How 2 Tech Startups Use Content
Marketing To Drive Sales
Lauren Licata, Senior Director of Marketing, Belly

Senior Director of Marketing
June 2014 - Present
Content Marketing Manager
May 2013 – June 2014

Marketing 101

57%
how far the average B2B buyer is
through the purchase decision
before engaging a supplier sales
rep.
The Way People Buy Has Changed

Modern Purchase Behavior

Modern Purchase Behavior

Marketers have had to adapt to engage with
prospective customers through the channels & on the
devices they prefer.

As marketers,
we’re putting
cheese all over
the internet.
Your website
is the trap.

Inbound v. Outbound Marketing
Outbound: Push Marketing (Interrupts)
• Paid Advertising (radio, TV, billboards)
• Cold Calling
• Direct Mail/Cold Email
Inbound: Pull Marketing (Attracts)
• Website & SEO
• Content Marketing
• Public Relations
• Social Media

Inbound Leads Are More Valuable To Sales
Inbound-sourced leads are
consistently more
knowledgeable about the
company prior to speaking
with a rep than leads sourced
through outbound means.

Inbound Leads Are More Cost-Effective
Inbound leads are
consistently less expensive
for B2B companies.

Acquisition Marketing Strategy @

Attract
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
Convert Close Retain
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase
Evaluation
Evangelism
SEO
Content Marketing
Social Media
Public Relations
Paid Search
Paid Distribution
Outbound Email
Referral Program
Website Optimizations
Custom Audiences
Gated Content
Lead Forms
Retargeting
Pitch
Pricing
Automated Workflows
Product Capability
Case Studies
Conversion Paths
Integrated tooling
Email Marketing
Account Support
Feature Utilization
Merchant Journey
Buyer’s
Journey
Marketing
Tactics
Metrics
Unique Visitors
Referrals
Direct Traffic
Total Leads
#/% Qualified Leads
CPL (Cost Per Lead)
#/% Pitched
CAC
Workflow Conversion %
Churn
Referrals
Feature Utilization
Upsell
Awareness & website visitors Capture qualified leads Become paying customer Create raving fans

The Funnel
Visitors
Leads
Qualified Leads
Pitched
Closed

Attract
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
Convert Close Retain
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
SEO
Content Marketing
Social Media
Public Relations
Paid Search
Paid Distribution
Outbound Email
Referral Program
Website Optimizations
Custom Audiences
Gated Content
Lead Forms
Retargeting
Pitch
Pricing
Automated Workflows
Product Capability
Case Studies
Conversion Paths
Integrated tooling
Email Marketing
Account Support
Feature Utilization
Merchant Journey
Buyer’s
Journey
Marketing
Tactics
Metrics
Unique Visitors
Referrals
Direct Traffic
Total Leads
#/% Qualified Leads
CPL (Cost Per Lead)
#/% Pitched
CAC
Workflow Conversion %
Churn
Referrals
Feature Utilization
Drive awareness & website visitors
Capture qualified leads Become paying customer Create raving fans

Attract: Drive Awareness & Website Visitors
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Manipulating aspects of a web page to improve it’s ranking in
search engines (Google, Bing). tech + content + links
“loyalty program” - 1000 searches/month
“mobile rewards program” - 40 searches/month
Content Marketing: Publishing relevant content to attract new customers. (blogs, ebooks, videos,
support articles, infographics.) Focus on “long-tail” keywords for blog posts.
Bellycard.com/resources. Right now, we post 2-3 times/week.
“yelp for business” - 9,900 searches/month
“how to get new customers” - 110 searches/month
Social Media: We focus on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.
Public Relations: Focused on customer loyalty/engagement, Apple/Partnership, Local Press, Vertical
Pubs, Product, Startups
Paid Advertising: Google AdWords, Bing, Social Ads, Outbrain
Referral Program: Drive referrals after 30+ days with Belly

Attract
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
Convert Close Retain
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluatio
Evangelism
SEO
Content Marketing
Social Media
Public Relations
Paid Search
Paid Distribution
Outbound Email
Referral Program
Website Optimizations
Custom Audiences
Gated Content
Lead Forms
Retargeting
Pitch
Pricing
Automated Workflows
Product Capability
Case Studies
Conversion Paths
Integrated tooling
Email Marketing
Account Support
Feature Utilization
Merchant Journey
Buyer’s
Journey
Marketing
Tactics
Metrics
Unique Visitors
Referrals
Direct Traffic
Total Leads/Subscribers
#/% Qualified Leads
CPL (Cost Per Lead)
#/% Pitched
CAC
Workflow Conversion %
Churn
Referrals
Feature Utilization
Drive awareness & website visitors Capture qualified leads Become paying customer Create raving fans

