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Page 1: Essential Guide to getting started with content marketing · 2020-03-12 · to consider when creating a content marketing plan, aligning your content marketing goals with your business

Essential Guide to getting started with content marketing

Page 2: Essential Guide to getting started with content marketing · 2020-03-12 · to consider when creating a content marketing plan, aligning your content marketing goals with your business

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Contents

Creating a content marketing strategy 3

6 Steps to creating a knock-out content marketing plan 4

How to align your content marketing goals to your business goals 6

6 Persona-Driven steps to an effective content marketing strategy 9

The key to successful content marketing 11

How customer service intelligence can enhance your content marketing 13

The key challenges for B2B content marketers in 2016 16

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Creating a content marketing strategy

Content marketing is a big deal. It's huge in fact. So it will come as no surprise that it now forms a key part of the comms strategies of many of the world’s top brands. As traditional routes of marketing hit new obstacles, and social media channels continue to grow in popularity and to create new opportunities, content is becoming increasingly important.

We have gathered useful insights and tips from our blog on how to get started with content marketing. This guide covers everything you need to consider when creating a content marketing plan, aligning your content marketing goals with your business goals, proving content marketing ROI, where you should look for inspiration for your content marketing and the challenges you might face along the way.

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So what do you need to consider when putting a content marketing strategy together? And what is success going to look like? When it comes to each piece of content - what topics should you be concentrating on? And how are you going to deliver it? Here is our step by step guide to creating successful content marketing strategy.

Step 1: Decide on your themes The first step is to outline the main themes that will work best for your target audience. These should be topics where you have the ability

and resources to create meaningful content. By that we don’t mean just write about your specific niche area. For example, if your target audience is companies of a certain size who will have a customer services department, then that may be one theme you choose to look at.

Brainstorm and let your ideas run wild - don’t stop your flow by thinking if they would fit or you could do them, just get them down. As a next step you can consider whether they’re doable and relevant. Finally, check back against your editorial statement and see which of these broader themes ticks the boxes.

Step 2: Plot your time frame How many pieces of content, in what format and within what timespan do you want to

produce? A spreadsheet can be a useful tool for laying out a plan using colour coded cells for the different content needed at different stages of the buying journey. For example, broader content to help drive awareness, and more meaty content that is closer to your product or service for the stage where people are researching their purchase options.

6 Steps to creating a knock-out content marketing plan

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Ultimately the idea is to guide your prospects along through the buying process by using pieces of content that will move them on from one stage to the next. Nurturing your leads along with tailored content that guides them towards the end goal of a sale.

Step 3: Think about the format Next it is time to consider the type and mix of content you will produce. This should include thinking about

the format that it will come in – for example, whether you’ll use blog posts, create PDFs that can be downloaded from the website, use video, etc, etc. You also need to think about the structure that the pieces of content may take. Such as whether you are going to offer how-to guides, white papers, thought leadership pieces, checklists, etc. Now you have a strong framework in which you can start filling in your content.

Step 4: Come up with content titles It’s time to get creative and pinpoint the exact topics and angles you’re going to cover. Again, begin with a no holds barred

brainstorm then afterwards start to focus in and fine tune the ones you’re going to run with. Once you have your list of title ideas together you can start filling in the various slots on your plan. You will also need to give some thought to practical matters, like the resources you have available. There is no point fixing on a video shot in multiple locations, or to offer monthly pdfs, or even daily blog posts, unless you have the manpower and budgets to make it happen. Above all else, think

about your target audience. Get back in their shoes and check each piece of content would be something they’d want, be interested in and value.

Step 5: Add calls to action For every piece of content you create, don’t forget to answer this key

question - what do you want a potential customer to do after reading it? A call to action is something that tells your audience what they should do next. For example, you may guide from on with your digital content, taking them from one channel to another. This could be done through a paragraph and links at the end of a blog post, or links within a post. Encouraging readers to subscribe to a mailing list is another common call to action, and a much prized one. Helping grab and nurture leads so they can be handed over to sales is, after all, the main purpose for producing the content in the first place!

