B2B Content Marketing 101

How to Develop a Content Marketing Strategy

The Problem Many people have heard of ‘Content

Marketing’ Few people truly understand what content

marketing is Even less understand how to implement a

content marketing program

The Solution This session will provide a brief overview of:

What is content marketing What is content creation How to develop content What is a content marketing strategy What that strategy should include How to develop a content marketing strategy Summary

What Is Content Marketing In its simplest form, content marketing is

nothing more than developing content used in some form of marketing activity

BUT … the content needs to be worthwhile to the intended recipient

In other words, the content must provide value and be worth reading/hearing/viewing; it should not be just a sales pitch

What Is Content Creation The process of developing content to be used

in a marketing activity Content creation requires a thorough

understanding of your potential customer or target audience

Without this knowledge, your content will not function effectively

How to Develop Content Understand your target audience you need

customer intelligence (helps you understand their business concerns, goals and objectives)

Gather/analyze qualitative and quantitative data to understand the drivers behind potential purchase decisions

Understand their motivation; know what type of information they require to make a decision and where they look for that information

How to Develop Content (cont.) How your product or service addresses their

concerns or needs, coupled with the customer intelligence, provides you with insight into the type of content that needs to be created to clearly articulate your value proposition

Understand other factors, such as which industry conferences/trade shows/events they attend, who the industry thought leaders/influencers are, what the market dynamics, conditions and competitive situations are that impact their business

What Is a Content Marketing Strategy The detailed plan that outlines the manner in

which you use the content Helps ensure the content use is coordinated,

effective and efficiently leveraged/utilized to the fullest extent

What Should a Content Marketing Strategy Include Include goals to be accomplished, who the

target audience is, the logistical elements (the ‘where/when/how’ across the marketing activities and tactics), touch points, calls-to-action and the response/follow-up elements

Ensure targets are established, relevant metrics are defined, track the activity to determine success/failure, appropriate follow-up processes are in place, etc.

How to Develop a Content Marketing Strategy Start with a SWOT analysis Expand the basic information you previously

collected using the 5 W’s to provide a basic framework for questions

Determine/finalize your strategy, select the appropriate channel(s) and type of marketing activities to ensure maximum exposure and effective use of your content

Implement your plan

Summary Content marketing is the process of doing

the necessary customer research, gathering customer intelligence, developing relevant content based on that research/intelligence, developing a marketing strategy and then deploying/implementing the plan

Follow these steps to make your content marketing more effective, deliver more value, help reach more of your intended target audience and be more successful

Tools 4-D Method

Due diligence to gather customer intelligence

Develop the content Develop the strategy Deploy the marketing

Questions?

© Richard Hatheway – 2013

Email: r_hatheway@juno.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/richardhatheway Twitter: www.twitter.com/rhatheway SlideShare: www.slideshare.net/RichardHatheway