and why you should

Understanding what its all about The marketing audit Developing your strategy Implementing your plan Creating & distributing your content Monitoring & measuring results Nurturing & scoring leads

How to get involved in Content Marketing

rneyt jounten The co ting to rke a manirvan

Table of contents

Help my marketing isnt working any more Why is content so important? How did we get here? What are the key drivers? Its not about us stupid, its about them! What do we mean by Content Marketing? Are we just talking about web pages? So what constitutes content? Does content marketing offer any advantages? Is Content Marketing the solution to all my woes? Nobody gives a damn about your products (or services) Can I just jump in and start producing content? Where do I start? Where will all of this content come from? Producing good content takes longer than youd think! How do I promote my content? Optimise your content for search and share

Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19

Write content for your audience not search engines Blog to get found Why you should be identifying buyer personas! Why you need an editorial calendar for your content marketing How to put together your editorial calendar Content marketers: Why you should think and act like a publisher You will need a production schedule Mobile marketing; The next big thing? Bringing off-line and on-line together The power of video How do you stand out from the crowd on-line? Social media marketing? Make sure you have a plan! Make your content marketing efforts work Youve generated the interest, dont lose the sale Why your own marketing efforts are failing? Resources

Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35

page 2

Help, my marketing isnt working any more

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Marketing is evolving; new technology is changing buyer behaviour making it almost impossible for companies to control the information flow out to the markets. As Darwin has taught us, when it comes to evolution, there are winners and losers. In this case the winners will be the companies or individuals who embrace change and tailor their marketing to the needs and wants of their audience wherever their audience is active. This means taking the parts of traditional marketing practices that still work for you and supplementing your marketing strategy with inbound marketing and content marketing techniques. This places the emphasis on pulling your audience towards your business, through the creation of compelling content that your customers and prospects perceive is valuable. This content can be hosted on your website and disseminated via social media and found through search.

Source: MarketingSherpa October 2010 Quote: People shop and learn in a whole new way compared to just a few years ago so marketers need to adapt or risk extinction Brian Halligan Co-author of Inbound Marketing Chief Executive Officer, Hubspot

page 3

Why is content so important?

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Because content drives search, content drives lead generation and content drives social media. Without the hook of great content its difficult to engage with an audience. Great content acts like a magnet and pulls people towards you. So its important that: a) You actually have good content that supports your overall business plan. Content that highlights to your audience that you understand their problems and issues. And more importantly, that you can help them. Remember its about them, not you. b) Unless you have an e-commerce site its unlikely that first time visitors will make a purchase because theyre invariably at different stages of the buying cycle. So your content needs to tell a story to move visitors along and persuade them to make a conversion, which is the ultimate aim. c) Your content needs to be optimised for search and share. d) And you need to re-purpose that content in as many ways as you can to ensure you get the best return on investment (ROI) for your efforts and you post that content where your audience is active.

page 4

How did we get here?

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Trade shows, direct mail, print ads, email, the mainstays of traditional marketing all have a place in supporting brand equity, maintaining relationships and keeping existing prospects and customers informed. But with trade show audiences in decline, most direct mail ending up in the bin, the difficulty of determining the ROI on print ads, stricter spam filters making emailing conversions more elusive, its become extremely difficult to engage with an audience who may not be ready to engage with you.

We need to stop interrupting what people are interested in & be what people are interested in.
CRAIG DAVIS - CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, WORLDWIDE
J. WALTER THOMPSON (WORLDS 4TH LARGEST AD AGENCY)

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page 5

What are the key drivers?

ip: T

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Traditional marketing is interruptive. Changes to the web and the proliferation of web based tools that now exist have changed buyer behaviour FOREVER making it far easier for buyers to engage with you on their terms, when they are much further into the buying cycle. Decision makers are less inclined to speak to a sales person until they have carried out their own research into what you (and your competition) have to offer. This means a completely different, more open and for some, less comfortable approach is required.