Step 6: Sleep on it Finally, rest your plan for a while. When you come back to it after a day

or two you’ll be able to look at it with fresh eyes. This will help you spot things you hadn’t before and more ideas will also naturally come to you. Refine, clarify and flesh it out more where you need to. You may also start adding in links to good research and sources, and other comments to help guide the article briefs. And there you have it - an editorial calendar that is strategic, thoroughly planned out and ready to action. Things may change as you’re going along but it will be much easier to get your content marketing off the ground with a proper plan in place from the beginning.

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When it comes to creating an effective content marketing strategy, there’s one key piece of advice you’ll often hear – the secret to success lies in getting your content marketing goals aligned with your business goals. Here are some of the most common business goals and examples of how a content marketing approach could help you achieve them.

Business Goal: To improve profitability by increasing revenue

How?Use content marketing to develop and strengthen every stage of your sales funnel. From generating a consistent flow

of the right type of leads to warming them up and moving them along the pipeline, till finally revealing when it’s the perfect moment for the sales team to

hit the phones. By focusing on lead generation, lead nurturing and lead qualification you’ll be improving your sales and streamlining your processes so you only spend time on the best leads.

Business Goal: Improve profitability by limiting expenses

How?Make sure all the processes and resources you are using as part of your content marketing are fully optimized.

That way they will be making the maximum possible impact and teams will be getting full use out of them. For example, build a core content library and make it accessible to the whole company and refine your sales process by looking at the low-level sales activities that content marketing could support.

How to align your content marketing goals to your business goals

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Business Goal: Improve customer service

How?Work on getting marketing, sales and customer services teams working closer together. Create your content marketing

strategy and plans using insights and ideas gathered from all teams. Coming together in this way will lead to greater understanding of customers, what they want, what they may ask and where there may be obstacles along the way that need ironing out. Overall this will aid a smoother, much improved and more customer-centric service.

Business Goal: Increase customer retention

How?Remember, content marketing is not solely about generating leads, it should cover all stages of the buyer journey and

beyond. That includes building content that is specifically aimed at helping current customers. Develop workflows around them that you constantly monitor, analyse and refine. You’ll find loads more ideas for this in our article ‘Top 10 ways to improve your customer experience’.

Business Goal: Increase efficiency in the organization

How?Invest in technology that will support your marketing and sales functions, and promote closer team working. Find the

tools that are going to be the best fit for you,

including a CRM, analytics and marketing automation software. Also consider using IP tracking software, like that available from Lead Forensics, which is focused on helping to increase the efficiency of your sales team.

Business Goal: Speed up business growth

How?Content marketing gives you the perfect platform to demonstrate your expertise and position yourself as an expert in your

field. Work on content in the category of thought leadership and become the go-to organization for anything related to content within your industry. Be up to date on the latest news and thinking in your industry, as well as what’s on the horizon.

Business Goal: Build an amazing product

How?Use your content to engage with your target audience. Create an active feedback loop via your communication

channels – social media being a fantastic tool for this. Constantly monitor and listen to what people are saying about your product and service. Use this to improve on anything you need to. You may also get ideas for new innovations enhancements and add-ons that will help you up your game even further.

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Business goal Content marketing focus Example goals Tactics

Improve profitability by increasing revenue

Lead generation Generate 50 leads online per month by __

Increase online leads by 30% within 3 months

Improve output of qualified leads by ___

Online lead generation with content focusing on intended audience

Automated e-mail workflows

Lead scoring

Content produced for well developed buyer personas and buyer journeys

Lead nurturing

Lead qualification

Improve profitability by limiting expenses

Optimize processes around content

Reproduce all core content on the website by ___

Build a resources library for prospects and clients

Decide on outsourced or in-house editorial team

Replace manual content delivery with automated

Produce relevant content for prospects and clients to reduce expensive one-on-one time

Automate low-level information gathering by prospects and clients with software

Reduce advertising budget (short-term effect) increase content assets (everlasting effect, asset)

Reduce printed material and brochures, refer to online library

Lead qualification by entry level sales reps, negotiating deals by high level sales reps

Build a core content library and make it accessible companywide

Refine your sales process by looking at low level sales activities that content marketing supports

