Is your content marketing meeting the needs of your target consumers -- across their path to purchase? In this presentation, learn how to plan and develop content that appeals to buyers in every stage of their journey, from discovering to contacting to choosing your business. Learn what formats work best for different phases, see examples of content marketing at each stage of the journey, and see the KPIs you should be measuring at each phase.
8. Content Marketing Defined
“Content marketing is a
marketing technique of
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.”
— Content Marketing Institute
9. Youtility Mindset
Is Your Marketing
so Good People
Would Pay For It?
1)Who is My Audience?
2)What Do They Need?
3)How Can I Help?
11. Align Content to Buying Insights
Buyer Persona
• What is their demographic and basic
background?
• Profession, age, gender, education, financial
situation, challenges, needs, etc.
Research Trigger
• What prompted them to start the research
process?
Decision Factors
• What criteria will they make their decision
based on?
Purchasing Mindset
• What is their frame of mind when they start their
search?
Perceived Barriers
• Why do they not choose you?
• What objections do you often hear?
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12. How Do I Provide Value to the Consumer?
“
91%
56%
B2C marketers segment their
content in at least one way
40%
Tailor content based on profile of
individual decision makers
Tailor content based on stage in
the buying cycle
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13. Time to Align Content to Buying Journey
DISCOVER
Surfing, Searching
and Socializing
CONSIDER
Researching and
Evaluating
BOOK/BUY
Getting Estimates
and Purchasing
REPEAT
Sharing Experiences
And Buying Again
Prospects Discover You
when they search, surf and socialize online and then click to visit
Leads Contact You
when they are impressed with your website
Customers Choose You
when you stand out with good, timely follow-up
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14. Buyer Needs at Each Stage
• Recognize problem or issue
• Want to change status quo
• Gain confidence in right solution
• Understand ROI of each option
• Take the next steps and commit
DISCOVER
Surfing, Searching
and Socializing
CONSIDER
Researching and
Evaluating
BOOK/BUY
Getting Estimates
and Purchasing
REPEAT
Sharing Experiences
And Buying Again
• Explore possible solutions
• Define short list of providers
• Commit to change
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16. Discovery Phase: Recommended Content
• Blog articles
DISCOVER
Surfing, Searching and Socializing
• Recognize problem or issue
• Want to change status quo
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17. Discovery Phase: Recommended Content
• Infographics
REPEAT
Sharing Experiences
And Buying Again
DISCOVER
Surfing, Searching and Socializing
17
DISCOVER
Surfing, Searching and Socializing
• Recognize problem or issue
• Want to change status quo
18. Discovery Phase: Recommended Content
• Ebooks & guides
REPEAT
Sharing Experiences
And Buying Again
DISCOVER
Surfing, Searching and Socializing
18
DISCOVER
Surfing, Searching and Socializing
• Recognize problem or issue
• Want to change status quo
19. Discovery Phase: Recommended Content
• Assessments & quizzes
REPEAT
Sharing Experiences
And Buying Again
DISCOVER
Surfing, Searching and Socializing
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DISCOVER
Surfing, Searching and Socializing
• Recognize problem or issue
• Want to change status quo
20. Consider Phase: Recommended Content
• Ebooks and guides
(differentiators, insights)
• Demo videos
• Video tours
• Testimonials
• Case studies
• Quizzes and widgets
• Newsletters
• Webinars
• Industry reports
CONSIDER
Researching & Evaluating
• Explore possible solutions
• Define short list of providers
• Commit to change
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21. Consider Phase: Recommended Content
• Newsletters
21
CONSIDER
Researching & Evaluating
• Explore possible solutions
• Define short list of providers
• Commit to change
22. Consider Phase: Recommended Content
• Testimonials
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CONSIDER
Researching & Evaluating
• Explore possible solutions
• Define short list of providers
• Commit to change
23. Empowering Resident Advocates
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• Identify existing advocates
• Who is raving about you online
already?
• Use gamification and rewards
• Points, events, exclusive access
• Compel them to take action
• Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
• Post reviews
• Pay rent online, renew lease
• Leverage tools
• Example: Community Rewards
24. Consider Phase: Recommended Content
• Demo videos
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CONSIDER
Researching & Evaluating
• Explore possible solutions
• Define short list of providers
• Commit to change
25. Consider Phase: Recommended Content
• Video tours
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CONSIDER
Researching & Evaluating
• Explore possible solutions
• Define short list of providers
• Commit to change
26. Book/Buy Phase: Recommended Content
• Live or in-person events
• Budget calculators
• Pricing guides
• Moving checklists
• Total cost of living tools
BOOK/BUY
Getting Estimates & Purchasing
• Gain confidence in right solution
• Understand ROI of each option
• Take the next steps and commit
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27. Book/Buy Phase: Recommended Content
• Budget calculators
REPEAT
Sharing Experiences
And Buying Again
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BOOK/BUY
Getting Estimates & Purchasing
• Gain confidence in right solution
• Understand ROI of each option
• Take the next steps and commit
28. Book/Buy Phase: Recommended Content
• Total cost of living tools
REPEAT
Sharing Experiences
And Buying Again
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BOOK/BUY
Getting Estimates & Purchasing
• Gain confidence in right solution
• Understand ROI of each option
• Take the next steps and commit
29. Book/Buy Phase: Recommended Content
• Moving checklists
REPEAT
Sharing Experiences
And Buying Again
BOOK/BUY
Getting Estimates & Purchasing
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BOOK/BUY
Getting Estimates & Purchasing
• Gain confidence in right solution
• Understand ROI of each option
• Take the next steps and commit
30. Recommended Content by Buying Stage
REPEAT
Sharing Experiences
And Buying Again
BOOK/BUY
Getting Estimates
and Purchasing
Buying
Stage
Buyer Needs Recommended
Content
KPIs
Discover • Recognize problem or issue
• Want to change status quo
• Blog Articles
• Infographics
• Ebooks & Guides
• Assessments & Quizzes
• Meme Marketing
• Videos
• Webinars
• Live Events
• Guest Posts, Bylined Articles
• Traffic, page views, time onsite
• Downloads
• Inbound links, page rank
• Fans, followers
• Mentions, comments, shares
Consider • Explore possible solutions
• Define short list of providers
• Commit to change
• Ebooks & Guides
• Quizzes & Widgets
• Demo Videos
• Newsletters
• Webinars
• Industry Reports
• Testimonials
• Case Studies
• Click-throughs, open rates
• Downloads
• Subscriptions
• Inquiries, form submits
• Database growth
Book/Buy • Gain confidence in right
solution
• Understand ROI of each option
• Take the next steps and
commit
• Live or In-Person Events
• Budget Calculators
• Pricing Guides
• Total Cost of Ownership Tools
• Moving Checklists
• Marketing or sales qualified
leads
• Booked appts
• Opportunities
• Pipeline size
• Closed Deals
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31. How Do I Know What Stage They Are In?
