Matt Cooper, GM at Visually, and Angela Lee Bostick, CMO at Emory University, Goizueta School of Business discuss how content marketing has become increasingly important in attracting successful higher education candidates, and how Emory University successfully strategized and executed an effective content marketing campaign, leveraging existing assets & resources.
2. Did you
know… The average human attention
span in 2000 was 12 seconds,
and by 2013 it was 8 seconds.
That puts us one second shorter
than a goldfish.
#inEDU16
3. • Premium visual content
• On-demand access to the
best designers, content
strategists in the world
• Acquired by ScribbleLive in
Jan 2016
• Content marketing software
• Strategy, insights/ analytics,
planning, publishing, live
blogging, social, SEO
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4. Visual
content
is more
effective
• Infographics are liked and shared on social media
3X more than other any other type of content
• Content with a relevant image gets 94% more
views
• When people hear information paired with an
image, retention 3 days later goes from 10% to
65%
• Colored visuals increase willingness to read
content by 80%
• Shoppers who view video are 1.81X more likely to
purchase than non-viewers
• Using the word “video” in an email subject line
boosts open rates by 19%, click-through rates by
65% and reduces unsubscribes by 26%
Sources: http://www.office.xerox.com/latest/COLFS-02UA.PDF, http://www.lifelearn.com/2015/05/12/why-infographics-work/,
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/visual-content-you-need-to-use-in-your-marketing-campaign/,
https://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/search-marketing/seo-for-success-in-video-marketing/, http://www.massplanner.com/10-types-of-
visual-content-to-use-in-your-content-marketing/,
5. Visual content is more effective
Infographics are Liked and
shared on social media 3X
more than other any other
type of content
Content with a
relevant image gets
94% more views
When people hear
information paired with an
image, retention 3 days later
goes from 10% to 65%
Sources: http://www.office.xerox.com/latest/COLFS-02UA.PDF, http://www.lifelearn.com/2015/05/12/why-infographics-work/, https://blog.kissmetrics.com/visual-content-you-need-to-use-in-your-marketing-campaign/,
https://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/search-marketing/seo-for-success-in-video-marketing/, http://www.massplanner.com/10-types-of-visual-content-to-use-in-your-content-marketing/,
6. Don’t give them 4, give them 2+2
Andrew Stanton, Pixar
• Stories synchronize our brains
• Studies have shown that storytelling improves
engagement, retention and the perception of the
storyteller
• 92% of consumers want brands to tell stories
Storytelling is more effective
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2922522/
7. Agenda
• What is content marketing?
• Free advice – 3 tips
• Case study: Emory University
• Closing thoughts
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9. The marketing and business practice
for creating and distributing relevant
and valuable content to attract,
acquire and engage a clearly defined
and understood customer audience –
with the objective of driving profitable
customer action.
Content Marketing: The Formal Definition
Source: Content Marketing Institute #inEDU16
10. Traditional marketing and advertising
is telling the world you’re a rock star.
Content Marketing is showing the
world that you are one.
Content Marketing: The Elevator Pitch
Source: Content Marketing Institute #inEDU16
11. Content marketing is about
delivering the content your
audience is seeking in all the
places they are searching for it.
Content Marketing: For Practitioners
Source: Content Marketing Institute #inEDU16
12. Content marketing is about creating
interesting information your
customers are passionate about so
they actually pay attention to you.
Content Marketing: For Non-Believers
Source: Content Marketing Institute #inEDU16
13. Sooner or later, everything old is new
again.
Stephen King
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15. “One and Done” is a waste
Great Story,
Data
Great
Whitepaper
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16. Derivative content leverages the storyline
Whitepaper Infographic Interactive Microcontent Video
Great Story = Lots of Great Content
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17. Tent-Pole versus Derivative Content
Tent-Pole = the steak
• Longer form, deeper engagement
• More time/commitment to produce
• More time/commitment to consume
• Client investment means it has to
deliver a LOT of value
Derivative = the parts
• Shorter form for different
channels —cast a wider net
• Efficient to produce
• Taste test for your targets – are
they interested in learning more?
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18. Mobile and social are where you will first engage
• Mobile engagement is strong
and growing
• Short-form derivative content is
ideal for the first engagement
• Give them a compelling reason
to click through to the tent-pole
piece
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21. Framework example: Our Survey Campaign
Original survey
research + written
guide
bit.ly/1Nsb96L
Infographic 4 blog posts
Linkedin post
Medium post
+ +
PR push → 10 stories
- 5 pieces of micro content
- Webinar
- Video of webinar
- Slideshare
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23. • Who are they?
• What are their problems?
• Where can you bring value?
• Personas 101
Personas 101
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24. • Mass incarceration video
• 1.5 million views
• 5,000+ comments on social
• Not our target customers
• Not solving our clients’ problems
How to get it wrong
https://youtu.be/NaPBcUUqbew
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25. • We know our target market
has a problem
• Content marketing takes a
lot of work
• Everyone is scrambling to
stay afloat
• We think this will help
How to get it right
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26. Topic
• What do your personas care about?
• Where do you have brand equity?
• What do your competitors talk about?
Channel
• Where do your personas go for information?
Format
• What format is best for that channel?
Who is saying what (and who cares about it)
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28. The evolution of content marketing
What is
content
marketing?
I should do
more content
marketing
Is content
marketing
working?
29. • Step 1 is the personas – see
above
• Don’t go crazy – simple is
better
• It should be a reference point
for all of your content
You need a plan
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30. • Conversion?
