can strong content marketing make you a media kingpin?

Can Content Make You a

Media Kingpin?

How Superior eCommerce Site Content Site Can Lead

to PublicityBy: Audience Matters, Inc.For: ICE Retailer Conference September 21, 2013

Why Publicity?

(c) 2013. Audience Matters, Inc. All rights reserved.

Publicity is Earned Media

• That means you have to earn it.• You can’t pay for it (at least

directly like ads and PPC).• You don’t own it (though you can

use it to promote your business).• You can’t control it.


Publicity Enhances Credibility

• Most of your customers still trust the media.• Because you can’t buy it, people are more likely

to believe it’s true.• Being in industry, trade or mainstream media

gives you more authority.• The more publicity you get, the more trusted a

source of information you will be for the media…which leads to more publicity.


Why Do You Want Publicity?


So, How Do You Use Content Marketing To Get Publicity?


Start With Your Owned Media

• Your website (desktop and mobile).• Your blog.• Your email campaign.• The other content you’ve created.• Your social media properties.


First, Your Website.

• All of these content marketing strategies lead back to one place…your website.

• Let’s talk first about your website.


Start With a Great Website

• .05 seconds is the amount of time visitors spend on poorly designed websites, especially those with poor layouts. (Source: Google)


A Great eCommerce Website…

• Has a clear brand identity with consistent brand standards.

• Is professionally designed and developed with great pictures and content.

• Is responsive (mobile), contemporary, attractive and easy-to-navigate.

• Has excellent, high-value, original, regularly updated, SEO-friendly and branded content.

• Connects your visitors to the rest of your social web presence.

• Makes reporters want to cover your brand.


Next, Have an Excellent Blog


A Excellent Blog…


• Positions you as an authority in your industry or about your product or service.

• Contains useful (not salesy) original content (which 90% of consumers find useful, enhancing the KLT factor.)

• Is part of your site and regularly updated.• Is well-written with great images.• Is professionally written if you don’t write well

or hate writing.

Your Email Campaign

• If you don’t have one, create one.• Build a strong list and regularly send them

similarly useful content to what’s on your blog.• For content-rich informational emails, limit

promotions…that’s intrusion marketing, not content marketing.

• Learn the best email marketing strategies for your type of product or service and use them.

• Make subscribing easy and don’t spam people, especially reporters.


Create Other Content to Market


What Other Content Should You Market?


• Videos of your products showing customers how to use them but NOT infomercials.

• Infographics, memes and other images.• Audio content (podcasts)—interviews of

you as industry expert.• Webinars on how to use your products

that have NO hard sales pitch at end.• Press content and previous publicity.

Then, Use Social Media to Increase Audience Share

• Reporters respect big audiences. Develop yours on social media.

• Make sure you market content where you audience is.• Create excitement and engagement around your content

to drive audience share.• Connect with other industry experts and influencers to

increase engagement, content sharing.• Have a deliberate strategy and execute it consistently.• Be interesting and consider being a little edgy…like John

Lawson!


Now That You’ve Gotten the Word Out…


…Build Relationships with the Press

• Know which press you want to reach and develop a strategy for reaching them.

• Know how and when to reach out to them so you don’t alienate them; don’t stalk or spam them.

• Be a good source; be knowledgeable, available and flexible. Don’t make them chase you.

• Create content specifically for them (like a media room on your website).

• Respect their processes, editorial calendars and unique idiosyncrasies.

• Remember, you’re not doing them a favor…you need them more than they do you.


Some Final Thoughts…• High quality, well-done content marketing impresses your

key audiences…your customers and the press.• If you expect to be taken seriously by media, you must

impress them…impress us…with your web presence, your expertise and your willingness to work with media.

• But, media kingpins…darlings…are not made overnight. It takes time and consistent effort.

• Don’t alienate the press. They…we…talk to each other.• Treat the media with respect and as a partner to your

ecommerce enterprise.• Have FUN. Getting media should be a drag.


Thank you!


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