Who can leverage facts about content marketing?

Marketing teams who hope to prove the value of content marketing to decision makers at their companies

Content marketers who wish to set values and prove their services

Decision makers wondering about the ROI of content

Consumer Trust Is Everything

FACT: 82% of consumers feel more positive about a company after reading their content.*

Experience: Can increase chances of initial purchase as well as the amount spent.

Action: Publish case studies on your website and make them easily accessible.

Action: Make sure your sales and marketing teams have PDFs of these case studies available.

*Source: Curata http://www.curata.com/resources/ebooks/2016-CMStaffing-Tactics-Study

“I want to buy stuff from you, but I’ve been burned by content agencies before “

Now Consumers Know About ‘Fake News’

FACT: Consumers know how to fact check – and how to fact-check their friends.

Experience: Consumers are aware and empowered. There are now well-shared sources with which to fact check news.*

Action: Include facts, testimonials, and your business contact information on your website.

Action: If you’re a small business, like a marketing industry with less than 50 employees, ask a few happy clients to be on a private reference list.

*Source: NYMag.com “An Extremely Helpful List of Fake and Misleading News Sites to Watch Out For,” by Madison Malon Kircher: http://nymag.com/selectall/2016/11/fake-facebook-news-sites-to-avoid.html

“I believed everything I read…until the 2016 election.“

Buyers Don’t Always Like Dealing With People

FACT: The average B2B buyer is 57% through the buyer decision process before they talk to a sales rep.*

Experience: Prospects make their final decision based on what they can see. Plus, they want answers – instantly.

Action: Use landing pages, pricing, and a clear, well represented USP to distinguish yourself from the competition.

Action: Use a live chat feature to engage users who don’t want to deal with the phone.

Bonus fact: Half of all B2B researchers are millennials.**

*Source: CEB Global: https://www.cebglobal.com/marketing-communications/digital-evolution.html**Source: Business2Community, ‘22 Tantalizing Content Marketing Stats and Facts’ by Tom Pick: http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/22-tantalizing-content-marketing-stats-facts-01476623#f0zACB9zmuOhKRIC.97

“Talking to a B2B service provider…exactly how I wanted to spend my lunch break.“

You Can’t Ignore Video

FACT: Video will make up 74% of internet traffic this year.*

Experience: Some content marketers are still hesitant about video. Why?

Action: If appropriate for your brand, start social with your videos. Audiences expect spontaneity there.

Action: If videos are intimidating, start with a script.

*Source: Syndacast: http://syndacast.com/video-marketing-statistics-trends-2015/ These kids can school mein video production because they’re actually enthusiastic about it.

Inbound Marketing: Actually Affordable

FACT: Inbound marketing can save you an average of 13% per lead.*

Experience: Everyone thinks inbound = HubSpot = unaffordable.**

Action: Invest in a healthy mix of evergreen and newsworthy inbound content.

Action: Choose passion over gimmicks.*Source: Hubspot, “The State of Inbound 2016” at: http://www.stateofinbound.com/**HubSpot is awesome, and every content marketer should pursue their free inbound marketing certification, but it does cost a lot to implement.

Her Majesty wants you to consider the wisdom of ruling your contentmarketing roost with inbound marketing.

The New Addiction

FACT: 25% of smartphone users aged 18-44 say they can’t remember the last time their smartphone wasn’t right next to them.*

Experience: No one wants to admit it, but it’s totally true.

Action: Be social – find where your audience lives and meet them there.

*Source: Fast Company: “!0 Surprising Social Media Statistics That Will Make You Rethink Your Social Strategy,” by Belle Beth Cooper: https://www.fastcompany.com/3021749/work-smart/10-surprising-social-media-statistics-that-will-make-you-rethink-your-social-stra At this point, we may as well all just admit it:

We’re hooked.

People Like Long Form Content

FACT: Want social shares? Try 3,000-10,000 words. That gets the most – even though publishers produce 16x more short-form content than long.*

Experience: Experts know the value of influencer-level content.

Action: Choose long-form, informative content, even if your goal is once per quarter.

*Source: Click-Z: ‘Long Live Long-Form: The Hidden Value of Blogs’ by Tessa Wegert: https://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2422557/long-live-long-form-the-hidden-value-of-blogs**Source: Every article about consumer attention span ever.

People have the attention span of goldfish nowadays!** …Unless they’re passionate about a topic. Then they swim past the goldfish for a deep dive.

Consumers Want a Moving Experience

FACT: Top performing content is three times more likely to be focused on the emotion of the reader.*

Experience: What draws you, as a reader, to share and recommend content?

Action: Hit them ‘right in the feels.’*Source: Marketing Land: ‘Hit more content marketing home runs’ by Kerry Jones: http://marketingland.com/hit-content-marketing-home-runs-4-lessons-300-campaigns-174279

When you think about emotional media, think broadly. People like stuff that moves them.

Consumers Experience Advertising Fatigue

FACT: 80% of business decision makers prefer to get company information via articles instead of ads.*

Good to know: Google penalizes interstitial ads on mobile (Jan. 2017)**

Action: Consider the long-term strategy of inbound content in addition to a steady digital advertising strategy.

*Source: Stratabeat’s ‘ROI of Blogging’ by Tom Shapiro: https://stratabeat.com/roi-of-blogging/**Source: Express Writers ‘Google Launches The Intrusive Interstitials Mobile Penalty This January: What It Means for Content Creators’ by Julia McCoy: https://expresswriters.com/google-launches-intrusive-interstitials-mobile-penalty/

Marketing Pros Feel the Pressure

FACT: 68% of marketing professionals indicate feeling pressure to prove ROI.*

Experience: Dude. We’ve all been there. Action: Track metrics meticulously and insist

on investment in tools and team members who can help you do that.

*Source: Kapost Blog: “3 Ways to See Increased Marketing Campaign ROI,” by Lena Prickett: http://marketeer.kapost.com/marketing-campaign-roi/?rs=Resources “I feel like I constantly need to prove

the value of what I do. I need to prove ROIto keep my job…”

Content Marketing Facts from Express Writers:

CEO Julia McCoy founded Express Writers with a $75 investment in a website.

Organic search ranking is our primary source of leads, marketing, and revenue. This makes up 90% of our revenue.

According to SEMrush data, Express Writers holds over 4,100 total keyword rankings in Google.

Our site includes 800 blog posts and we publish 12+ guest blogs per month on other sites.

Source: How We Win Through Content by Julia McCoy: https://expresswriters.com/how-we-win-through-content-express-writers-case-study/