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Key

In todays information age of marketing and web 2.0 a companys website is the key to their entire business
MARCUS SHERIDAN - AUTHOR OF THE SALES LION BLOG. MARKETING SPEAKER

page 6

Its not about us stupid, its about them!

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Most websites and marketing collateral shout out to an audience: Look at us Look how good we are Look at what weve done Read about why were number one Our products and features are great What your audience really wants to know is that you understand their pain points and that you know how to solve their problems and issues.

The internet has turned what used to be a controlled, one-way message into a real-time dialogue with millions.
DANIELLE SACKS - WRITER, FAST COMPANY

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page 7

What do we mean by Content Marketing?

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As more and more people use the web to search for information that is relevant and valuable to their own needs and wants they are turning away from the meaningless advertising messages they are bombarded with. Remarkable content, created by YOU, published where your audience is active and aligned to the prospects interests, industry and position within the buying cycle pulls those prospects through to your website. This is an important point as those people who visit your website via interesting and relevant content they have discovered will have a more positive attitude towards your offerings than any prospects driven there through traditional marketing means.

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If you have more money than brains, you should focus on outbound marketing. If you have more brains than money, you should focus on inbound marketing
GUY KAWASAKI - FORMER CHIEF EVANGELIST, APPLE CO-FOUNDER, ALLTOP.COM

page 8

Are we just talking about web pages?

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No! Every piece of content you produce can be repurposed, you can tweet about your eBook, the eBook can become a slidedeck and uploaded to Slideshare, a voice-over can be added and uploaded to YouTube, the voice-over can be turned into a podcast, extracts of the eBook can become Blog posts or enewsletter articles. Always plan to repurpose whenever you produce any content. Great content can differentiate your offering from the competition, help you gain credibility in your marketplace and position you as a thought leader.

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To be successful and grow your business and revenues, you must match the way you market your products with the way your prospects learn about and shop for your products
BRIAN HALLIGAN - CO-AUTHOR OF INBOUND MARKETING,
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, HUBSPOT

page 9

So what constitutes content?

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Content marketers believe valuable content should be at the heart of your marketing strategy and distributed via the most appropriate channels for your audience, who are, after all, actively looking for what you have to offer. In order to make it easier for your prospective customers to find you and your solutions, you need to be producing: Web pages Blogs eBooks enewsletters White papers Application notes Podcasts Video Case studies Articles Infographics Twitter feeds Curated content Aggregated content o And more

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as youve noticed people dont want to be sold. What people do want is news and information about the things they care about
LARRY WEBER - AUTHOR OF MARKETING TO THE SOCIAL WEB

page 10

Does content marketing offer any advantages?

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A major advantage that this type of content has is longevity. It has a longer shelf life and is cheaper to produce than traditional marketing campaigns. Whats more the search engines love it and as you produce more content you should see bigger increases in visitors to your website.

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Content Marketing is the only Marketing left

SETH GODIN - KEYNOTE SPEAKER, AUTHOR OF PERMISSION MARKETING

page 11

Is Content Marketing the solution to all of my woes?

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Content marketing isnt a magic bullet that will solve all of your business issues. Its another addition to the marketing toolkit that will contribute positively when used correctly as part of your marketing strategy. Great content isnt going to sell poor products or services but content marketing will help to create a more level playing field between the SMEs and their larger competitors. You no longer have to negotiate (or pay) to get your content published in a magazine or web portal. The web and new web tools have allowed you to become a publisher.

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I am all for conversations. But you need to have a message

RENEE BLODGETT - FOUNDER BLODGETT COMMUNICATIONS

page 12

Nobody gives a damn about your products (or services)

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This might come as a shock to some people but nobody really gives a damn about your products or services. So if all of the content on your website or your sales collateral or your email newsletters harp on about how great you are, then you are on a hiding to nothing. The key to success is to build empathy and trust with your audience. Identify the pain points of your prospects. What is it that keeps them awake at night? Why would they buy what you have to offer? Why would they choose you rather than your competition? What can you do to help them? Find the answers to those questions and youre on the road to success. So your content needs to shout out we understand your problems and issues we can solve your problems and issues and reduce your cost by....... you get the message. To be successful you need to get under the skin of your prospects and understand their business issues.