Improve customer service

Build a shared content library Have a comprehensive client library by ___

Bring task-force together to implement proximity of teams

Have all clients in nurturing workflows

Core content eliminates many questions upfront

Explain process clearly upfront

Implement help library and articles for self-help

Customer centric approach must include content marketing

Work on bringing marketing, sales and customer service closer together

Increase customer retention

Build specific content aimed at helping current customers

Create a content library

Create nurturing workflows with __% opening and __ % click rate

Provide nurturing along the customer journey

Pro-actively market to existing customers

Create content that helps retain clients

Develop workflows around them

Analyze workflows closely and refine them

Increase efficiency in the organization

Investigate technologyDetermine which software is needed and have everyone trained on it by ___

Use software to plan, produce and promote content and to streamline the entire process of contact management (from IP tracking to marketing and sales automation to crms)

Speed up business growth

Concentrate on thought leadership and showing your expertise Produce thought leadership content

___ per week/month

Build editorial team

Position yourself as expert

Thought leadership

The go-to page for future prospects

Particularly address needs of market with content

Become the go-to organization for anything related to content in your industry

Build an amazing product

Use your content to engage with your audience

Make it easy for customers and prospects to communicate with us

Build audience

Focus on social media for communication

Build an active feedback loop via your channels to help improve the product

This list is by no means comprehensive. It is meant to give some ideas.

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Step 1 – Use data not assumptions to define your buyer personas

Buyer personas are the most powerful way to fuel your content marketing strategy and create content that delivers real value to the right buyers. The more

factual and in-depth you can make your buyer personas, the better informed your strategy will be. And it all starts with data. Dig deep into all available data sources to build 360-degree factual personas that truly represent your audience. We’re not just talking customer

databases either, use Twitter and Facebook analytics, Google Webmaster tools and Lead Forensics to gain in-depth insight on your audience and their behaviours. Step 2 – Solve challenges and add value

Being relevant and valuable to your buyers is essential if you want to create content that converts, especially when 60% of buyers are inspired to seek out a

product after reading content about it. When putting together your content editorial plans, keep in mind what makes your buyer persona tick and the challenges they face in their day-to-day role. By answering these questions within the content you create, you’ll provide value to your buyers and be well on your way to thought-leadership status in no time.

6 Persona-Driven steps to an effective content marketing strategy

of buyers are inspired to seek

out a product after reading content about it

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So you’ve built your buyer personas and have a clear idea of the challenges they face. Nice one content marketer but you’re not finished just yet, especially when 3 out of 4 marketers cite compelling content as a factor in closing sales.

Step 3 – Sniff out the relevant macro moments, topics and events

58% of marketers agree that being relevant and compelling is the No. 1 thing that makes content marketing so effective. While your content marketing goals will shift and change over

time, the need to be relevant and engaging will not Map out relevant industry events, topics and news across the year, and make use of the creative inspiration they can provide, but remember to keep it relevant! Make sure that every event or story can be associated to your buyer personas’ personal interests because nobody likes an irrelevant news hijack ( just take a look at these hijacks gone horribly wrong). By mapping out your macro moments, you give yourself the opportunity to be more agile and flexible with the content you create.

Step 4 – Serve content in the media for your buyer personas use

If your personas spend the majority of their time on YouTube… you probably need to start serving content as videos… If you find your personas always download whitepapers and

guides…you probably need to be creating whitepapers and guides…you get the jist of it. Most marketers will use up to 12 different tactics to reach their audience, so don’t be afraid to mix and match your media to find what fits with your personas.

Step 5 – Be in the right place, at the right time

Being timely can make or break your marketing strategy – so it’s essential you’re in the right place at the right time. Use your social media and website analytics to find where your

buyer personas spend their time, then ramp up your efforts to be present. And don’t forget to look industry-wide too, resources like the Content Marketing Institute and Base One Buyersphere report provide awesome insight into B2B buyer habits industry-wide.

Step 6 – Tie it all together

Last but, most definitely, not least you need to know your content marketing goals and supporting metrics inside out. By determining these details

now, you’ll be able to focus your content creation later, measure your content’s ROI AND regularly evolve your personas based on real data insight.

