WORKSHOP: CREATING A CONTENT STRATEGY TO ALIGN WITH THE B2B FUNNEL Jonathan Burg @ jonmburg Alan Belniak @ abelniak @ MassTLC #MassTLC #B2BContent
Oct 21, 2014
WORKSHOP: CREATING A CONTENT STRATEGY TO ALIGN
WITH THE B2B FUNNEL
Jonathan Burg
@jonmburg
Alan Belniak
@abelniak
@MassTLC #MassTLC #B2BContent
INTRODUCTIONS
Jonathan Burg (@jonmburg)
Director of Demand Generation at Apperian Led demand generation teams at three
leading Boston technology companies Focused on using content to drive
significant increases in sales pipeline
Alan Belniak (@abelniak)
Led content and social initiatives at threecompanies over past five years (two B2B)
From social networking to launching a blog to brand journalism to standing up and implementing a content strategy
AGENDA
Level-setting: what ‘is’ content, why it matters for the B2B funnel, and the state of the union
WHAT is holding some of us back from crushing it?
WHO are your buyers? Do you really know them?
WHAT content do you need? WHAT content you already have?
WHERE does (or will) your content live? HOW will it get read? HOW often will you produce it?
B2B AND CONTENT MARKETING
of a buyer’s decision is done digitally
67%
The real message behind the 67 percent statistic is that every marketing organization must view its inbound efforts as absolutely critical to success at all stages of the buyer’s journey. Do not ignore the role of inbound marketing at later stages of the buyer’s journey, […]
-- Sirius Decisions – B2B marketing experts
WHY ‘CONTENT’?
Paid media is important, but once it gets turned off, it goes away
1. The first ranking position in the search results receives 42% of all click-through traffic
2. The second position: 12%3. Third position: 8%4. The fourth placed position on page one: 6%5. The others on the first page are under 5% of click through traffic
Focus on useful and helpful… instead of sales-y
… because your competition is
PAID VS. ORGANIC
6%
94%
click on paid search results
click on organic search results
WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATE OF CONTENT MARKETING?
How many of you are here?
BIGGEST CONTENT MARKETING HURDLES
To produce content that engages, that can be integrated, the right amount, the right variety…
You need to ask the right questions
There are a lot of excuses, but also ways to overcome these challenges
WHO IS YOUR BUYER? DO YOU REALLY KNOW THEM? Who are you talking about?
Why?
Do you fundamentally understand?
Let’s talk personas
• not the same as “buyer profiles”• understanding who your buyer really is
“IT’S NOT YOU, IT’S ME.”
IF CREDIBILITY IS THE GOAL…
ALIGNING CONTENT TO WHAT YOUR BUYERS NEED
SiriusDecisions 2014
PERSONA DEVELOPMENT
“Are you marketing to buildings or people (SiriusDecisions 2014)?” What is their industry? Who is the company? Where are they located? Who are the buyers and who are the users? What are their goals? What are their challenges? How do they solve their challenges? What is their day-in-the-life? Who are their team members? Where do they get their information? What is their commute like? What do they do for fun? What do they like to eat?
Write, design, and create for your personas
GROUP DISCUSSION
What keeps your audience up at night (honestly)?
Not “how you want to speak to your market” but instead “these are the issues that they really have; that our sales team hears; that we see on Twitter”…
Focus on each different influencer, buyer, and user.Do you know how your audience currently solve these pains? If so,
how? If not, why not?
What pains do you currently talk about solving for your audience (once you know their pains)?
Do they care? Vitamin or medicine?
KEY TAKE-AWAY
Listen to your customers
Shadow prospecting calls Go on customer visits Create team goals to generate a culture of customer
orientation
Create + use personas
Segment, segment, segment Know who your buyers, users, and influencers in your
segments are Use personas to drive your campaign messaging framework
WHAT CONTENT DO I NEED?
What content do I need to fuel my go-to-market plan?
How do I make order out of the current content I have?