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Think like a customer

PAUL GILLIN - AUTHOR OF THE NEW INFLUENCERS

page 13

Can I just jump in and start producing content?

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No! Like everything else in business, you need a plan. Content marketing is an additional part of the marketing toolkit and your output will depend on your overall business objectives e.g. increasing brand awareness, lead generation, thought leadership etc. So work with your team or consultant to: Determine the goals Work on the messaging Evaluate the best format and platform options Start work on the plan

Marketing isnt magic. There is a science to it.

DAN ZARRELLA - SOCIAL MEDIA SCIENTIST, HUBSPOT

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page 14

Where do I start?

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The first thing to do is to carry out a content audit. You need to know what content you currently have available so that you can make an informed decision about what content is needed. List all of the existing web page titles including downloadable spec sheets and web based articles into an .xls spreadsheet. Then take an inventory of existing content from previously published articles, enewsletters, brochures and PowerPoint presentations that can be scanned to see if they are suitable for repurposing and add those to the spreadsheet. Brainstorm what you believe you need to provide and then map that content against those page titles in the spreadsheet to determine the gaps. The picture you end up with will determine your action plan.

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Were all learning here; the best listeners will end up the smartest
CHARLENE LI & JOSH BERNOFF - AUTHORS OF GROUNDSWELL

page 15

Where will all of this content come from?

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This comes down to resources and you need to decide whether you have the resource to create this content in-house or whether you need to outsource it. There are pros and cons to both. In-house: keeps the costs down but youre probably asking people to carry out tasks over and above their day-to-day job roles. Outsource: You need to select the team, preferably they should have some knowledge and experience of your industry, they need to be briefed and they need to be managed.

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Institutions that once had to go through media to deliver information are now themselves media
ANDREW NACHISON - FOUNDER, WE MEDIA

page 16

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Producing good content takes longer than youd think!

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Whether youre doing it yourself or outsourcing it there are several issues to be considered, for example: Youve decided one of the main aspects of your marketing plan will be to help differentiate your offering through a thought leadership stance and the main marketing tool for this will be an eBook explaining the benefits of your offering in general. Further, you intend to create empathy with your audience by explaining how you have identified and understand their main pain points and how you can provide a potential solution. In return for downloading the eBook you expect the prospect to exchange their contact details e.g. name, company, email address etc.

Firstly, you need to storyboard the process. There will inevitably be numerous revisions before you are happy with the final content. Anchor text to relevant external documents e.g. blog articles or web pages should be included. It will have to be proof read by someone else (who?) and the content will probably have to go through a sign off process. The layout of the eBook will need to be agreed and probably contracted out to a design house. Budgetary issues may need to be resolved. A brief will be required, designs agreed, regular progress meetings held, graphics or images will need to be sourced. The pdf template will need to be optimised for search.

Focus on the core problem your business solves & put out lots of content & enthusiasm & ideas about how to solve that problem.
LAURA FITTON - FOUNDER, ONEFORTY.COM

page 17

How do I promote my content?

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Ensure share icons have been added. When you are happy with the finished article publish it on your website. You will probably want to promote it through various other means too e.g. email, external web banners, Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, Slideshare etc. Best practice is to build a dedicated landing page, optimised for conversion, that you can drive all of your traffic towards and monitor the results. Again all of this takes time.

