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Marketing
The Grande Guide to B2B Content Marketing
After two awesome content grids, the team from Eloqua are back with this definitive guide to B2B content marketing for the end of 2011 and beyond… nice.
CONTENT MARKETING: 6 easy steps to developing an event content marketing strategy
Step 1: Identify target audiences and buyer personas
Segment your core audience and identify buyer personas that reflect whom you will communicate and engage with throughout the campaign. Think about the tone of the messaging you want to get across during the event marketing campaign and how you will ‘engage’ and ‘nurture’ the audience over time.
“Content marketing is the new ‘oil’ of the information age, so deliver content that is relevant to your target audiences.”
Step 2: Determine your ‘engagement’ strategy
Once you’re all set with the audience, work on developing how you plan to ‘engage’ with them during and after the content is created, in further detail. Think of innovative ways to engage. Try new things, don’t be afraid to fail. If you fail so what? You’ll be better prepared next time around and make far more progress than repeating the same things you’ve done before. Traditional marketing measures ROI, likewise Inbound Marketing, but the latter also requires us to consider new metrics and one of those is to measure ROE; ‘Return on Engagement’. Spur of the moment E-Marketing to your audience about an event session or similar is not engagement, it’s shouting. If there’s no purpose or value, don’t send an email. So…
“Shout less, engage more!”
Step 3: Make it happen – content generation and delivery
This requires a real team* effort! But ultimately you’ll need to take the lead and pull the strings like Chipeto on this one. If you’re not into Pinocchio then imagine yourself as the engine room in the content marketing journey. Consider the format of the content (video, podcast, webcast, whitepaper, presentation, survey, PDF e-Book?) and outline the expectations, requirements and responsibilities of the whole team and share a timeline with them. Again, a balance between existing and new content should be factored into this timeline, as well as an appropriate premium vs. freemium balance. You only get what you give, so share some of your top content for free and hopefully you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise.
*Your team will likely include both internal and external event stake-holders, including your own researched material, editorial, producer, speakers, sponsors, partners, bloggers, press, media and other contributors.
Step 4: Think like a ‘Publisher’ and create a content implementation plan
Create a daily content calendar for the duration of the campaign, balanced between repurposing existing content from various sources (primarily your main website, but also partners, producer research, external industry newsletters, blogs, Google alerts, your own search engine research etc.) and new, unique ‘remarkable’ content driven by you and/or the wider team. Make sure at least one activity occurs daily through any one channel, obviously the more the merrier, but this depends on your overall priorities. And of course make sure everything you repurpose is aligned and relevant to the event agenda and the important themes.
“Begin to execute the plan based on the content themes and audiences you identified from the outset.”
Having enough content at your disposal to see you through weeks of marketing activity is important. So planning early and signing off your content approach from the outset will save you time later. Otherwise, you could run dry of content and find yourself bottle-necked.
Step 5: Publish and Promote!
Announce your new, exclusive content on your main website and through your own e-marketing campaign(s), as well as your social media groups on Linked In, Slideshare, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and online pr sites (paid and unpaid). Blog about it and share it with your partners too.
Consider the opportunity to turn your content into another format to consume, eg. Transform a podcast into a Q&A article, blog post and a press release.
And if the content is really ‘remarkable’, why not create a landing page and generate leads and conversions from there too? The added benefit of a landing page is you can hook in leads through online, external advertising channels such as Linked In, Slideshare etc. Plus conversions from simple landing pages have overall proved to be more effective than a more complex website.
Step 6: Content KPI’s, think like an ‘MD/CEO’!
As this is a relatively new marketing area for senior management, you need to clearly explain and define what you are analysing and measuring and be transparent about setting challenging, yet realistic content goals, or KPI’s. Then share the results (hopefully positive!) to accelerate buy in and to enhance your content marketing strategy further.
Suggestive content KPI’s/goals by channel:
• Web traffic: Various; including search, social media, partners, PR and blogs
• Lead Generation: Enquiry volume, conversion & lead nurturing
• Brand engagement & thought leadership: Conversations/discussions/mentions/retweets/shares/likes/comments etc.
• E-Marketing: Subject lines, opens, clicks, enquiries, engagement, conversions
• Sales: Paid delegates, sponsor & buyer VIP revenue… final content ROI/ROE.
TWITTER: “I’m the DJ, #Twitter’s my record and the Internet is a party!”
What the heck am I talking about? Well, the way I approach #Twitter is simply to have fun., just like DJ’ing. I could never figure it out at the start and no one ‘followed me’. I felt like the kid at school who was picked last by one of two cocky, reluctant captains, in the school playground….. I secretly celebrated getting one follower a day, or even a week (how sad). Until I changed my old school tune and treated #Twitter as vinyl.
