1. Content: The Key to Inbound Success
Jay Gaines Ona Koehler
Group Director, Demand Senior Benchmark Analyst
23 May 2012

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Executive Summary
• Key issues
– Inbound marketing has become a required part of the overall b-to-b
mix
– Inbound approaches have created new content requirements that
many organizations struggle to meet
– A cohesive content strategy based on buyer intelligence is the
foundation for highly effective inbound strategies
• What you will walk away with
– An understanding of how inbound is evolving content requirements
– A definition of the elements of an effective inbound content strategy
– Key approaches for using content strategy to drive inbound success
2

3. The Critical Role of Inbound
It’s a buyer-driven world, and we’re all living in it

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Survey Results: Defining Inbound Marketing
SiriusPerspective: Tactics extended to an unknown target audience that
deliver value-added content and are consumed at an individual’s discretion.
4
61%
63%
67%
81%
84%
84%
0% 50% 100%
Content syndication
Online demos/trials
Display advertising
Keyword advertising
SEO
Social media
% of respondents
User-Driven
Demand Creation and
Reputation
Technology
Value-Added Content

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57
61
76
83
- 50 100
Other
Score
Survey Results: Inbound Marketing Priorities
SiriusPerspective: Attract, engage and qualify are the top three priorities
for inbound marketers.
INBOUND MARKETING SPEND INBOUND MARKETING PRIORITIES
Improve quality
of responses
Buyer’s information
gathering
Attract buyers early
Current state
37%−50%
of DC
Inbound Outbound
Outlook 2015
50%−65%
of DC
Inbound Outbound
ATTRACT
ENGAGE
QUALIFY
5

6. Content Strategy
Taking a systematic approach

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The Content
Monster
Inbound and Content: Don’t Panic!
SiriusPerspective: Content is the fuel that powers effective inbound
marketing, but an ad hoc content approach simply won’t do.
7
Brief, valuable, targeted,
broadly appealing,
unique, findable
Mwahahahaaaaaa!
Effective inbound
strategies require
content that is . . .

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The Content Strategy Requirement
SiriusPerspective: A sound content strategy is the foundation for
inbound demand creation performance optimization.
8
ThePillarsofContent
MarketingforInbound
Targeting
Offer
Placement
Buyer Persona
Alignment
Improved
targeting of key
buyer roles using
buyer intelligence
Buyer’s Journey
Alignment
More compelling
offers and offer
sequences to drive
qualifying
behaviors
Campaign
Alignment
Streamlined
planning of
integrated inbound
and outbound
components

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Polling Question
• Which of the following statements most closely describes
the content strategy for your inbound marketing efforts?
– Strategy? What strategy?
– It is fragmented and inconsistent
– It is consistent with outbound marketing strategy only
– It is aligned to the buyer’s journey
– It is consistent with overall marketing strategy

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Continuous
Improvement
Objective
Content
Asset
Architecture
Content
Execution
Measurement
Inbound Content Strategy: A Five-Pronged Approach
10
• Campaign
framework
• Demand type
• Buyer’s journey
• Planning
• Define the
audience
• Audit and map
assets
• Content library
• Content mediums
• Delivery
mechanisms
• Dynamic content
• Crowd-sourcing
• Engagement
rate
• Conversion rates
• SEO
performance
• Revisions
• Content
rationalization
• Buyer’s journey
SiriusPerspective: A sound content strategy for inbound requires a
systematic, closed-loop approach to content management and execution.

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One: Objective
SiriusPerspective: The majority of inbound strategies are not aligned with
the buying cycle or are targeted exclusively to the earliest stage.
11
DEMAND TYPE
New Concept New Paradigm Established Market
MARKET
PENETRATION
Low
High
Market
Crea)on
Market
Share
Customer
Acquisi)on
Market
Leadership
Wallet
Share
A:ract
Engage
Qualify

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Two: Content Asset Architecture
SiriusPerspective: The process of building a content asset architecture is
the foundation of a strategic approach to content management.
12
Assign ownership
Define audience
segments
Identify information
needs
Audit and map content
Fill content gaps

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Contributors
Internal
Analysts
Partners
Prospects
Clients
Competitors
Three: Content Execution
SiriusPerspective: Inbound performance can be maximized through high
relevancy, content curation and optimized content delivery mechanisms.
13
Delivery
SEO
Navigation
Keyword
Call to action
Syndication
WCM/WCO
Mobile
Attract Engage Qualify
EDUCATION
SOLUTION
VENDOR
SELECTION
Buyer’s Journey
WEBINARS
CASE STUDIES
WHITE PAPERS
PEER REFERRALS
Content Types
Personas

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Content Execution: An Example
SiriusPerspective: Inbound performance can be maximized through high
relevancy, content curation and optimized content delivery mechanisms.
14
Delivery
SEO
Navigation
Keyword
Call to action
Syndication
WCM/WCO
Mobile
Attract
EDUCATION
SOLUTION
VENDOR
SELECTION
Buyer’s Journey
WEBINARS
CASE STUDIES
WHITE PAPERS
PEER REFERRALS
Content Types
Personas
Engage Qualify
Contributors
Internal
Analysts
Partners
Prospects
Clients
Competitors

