b2b marketing success with content marketing

How To AchieveSuccess In B2B

With Content Marketing Michael BrennerNewsCred – Head of Strategy@BrennerMichaelSlides: slideshare.net/michaelbrenner

Agenda• The key factors for content marketing success

• The core components of a content marketing strategy

• How to utilize content across the buyer journey

• Companies doing it right

@BrennerMichael

Just 3 Things . . .The world has changed.

Most content stinks.

@BrennerMichael

Attract people through stories they love.

Content marketing trends

@BrennerMichael

@BrennerMichael

9#ThinkContent

@BrennerMichael

Me, 20 pounds years ago

@BrennerMichael

Today we are all connected

@BrennerMichael

@BrennerMichael

Content today must compete with pictures of

babies and kittens.

@BrennerMichael

@BrennerMichael

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I have no patience for useless things.@BrennerMichael

We tuneout the noise.

@BrennerMichael

WHAT IS GOING ON?@BrennerMichael

“We need to stop interrupting whatpeople are interested in and give

people what they are interested in.

”@BrennerMichael

The Promise of Content Marketing:

To earn your audience . . .

. . . versus buying it!

@BrennerMichael

@BrennerMichael

Content Marketing is all the marketing that’s left!

Seth Godin, 2008”“

@BrennerMichael

Content MarketingSuccess

Building a SuccessfulContent Strategy

Companies Doing It RightUtilizing Content Acrossthe Buyer Journey

@BrennerMichael

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@BrennerMichael

“The buyer journey is nothing more than a series of questions that must

be answered.

- IDC -”@BrennerMichael

Awareness Consideration Preference

Online CommunitiesSearch EngineseBooksEmail NewslettersEditorial ArticlesWhite PapersPodcastsCase StudiesOnline VideosWebcastsVirtual Trade ShowsProduct LiteratureTrial SoftwareOnline Vendor Demos

Begindecision process

MakedecisionIdentify

business problem Establish

requirements/ build RFP

Align IT with business

objectivesExplore

technology options

Research solutions

Determine solution strategy Assess ROI

Research products/ vendors

Build short list

Ann Handley: “Take your brand out of the story. . . . . .Make your customers the hero.”

Our Natural Instinct

ContentMarketing

BrandPurpose

WhatCustomers

Want

Charity

@BrennerMichael

Joe Pulizzi: “Don’t build your house on rented land.”

- Publish on your own content hub -

@BrennerMichael

How brands can become consumed with their story, not their customers.

Unique Point of View Trap

@BrennerMichael

Key Factors To Content Marketing Success:

1. Documented content strategy and mission statement2. Have someone accountable for content3. Consistently publish quality content4. Map content to consumer journey5. Balance Paid, Owned, and Earned Media 6. Focus on Content Subscribers7. Track Content Marketing ROI

@BrennerMichael

Give Yourself a Grade . . Best Practice R Y GHave a documented content strategy? Have someone managing contentContent hub maps to the consumer journeyPublishing quality, volume and variety

Social activation of contentPaid distributionFocus on Content SubscriptionsMeasurement template / ROI defined

Overall:

D

@BrennerMichael

Content MarketingSuccess

Building a SuccessfulContent Strategy

Companies Doing It RightUtilizing Content Acrossthe Buyer Journey

@BrennerMichael

SAP Case Study

@BrennerMichael

Understand the Buyer Journey

IDC: “The buyer journey is nothing more than a series of questions that must be answered.”

Cluster Brand? Total Monthly Searches (est.)

Analytics Brand 458 3000xAnalytics Non-Brand 1,520,761Cloud Brand 398 1000xCloud Non-Brand 578,460Data Brand 28,884 17xData Non-Brand 470,967Mobility Brand 12,488 28xMobility Non-Brand 345,598BI Brand 532,486 -2xBI Non-Brand 277,156CRM/Sales Brand 156,028 40xCRM/Sales Non-Brand 6,313,329ERP Brand 777,092 -2xERP Non-Brand 324,595HCM Brand 55,536 7xHCM Non-Brand 379,954Accounting. Finance Brand 30,497 24xAccounting. Finance Non-Brand 720,493TOTAL Brand 1,688,883 13xTOTAL Non-Brand 13,616,715

@BrennerMichael

Were Any of These “Early-stage” Prospects Finding Us?

@BrennerMichael

Late-Stage Con-tent66%

Early-Stage Content

6%

Middle-Stage Content

28%

Content Audit By Buyer Stage

@BrennerMichael

Business Innovation (launched March 27, 2012)A “Content Hub” to earn traffic instead of buying it

To help businesses leaders grow through technology and innovation.

To reach and convert leads we would have never seen!http://blogs.sap.com/innovation

Organic and Social: Up and to the Right

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

Traffic from Organic, Social & Referrals

Uni

que

Visi

tors

@BrennerMichael

• Thinking and acting like a publisher• Delivering content your audience wants• Managing content as an asset (with an ROI)

What is a Content Marketing Strategy?

@BrennerMichael

Why is it Important to Have a DocumentedContent Marketing Strategy?

Source: CMI

Content Marketing Mission StatementAmEx Open Forum Mission: “Help Small Businesses

Do More Business.” Outcome:The largest source of

inbound leads.@BrennerMichael

What Is Your Content Marketing Mission Statement?

Become a (premier?) destination for [target audience]

interested in [topics] to help them [customer value].

@BrennerMichael

Steps To Crafting a Content Strategy

DiscoveryDestination +Branding

Roles + Resp.

