Dana Gagnon

How to build a content marketing strategy from

scratch

Dana GagnonD i r e c t o r o f B r a n d e d C o n t e n t , P l u r a l s i g h t

@ChicagoDana

• What’s content marketing and why does it matter?

• How to think about strategy

• Defi ning content pillars• Generating ideas

The lineup

“Either write something worth reading or do something

worth writing.”-Benjamin Franklin

78% of CMOs see content marketing as the future of marketing

70% of customers feel closer to a company as a result of content marketing

Costs 62% less than traditional marketing

On average, companies with blogs produce 67% more leads per month

Source: http://www.demandmetric.com/content/content-marketing-infographic

Why content marketing?

Where do you start?BlogSocialYour audience + goals

Start with a strategy. Start asking questions.

The audience:• Who are our customers/potential customers?• What are their challenges/concerns?• How do we reach them/where are they

online?

The content:• What stories do we want to tell?• What are our key diff erentiators? • What’s our voice and point of view?• How can we be helpful, not salesy?

Defi ne goalsLead gen, brand awareness, SEO, engagement, establ ish credibi l i ty?

Budget + who’s responsibleIn-house vs. external, publ ishing costs/tools? What are the r isks?

The logistics

Finding a strategy that works

“Focus on the core problem your business solves and put out lots of content and enthusiasm and ideas about how to solve that problem.” – Laura Fitton, Founder of OneForty.com (now

part of HubSpot)

Define your content pillars

Technical contentHow-tos, op-ed, new features, demos

Goals achieved: Thought leadership, brand awareness/credibi l i ty, SEO

CareerAdvice columns, training/interview tips

Goals achieved: Thought leadership, brand awareness/credibi l i ty, SEO

LifestyleSocial contests, pol ls/surveys, photo gal leries

Goals achieved: Engagement, establ ishing brand voice

Where do ideas come from?• Keywords• Q&A sites• Listening• Seasonal trends/dates

Ideas: Analytics – internal/external search

Ideas: Keywords in Google Suggest

Ideas: Google Keyword tool

Ideas: Google Keyword Tool

Ideas: Quora

Ideas: Industry-specific & internal forums

Ideas: Listening

• Customer service/support site• Sales team• Social• Customer stories

Ideas: Listening

Ideas: Seasonal trends/dates

Build a content calendar for:• Year-end/mid-year review• Content tied to “holidays”• Cycles within your industry

Ideas: Seasonal trends/dates

Ideas: Seasonal trends/dates

Ideas: Read daily!

Now what?

Quality content is king!

Dana Gagnon

Thank you!

Director of Branded Content, Pluralsight@ChicagoDana [email protected]