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When you breakdown all the fluff, there are two ways to promote and market your business; dumber, slower and expensive or smarter, faster and cheaper
DAVID SITEMAN GARLAND - HOST OF THE RISE TO THE TOP

page 18

Optimise your content for search and share

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You cant just rely on writing good content and then sitting back waiting for hordes of prospects to beat a path to your website. You need to give your great content a leg-up by ensuring that its optimised for the search engines. Google always advise to write for your audience but writing compelling, informative content, aimed at helping the audience, whilst keeping an eye on search engine requirements will pay dividends. There is no shortage of information on how to do this through carrying out keyword research and then incorporating those keyword phrases into:

Title tags Meta descriptions On-page titles Section heading Body text Image alt text Anchor text etc

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There are various tools available to help you research your key words and phrases but keep in mind that your audience might not always use the same words and phrases that you use internally within your company. So also think about topics that would have a general interest to your audience or phrases that may be complementary to those you offer.

It no longer makes economic sense to send an advertising message to the many in hopes of persuading the few.
M. LAWRENCE LIGHT - FORMER CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, MCDONALDS

page 19

Write content for your audience not search engines

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All of us at one time or another has picked up a book that just grips us, we cant put it down, well say to ourselves, just one more chapter even though its the middle of the night. With great stories we want to know what happens next. Your web pages need to do the same job. You need to tell your visitors a story and ensure they become absorbed and dont close the book (or bounce out) through lack of interest. Unless you run an e-commerce site most people who visit your site wont make an immediate purchase. Most people will browse, research, compare and theyll be at very different stages within the buying cycle. Your content strategy needs to take this into account. Remember how difficult it is to get a customer in the first instance; dont lose them by taking them for granted.

By listening, marketing will re-learn how to talk

DOC SEARLS & DAVID WEINBERGER - CO-AUTHORS OF THE CLUETRAIN MANIFESTO

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page 20

the ur fers yo of tain ould log r Ab nte c ite, Tip: ty to e y you y e i ebs a K rtun a w your w udio ppo ce in o gh et a ien rou t forg aud o th n er d ve, do . ev ti n ent rea ont c c be eo vid and

Blog to get found

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If you dont have a blog, introduce one and fast. Because every time you introduce a blog post you add another web page and thats an opportunity to get ranked for your key terms in the search engines. In addition a blog provides an opportunity to add fresh, compelling and relevant content to your site on a regular basis. There are additional advantages of blogging, a blog can be used as a platform to differentiate your offering from your competition through, perhaps, a thought leadership stance. Once the content is published it can continue to offer results to the search engines months after publication.

Blog posts can be re-purposed as enewsletter content or to answer customer questions or to promote intellectual content such as technical papers or eBooks. And a blog offers the opportunity to entertain your audience in a way you can never do through your website. A recent Hubspot report stated that on average, SMEs that Blog have 55% more website visitors than those who dont, 97% more inbound links and 434% more indexed pages, which further enhance SEO results.

No matter what, the very first piece of social media real estate Id start with is a blog
CHRIS BROGAN - KEYNOTE SPEAKER, FOUNDER NEW MARKETING LABS

page 21

ly like e torm ith th r ins w me Bra nas sto cu rso pe and m or es a sal rt te e who po s e sup ne el fac o y toan ce s fa s with ha ling s. r ea d me sto cu

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Why you should be identifying buyer personas!

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Write content for your prospective buyer, how do you do this? Well put yourself in their shoes and list all of the issues you think they may have. Give them a persona and build a profile, a representation of a target customer. Think about some of the following: Where they live What problems they may face Their responsibilities Their frustrations What pressure are they under What are their needs What role do they play in the decision making unit (DMU)

Have they downloaded any prior content What technologies would they be using to access content e.g. PCs, smartphones, tablets etc. When youve answered all of those questions youll have a much better idea of the type of content most suited to that persona. If you operate in the B2B sector the chances are that the purchasing decisions will be made by a number of people. The persona arguments are just as relevant in the B2C marketplace, the difference may be that the decision making unit consists of various family members.