Editorial Strategy Distribution Measure +

Optimize

• Current State• Audience• Objective• Mission• Budget

• Branding• Destination• Structure

• Partners• Agency• You

• Topics• Types• Sources• SEO

• Organic• Paid• Owned • Earned• Email

• KPIs• Template• Cadence• Optimize

@BrennerMichael

Show me the money!@BrennerMichael

3 Components of Content Marketing ROI

1. Cost 2. Utilization 3. Performance

@BrennerMichael

Building the Content Marketing Business Case

1. Reach early stage

buyers

2. Engage new buyers with your

brand

3. Conversions you would have never

reached

Building The Business Case1. Reach early stage buyers

• Fair “Share of Conversation” • % Unbranded Search traffic on your website• Banner effectiveness at driving brand visits• Cost of advertising / search landing pages with low organic and social traffic• Cost of organic and social website traffic vs. paid

2. Engage new buyers with your brand• Time spent, Bounce rate on content vs. advertising landing pages• Cost / Repeat visits, Time engaged with your brand• Subscribers, value per subscriber

3. Conversions you would have never reached• Cost per lead, Pipeline touched, Cost per registration (content or events), Cost per

sale• Content % source of leads• ROI vs. Avg. Marketing ROI@BrennerMichae

l

Building The Business Case1. Reach early stage buyers

• % Unbranded Search traffic on your website• Banner effectiveness at driving brand visits• Cost of advertising / search landing pages

2. Engage new buyers with your brand• Subscribers, value per subscriber

3. Conversions you would have never reached• Cost per lead, Cost per registration (content or events),

Revenue

@BrennerMichael

Destination and Branding 1. On Domain vs. Off? 2. Heavily Branded vs. Lightly Branded?

@BrennerMichael

Even Great Content Needs a PushThe average Hollywood movie spends 50-60% of production budget on

distribution.

@BrennerMichael

Define Key Measures and TargetsDownload this template now!

@BrennerMichael

Casper’s Van Winkles• Effortlessly combines

national housing news with articles on inspirational interior design, celebrity homes and company updates.

• Up to 6 new posts per day

• Distribution and large audiences across Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Google+

@BrennerMichael

Casper’s Van Winkles

@BrennerMichael

Content MarketingSuccess

Building a SuccessfulContent Strategy

Companies Doing It RightUtilizing Content Acrossthe Buyer Journey

@BrennerMichael

60-70% of Marketing ContentGoes Completely Unused.

*Sirius Decisions

@BrennerMichael

@BrennerMichael

Behind every piece of bad content is an executive who asked for it.

@BrennerMichael

TWEET THIS!

Conduct A Content Audit

• Content Type• Audience / Target• Buyer Stage• Primary Destination• Performance

@BrennerMichael

Reach, Engage and Convert the Right People.

Early-stage Searches

What? And Why?

Middle-stage

How? And How Much?

Brand Searches

Who?

Search / Social Volume

What is Content Marketing?Why is content marketing

important?(10-3000 X)

How Do I Create Great Content (2-10 X)

Who’s the best Content

Marketing Tech Co.?

@BrennerMichael

What Are We Going to Write About?

@BrennerMichael

Publishers Publish Everyday on Each Topic• Traffic AND Conversion goes up with volume• Diminishing return? (see below)

A few times a year

1-2X permonth

< monthly 1-2X perweek

1 per day More than 1 per day

@BrennerMichael

@BrennerMichael

@BrennerMichael

Xyz Early Xyz

Late Xyz Xyz

Persona Questions/Concerns

Xyz

Middle Xyz Xyz

Keywords

Xyz Early Xyz

Late Xyz Xyz

Persona Questions/Concerns

Xyz

Middle Xyz Xyz

Keywords

Stage

Stage

Research Keywords, Then Filter By Personas

@BrennerMichael

Utilize the Right Mix of Content

Custom ContentShare on-brand stories and recipes which are created specifically for your brand.

Community ContentLeverage content from customers, employees,

influencers that grows and engages your community.

Licensed ContentBoost credibility, publishing cadence, and direct traffic with a high-volume of fully-licensed, compliant

content.

@BrennerMichael

Content Mix (Monthly Average)

LicensedCustom

Custom

Content

20%

User /

Employee

50%

Licensed

Content

30%

@BrennerMichael

How To Rank For SEO? The 3 Vs (Content Mix)

Volume

Number of posts on the topic

Value

The best answer on the internet

Variety

Text, images, video, slides

@BrennerMichael

Turn Your Best Text Content Into Visuals

@BrennerMichael

Content MarketingSuccess

Building a SuccessfulContent Strategy

Companies Doing It RightUtilizing Content Acrossthe Buyer Journey

@BrennerMichael

@BrennerMichael

Brands need to take the phrase ‘acting like a publisher’ literally.

”“

Dietrich MateschitzFounder + CEO, Red

Bull

BufferApp Blog

Lesson for Brands: Think bigger than yourself and what you sell. Help people with their biggest problems and you will earn their attention.

@BrennerMichael

CapGemini Content-Loop.com• Licensed content on Linked

Sponsored updates

• Drives to branded Content Loop

• Offers to deeper content

• Recommendations to connect with experts

Results:~1M visitors / year+ 3K new LinkedIn followers per week+ High Quality Leads+ Sales / ROI

Maersk

• Amazing photos that appeal to their audience

• Thousands of likes per post

• Massive Brand Engagement, Loyalty

@BrennerMichael

@BrennerMichael

GE:Science Vines

Focused on Brand Mission:

Delivering Innovation to the world

Wistia Videos• Engaging How To Videos

• Strong Call To Action

• Content = New Subscribers

@BrennerMichael

@BrennerMichael

3 Tips For Content That Converts:

1. Stop promoting. Create for real people.2. Answer your customer questions.3. Focus on subscriptions and CTA.

Your audience wants stories.Created just for them.

Will you give it to them?

Michael.Brenner@NewsCred.com@BrennerMichael