15. Content Strategy Deep Dive
It’s all about your ability to attract, then engage and qualify

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Polling Question
• How does your organization currently measure the impact
of its inbound efforts?
– We don’t measure it
– Primarily activity metrics (e.g. views, clicks, Web site visits)
– Activity metrics, plus conversion of unknown visitors to
known
– Conversion of inbound sourced contacts to MQLs (sales-
ready leads)
– Conversion of inbound sourced contacts to pipeline and/or
revenue

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Attract: Topic-Driven SEO Only
SiriusPerspective: SEO in the absence of a content strategy tends to be
unfocused, too broad, diluted and ineffective.
17
Personas
Topics
Buying
Cycles

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Attract: SEO and More
SiriusPerspective: SEO in the absence of a content strategy tends to be
unfocused, too broad, diluted and ineffective.
18
Preferences
Topics
Personas
Your
Content
Strategy
Buying Cycle
Formats
Gating Rules
SEO/PPC
Focused and aligned with key personas
Social Media
Topic alignment, identification of social sites
Content Syndication
Key destinations, relevant topics, optimal formats
Influencer Marketing
Improved targeting, identification and engagement

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Engage: Dynamic Content
SiriusPerspective: The information flow between buyer behavior and
dynamic content allows marketers to identify the buyer genome.
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Visit source
Content selection
Repeat traffic
Preference data
Multiple calls to action
Refresh/update
Customized content
Dynamic
Content
Buyer
Behavior
Buying Cycle
Stage
Persona
Business
Need

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Engage: Before and After
SiriusPerspective: Inbound has become the primary source of Web visits,
but visitor engagement requires a content strategy.
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> 5% response rates
50%+ visitors go past POE
Minimal use of landing pages
Clean, rules-based home page
< 2% response rates
60%+ bounce rate
Dozens of landing pages
Extremely busy home page
No Content Strategy Content Strategy

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Qualify: Lead Enrichment
SiriusPerspective: A cohesive content strategy combined with an
integrated set of technologies enables deeper lead qualification.
21
WCM and MAP
Rules
Predefined topic
categories
Plain-English
descriptors
Sales View SFA
(Activity Details)
Topical interests
Product association
Urgency
Planning
Content
attributes,
weighting
Content
strategy
Predefined
behaviors

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Qualify: Progressive Profiling
SiriusPerspective: Progressive profiling combines gathering explicit and
implicit visitor data, which can’t be done without a content strategy.
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Fully Qualified Lead
Explicit data + Activity meaning
Explicit Data
Maximum 3-5 questions, map to lead
definition
Technology
Infrastructure
MAP, WCM, SFA
Content Mapping
Buying cycle,
personas
Implicit Data
Pre-defined activity, recency, frequency
Lead Definition
Attributes, score
Rules
Dynamic content
delivery

23. Planning and Integration
Ensuring that content gets its seat at the strategy table

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The Role of the Content Strategist
SiriusPerspective: Developing a cohesive content strategy requires an
accountable leader who will drive interlock across functions.
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Brand
Managers
Marcom
Managers
Field
Marketing
Product
Managers
Solution
Managers
Industry
Marketing
Sales
Operations
Program
Marketing
Content
Strategist
The Internal Content CommunityContent Strategist
Responsibilities
- Content architecture
- Development strategy
- Training and measurement
- Shared service management
Strategy
- Enable content developers in the
business to create assets that can be
leveraged in a common framework
Content Framework
- Structured forms of content
- Technical architecture
- Playbook on content development

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Content: The Core of Campaign Integration
SiriusPerspective: A content strategy ensures that inbound efforts
effectively align with and support campaign themes.
25
Campaign One Campaign Two Campaign Three Campaign Four
The overall themes
on which programs are
based
The red vertical bars signify
inbound strategies linked to
specific campaigns
The red horizontal arrow signifies
generalized inbound strategies
that benefit all campaigns
Inbound Marketing
Market
Intelligence
Reputation
Demand Creation
Sales
Enablement

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Action Items
• Marketing
– Pilot a content strategy for a defined audience/offering pairing
in order to learn and prove the concept
– Measure impact in defined categories, including attract,
engage, qualify and internal efficiency
• Sales
– Work with marketing to define buyer’s journey, key personas
and information needs
– Prepare to engage with knowledgeable inbound leads

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Recommended Research
• Inbound Marketing, the Sirius Way
• Inbound Targeting: From Passive to Proactive
• Integrating Inbound Marketing Into Campaign Planning
• Optimizing B-to-B Web Site Conversion
• Content and Web Site Conversion Optimization
• Building a Content Strategy
• Progressive Profiling: The Sirius View