By publishing content that shows buyers you understand their problems and can show them how to solve them, you build credibility
ARDATH ALBEE - AUTHOR OF EMARKETING STRATEGIES FOR THE COMPLEX SALE

page 22

Why you need an editorial calendar for your content marketing

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In order for you to plan and manage the content marketing creation process and to help everyone else involved keep track of timelines and dates, its a great idea to create an editorial calendar. Another advantage of an editorial calendar is that it helps visualize how and where you can re-purpose articles e.g. the eBook due to be published next week could be used as a source of blog posts to be published at a later date, the planned webinar could fuel several enewsletter articles. By including key dates within the spreadsheet on, for example, the launch of a new product or a key trade show, this helps plan content activities within the necessary timescales.

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Instead of one-way interruption, web marketing is about delivering useful content at just the precise moment a buyer needs it
DAVID MEERMAN SCOTT MARKETING STRATEGIST, AUTHOR OF THE NEW RULES OF MARKETING AND PR

page 23

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How to put together your editorial calendar?

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Identify key dates that may impact the content you want to create and when you need it. Brainstorm among the team what you want/need to produce (keep in mind the stages of the buying cycle). Identify the best medium for each piece of content; identify how/where you may want to re-purpose each piece. Identify how you will track the success of each piece. Write an abstract for each piece, fill in the key fields. Decide who will create the content. An editorial calendar can act as a briefing to those tasked with creating your content. An excel spreadsheet incorporating some of the headers bulleted below with some of the key fields already filled in can make it a much simpler task for an author to get creative juices flowing rather than handing

them a blank piece of paper and telling them you need a story or an article by next week. Headers could include: Publishing date Objective Draft title Audience Persona Keywords Call to action Medium Note: the headers may change depending on the type of content to be produced.

Increasingly, the mass marketing is turning into a mass of niches

CHRIS ANDERSON - AUTHOR OF THE LONG TAIL

page 24

Tip: , ey dia K me the t it. Be ren nt do

Content marketers: Why you should think and act like a publisher
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With todays web based tools you can create your own content and publish that content on-line wherever your audience is active. This approach can offer your business massive advantages against competitors through improved results in the search engines, re-purposing content across multiple platforms, differentiating how and where you offer your services or promoting your business as a thought leader. But to achieve real success you need a plan and considering how a publisher would go about their business can provide a good insight into what you should be doing.

A publisher will look to maximize the ROI from each piece of content, this means you need to be focused and objective in your efforts and the points below can help guide you: Make a list of possible content based on your content marketing strategy Prioritise that list and focus on where you will get the best return Select your target audience (think personas) Understand what you want to accomplish from that piece of content e.g. the Call to Action (CTA) Determine the best medium for that piece of content Plan how you can re-purpose that content across multiple platforms

Remarkable social media content and great sales copy are pretty much the same plain spoken words designed to focus on the needs of the reader, listener or viewer
BRIAN CLARK - FOUNDER COPYBLOGGER

page 25

You will need a production schedule

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In order to ensure the content is available when required its a good idea to put together a production schedule which can take account of milestone dates for drafts, iterations and proofreading. Whoever is responsible for this process should also ensure that the article uses the correct tone of voice and meets the quality, relevance and consistency standards required. During the content creation process its worthwhile spending some time working on a strong headline as this can have a massive impact on whether the content is read or ignored.

Publish your content and measure and analyse the results. The advantage of operating in a digital world is that almost everything can be tracked and measured. Incorporate your findings into improving your content and processes in order to increase future ROI.

There are no magic wands, no hidden tricks and no secret handshakes that can bring you immediate success but with time, energy and determination you can get there
DARREN ROWSE - FOUNDER PROBLOGGER

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Mobile marketing; The next big thing?

Smartphones are reinventing the connection between companies and their customers
RICH MINER - PARTNER, GOOGLE VENTURES, CO-FOUNDER, ANDROID

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Mobile Marketing is a red hot topic. The number of people who own smartphones that can access the internet is growing phenomenally and by all accounts will be the medium of choice for most of us by 2013 to 2015 depending on which reports you read.

