content marketing fuel for your lead generation strategy

© 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential

Content Marketing: Fuel for Your Lead Generation Strategy

Heidi Bullock, Sr. Director [email protected]


How do you think about lead generation?

Welcome to my toolbox of tactics!


Lead gen is not just a basket of tactics

PPC

social

webinars

contentsyndication

Grapes are so hot right now

email

retargeting


Content powers your lead gen engine

Good content = Optimized performance

Poor content = suboptimal performance


The right content is more important than ever…

• Influence Decision Making• 66%-90% of the buyer’s journey is complete before that

buyer reaches out to a sales person – Forrester

• Building a Relationship• 78% of consumers feel that organizations behind the content

are interested in building good relationships – TMG Custom Media

• Create Engagement• 68% of consumers spend time reading content from a brand

they are interested in. – The CMA


Creating your Plan


Have a Point of View!


Step 1: Buyer Personas

Who are you selling to?


Step 2: Understand the buyer’s journey


Step 3: Create your funnel


Research data, funny videos, curated lists, infographics, thought leadership

Step 4: Map content to buying stage

NO

YES

MOSTLYNO

Thought leadership and entertainment to build brand and awareness

Tools that help buyers find you when they are looking for solutions

Company-specific information to help evaluate and reaffirm selection

Buying guides, RFP templates, ROI calculators, whitepapers, analyst reports, webinars

Pricing, demos, services information, 3rd party reviews, customer case studies

Gated?Early Stage - Awareness

Middle Stage - Evaluation

Late Stage - Purchase


Use common senseNo, it’s our first date! I’m not ready for a trial of your software either!

Will you marry me?


Step 5: Figure out what you have, what you need


Content creation can be tricky


But, how do you create more content without a team of 40 writers?

My budget is cut…

I only have the PPC manager…


Lean Content Creation.


5 golden rules for content

1. It is not promotional2. It is relevant3. It closes a gap4. It is well-written5. It is relevant to your company


Content isn’t just whitepapers!

• Blog posts• Videos• Podcasts• SlideShare Presentations • Infographics• Moving Infographics• Activity Books/Worksheets • Articles


Visual content can help you stand out

VS.eBook - 29,000 Views Slideshare - 367,000 Views


THE 3 R’s OF CONTENT MARKETING Optimization

Repurpose, Rewrite, Retire


Repurpose: Taco Bell Content Strategy


“Big Rock” content example

Definitive Guide to MA:

Webinars:

Ebooks:

Infographics:


Repurpose blogs

Blog to eBook


Rewrite and redesignBefore After


Retire

I was the best webinar in 2009.


The Right Content per ChannelEXAMPLES


Use the right content per channel

Example – for FB – early stage


Visual content works well for social


The right content per channel matters

Source: chicagostyleseo.com


Top of FunnelEXAMPLES


Form length matters


Form Completion for Data Augmentation

Hidden Fields


Slideshare

• You have a great deck• Make it very visual and

appealing• Use the form for

Slideshare


Facebook for lead generation

Test a mix of content offers – make sure they are visual!

Lighter Harder


Twitter Lead Gen Cards

• Keep your copy concise and exciting

• Make sure your imagery is visually appealing

• Have a clear call to action

• Synch leads to MA platform for complete ROI


Email campaigns

1. Subject line 2. Relevant and vetted

content offer for the audience

3. Early stage content will probably perform better

4. Test!• A/B split – offer one and

offer two


Your Blog

@jonmiller @mpranikoff


Blog - Results

From average 14 a week to 145/week - 10X growth!


Virtual event

Leverage the knowledge of other people!


Content syndication:


The Power of Peer to Peer

• Company to Buyer: 33% Trust• Buyer to Buyer: 92% Trust WOW!!


Get the most out of your content

• Get your users to SHARE• Make every campaign social• Increase your visibility and

engagement


Middle of FunnelEXAMPLES

© 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and ConfidentialPage 44 © 2014 Marketo, Inc. #mktgnation14

Fast Moving Leads

Long Term Target

Why nurture?