Most marketers will use up to 12 different tactics to reach their audience

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Proving a positive ROI No surprise here. Proving a positive ROI features in almost every study of this nature around content marketing – in a nutshell, those who can prove their ROI are winning. The key is to know before you start what success will look like, so you can measure against that. Setting it and then forgetting it is a recipe for disaster. Your KPIs need to be reported on monthly and plans adjusted as you go along to make sure ROI can be shown. The reason this works is that when you take the time to think about the outcome before you start you have a much better chance of achieving the results you want to. From the outset you will decide whether to include a tactic or not, based on the results you want to achieve. And you won't waste time trying things that won't do any good for your ROI.

Having a documented strategy and plan Having a strategy and a plan is an absolute key to success. There is no way around it. The most interesting bit of information to come out of the CMI study is that the more successful marketers are more likely to have a formally documented strategy – i.e. one that’s written down. It's about being clear on what the strategy is, then executing it against a plan, and measuring the KPIs along the way. In the fast paced world of digital marketing it's easy to get lost in all the options, or to get distracted along the way. With a written document

The key to successful content marketing

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however you have a strong reminder of what it is you need to do and can focus on that.

Produce high quality content We all suffer from information overload. Amidst all the noise, what kind of content stands out? It is high quality content that is sharp, insightful and well thought through. Producing quality content means having excellent creative work, including strong writing and graphic design. But it also means it is 100% targeted and relevant for its audience. You need to know exactly who it is intended for, how it will be consumed and what purpose it serves – which again will all stem from having a written editorial statement. It is getting increasingly difficult to stand out from the crowd (and the competition), but it is possible to create content that is appealing. Invest more time in thinking about what to produce in order to create outstanding content.

Communicate internally and externally

Communicating well, both externally and internally, is another key to success. Effective marketers will meet regularly, often more than once a week, to work on their strategies and the

entire external communication is coordinated across departments. The most effective content marketers take a client-centric approach to communication. They know that a customer doesn't care which department they speak to, they will see the

Invest more time in thinking about what to produce in order to create outstanding content.

company or brand as one whole entity. The question is whether your organisation is built to support that approach.

Analyse and report to continuously improve results Coming full circle with the need to prove a positive ROI, this is about making sure you are gathering the numbers, reporting them and analysing them. In the digital age it is now possible for marketing to track everything. The ways and means by which data can be collected is increasing daily. Whether that’s simply keeping track of your website stats, or using big data mining tools, the numbers, trends and patterns are important and should be used to shape your future strategy. Making adjustments to your plans should only be done based on insights from past campaigns.

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While sales teams will have a lot of insights and observations to bring to the table, they’re not the only ones. Another great source of information that could be used to make your content even stronger is customer services. When did you last speak to your customer services team and mine them for data to use for your content marketing and in attracting more clients?

Customer service insights One way to look at content marketing, is as the ability to foster deep customer relationships. If you understand your customers and their needs then you can use that information to create content that will help you attract even more of the same type of customers. That means anything that

happens after the sale – in operations, as well as customer services - is important to include in your content marketing strategy. Here are just a few of the questions you should be asking your customer services team: • What are customers asking?

In B2B content marketing the biggest challenge remains to create content that will attract a target audience and get them interested in what you have to offer. Explaining your products and services is a

great way to produce content relevant to specific

How customer service insight can inspire your content marketing

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customer journey stages. One way to find out what information real clients may be looking for before they purchase, is to look at what customers have been asking after they’ve bought.

• What complaints and feedback is available that you can review?

As well as the most commonly asked questions, complaints and general feedback can both be great areas to mine for your content. Look out for any similarities and patterns,

including across verticals or other demographics, and see which ones could form the foundation of some great pieces of content. • What aftersales learnings are there?

Content marketing doesn’t stop once a purchase has been made. In fact, it can help greatly when it comes to increasing customer retention levels. Think what helpful information you could continue to present to your client base after they’ve bought from you. Find out what will be the best and most helpful way to stay in touch with them. For this part of the customer journey it is again important to call on all the intelligence that customer services and operations teams will hold.