Try to create shorter content bursts and use longer pages because scrolling is quicker than waiting for multiple pages to load. Also consider using alternate formats such as video and audio to conserve space. Try to limit your file size to 20k to Heres what you need to do to create a accommodate slower connection speeds customer-friendly mobile site: and avoid using Flash if your content will be Get rid of the clutter. Remove items or viewed on an Apple product content from your website that you think Re-purpose existing content to drive traffic might be superfluous to a mobile browser. e.g. turn that 5000 word article into a series Check your analytics. If youre likely of podcasts for your mobile audience already using analytics data to determine Think about new ways to engage an how visitors interact on your site, use audience around your content e.g. video that information to determine what your Claim your business on location-based customers need from you, what can (and platforms like Foursquare, Gowalla and should) be ported over to your mobile site Google Places, especially if you have a and what you can get rid of. bricks-and-mortar location. Be creative, think about how you can implement a campaign e.g. use QR codes or think about having an Ap built.

page 27

of life the ring end nsu e Ext by Tip: de o be Key Rc re can rQ utu link to f you ink the to l hat t fied s. odi n m aig mp ca

Bringing off-line and on-line together

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QR codes are similar to the barcodes used by retailers to track inventory and price products at the point of sale. The key difference between the two is the amount of data they can hold or share. Bar codes are linear onedimensional codes and can only hold up to 20 numerical digits, whereas QR codes are two-dimensional (2D) matrix barcodes that can hold thousands of alphanumeric characters of information. This ability to hold more information and their ease of use makes them practical for small businesses. When you scan or read a QR code with your iPhone, Android or other camera-enabled smartphone, you can link to digital content on the web; activate a number of phone functions including email, IM and SMS; and connect the mobile device

to a web browser. Any of these desired functions are easily achieved by properly creating your QR code. Its a simple process of entering the appropriate data into a QR code generator and it only takes a few minutes. QR code design is also flexible enough to allow some creative design approaches Practical Uses of QR Codes: On your business card. Brochures and other marketing materials. Product packaging Convention and event nametags Restaurant menus Event ticket stubs Point-of-sale receipts Property leaflets from estate agents

Dont be afraid to get creative and experiment with your marketing.

MIKE VOLPE - CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, HUBSPOT

page 28

The power of video

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According to Google, videos are 50 times more likely to rank on the first page of search engines for your targeted keywords than text. Videos receive a 41% higher click through rate than text links. Video is more engaging to us and we view it as a trusted media far more when making a decision, than reading text. There are many types of video you can shoot depending on the project objective, e.g. How to videos Interview style video Talking head Talk show style with several people having a discussion Product demos Customer testimonials

T ey K

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Ensure the sound quality is good, if required use external microphones. Check the lighting, shoot the video, edit where necessary. On completion, embed video in eNewsletters, Blogs, Linkedin accounts, Facebook. Upload to your website, YouTube and Vimeo. Dont forget to make your videos shareable, use keywords in the description, title and keyword tags. Re-purpose them as podcasts.

Youve probably got a device on you that can shoot decent video, so whats stopping you? Capture and share some moments
STEVE GARFIELD - VIDEO BLOGGER, AUTHOR OF GET SEEN

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ur f yo ll o re a r web ar u Ens rial o cle te er a allff ma s o se C ge to pa nci TA) co (C rs and tion de c ea A r to To- your hat p w hel ide ec to d xt. ne do

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How do you stand out from the crowd on-line?

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Good is the enemy of greatThe vast majority of good companies remain just that good but not great
JIM COLLINS - AUTHOR OF GOOD TO GREAT
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In order to survive, you need to somehow differentiate your offering from your competition. In a bricks and mortar store you can have an enticing shop front, you can have extremely helpful and professional staff and you can run sales promotions but if more of your business is on-line or its trending that way, how do you get found when 75% of internet users* never scroll past the first page of search results? Well the bottom line is, if Google cant find you no-one else can and although your website is extremely important there are other platforms to consider. The more keyword rich content you produce and disseminate the more chance you stand of being found by the search engines. So the creation of interesting, relevant, valuable content is no longer just an option, its critical. A Blog can be automatically
*Source: Marketshare.hitslink.com, Oct 2010

