Content is king on the web, and creating content that engages audiences and makes them take action is no easy feat. According to a recent study by MarketingProfs.com, creating relevant content is the #1 challenge among marketers by a wide margin. This presentation will cover some quick-hitting tips to creating quality content that people will notice and want to read.

2. Steps to Creating Compelling
Marketing Content that Gets Noticed
Jennifer Culbertson | Looking Glass Marketing
October 21, 2013

3. Today’s Agenda
 What is Content Marketing and Why
Does it Matter?
 What’s Happening Today? B2B
Benchmark Study
 Tips for Creating Great Content
 Content Exercises –
• Blog
• Landing Page
• Email

4. What is Content Marketing?
• Content marketing isn’t necessarily new, it is rapidly
evolving.
• Content marketing is the art of creating and delivering
the relevant content, to the right audience, at the
right time to improve awareness, acquisition and
retention and ultimately spur organizational growth.
• Helps to drive trust in a company or brand and creates
a connection.
• Needs to map to business goals and be a core part of
your marketing plan and strategy.

5. Marketing is Next Impossible
Without Great Content
• Content marketing needs to be part of your
process, not something separate. Quality content
impacts all parts of marketing:
– SEO: Search engines reward businesses that publish
quality, consistent content.
– PPC: For PPC to work, you need great content behind
it.
– Social media sites: gain attention and feed information
with quality content
– Inbound marketing: Content is key to driving inbound
traffic and leads to your website

6. 2014 B2B Benchmark Study

7. What’s Happening Today?
2014 B2B Content
Marketing Benchmark
Report reveals that B2B
marketers are:
• Spending more on
content marketing
• Using more tactics
• Using more social
networks

8. Content Marketing Benchmark
Over 90% are using content marketing

9. B-to-B Content Marketing Tactic Usage
Top Tactics
1. Social Media
(other than blogs)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Articles on Website
eNewsletters
Blogs
In-person Events
Case Studies
Videos

10. Top Social Media Sites Used
Average 6 platforms used:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
LinkedIn
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Google+
Slideshare

11. Content Marketing Challenges
Top 5 Challenges:
1. Lack of Time
2. Producing Enough
Content
3. Producing Engaging
Content
4. Lack of Budget
5. Producing Variety of
Content

12. Issues with Creating Great Content
• What are your issues?
– Time
– Resources
– Ideas
– Budget
– Buy-in

13. What’s Being Outsourced?
• To help, some
marketers outsource
writing, design, content
distribution, etc.

14. Top B2B Content Successes
• Improved Web Traffic
• Better Lead Quality
• Increased Social Media
Sharing
• Improved SEO Ranking
• More Time Spent on
Website
• Some Direct Sales

15. Most Effective Content Marketers…

16. Tips to Creating Great Content

17. 10 Tips for Creating Great Content
1. Know Your Audience
2. Deliver Value
3. Stick to a Strategy
4. Repurpose Content
5. Dedicate Resources, Time and Expertise
6. Experiment with Content Types
7. Map Content to Sales Cycle
8. Consider Outsourcing
9. Use Analytics
10. Be Consistent, Repeat and Adjust

18. 1. Know Your Audience
• Beyond typical demographics, look at:
– What are the common questions among target audience?
– What are their common pain points or frustrations?
– What are the common strengths and weaknesses with
target?
– What does a typical day look like within target audience?
– What type of content are they accessing and where?
– What’s their role in purchasing process?
• Develop buyer personas that help answer these
questions
• Buyer Persona Template - http://offers.hubspot.com/freetemplate-creating-buyer-personas

19. 2. Deliver Value
1.
Findable – Can the reader find you?
–
–
–
2.
Readable – Can they read the content?
–
–
3.
Include visuals
Match content to audience
Never underestimate reader
Actionable – Will the reader want to take
action?
–
–
–
5.
Most important information upfront
Keep paragraphs short, use bullets and lists
Understandable – Do they understand it?
–
–
–
4.
Include header tags and meta tags
Links to other content on site
Alt tag description for images
Tell people what to do – call to action
Provide a place for comments/feedback
Link to related information they may like to read
Shareable – Will the reader want to share
content?
–
–
Ask reader to share and make it easy for them with
buttons, etc.
Provide a reason to share i.e. this might help
someone else with same issue

20. 3. Stick to a Strategy
• Align content with business and sales goals
• Have a goal for each type of content
– Download information
– Sign-up for webinar
• Create an editorial calendar to schedule
content, frequency and accountability

21. 4. Repurpose Content
• Don’t recreate the wheel each time. What can you
repurpose?
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Conference/event material
Well-received Presentations
Case Studies
Strong Performing Pieces
Highly Trafficked Content
Book – what pieces are strong and repackage
Blog posts – highlight top posts of the month
Newsletter content
Develop an Infographic
Develop Videos
Customer Testimonials

22. 5. Dedicate Resources, Time and Expertise
• Content Team:
– Content Leadership/Management – A person
who will champion the content cause in the
organization.
– Content Creators – From copywriters, web
developers and creative design
– Internal Subject Matter Experts – core team of
staff who provide ideas and can dedicated time
• You are not alone! Ask for help

23. 6. Experiment with Different Content Types
• People respond to all
types of content:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Newsletters
Whitepapers
Webinars
Videos
Case Studies
Events
Blog Posts
Infographics
eBooks
Tip Sheets
• Bricks vs. Feathers
– “Bricks” are content types that
take more time to produce but
tend to have higher payoff (i.e.
whitepaper, video series, case
study)
– “Feathers” are small, lowerstakes content (i.e. blog posts,
tweets)
– Include a mix, differentiate and
see what works