Early Stage
Little or no brand recognition – many competitors
A new problem or new solution or both
Marketing Mix
High quantity High quality
Events Sponsorships Direct MailSEO/SEMAdvertising
Surveys3rd Party
ResearchSeminarsWebinarsWhitepapers VIP Events
Ou
trea
chO
ffer
s
Credibility Trial ChampionAwareness Interest
DemosCase Studies
ALIGNING CONTENT AND CHANNELS TO THE BUSINESS
Even Distribution
Some brand recognition – a few competitors
A new solution to an existing challenge
Marketing Mix
High quantity High quality
Events Sponsorships Direct MailSEO/SEMAdvertising
Surveys3rd Party
ResearchSeminarsWebinarsWhitepapers VIP Events
Ou
trea
chO
ffer
s
Credibility Trial ChampionAwareness Interest
DemosCase Studies
ALIGNING CONTENT AND CHANNELS TO THE BUSINESS
Late Stage
Strong brand recognition – consolidated
An accepted solution
Marketing Mix
High quantity High quality
Events Sponsorships Direct MailSEO/SEMAdvertising
Surveys3rd Party
ResearchSeminarsWebinarsWhitepapers VIP Events
Ou
trea
chO
ffer
s
Credibility Trial ChampionAwareness Interest
DemosCase Studies
ALIGNING CONTENT AND CHANNELS TO THE BUSINESS
AUDIT YOUR CONTENT
10
5
10
15
20
25
30
Demo/VideoResearch/SurveyWebinar WhitepaperProduct InfoCase Study
Buying Stage
As
se
t C
ou
nt
GROUP DISCUSSION
Describe the current state of your content.
Do you have content now that speaks to your audiences?
Based on what you’ve heard so far, and understanding your buyers and markets, decide on which areas/facets you should be auditing your content.
What gaps do you have (or have had)?
How are you going to fill these gaps?Or, how have you solved these in the past?
KEY TAKE-AWAY
Align your content to your go-to-market and industry
Audit what you already have
Audit everything, and on all relevant criteria
Ensure or work toward having enough content for all stages of the buy cycle
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR CONTENT?
INBOUND TACTICS (FOR TODAY, JUST SOCIAL MEDIA)
You need to activate that content
Let people know it’s there
Promote, smartly, via
LinkedIn Twitter Google+ Facebook (notice the order)
Be where your customers are
Know that social networks are rented land
The goal is to get them back to your site – you own + control that
OUTBOUND TACTICS
Early
Content syndication / advertising Partnering with top publications Integrated programs to subscribers
Middle
Digital and Live events Integrated programs of subscriber
base
Late
Appointment setting Target account acceleration tactics and
programs
All tactics and programs bound by messaging framework
ANOTHER TYPE OF AUDIT Where do your buyers go?
Need to populate with the publisher audit
THEY SUBSCRIBED … NOW MAKE IT EASY
TAKE AN INTEGRATED APPROACH WITH CONTENT
Start with buyer persona/s
Develop content aligned to the different stages
Think about the optimal channels for disseminating that content
Have inbound, outbound, and nurturing tactics / programs all align with your core message
Your inbound, outbound, and nurturing programs will all rise
MESSAGING FRAMEWORK & CONTENT STRATEGY
= PERPETUAL CONTENT MARKETING
INBOUND+
OUTBOUND+
NURTURING+
QUALIFICATION
GROUP DISCUSSION
Does all of your content go to all of your channels? Does it all work equally well at driving traffic back to your site?
Where do your customers do their research?
Is it different for different personas?Are some more valuable than others,per stage of the buy cycle?
Do you have a good relationship with a media partner? What does it look like and how did you build it?
How do you make this work all together at your organization?
KEY TAKE-AWAY
Don’t think of inbound and outbound separately
All tactics and programs must be bound by messaging framework and content strategy
Think big, start small. Compartmentalize it:
Quarter by quarter, month by month, week by week ID topics, products, services One to three times a week Mix of creation and curation Vary the formats
Start to build relationships with the three most impactful places to start disseminating your content
Look at the results
WHEN DO I CREATE CONTENT?HOW OFTEN? HOW MUCH? Often enough, but not too often
WRAPPING UP
Start with understanding who you are going after
Understand what makes them tick and what they want
Understand that content that is helpful and less pitchy gets shared
Start with some value, quid pro quo (registration) for more content (conversion)
Re-purpose some existing time to focus on new content
Re-use some of what you already have
Get it in front of them in the right places, with a goal to drive them back to your site
QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, STORIES
Ask us anything*
Share what you thought
Tell us one of your stories
* almost anything
SOURCES https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitfall!
