Content Marketing: Getting Started

The Definitive
Content Marketing Series
1. Content Marketing: getting started

Stop the sales pitch. Start the sales attraction.

2

“ Good-bye,
Broadcast
Hello,
Conversation.”
Shel Israel, co-author of ‘Naked Communications’
Content marketing services
for the digital age
Be relevant Be visible Be chosen

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3

Your questions, answered

1. Introduction 4

2. So what is content marketing? 5

3. Why do I need it? 9

4. How does it work? 13

5. How do I get started? 22

6. Top content marketing resources 24

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4

1. Introduction
So, you’ve been hearing the rumblings and These uncertainties need addressing and that’s
rumours of content marketing. What started exactly what this eBook aims to do. We want
as a whisper has strengthened in voice, but to help clear things up in your head so you can
you’re not quite sure how or where you fit into focus on your next steps.
the content marketing conversation. What is it?
This is the first in a series of eBooks to help you
What should you be doing about it, if anything?
on your content marketing journey. We hope
You’re wondering if you should be changing your
you find them useful and would love to hear your
marketing strategy.
comments, suggestions and questions. So, let’s
get cracking.

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5

2. So what is content marketing?
In a nutshell:

Content marketing is the creation and
distribution of relevant and compelling
content via multiple media channels in order
to attract and convert unknown prospects
into willing customers.
such as whitepapers, such as social media, blogs, email,
eBooks, podcasts, video,
Content marketing services search engine optimisation (SEO)
case studies the digital age
for
and guides
and your website

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6

Don’t yell
at the crowd,
talk to the man

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7

In the olden days a few years back, marketing was all about advertising, direct mail,
trade fairs and mass media. It was all about the big sell.
Not any more. Today it’s all about the customer. There’s so much data at the touch
of a button that the majority of customers do their own research online, their own
evaluation and make their own decisions. Today’s customer is an anonymous buyer
who selects or dismisses you, without you even knowing about it.

Don’t push!
So it’s your job to make sure you figure in their searches, that they value you highly and that
you come into digital agedecision-making process. So you have to pull, pull, pull them in.
for the their

And that’s where content marketing comes in.

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8

Fact: People trust
consumers – i.e.
bloggers – more than
they trust advertising.
Source: Nielson Global Online Consumer Survey

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9

3. Why do I need it?
Put simply, because people want it. People need…

Answers to their questions. Solutions to their
problems. Advice in their decision-making.
Guidance. Support. Understanding.
In simple, accessible formats.

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10

If you’re not producing
content that meets your
customers’ needs, they’ll
simply look elsewhere.

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11

Content is at the heart of an effective Here’s exactly what content marketing can do for
marketing engine. If you are able to generate your business:
high quality, compelling information and • Generate new, quality leads from people who
distribute it via the right channels, you are have an existing need for your business
going to attract customers who want and • Provide your sales team with a reason to engage
need your products and services. Essentially,
• Help move current leads along the pipeline
content marketing makes it easier for your
towards a sale
customers to find you and the solution
• Establish your company as a leading expert
they want.
in your field
• Boost your brand credibility
• Build your prospect/influencer database
(through data collection for high quality downloads)
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• Boost your searchability and SEO

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12

Fact: of consumers 61%
feel better about a company
that delivers custom content
AND are in turn more likely
to buy from that company
Source: Hubspot 2011
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13

4. How does it work?
Three main principles to guide your
content marketing approach:

Be relevant
Be visible
Be chosen
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14

Be relevant
Relevance is the lynchpin of a content marketing strategy.
The key is to find the sweetspot – where your knowledge
(from your products and services) meets your customers’ specific
needs and pains. What can you offer that makes their lives easier?
Armed with that information, you can then generate and distribute
high quality, valuable and compelling material that your prospects,
customers and their influencers will find useful. Think guides,
checklists, Content marketing services
hints, tips, whitepapers, eBooks, case studies etc.
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15

Be visible
Next you need to make your material visible through all the
media channels at your disposal. On top of the basics like email
and search, work out where your customers hang out. Are they
on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or YouTube? To which groups do
they belong and what discussions do they join? Don’t forget to look
beyond the obvious channels and look at blogs and industry media
too. Identify the channels and get in front of them.
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16

Be chosen
By maintaining a regular presence with a consistent, valued voice,
you will keep your customers coming back for more. And with all
your content housed within your main website, you have the best
platform to promote your products and services from within, with
one key advantage; your audience is already receptive to what
you have to say. It’s a simple formula. Keep them interested until
they’re ready to buy.
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17

The content engine
A good content marketing
programme works like an engine.
You need constant fuel, a well-oiled
system and those clever diagnostics
to keep it running effectively.
Get your content engine really
pumping by distributing inspiring
and pertinent content across the
channels. This will draw customers
to your site and create the
opportunity for interlinking across
the various channels and back to your
site. Your website in effect becomes
a rich, relevant content portal that
your prospective customers will
return to again and again…until

they’re convinced and ready to buy.
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18

Here are a few tips for starters:
1. Vary the content you make available. For example, some content you should
give away for free (your blogs for example), while higher value content
(whitepapers, newsletters) should require visitors to sign up.

2. Plan themes for your content. That way you can communicate and reinforce
relevant, consistent messages across all content such as your newsletters,
eBooks, blogs and Tweets. A whitepaper or case study can explore the themes
in more depth.