24. 7. Map Content to Sales Cycle
• Prospects are hyper-researching everything
• Research indicates that 70 percent of B2B purchase
decisions are made before a prospect ever contacts a
company
• Key have different pieces of information at various
stages of purchase/sales cycle

25. 8. Consider Outsourcing
• Helps keep content fresh and consistent
• Saves time with quick turnaround
• Take advantage of outside expertise who can:
– write engaging, compelling content
– optimize content to get more traffic from search engines
– use calls to action
• Consider for:
–
–
–
–
–
Whitepapers
Articles
Case Studies
Newsletters
Blogging

26. 9. Use Your Analytics
• Make sure your content is on the right track, and
continuously evaluate the success of your content:
– Web Traffic Analytics – Review stats, topics that received
most page views
– Keyword Search – paid and organic – see what keywords
are showing up more frequently
– Social Media – Number of Followers and Shares on
LinkedIn, Twitter, Slideshare
– Review and keep track of:
•
•
•
•
What the topic was
What the headline/message was
Who created the content
How many people shared the content

27. 10. Be Consistent and Make Adjustments
• Content is a commitment and to be good, you
need to be consistent
• Gone are the days of static websites
• You have to consistently "feed the beast", adding
and distributing new content on a monthly,
weekly or even daily basis
• Repeat successes and keep producing content
that people are responding to
• Identify weaker content and adjust where needed

28. Content Exercises

29. Blog Content

30. Blog - What To Do
•
Blog Title –
– Search engines will only show 65 or so
characters so keep short
– Include keywords at beginning of title
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Content – Be useful, answer a
question, help solve a problem
Make Easy to Read – Include bullet
points, sub-heads, images, bold,
italics, etc.
Be conversational - Write in a way
that speaks to your reader
Include links to your website and
other content that is useful
Include call to action and offer
Include a byline about author
Make content shareable

31. What’s Wrong with this Blog Post?
• Blog Title – Lack of specific
keywords
• Scan-ability – Hard to read
and lacks bullet points,
sub-heads, images, bold,
italics, etc.
• Need to spell out acronyms
• No linking to your website
and other content that is
useful
• No call to action
• No by-line about author

32. Landing Page

33. Landing Page - What To Do
•
Logo – No brainer! Important that your brand is
consistent with other marketing elements
•
Form – Only ask for key information and keep them
short
•
Tagline - Right from the moment a prospect arrives on
your landing page, make sure they understand your offer
and all that comes with it thru a captivating and clear
tagline (or headline).
•
K.I.S.S. Copy - "Keep It Short and Sweet" and it is
important that you simplify key benefits with bullet
points.
•
Visuals - Visuals can be anything from the cover of an
eBook to other pieces of your brand that will entertain
the eye of a prospect.
•
Call To Action - Place below your form and is the most
important element of your landing page and should
stand out.
•
Social Proof - Testimonials, customer logos, and your
company's address are trust indicators.

34. What’s Wrong with this Landing Page?
• Image is too small
• Tagline not descriptive
• Form asks for too
much information
• Call to action button
not large enough
• Too much copy
• Testimonial too small
and long

35. Email Marketing

36. Email Marketing - What To Do
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Email Subject Line - Beyond testing your subject line
through spam filters, ensure your subject line is 50
characters or less.
2-Line Headline – First sentence main headline with offer.
Second line explaining your offer.
Personalized Greeting – Adds personal touch and helps
engage one-on-one.
Graphics/Images – Include eye-catching visual that can
potentially sell your company's offer.
1, 2, 3 Body –
1. Introduction what is the offer
2. Bullet points preview or summarizing points in offer
3. Provoke a sense of urgency and why it’s relevant to
them
Call To Action Button - call to action can also persuade a
recipient to visit the landing page for your offer.
Opt-out – Always include way to people to opt-out of
communication
Contact information – Include your company information
at bottom

37. What’s Wrong with this Email?
• Subject line
• Body of email screams “I
want to sell you
something”
• The email is all about the
sender
• Weak call to action
• No contact information
at end of email
• No opt out
• No visual

38. Content Marketing Resources
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Copyblogger – Copyblogger is one of the premier sites for content
marketing. You’ll find tips on copywriting, content marketing, SEO
copywriting, e-mail marketing, keyword research, landing pages, internet
marketing, and more.
Content Marketing Institute (CMI) - Site is full of practical, how-to
guidance, you’ll also find insight and advice from the experts, and an
active community for discussing the latest news, information, and
advances that are moving the industry forward.
How To Create An Editorial Calendar – Learn how to create an editorial
calendar for social media (or any content).
Creating Valuable Content - A Step-By-Step Checklist
Write the Best Titles for Content Marketing - A 10-point checklist
Buyer Persona Template - Customizable Buyer Persona Template
B2B Content Marketing - 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends
Marketing Know-How Blog – Tips and tricks to make you a better marketer

39. Wrap Up
•
Marketing consulting with expertise working with Microsoft
Dynamics partner organizations.
• Services include:
– Virtual Marketing Director program
– On-demand Marketing Resource Desk via Email
– Marketing Execution and Project Management
– Writing/Content Development (Case Studies, Blogs,
Whitepapers, Web)
• Questions? Contact me:
• Jennifer Culbertson
jennifer@lookingglassmarketing.com
614-453-5927

40. Wrap Up
• Drawing! Provide your email/business card to me
and enter to win a free month of Marketing
Resource Desk services.
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