Convert: Capture Qualified Leads
Website Optimizations: Experimenting with elements on a webpage to capture more leads.
• Bounce Overlay Forms
• Email Newsletter Capture
• Color
• Lead Forms
• Messaging
Custom Audiences: Creating content/conversion paths for targeted audiences
• Belly for Pizzeria’s
• Belly for Enterprise
Gated Content:
• Ebooks (behind a lead form)
• “Local Lowdown” Email Newsletter
Retargeting: Showing ads to visitors to our business page on popular websites like Facebook
and Twitter & through Google display network.
Special Offers: Limited Time Offers (pricing or extra product)

Convert: How Do We Measure What’s Working?
Total Opt-In Email Subscribers
Total Leads/Score
% Qualified
Ebook Downloads
CPL
CPA

Attract
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
Convert Close Retain
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluatio
Evangelism
SEO
Content Marketing
Social Media
Public Relations
Paid Search
Paid Distribution
Outbound Email
Referral Program
Website Optimizations
Custom Audiences
Gated Content
Lead Forms
Retargeting
Pitch
Pricing
Automated Workflows
Product Capability
Case Studies
Conversion Paths
Integrated tooling
Email Marketing
Account Support
Feature Utilization
Merchant Journey
Buyer’s
Journey
Marketing
Tactics
Metrics
Unique Visitors
Referrals
Direct Traffic
Total Leads
#/% Qualified Leads
CPL (Cost Per Lead)
#/% Pitched
CAC
Workflow Conversion %
Churn
Referrals
Feature Utilization
Drive awareness & website visitors Capture qualified leads Become paying customer Create raving fans
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism

Close: Become A Paying Customer
Pitch
• Messaging, sales methodology
Pricing & Offers
• Product Marketing, Limited Time Pricing Offers
Automated Workflows
• Target audiences based on web activity
• Case Studies
• ROI
Integrated Tooling/Efficiency

Close: How Do We Measure What’s Working?
Pitch Rate
Automated Workflow Conversion
Close Rate + Total Inbound Closes

Attract
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
Convert Close
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Evangelism
SEO
Content Marketing
Social Media
Public Relations
Paid Search
Paid Distribution
Outbound Email
Referral Program
Website Optimizations
Custom Audiences
Gated Content
Lead Forms
Retargeting
Buyer’s
Journey
Marketing
Tactics
Metrics
Unique Visitors
Referrals
Direct Traffic
Total Leads
#/% Qualified Leads
CPL (Cost Per Lead)
#/% Pitched
CAC
Workflow Conversion %
Churn
Referrals
Feature Utilization
Upsell
Drive awareness & website visitors Capture qualified leads Become paying customer
RetainCreate raving fans
Need/Want Recognition
Seek Information
Evaluate Options
Make Purchase
Post Purchase Evaluation
Evangelism
Email Marketing
Account Support
Feature Utilization
Merchant Journey

Retain: Create raving fans
A whole other lesson!
Developed well-timed content based on product utilization and Merchant engagement

Base CRM Content Marketing:
Case Study

Base CRM
Base is rated the #1 mobile sales and CRM app with 100k Android downloads
and more than 6,000 customers including CBRE, Aflac, IDEO and Expensify.
Started in Chicago, IL. Now based Mountain View, CA
Helps businesses and salespeople close more deals faster.

Goal: Free Trials
Goal: 400
Actual: 607
Paying Customers: 250
Email Subscribers: 5,800
Marketing Qualified Leads: 1,600
Growth in Unique Blog Visitors - 7x
August 2013: 6,282
March 2014: 42,000
Increase in Qualified Leads: 40%

“The key to
success is…”

How Much Content?
5 blog posts/week
2-3 ebooks/month
2-3 SlideShare presentations/month
1-2 Webinars/month

6 Rules For Content Distribution
1. Make sure people (and Google) can find it
2. Repurpose for different channels
3. Befriend social whales
4. Use social media to your advantage
5. Syndicate
6. Spend a little dough

Make Sure People (and Google) Can Find It
1. “SEO is the gift that keeps on giving”
2. Focus on “evergreen” topics
3. True to product offering - “5 Essential Sales Forecasting Techniques”

Repurpose For Different Channels
Blog posts
SlideShares
Videos
Podcasts
Webinars
White Papers/Ebooks
Social Media posts

Befriend Social Whales
Built “influencer” program to amplify reach of our content
Sales authors, bloggers, professors
Over 10k Twitter followers
Actively blogs
Has email newsletter

Use Social Media To Your Advantage
Twitter: Find the best times to post your content
SocialBro - Free Trial
LinkedIn: Share to 3-5 relevant groups
Use “group statistics” for better targeting
Experiment with LinkedIn publishing
Facebook: Optimize for organic reach
Text length - 100 - 125 characters get 60% more “Likes”
Include images with links - 69% more clicks
SlideShare: Focus on title & cover
Use wide-format slides over long
Promote within 1 hour to drive views up
15,513 views!

Syndicate
Find sites related to your industry
Use rel=canonical tag

Experiment With Paid Channels
Pay to promote your top converting content through:
• Outbrain
• Boosted Facebook posts
• Sponsored Tweets
• StumbleUpon
• Digg

Thank you!
Twitter: @LaurenLicata
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenlicata
Email: lauren.licata411@gmail.com