98%2%

Most leads are not ready…


Successful nurture


Relevant emails = better engagement

100 1000 10000 1000000

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Email Send Size

Enga

gem

ent S

core


Lead Nurturing Relevance

A

B

C

D

1 23

Stages1. BUYING STAGES

• Early: Be a Better Marketer• Mid: Why Marketing Automation• Late: Why Marketo• Customer: Success

2. BUYING PROFILES• Marketing• Sales• Exec

Get The “Definitive Guide to Lead Nurturing”http://marketo.com/DG2LN

http://marketo.com/DG2LN



Content Approach - Example

Early(Pre-Opp)

Be a Better Marketer

Blog PostsFunny VideosInfographics

Thought Leadership

Mid(Pre-Opp)

Why Marketing

Automation

Buying GuidesRFP TemplatesROI Calculators

WhitepapersResearch

Late(Post-Opp)

Why Marketo

PricingDemos

Video TestimonialsCase Studies


Italian Workspace Joe Smith: Acme Inc. Community Help

Search… +

Search… +

Recently Updated

Practical B2B Lead Generation

Added Mar 30, 2013 Sent

12,10582

Thought Leadership

Edited Mar 25, 2013 Sent

12,10570

Lead Scoring Best Practices


12,10555

Lead Management Best Practice

D…

Added Mar 18, 2013 Sent

12,105

35



12,105 9

Engagement Over Time

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

100

80

60

40

20

0

Summary

1.5%

Unsubscribe

65Engagement

55dNext Cast

Members

In Track Exhausted Paused

3,450

50 35

Mar 18, 2013Engagement: 60

2013

Marketo’s Secret Sauce

Definitive Guide to Events

Lead Nurturing


Lead Management Best Practic

Practical B2B Lead Generation

Thought Leadership

Email Performance Report

Program Performance

Lead Nurturing Streams Setup My Tokens Members

View: Dashboard ▼ Streams: All Streams ▼


Lead Scoring Defined

“Shared sales and marketing methodology for ranking leads in order to determine their sales readiness”

Nurture Nurture DisqualifyPass to Sales

Pass to Sales

Fit Interest Buying Stage


• Early stage content +3• Attend webinar: +5• Visit any webpage /

blog : +1• Visit careers pages: -10• Decay inactivity:

-1, -5, -10

Latent Behaviors (Engagement)

• Pricing pages: +10 • Watch demos:

• +5 overview • +10 detailed

• Mid-stage content +8• Late-stage content +12• Searches for branded

keyword “Marketo” +8

Active Behaviors(Buying Intent)

Get The “Definitive Guide to Lead Scoring”http://marketo.com/DG2LS




Program ROI


What channel works for your business?

Source: Marketo Revenue Cycle Analytics, June 2013* Percentage of all programs in channel that achieve MT Ratio > 5

Nurture Email - CTA

Nurture Email

Paid Online (PPC+Email)

Nurture (New)

% Above Min*

N/A

52%

N/A

39%

79%

46%N/A

38%

N/AN/AN/A29%38%

52%7.6


Key questions to ask

• Which content assets work best for you at TOFU, MOFU, BOFU

• Which content assets are best performing for a particular vendor (ex: paid email)?

• Which assets are good for bringing in new names?• Which assets are good for opportunity creation?• What content works best in nurturing?• What blog post topics have the best engagement?


Example

Website - 6K viewsEmail – 642 clicksWebinar – 318 reg, 104 attended

GOOD

BETTER

Late stage asset


Leverage Data to Determine Best Offer For Each Vendor

Consider offer data, program goal, content asset, and content stage to make final determination.


Content ROI

Make sure stakeholders agree on the criteria.

Establish Goals and ROI Estimates

Up-Front

Design Programs to Be Measurable

Focus on the Decisions that Improve ROI


Tweetable Takeaways

1.Content is the fuel for your lead gen engine.

2.Map your content to the buying stage.

3.Think lean – repurpose when possible.

4.Make sure you use the right content per channel.

5.Test and compare your content offers - know what works for your business.

@heidi.bullock

content marketing fuel for your lead generation strategy

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