I mix it up a lot (don’t be boring, provide varied interesting posts and updates) and scratch a little (‘Retweet’ other interesting posts in your field of expertise). I keep the music rolling, but I never go on ‘pause’ (consistent tweeting gets you followers, lull’s of more than 1 week don’t). I spread my best tunes, save some for later, or drop one which is ‘trending’ from time to time, but I never bang them out all at once (back to back ‘binge tweeting’ is just not cool and makes you look like you have no life whatsoever outside of #Twitter!). I also try to combine what i’m mixing with what’s trending, to stay ahead of the game and keep the party rolling. This could be a specific date in the calendar or literally a reaction to the latest trending news and topics. (As an example for the former, in the New Year, I linked up generic #resolutions with more specific #sharedservices resolutions for the year).
I also make sure I big up my peers and mentors (Retweets), and strike up conversations with them at the party (reach out to people – @namehere). I definitely respond to all of them if they approach me first. I sometimes use another deck for these activities too, ‘Tweetdeck.’ But you should also check #Twitter Feed, Twhirl, Tweetie, HootSuite and #Twitter Reach, amongst hundreds of other internal and external apps! (See http://bit.ly/6qs4 for more).
But let’s get back to basics: I throw in keywords into my bio, and carefully craft the words to exude my experience and interests. Some sort of ‘expert’, ‘author’, ‘founder’ or anything ‘official’. The dancers can only see my face, busy hands and headphones, but I like to make it easy for them to know where i’m coming from (customise your background to include a branded look/feel, plus extra info about yourself with links to yours or other relevant websites and social networks etc.)
Following & Followers: They come to me, but I also search for other interesting peers and mentors, through #Twitter’s ‘Find People’ feature and ‘#Twitter Search’ tool, plus the new ‘Recommend to follow’, which helps me do the work I used to have to do.
Tweeting: I endeavour to make music I play unique, engaging and emotional. (content). Sounds like a New Years Resolution hey? Bit late for that…
Despite what you might have heard, I’ve found no harm in offering my followers (and non followers alike), compelling #Twitter only, time driven deals to access my music and be the first of many to spread the news (Ask for Retweets, unleash compelling discounts/offers), once in a while. Let me rewind a little: Once in a while! And finally I often cut my track (ow.ly, bit.ly) to get in as many beats as possible.
So what can I do better? (There’s always room for improvement on #Twitter, especially as they keep updating the damn thing!)
Think more. Test more. And continue any momentum that I worked hard to create, plus aim to be followed by more than I follow, so eventually I’ll feel like the kid who gets picked first by the smug captain (credibility). I also have a default, budget background graphic., so not cool. Can someone, anyone help?!
So how should I wrap this party up? Well from my experience, the test for your #Twitter social media effort is whether people find what you post so fascinating that they Retweet it. The sincerest form of flattery is Retweeting. ‘Liking’ a photo on Facebook is easy, but getting a ‘Retweet’ on #Twitter takes more time, thought, integrity and commitment. #Twitter offers a quick and easy way to get into social media, allowing you to promote your content (be it yours or others’ latest news, PR, offers, articles etc.). I would definitely refrain from the ordinary, “I’m in the airport waiting for a plane to Hong Kong”, and try to be a little more atypical. It might work on Facebook (just) but COMMON, get a grip, you’re not a celeb, so no one cares! The exception to this rule is if you’ve just crashed landed into the Hudson River, or been in a riot in Tehran, now that works!
Plugging in: I check in at least once a day (5-10 mins in the morning and 5-10 mins in the evening to cover my global audience), sometimes shorter or longer, but that’s all it takes. EVERYDAY. Well I lie, at least every ‘other’ day 
Get into this habit for 2011 and you’ll notice more Followers, Retweets and ultimately better marketing results. You’ve probably heard this maxim a thousand times, but it’s true for getting traction on #Twitter too: Be yourself and don’t try and be something your not. Integrity goes a long way on #Twitter.
So there you have it, the beginning of what promises to be a long journey in my sad, lonely existence as a #Twitter DJ – thanks for tuning in. If you have any #Twitter related questions (I’ve actually never mixed 2 vinyl’s correctly in my life), feel free to ask @jameswight or @ssonetwork
COOL TOOL: My latest ‘Wordles’..
Cool tool for quick design image and other idea generation – www.wordle.net/create
YOUR BUSINESS: Inbound marketing techniques critical to lift your startup off the ground
If you’re an entrepreneur, you probably have a plethora of info at your disposal re: how to ‘do’ inbound marketing., but little time to actually ‘do it’. To help, I suggest you focus on the following three inbound marketing techniques that will help to get your startup found on the world wide web:
1. Create Remarkable Content: Start creating content to attract prospects to your business. My recommendation is to start blogging. Companies that blog get 55% more website visitors than those that don’t.
2. Focus on SEO: Google is the number one place to get found by potential customers, and SEO make it easier for those prospects to find you. You should be optimizing your website and the content you create to maximise your ranking in search engines.
3. Engage in Social Media: Social media involvement will help you increase the reach of your content and draw more qualified visitors to your site.
I would also like to add that in order to improve and optimise business results relating to the above, it goes without saying that you must create your own benchmarks to analyse and measure all three techniques above.
Source: Brian Halligan, HupSpot CEO & Founder