• That would be great, but it’s a
second-order effect
• Goal is to
• Add value
• Build a relationship
• Your KPIs should reflect these goals
• Conversion in content marketing is a
cumulative effort
Step 2: Define (and remember) your goal
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31. • 67% of the buyer’s journey is now
done digitally
• This is a simple framework we like
• Awareness > Consideration >
Conversion > Loyalty > Advocacy
• Fits most, but you should define your
own
Step 3: Map the Buyer Journey
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32. What is most valuable when?
Early Funnel: Inform and orient
- Social Media
- Blogs
- eGuides
Deep Funnel: Convince and convert
- White papers
- Case studies
- Product demos
Retain and grow: Insider’s edge
- Customer-only content
- Events and roundtables
- Webinars
- Sharable content
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33. • Take your theme/narrative and map it to the ideal
channel and stage
• Not every box needs to be filled in – should be
unique to the story you are telling
Step 4: Aligning channels, content with the journey
Persona #1 Awareness Consideration Conversion Loyalty Advocacy
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Blog
Gated Content
Partners
Slideshare
PR/Media
34. • You know your:
• Personas
• Topics
• Buyer journey
• Channels
• Formats
• Now lay out your calendar
Pull it all together into your calendar
Persona 1 Theme Topics Channels Format
1Q 2016
2Q 2017
3Q 2018
4Q 2015
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36. Angela Lee Bostick
CMO, Emory University &
Goizueta Business School
@LikeABostick
#inEDU16
Content Marketing & the Changing
Landscape of Higher Ed Marketing
37. • Smallest of the top 20 business schools
• Located in the dynamic marketplace of
Atlanta, GA
• Ideal environment for “high achieving
millennials”
• Known for intimate learning community
and engaging programs
Who We Are (And Why You Should Care)
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38. • Small budgets (and team) to execute
marketing
• Many programs to promote - 5 MBAs,
BBA, PhD, Exec Ed & Masters
• Excellence in a wide range of topics but
limited awareness
Our Communications Challenge(s)
Prospects can’t
always
experience
“what makes us
great”
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39. Question at Hand
How do we authentically and compellingly
communicate what makes us great?Q:
“Give them Content that Shows, Not Tells”A:
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43. Taking Our Evening MBA From Understanding…
• Closely mirrors a FTMBA on “opportunities and
options”
• Access to same faculty, clubs and global
learning
• Inclusion 20+ concentrations, 60+ electives and
even OCR
• 25+ FAQs on website, 80 unique program pages
• Attracts multiple “personas” to its flexible format
#1 question is “how will it work…..FOR ME?”
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47. Is Personal Content Really Better?
• Top 5 most viewed page, 5x growth in 3 mths
• #1 downloaded content
• Most referenced in interviews, applications
• Dramatically reduced questions
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48. Content as “Engager”
You KNOW what should be said
to your prospects…..
But do THEY want to hear it?
And do they want it from YOU?
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49. Be the “Bowtie”, Not the “Bullhorn”
Bring audiences (and communication) together in a
common place to digest visually and share organically
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50. Be the “Bowtie”, Not the “Bullhorn”
A valuable curated content home needs two things:
1. A (brief) hashtag Strategy
2. A (visual) home for content
Prospects Community
Common Place of
Curated Content
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51. Build A Memorable Tag Strategy: #GoizuetaKnows
• Used limited (3) hashtags
• Ensured heterogeneity across topics, homogeneity
in hashtags
• Aligned existing content to topics & tags
• Parsed out large-scale pieces into digestible
content
• Disseminate content in sharable format
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54. Is Sharable Content Really Shared?
• Highest engagement for faculty content
• Tagging schools and research topics adds eyeballs
• Casual way for new faculty to “brag” on their
placement
• Easy for media to see your expanded scale, skill
• Visual way for prospects to learn our (growing)
distinctions
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Uri Hassan of Princeton published a paper that showed when different parts of the speaker’s brain lights up, the same regions light up in the audience
It is the effective combination of created, curated and syndicated content.
Your customers don’t care about you, your products, your services…they care about themselves, their wants and their needs.
When you talk with doubters, it’s important to point out that this is not new. John Deere is one of the best early examples - The Furrow was about giving helpful advice to struggling farmers, not selling plows. But it built brand and ended up selling a lot of plows. Jello did recipe books -- not about the benefits of jello, but a helpful guide for mothers looking to keep their family fed and happy. Lego’s Brick Kicks was all about the power users -- helping them share knowledge and tips.
Derivative content is essential to getting the most leverage you can.
Otherwise you’re eating the filet and throwing everything else away.
Mobile digital media time in the US is now significantly higher from 2014 at 51% compared to desktop (42%).
Short-form derivative content is ideal for the first engagement
Give them a compelling reason to click through to the tent-pole piece
This is the long-form content -- very detailed, somewhat dry
Using every part of the buffalo yielded three times as many leads (and way more exposure). We were also able to use data from this research to improve our sales deck. From an ROI perspective, we spent $6000 on the research and report, and we were able to triple its impact for another $4000. [DOES THIS NEED ITS OWN SLIDE?]
Our target customers
Content marketing, product marketing, social marketing, PR/communications
Skews toward the enterprise (50%) and mid-market (35%)
40% tech, 30% media/marketing/advert, 15% financial
Which of their problems did we solve?
We create visual content to marketers scale
We are NOT USA Today
We did not help our target audience
Note: This is just one way of looking at it. For example, webinars could totally be early funnel if they’re about broader topics and not product specific or not meant to be exclusive. This point leads into the next slide.
You know your audience, what they want/need/desire, you’ve defined your goals, you understand how your customers go through the purchasing process -- now you map your content to the personas, journey and channels.
You would have one of these for each persona or customer segment. Not every channel will make sense for every business or customer type, but the goal of this matrix is to get you thinking about the combinations of stage and channel and start to optimize which intersections are most effective.
Content can Inform
Content can Persuade
Content can Engage