3. Now you need to optimise all this content for search engines and promote
it through social media platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, StumbleUpon, plus
industry-specific sites). You should then reinforce this with regular, targetted
email campaigns.

Remember, though, this isn’t an overnight cycle. You need to maintain consistent
communications while you continuously monitor and evaluate (which you can do
easily). Keep thinking from the point of view of your customer.

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19

Take the following
as an example…

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Content theme
Sustainable High quality
content
download
building ACME ECO DESIGN eBook
techniques The de nitive guide to
sustainable building techniques

Thumbnail of
front cover
Website Blog post 1 15th August 2011

Choose compelling 5 questions every architect should ask about their sustainable building project Download
theme with several Blog post 2 17th August 2011
Sign up
layers of content Phasellus mattis sollicitudin ligula lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetuer
Blog
Name

How Company X reduced their
carbon footprint by over 50% Email
Case study

DISCUSSION
Seed into multiple Sustainable building techniques Search @acmeecodesign *Just released* [eBook] BUILDING GREEN, A SUSTAINABILITY GROUP
media channels ’The de nitive guide to sustainable building
techniques.’ Reviews please! eco.uy/1JA ACME ECO DESIGN
Sustainable building With so many options in green building design, Co
#sustainable for
The de nitive guide to sustainable is it time to establish an industry standard?
building techniques. Download now! Be
www.acmeecodesign.com Reply Retweet Like Comment Flag

PPC ad Optimised keywords tweet this
Direct traffic to your
©Marketing Clout Ltd
website and cross sell

21

Question: how many
potential customers
have dismissed you
without you even
knowing it?
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22

5. How do I get started?
You want your content marketing programme 4. Content platforms: set up all the right platforms
to be a success. That’s a given. What might to promote your content (for example social media,
not be so obvious is how to make that email and blog). Make sure you’re visible to search
engines, so optimise continually. Also, make sure your
happen. We’ll be exploring this in more detail
website is set up to convert inbound opportunities –
throughout the series. In the meantime, here’s
that is, after all, the point.
a whistle stop overview of content marketing
best practice: 5. Regular content writing and seeding: write or
develop quality, relevant content on a regular basis,
1. Target audience persona: build a profile of your seeding it and pushing it out through the various
target audience personas. Include their attitudes, platforms and tools, and drawing prospects in
pains, triggers, buying motivators and needs. through active monitoring and contributing. Platforms
such as: blogging, social media, Twitter, LinkedIn,
2. Product / service hooks: identify which elements StumbleUpon, search (Google, Bing) and backed up
of your products / services are most appealing and with email and marketing automation.
which pains / needs they address.
6. Measure, revise and refine: the final piece of the
3. Content strategy: build a content strategy, jigsaw is to measure the effectiveness of the ongoing
mapping Content marketing services
out the types of content that would be strategy and continually revise and refine it to improve
for the digital age
attractive to your target personas and that play results. And by results we mean quality leads of course.
to your product strengths.

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23

So now you know what
content marketing is…
…and how to do it.

Need any help with that?
Give us a shout on +44
(0)117 317 7646
or email susie@marketingclout.co.uk
We’d love to show you how it’s done.
for the digital age

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24

6. Top content marketing resources
Blogs Books
Marketing Clout’s blog Content Rules by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman
Copyblogger – Brian Clark Get Content. Get Customers by Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett
The Content Marketing Revolution – Joe Pulizzi Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson
TopRank Blog – Lee Odden at TopRank Marketing World Wide Rave by David Meerman Scott
Social Media Examiner – Michael Stelzner All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin
Brian Solis – Brian Solis
Whitepapers/eBooks
Follow these chaps on Twitter Content Marketing Playbook – Junta42
@junta42 – The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) / Junta42 Marketing is Content – PR Newswire
@juntajoe – Joe Pulizzi, the founder of CMI
@copyblogger – Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger Infographics
@marketingprofs – Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer Is Content Marketing Traditional Advertising’s
at MarketingProfs New Rival? – Marketo
@chrismoritz – Chris Moritz, Interactive Content Strategist Is your Content King? – Blogging Bookshelf
@briansolis – Brian Solis, globally recognised as one of the most Creating Valuable Content. A step-by-step checklist – Content
prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. Marketing Institute (CMI)
@jaybaer – Jay the digital age Media Strategist, author and coach.
for Baer, Social
Be relevant Be visible Be chosen Other sites well worth keeping an eye on
eMarketer
Content Marketing Institute (CMI)
MarketingProfs tweet this

25

Fact: of 60%
marketers spent
more on content
marketing in 2010
Source: Junta42 Spending Survey
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26

About Marketing Clout
Marketing Clout is a new breed of marketing Drop us a line:
service provider for a new age of content-driven info@marketingclout.co.uk
consumption. People don’t respond to advertising
+44 (0) 117 317 7646
like they once did. They find what they want and
filter out what they don’t.
Follow us:
Our content marketing services focus on giving your
target audience information they want, where they
want it, so they don’t filter you out. It’s a process
that delivers better efficiencies, higher quality leads Or drop in and see us:
and ultimately more satisfied customers. 11th Floor (nice view!)
We offer a range of programmes designed Colston Tower
to plug in the resources you need to drive your Colston Street
business forward.
Bristol

BS1 4XE
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www.marketingclout.co.uk

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Content marketing:
Stop the sales pitch.
Start the sales attraction.

www.marketingclout.co.uk

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Content Marketing: Getting Started

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Content Marketing: Getting Started