by Marcel Santilli@santilli

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

-Henry Ford

What do you want to get out of this workshop today?

What is your biggest challenge today?

Some background on me.

Launched July 2013

300+ articles published after 1.5 years

150+ contributors recruited to create content

15,000 marketing responses with average cost of $25

$19M in opportunities for the business

50K+ visits, 6K+ shares and 500+ inbound links

Build and launched site in just 3 months

Launched June 2015

230 articles published in 4 months

On track to reach 120K pageviews/month organically

134 contributors

Managing team of 13 people including internal, freelancer and vendors.

Agenda:1.Why content matters

2.Building a content strategy that is tailored to your resources

3.Define roles and responsibilities

4.Structuring your cross-functional team

5.Processes and tools to get work done and scale

6.Set metrics and KPIs to measure your team's success

7.Ask me anything

Focus on content vs. social media. Why?

1. Why content matters

If your content today was a product in itself, would your customers buy it?

What is the reality today?

Only half of decision makers worldwide would first turn to an existing supplier when faced with a business challenge.

Customers are cutting brands out of their learning.

They’re getting more and more of their information from outside sources.

Suppliers today account for less than one-half of all information that buyers use to aid in their purchase decisions.

Complex environment with increasingly more players and more noise.

What does that mean to your business?

Critical need for businesses to deliver the right mix of (valuable) content to the right audience.

It all boils down to one word…

TRUST

To become the trusted advisor to prospective customers in your space.

Have a personal trainer mentality

Teach where customers learn.

The problem is that content is too often just an afterthought

But if done right content can spark growth and be essential to your business.

2. Building a strategy that is tailored to your resources

So what does it take to create a content and social media engine?

Don’t underestimate the discovery phase.

Formalize your content strategy. Keep it simple but actually write it down.

What are your business objectives?

Examples of business objectives

• Capture mindshare with key business decision makers and influencers• Establish trust with relevant personas.• Strengthen perception of HP Enterprise as a leading voice in the

enterprise software space.• Generate marketing qualified leads, drive traffic and conversions. • Validate the efficacy of thought-leadership content to internal stakeholders.• Develop and incentivize an expert network of internal and external

influencer-contributors.• Track user behavior, engage with and improve audience intelligence.

Start with your audience in mind.

You need to know more about your prospective customers than they do.

Who are you trying to impact (be specific)?

Find a purpose.

How do you want your audience to perceive you?

What are you audience’s top needs that your content can help solve?

Help position people to succeed. They will then trust themselves first, opening them to trust you as an advisor in their journey.

Discover what content will challenge and disrupt customer priorities.

How will your content create value for your audience?

Write down your vision.

To be the [how you want your audience to perceive you] for [your audience] that want to [audience’s need]. Provide [how you’ll create value for your audience].

To be the leading online destination for forward-thinking dev and tech professionals that want to solve today’s most challenging business problems and help shape the future of IT.

Provide unique insight into what’s next while equipping our readers with the practical knowledge that can be applied to real-world challenges, now.

What are your top resource constraints?

Other aspects of your content strategy

• Content objectives• Content types (articles, videos, etc.)• Amplification channels• Thought leadership vs. technical• Evergreen vs. news vs. research• Topics to cover• Contributor strategy

Approach to content

ValuableUseful / practicalContextual and relevant TimelyEasy to consumeDevice agnosticFindableNon-intrusiveEngagingUniqueBuilds trust and authority

Balanced contributor strategy

• Internal experts• Business partners• Customers (experts and executives)• Industry influencers• Educators / external researchers • Paid writers / journalists • Paid influencers

Think big but start super narrow and focused.

3. Define roles and responsibilities

• Program director / Chief editor• Managing editor / content strategist• Program manager• Technical expert• Copy editor and proofing• SEO / SEM• Digital strategist• Social listening and ideation• Metrics and analytics• Social media and amplification• Paid media• Community management• Influencer management• Creative / graphic design• Web dev• PR & AR• Demand generation

Roles and responsibilities

Establish guidelines and hold regular training and enablement.

Have a place for everyone to easily find information.

4. Structuring your cross-functional team

Think broader than just your immediate, internal team.

• Internal team• Across your organization• Customers• Business partners• Agencies / vendors• Freelancers / contractors• Crowdsourcing

Where to look

• Time to market• Scalability• Internal resources available• Budget• Quality• Time investment• Coordination

What to consider?

• Managing editors• Digital strategist• Social media and community manager• Visual designers• Web dev team• Copy editors (contractor)• Internal subject matter expert per business

group• Contributors

Sample team structure

Different team members can be leads for certain functions.

Set core values for your team.

1. It’s all about people – Always is and always will be. People matter more than anything. We care about those we work with and those we serve. We are all about building trust-based relationships and establishing win-win partnerships. We care about the results but not at the expense of people. Everything we do should build trust.

2. We are challengers – Change is the only constant. We don’t just realize that, we enthusiastically embrace and drive ongoing change. We challenge the norms and push boundaries. We don’t maintain, we multiply. We are bold in what we do.

3. Growth and learning is in our DNA – Our curiosity sparks an endless appetite for learning. We can always be better. We are always pursing growth on all levels and fronts.

4. We are passionate for our work – We are here to create remarkable experiences. We get things done. Above all, we have passion for what we do. We are proud of what we do. We are relentless and driven.

5. We envision BIG and start small – We don’t welcome small thinking but we’re all about small starts. We are responsible risk-takers. We try new things without losing focus on what really matters. We know that greatness comes from caring about the little day-to-day things. We move fast.

6. We are generous givers, not self-serving takers – We give more than we take. We are always helping. We teach and educate. We are always setting people up for success.

7. We can do a lot more by doing less better and faster – We always bring our best. It’s focused excellence. We are obsessed about quality but with a iterative, fast-paced approach.

8. We will laugh hard, loud, and often – We enjoy our work and we have fun while at it. We don’t take ourselves too seriously.

Editorial guidelines

Social media guidelines

5. Processes and tools to get work done and scale

Think about growth and scalability as you define processes and technology.

Clearly define your processes and workflow. Develop it with your team.

Make the world a better place. Please, stop using email.

Content management systems (CMS)

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Content marketing platforms

Communication tools

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File sharing and hosting

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Social media management and monitoring tools

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Influencer management

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Team collaboration software

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CRM or contact management tools

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Analytics and marketing automation

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Other tools

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6. Set goals, metrics and KPIs to measure your team's success

Define your KPIs and what you will need to measure.

Some KPIs we are measuring

• Cost per visit/view• Engagement per visit• Visit to response rate• Average cost per response• Response to validated lead (VL) • Average opportunity per visit• Average opportunity size• Cost per opportunity

Track ROI from the beginning to give your content program more respect.

7. Ask me anything!

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Connect with me

Twitter.com/santilliLinkedin.com/in/marcelsantilli