output to Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin via an RSS feed to increase lead generation opportunities and improve search results. Blog posts can also be re-purposed into email content or grouped together to form an eBook. An eBook can be the basis of a PPC campaign to collect contact details, the eBook itself can be re-purposed into a slide deck that can be uploaded to Slideshare. The key point here is not to view any initial content in isolation but to have in mind from the very beginning ideas of how you can cut and dice that content to get it in front of as many people as possible. But remember, the content has to have a perceived value to your target audience, if it doesnt youll fail and just merge in with the masses most of whom are just producing me too brochureware for a rapidly diminishing audience. Dont make that mistake.

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he of t end stion the que At the d y ul da ing sho ask re you ys be he lwa lf is w . a rse ey you mon e is th

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Social media marketing? Make sure you have a plan!

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Social media can be a pretty daunting activity with the ever growing and ever changing choice of platforms available. The important thing to remember is to focus your attention on where your audience is active. Dont spend all of your time on Facebook if none of your customers or prospects are there. Its too easy to get hooked into collecting likes and pluses and followers without having a clear view of what this means for your business or how you can channel these activities into something more tangible e.g. revenue (SM purists take note). Social media is about interaction and you need to invest time and effort into that endeavour. Oh and by the way, this is where having relevant and compelling content spread across the web helps attract searchers towards your offering.

Reaching out to your audience wherever they are active will help to create a stronger brand presence in the market and allow you to listen to your customers (and competitors). But social media needs to be seen as part of the total plan and should be used as an integral part of your marketing strategy. To view social media as a stand-alone entity and to go through the process of ticking boxes dilutes its potential and reduces the impact it can have on your business. Measuring the ROI of social media can be difficult but not impossible. However if you start out with a plan and a view of what success will look like prior to the campaign launch date then at least you will be able to make a comparison between expectations and achievement.

The future of business is social

BARRY LIBERT - AUTHOR OF SOCIAL NATION CEO, MZINGA

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for ure . s ea ke of st m ts sa ju ose d use n t e p n em pur Do an sur he t a ont ms/ me rmine t up fr tfor n la te e nte ate p De e th r co ri r sur a ou you pprop me to y a to ant . es the lev ag es re ck ctiv ion pa t e rac d obj nte n i ls a oa g

Make your content marketing efforts work

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Your organisation is becoming hyperlinked. Whether you like it or not. Its bottom up; its unstoppable
DAN WEINBERGER - AUTHOR OF EVERYTHING IS MISCELLANEOUS
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The most important piece of advice I can give is to ensure that you have Google Analytics enabled on your website. Its free and can be added quite easily. You need to sign up to a Google account and Google provide you with a piece of code that your webmaster can add to the pages on your site (or blog).

A tool with a similar purpose is Social Mention, this provides real time social media search results for key words or phrases important to you. Alternatively you could use Hootsuite which lets you monitor multiple social network pages from one platform. Additional information can be found from sharing and bookmarking widgets such as sharethis or Addthis that you may have on your web or blog pages. Facebook, YouTube and Slideshare also offer statistics and counts and engagement feedback and dont forget blog comments.

With analytics added you can track visitors to specific webpages on your site, identify where those visitors have come from, how they moved through your site, any actions they took (downloaded an eBook), how long they stayed on your site, what pages are popular (or not) and the list goes on. The analysis of this information is very useful for tweaking the Remember that your visitors will be at differing content on your website or identifying content stages within the buying cycle and you will for future development. need to consider different metrics for each of those stages. Google also allows you to set up alerts that can be emailed to you enabling you to track activity on key words or phrases, competitor activities, your own brand, URL or company name etc, highlighting conversations your content may have kicked off.