Content examples and ideas So you now know where you should be looking for extra inspiration and insights for your content marketing but what should you then do with it? Here are a few ideas: • Case studies

The staple of any B2B sales team, case studies are also a must for content marketing. The aim of them is to help prospective buyers to relate and spot similarities with their own situation and need. Mining information from across teams for your various verticals will help you hit the right notes. • Product in action

Showing how different companies are using your product or service is another way to present case studies and one which will give you lots of good

content. Just don’t make the mistake of guessing how customers use it, make sure you interview them for this specific purpose. Doing that may itself lead to some good cross-selling or co-marketing opportunities when you speak to your clients. • Video client interviews

These are similar to case studies but presented in a different format. They will be a bit

trickier and more time-heavy to produce, but if done well can be extremely powerful. Keep the focus on the benefits that clients have found, so that is the message you’ll present to potential new clients. Make it easy by asking only relevant questions. • Testimonials

Another staple in the sales tool box. There is nothing like having your clients tell others how great your service is. Testimonials can be presented in any format and you should explore as many as you can. Whether they are in written form on your website, videos, or even in-person events that mix your existing clients with new prospects, don’t forget them in your content marketing plan.

Top Tip: Getting testimonials can sometimes prove difficult and you need to respect that your clients are busy people. Many may be willing to give you a testimonial but just don’t have the time to sit down and do it. If you write a draft for them and send it across for their approval then you will have a far better chance. Make sure you have all the appropriate figures together to support the testimonial, as that will make it easier for you to put it into words. Be as specific as possible ‘this is a great company’ is not going to get you much traction.

• FAQs

What are the most frequently asked questions teams hear, both before and after the sale? Think about ways you can work with them and present

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these questions and answers in a digital format for your audience. Don’t just post them on your website, use them and drip feed them out, for example by addressing them (and adding links) within your email campaigns as well. • Customer surveys

If you undertake customer surveys then they could be another treasure trove of valuable insights you can use within your content and marketing activities. This is particularly true if the results are going to be potentially

interesting for an entire industry, or any other specific group within your broader audience. • Search function on your website

Another source of information that could help you produce relevant and effective content is your website search function. Do you know what people are actually typing into your search bar? What words or phrases are they looking for? Are there any gaps you need to fill in the content you are offering? If your website doesn’t currently offer a search function then get one installed, it’s an easy win all round. A quick note for new businesses - If you are a new business and don’t have existing clients to go to

then you will need to rely on assumptions initially. But as soon as you have clients, start gathering the intelligence you need to create strong, interesting and relevant content. When you first start out, make sure you have all the processes in place that you will need to make sure insights are gathered, recorded and shared between teams. And the result... The key to all of this is to be able to put yourself into your buyer’s shoes. You want to be able to anticipate what kind of questions they may have when evaluating your solution. Through your content marketing you can then ensure you are not only answering these questions before they even ask them, but you’re going far beyond that. You are also showing them how successful your product or service is in reality, through case studies and the words of real customers. It really is win-win.

The key to all of this is to be able to put yourself into your buyer’s shoes.

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Challenge 1: Measurement – proving a positive ROI Across all the studies we’ve look at, being able to measure effectiveness and to provide proof of a return on investment (ROI), remains a core focus. Particularly due to its potential influence on future budgets. Success remains hard to prove without a process of measurement in place that can provide the right figures to back it up. Every tactic has an impact, the key is being able to measure and record the numbers. This includes key metrics such as sales lead quality and conversion rates. Marketers need to be able to track the success of content marketing right through from the beginning of the sales process to the end.

*A global State of Inbound study by HubSpot found that respondents were 20% more likely to have received a higher budget in 2015 if ROI was tracked, and twice as likely to have seen their budget increased if that ROI was shown to be higher than the previous year. Despite this, in a North American study B2B Enterprise Content Marketing: 2015 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends 17% of respondents revealed they had no measurement in place and 14% said their measurement was not at all successful.