http://www.siriusdecisions.com/blog/three-myths-of-the-67-percent-statistic/
http://www.siriusdecisions.com/blog/are-you-marketing-to-buildings-or-people/
http://www.leadformix.com/blog/2013/03/how-to-handle-the-bottom-of-the-funnel/
http://www.siriusdecisions.com/live/home/document.php?dA=CSRBuildingaContentStrategy
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/07/14/10-facts-reveal-the-importance-of-ranking-high-in-google/
http://digitalsynopsis.com/tools/google-serp-design/
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2200730/Organic-vs.-Paid-Search-Results-Organic-Wins-94-of-Time
http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/what-is-content-marketing/
http://www.slideshare.net/CMI/b2b-content-marketing-2014-benchmarks-budgets-trends-north-america-by-content-marketing-institute-and-marketingprofs
http://www.recourseresource.com/blog/employee-engagement/its-not-youits-me/
http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/online/what-b2b-buyers-want-to-see-on-vendor-websites-41272/attachment/komarketinghuff-top-b2b-vendor-site-content-establishing-credibility-mar2014/
http://benstroup.com/2013/08/22/the-who-what-and-why-of-brand-journalism/
http://gapingvoid.com/2008/06/13/now-what/
http://www.brassmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/CU-content.png
http://www.slideshare.net/KevinCain1/0-to-60
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/
http://www.copyblogger.com/archives
http://moz.com/pages/search_results?q=content%20marketing
http://www.marketingprofs.com/marketing/library/102/content
http://www.contentrulesbook.com/
http://www.velocitypartners.co.uk/
http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2014/03/why-we-shouldnt-drop-the-phrase-content-marketing/ (scroll down to ‘Schneider Electric)
HANDOUTS
WORKSHOP HANDOUTS:
CREATING A CONTENT STRATEGY TO ALIGN WITH THE
B2B FUNNEL
Jonathan Burg
@jonmburg
Alan Belniak
@abelniak
@MassTLC #MassTLC #B2BContent
GROUP DISCUSSION #1What keeps your audience up at night (honestly)?
Answer “these are the issues that they really have; that our sales team hears; that we see on Twitter”…
Focus on each different influencer, buyer, and user.
How does your audience currently solve these pains?
What pains do you currently talk about solving for your audience (once you know their pains)?
Do they care?
What is their industry? Where are they located? Who is the company? Who are the buyers and who are
the users? What are their goals? What are their challenges? How do they solve their
challenges? What is their day-in-the-life? Who are their team members? Where do they get their
information? What is their commute like? What do they do for fun? What do they like to eat?
WORKSHEET #1This Pains My Customer We Have This as a
Feature….… that Translates into This
as a Benefit
1.
2.
3.
4.
Influencers Buyers Users
1.
2.
3.
4.
GROUP DISCUSSION #2Describe the current state of your content.
Do you have content now that speaks to your audiences?
On which areas/facets do you think you should be auditing your content?
What gaps do you have (or have had)? How are you going to fill these gaps (or, how have you solved these in the past)?
What Are Your Audit Variables?
WORKSHEET #2A
Asset/format Awareness Consideration Close
List + plot your “go-to” assets
A nice guide
Where are you deep? Shallow?
WORKSHEET #2B Q1 Q2 January February March April May June
Line of Business 1
Product/Service 1
Product/Service 2
Product/Service 3
Line of Business 2
Product/Service 1
GROUP DISCUSSION #3Does all of your content go to all of your channels? Does it all work equally well at driving traffic back to your site?
Where do your customers do research?
Do you have a good relationship with a media partner? What does it look like and how did you build it?
How do you integrate these efforts at your organization?
Media Partner / Publication Audit
Media Partner / Channel Readership Subscription size Media Channels Topics /
Reputation Value per Program
Weight 30% 20% 15% 25% 10%