DISCOVER
Surfing, Searching
and Socializing
CONSIDER
Researching and
Evaluating
BOOK/BUY
Getting Estimates
and Purchasing
REPEAT
Sharing Experiences
And Buying Again
Tirekickers
• Measure how they found you with compelling CTAs and forms
• Offer shopper content CTA to identify shopper interest
Shoppers
• Use lead nurturing to prove a stream of useful shopper content
• Promote buyer content as CTA to move to buyer phase
Buyers
• Continue to provide buyer-related content
• Promote conversion opportunities to connect to sales
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32. Market Your Marketing Across the Funnel
• Market your content across paid,
earned, and owned channels to
boost discoverability
• Stay top of mind with lead nurturing
• Promote content across owned
channels, emails, learning centers
and communities
DISCOVER
Surfing, Searching
and Socializing
CONSIDER
Researching and
Evaluating
BOOK/BUY
Getting Estimates
and Purchasing
REPEAT
Sharing Experiences
And Buying Again
• Capture leads through landing
pages, forms and strategic gating
• Promote social channels and opt-ins
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33. Recommended Reading
1. B2C Content Marketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends–North America
http://slidesha.re/LqY8xm
2. 4 Questions Answered about Buyer Personas
http://bit.ly/1fyxzPR
3. 7 Ways to Research Your Buyer for Content Marketing
http://bit.ly/1fdNhzp
4. The Content Match Game: Tips for Better Content Alignment Throughout the Buying Cycle
http://bit.ly/1b7eNiQ
5. Optimize Content Marketing by Facilitating the Buyer’s Journey
http://bit.ly/1nnVWoY
6. Step-by-Step Templates for Mapping your B2B Content
http://bit.ly/1icOPMI
7. The Content To Consumer: Aligning & Automating the Delivery of Content according to
the Buyer Stage
http://slidesha.re/1gsDL0E
8. Content Mapping for a Buyer-Centric Content Strategy
http://slidesha.re/1cxnRP2
9. Optimize B2B Content Across the Sales Cycle
http://bit.ly/1gsDRFt
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Every year the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs collaborate on a report that talks about Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends in Content Marketing.
Let’s just look at a few of these telling stats.
B2C Marketiers are spending 24% of their marketing budgets on content marketing up – the most effective allocate 32% of their budget and the least effective allocate 10%
60% plan to increase their content marketing budgets within the next year
All Content tactics are being used more frequently with research reports, videos, and mobile content sing the largest increases
47% outsource B2B content creation– more than their B2B counterparts (who outsource 44%)
Let’s look at Content Marketing Usage by Tactic, a graph out of the CMI/Marketing Profs report:
B2B marketers are using 6 social distribution channels, with the most popular being Faebook
- LinkedIn had a major jump from 51% last year to 71% this year
All Content tactics are being used more frequently; Infographics have seen a large spike from 33% last year to 40% this year
Which leads to this…. The mad rush to hop on to each new fad until you can make magic happen?
Is this really the best way to approach content marketing? Social strategy?
The answer I have for you is – no.
So, we often think about this in all the wrong way. We start with our kernel of a genius idea…. When really we should be thinking first of the CUSTOMER and their need This is the foundation to creating truly effective content marketing.
>Vanderbilt Orthapedics, Nashville TN
> Identified a target audience they wanted to reach out to – Coaches. Instead of trying to decide what they thought coaches would want, they went and asked them. Turns out, their real need sparked the idea for this app.
> The iPhone app CoachSmart is the ultimate resource for coaches, offering real-time information on heat index and lightning strikes, frequently asked sports medicine and safety questions, and a group contact feature.
> A collaboration between Vanderbilt Sports Medicine and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, the app is an extension of Vanderbilt Sports Medicine’s expertise.
But it’s not about publishing more content it about publishing the right content at the right time for the right person. It’s time to apply a growth hacker’s mentality to the value of the content you create.
Let’s consider a simple buying funnel for a buyer online
Tools like Community Rewards have programs that help you identify resident advocates so you can ask them to leave reviews. Basically, if hels you find people who love living at a property and compels them to take an actions.
According to the CMI report, 74% of B2C content marketers believe that in-person events are highly effective
> Take a page from other industries and develop proprietary tools that customize to your location and prospective residents.
Bed Bath and Beyond has these handy move-in checklist for first-time renters
Always offer a conversion opportunity to connect with sales
Promote this more at the end of the funnel