Closed loop marketing

To be able to link marketing activity directly to sales, companies need to use a closed loop marketing system. This can be achieved by using marketing software that links to the CRM system. Getting evidence of impact and ROI becomes easier once this type of system is in place and the data is being monitored and collated automatically. For example, Lead Forensics’ marketing hub can bring lead generation, analytics and insights into

The key challenges for B2B content marketers in 2016

HubSpot found that respondents were 20% more likely to have received a higher budget in 2015 if ROI was tracked.*

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one place. It allows marketers to track prospects through the buying journey from end-to-end, uncovering which channels are driving sales-ready leads and including the original source of every individual website visitor.

Challenge 2: Ensure everyone’s ‘on the same page’

Across all studies it was noticeable that the most successful teams were those who not only had a content marketing strategy and

editorial mission statement in place, but who had documented it – by this meaning they had set out a clear and written roadmap that everyone was aware of, engaged in and working towards. This is in contrast to those with just use a verbal strategy - or even have no strategy at all, simply using a shotgun approach to their activity with no clear vision. In the UK a recent CIM study found only 37% of respondents have a documented content marketing strategy and even fewer (32%) have a documented editorial mission statement. And across the pond the issue is growing. In its 2016 North American study the CMI found fewer B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy compared with last year, even though research consistently shows that those who document their strategy are more effective in nearly all areas of content marketing.

Have a strategy and document it

The studies showed that when there is a clear strategy and plan in place, and everyone knows what success will look like – i.e. the key metrics – then their efforts are more likely to lead to success. It takes time in the beginning to develop a strategy but the effort will pay dividends in the end by leading to strong, joined up thinking.

Challenge 3: Increasing effectiveness Increasing the effectiveness of content is an ongoing challenge for teams, and across all studies it remains a key focus. Teams are aiming to create

more content but also better quality and more engaging content. When you work in content marketing you are playing the long game. It takes a lot of trial and error, review and analysis, to pinpoint what is really working and also what’s not –

whether it’s for a particular industry, company or product. In order to move forward and increase effectiveness, teams need to be able to make an informed decision as to what needs changing. By regularly analysing the effectiveness of pieces of content, teams will get data and insights that can be used to shape their future decisions about what content to produce going forward. UK marketers said producing engaging content was their biggest content marketing challenge and remains their biggest priority for the coming year, according to the CMI. Teams who checked their marketing metrics three or more times a week were over 20% more likely to see an increased ROI in 2015, according to the State of Inbound study.

Regular reporting and analysis

Regular reporting and analysis for each piece of content is the best way to measure effectiveness. This data can then be used to adjust the strategy and planning as needed. The process should then continue…track and measure, adjust, repeat. Keep a logbook of all of the activity and the analysis/findings, along with the changes and why they were made. After a period of time (such as 6-12 months) the data should clearly show patterns and what is working particularly well, and what’s not. This information is crucial for developing an highly

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effective strategy going forward and for proving ROI.

Challenge 4: Closing the deal It’s all about the figures and the end goal – those much sought after sales - for B2B companies worldwide. Lead generation remains the main aim for content marketing activity, and not just any lead – it needs to be the right leads But tying activity to actual sales figures is also becoming increasingly important too. While SME’s are likely to concentrate on lead generation and sales, enterprise B2B companies often have more of a focus on brand awareness. But even for them the studies show that actual sales are an important figure to measure, and of course to be seeing increase. When the CMI asked respondents to identify the most important metric they use to measure content marketing success, 20% of UK marketers said sales and another 20% said sales lead quality.

Informed nurturing

Understanding the target audience and the journey they take is key to nurturing leads on through the sales process and will go a long way towards helping to increase conversion rates. Closed loop marketing can help by uncovering and pulling together the information that is needed to understand how customers are interacting, with which content and when. This can give insights that can aid improvements being made to a content marketing strategy.

Understanding the target audience and the journey they take is key

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By being your efficient central hub for website visitor intelligence, lead generation and marketing insight, Lead Forensics will give you all the data you need to convert high quality leads faster. Uncover who your anonymous website visitors are, identify when they’re ready to buy and access the contact details you need.

Imagine if you could take control of your lead generation activity, then nurture and convert your prospects before your competitors even get close.