Answer Your
Customers’ Questions
27%of search queries
are questions
70%
growth in “how to”
searches on youtube
72%
of buyers turn to
Google in the
“awareness” stage
research
21. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Don’t Understand Your Customers
Individual
Job titles
Key responsibilities
Motivators
Top priorities and concerns
Pain points
Common objections
Role in purchasing process
Consumption preferences
Terminology & language
Organization
Industry vertical
Company size
Business model
Org structure
Technology stack
Geographic locations
22. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
How do customers solve the problem
before they come to you?
Manually
“Low-End” Competitor
Free Tool
Homegrown Solution
“High-End” Competitor
Not doing anything
Outsourcing
24. Planning
& Strategy People
& Process
Personas &
Customers
Planning
& Strategy
Production
& Design
Publishing
& Promotion
Performance
& Metrics
rePurposing
& Refining
People
& Process
Random Acts
of Content
26. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
90%
of the buyer’s journey is
self-directed
11.4
the average number of pieces
of content consumers engage
with before making a B2B
purchase
ROAD TO ADVOCACY
Your Content Strategy Isn’t Aligned with
the Customer Journey
28. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You think Customer Journeys are Linear
Engagement
Content 1
Education
Content 2
“First they get this content then
they get that, next they this…”
Research
Content 3
Evaluation
Content 4
Justification
Content 5
This does NOT work.
30. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.comSmartBear Confidential and Proprietary
?
“Why do I have a problem?!"
“What solutions are available?
What factors should I consider?”
“Does this product solve my problem(s)
& meet my needs/requirements?”
"Why should I choose this? How can I get
my boss and team members on board?”
“Hello, brand, do I like you, are you relevant to me?”
“How do I get it? How difficult will it be to
implement and change current process?”
Just focus on
answering your
customers’ questions
at each stage
31. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
TRI
AL
Make Sure Every Piece of Content is a Door,
Bridge and Ladder
to more relevant
content at same stage
Find you and
enter the funnel
at any stage
to later stages
in the journey
32. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
TRI
AL
Make Sure Every Piece of Content is a Door,
Bridge and Ladder
to more relevant
content at same stage
Find you and
enter the funnel
at any stage
to later stages
in the journey
33. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
TRI
AL
Make Sure Every Piece of Content is a Door,
Bridge and Ladder
to more relevant
content at same stage
Find you and
enter the funnel
at any stage
to later stages
in the journey
34. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Content Planning Process
Goals &
Objectives
Themes Research
Content
Audit
Topics
Formats
Timeline
Budget
Resources
You Didn’t Define
Business Objectives
& Goals
Traffic
Free tool downloads
Leads Generated
Content Downloads
Qualified Leads
Trials
Trial Activations
Opportunities
Opportunities Won
Renewals
Upsell, Cross-sell
Metrics
35. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Didn’t Do Your Research
Customer Competitive Keyword Market
Persona
Development
Problems/Pains
Conversion
Obstacles
Interests
What questions are
they asking?
Messaging
Strengths &
Weaknesses
What topics are
they talking about?
Competitive
Rankings
Long-tail
opportunities
Existing/New
keywords
Skyscraper
opportunities
Trends in
marketplace
36. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Content Planning Process
Goals &
Objectives
Themes Research
Content
Audit
Topics
Formats
Timeline
Budget
Resources
You Create New Content
Without Understanding
What You Already Have
37. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Content Audit: Identify Opportunities and Gaps
Number assets / stage
Types of assets / stage
Performance of assets
Age of content
Location of content
Distribution strategy
Optimization, enhancement,
and re-purposing
Keyword research
44. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Title Tips Google displays 50-60
characters of title
Keep titles under 55 Characters,
95% will display properly
• Lists
• Numbers and data
• How to’s
• Why
• “You”
• Emotional words
• Surprising
• Questions
• Problem/solution
• Strong statements
• Clear, specific
• Scream Value!
• Align with content
55. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Your Distribution Strategy Isn’t Aligned with
the Customer Journey
Engagement Education Research Evaluation Justification Purchase
Adoption -
Advocacy
Social
Email & Lead Nurturing
Paid Advertising
Web: Search & Conversion
PR
Content Strategy
56. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Don’t Leverage
All the Channels at
Your Disposal
You Don’t Leverage
All the Data at
your Disposal
Behavioral
(Implicit)
Demo, Firmo
(Explicit)
62. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Automated Nurture and Lead Scoring
eBooks
Infographics
Webinars
Blogs
Slideshares
Documentation
Checklists
Tutorials
Guides
Weekly training
FAQ
Case Studies
Testimonials
ROI Calculators
Sell your Boss
Analyst Reports
Product Demos
TOFU TRIAL BOFU
67. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
• You Don’t Have a Clear Definition
of Success
• Focusing too much on just
conversion sales-driven metrics
• Forgetting about SEO factors
• Not taking promotion effort and
reach into consideration
• Not taking time into consideration
Common Content Metrics Mistakes
68. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Measuring Content Performance
Traffic, SEO
• Organic Visits
• Traffic by
Channel
• Page Rank and
authority
• Inbound links
Engagement
• Social shares
• Time on page
• Pages/Session
• Bounce Rate
• Comments
Leads
• Net new leads
generated
• Qualified leads
Sales, Pipeline
• Opportunities
Influenced (#, $)
• Downloads /
Opportunities
influenced (%, $)
71. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Will this be relevant
next month or next
year? Three years
from now?
NOT EVERGREEN
• News stories
• Annual reports
• Event, holiday or season
• Pop culture fad
Your Content Isn’t Evergreen
72. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Designing Content for Re-purposing
eBook Outline
I. Stand Alone Topic
a) Stand alone Sub-topic
b) Stand alone Sub-topic
c) Stand alone Sub-topic
II. Stand Alone Topic
a) Stand alone Sub-topic
b) Stand alone Sub-topic
c) Stand alone Sub-topic
III. Stand Alone Topic
a) Stand alone Sub-topic
b) Stand alone Sub-topic
c) Stand alone Sub-topic
IV. Stand Alone Topic
a) Stand alone Sub-topic
b) Stand alone Sub-topic
c) Stand alone Sub-topic
Keyword
Research
Organic/SEO article I
Blog Posts
Cheat Sheet, one pager
Infographic
Template, worksheet
Organic/SEO article II
Blog Post
Organic/SEO article III
Click here to read
more about this
approach
77. @gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Don’t Have the Right Talent, Skills and
Roles on your Team
• Content Marketing Manager
(Editor in Chief)
• Writers (Internal and External)
• Technical SEO Expert
• Technical, Product, Domain
Experts
• Web Team
• Graphics and Design Team
• Operations Team
• Promotion Team
• PR team
• Business leader