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t ac ont rc you rt as s p o Kee as sh form ng form ble, lo elds fi ssi ny and po ma e off h l wit op nce t pe l bou . pu ge il yw r pa the f you o out

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Youve generated the interest, dont lose the sale

:

Marketers need to build digital relationships and reputation before closing a sale
CHRIS BROGAN - KEYNOTE SPEAKER, FOUNDER. NEW MARKETING LAB
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People are beginning to visit your site, subscribe to your blog and download your ebook. These visitors may be prospective customers. But not all of the people visiting your site will be in a position where theyre ready to buy. Your visitors will be at different stages of the buying cycle and your job now is to help them move along on their journey towards a sales conversion. So its important that you find a way of engaging with those visitors to ensure they come back to visit your website. A contact strategy via email marketing will allow you to provide additional information to educate those prospects, answer their questions and invite them to download new content relevant to their needs. The premise here is twofold: Provide enough compelling information over a period of time on how your product or service is right for their needs, that the contact with get in touch with you directly (when they are ready). Or

Move your contact through a marketing process until they are at a stage where they can be contacted by the sales team. To help ensure youre sending the correct message to your audience its important to segment your database so that you can be more specific in your messaging. Introduce a lead nurturing and scoring system based on information shared by the prospect at the initial registration. Additional information collected through subsequent engagement will result in an increase in sales ready leads. This will lead to an improved sales conversion ratio as your sales team will be engaging with prospects that already have a relationship with you and have expressed a strong interest in what you have to offer.

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Why your own marketing efforts are failing?

People share, read and generally engage more with any type of content when its surfaced through friends & people they know and trust.
MALORIE LUCICH - FACEBOOK SPOKESPERSON
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Youve just read this ebook, now just pause for a minute and think about how you yourself behave when pondering over purchasing decisions. Take as an example your usual Sunday morning routine. Coffee in the kitchen and you pick up the broadsheet, extract all of the advertising inserts and throw them in the bin. You read the supplement, mentally blanking out all of the on-page advertising. After coffee you switch on your Sky Plus to catch up with the previous weeks viewing, recorded without any advertising showing. You dont receive any cold calls because youve registered your telephone number with the Telephone Preference Service. Then your wife tells you she needs a new fridge, whats the first thing you do? You switch on your PC and search on Google for fridges. So why do you expect your customers and prospects to behave any differently than you? Why are you still taking out print ads?

Putting together mass mailing campaigns from bought in lists? Employing cold calling programmes when your audience is on-line? The solution to this problem is to use inbound marketing techniques described in the previous pages. Inbound marketing combines content marketing, social media and lead generation activities to create an integrated process and strategy aimed at building trust with your audience through the creation and distribution of relevant and compelling content that pulls an audience towards your offer, generating high quality leads and boosting your search engine rankings. If you are not creating content that meets the needs of your audience and hosting that content wherever your audience is active, they will go elsewhere. Make sure that doesnt happen. Get your content marketing strategy up and running today.

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Resources:

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Content marketing blogs:

Rame Marketing Hubspot Content Marketing Institute Velocity Partners MarketingProfs Social Media Examiner Social Fresh SavvyB2BMarketing Mashable

Other fantastic marketing eBooks

Velocity Partners Content Marketing Workbook Junta42 Content Marketing Playbook Eloqua Social Media Playbook The eBook eBook B2B Blogging eBook Zero Moment of Truth

Awesome marketing books:

Managing Content Marketing Content Strategy for the Web Content Rules The New Rules of Marketing and PR Inbound Marketing Get Content Get Customers No Bullshit Social Media Launch

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About Rame Marketing

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Rame Marketing is a strategic marketing communications consultancy that works with businesses of all sizes to: Improve lead generation activities Generate qualified leads Increase sales We specialise in content marketing, social media, lead generation and Google AdWords management and help businesses within Torbay, Plymouth, Exeter, Devon & East Cornwall. If your lead generation activities have stalled and youd like to find out more about smarter marketing methods to help your business grow, get in touch.
Andrew@ramemarketing.co.uk 0845 8620769 Mobile: 07856 771528 @ramemarketing facebook.com/ramemarketing www.ramemarketing.co.uk

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