content marketing for b2b: aligning storytelling to lead generation
TRANSCRIPT
1.
2.
3.
The medium
is multimedia
Sourcing starts
with search,
social
Media is now
deeply personal
Authority is not
exclusive
to journalists
Buyers are digital-
smart and
increasingly niche
Comments have
become the
content
“YOUR STORY” IS SHAPED IN 100 PLACES EVERY SECOND
8 SECONDS The average attention span of an Internet user.
4 SECONDS The amount of time that 17% of Internet users spend viewing a page.
Customer expectations are changing
Becoming multichannel users
Always-on customers
expect always-on brands
Expect personalization
IN ONE
INTERNET
SECOND
486,111 WhatsApp Messages
7,203 Tweets
55,119 Google searches
60,000 likes
10
Cyclical campaigns yield transaction relationships
Boom and bust cycle of digital campaigns has left brands without necessary equity building with their target audience.
FROM an on & off cycle of one-off
announcements and campaigns
TO a sustained equity-building foundation
that sustained content marketing campaigns
build on
21st century content marketing foundations
21st century content marketing foundations
Unified content experience
for customers
EXPERIENCE-CENTRIC
Collaborate with sales to
deliver on common goals
OUTCOME-BASED
Adaptive, iterative,
insights-driven content
AGILE & LEAN
Extending storytelling
through employees,
partners, customers
ECOSYSTEM-DRIVEN
Where did we start?
PLAN BUILD EXECUTE MEASURE
How?
PLAN BUILD EXECUTE MEASURE EXECUTE
1. Audience mapping + Buyer Persona Definition Who’s the audience, what do they care about? A careful analysis of new or existing demographic, psychographic and consumer behaviours to develop audience profiles. Addressing who is our audience per market; where are they spending time online; what are they doing on various channels; when are they doing it; how does the audience want to interact with brands online.
PLAN
PLAN: how?
Define what the brand stands for
• What is our brand proposition. What do we want people to know us for?
Understand the audience
• Who are we trying to reach, what are there behaviors, and what do they want to know?
Align brand objectives with
audience interest
• Talk about the connect - what the brand stands for and what its audiences stand for.
Hi! I’m Pat!
33 years old
Digital strategist with a Fortune 500 firm
Single
Curious about what’s new in the world
I AM
For rapid career development
To get fitter, faster
Had more time for family
Experienced a Woodstock-like event
Traveled more
I WISH
New technology
Gadgets & wearables
Social & personal interactions
To shop online
Sports
I LIKE
06
My typical day
Wake up and go for
a run
5:30am
Watch videos during
transit to work
8:42am
Use productivity
tools to improve
my efficiency
11:36am
Use Google maps to
locate a new bakery my
BFF raved about on FB
1:10pm
Watch my favorite TV
series on Netflix
7:15pm
Read news on my
mobile phone
6:50am 11:15am 12:00 pm 5:30pm 10:00pm
07
Engage with multiple
devices & digital
technologies at work
For lunch, go to my
favorite restaurant
near work
Browse fashion
websites for best
deals on my
favorite brand
Late night catch up
with my friends,
using instant
messaging apps
What drives my preferences...
08 Ecosystem-Driven Experience-Centric Outcome-Based Agile & Lean
Customer-centric, experience-
first approach
EXPERIENCE CENTRICITY
70% of millennials prefer
brands they can trust
AUTHENTICITY
Millennials identify with
brands more personally and
emotionally
EMOTIONAL CONNECT
My #CoolestInterviewEver
Making HCL the preferred
employer brand across
31 countries
Making HCL the leader in
reach and engagement on
Making HCL the digital
disruptor for Gen Y
OBJECTIVE OUTCOMES
09
387M Impressions
266k Engagement
60,478 visits to official
website
5000+ participants in
Round 1
83% increase in
follower rate on Twitter
$1M NMV
Ecosystem-Driven Experience-Centric Outcome-Based Agile & Lean
I like it when brands get “me”…
10
Closed-loop
analytics
Clearly defined
buyer personas
Ecosystem-Driven Experience-Centric Outcome-Based Agile & Lean
Personalized
message and
content
Engaging
stories
I am a Manchester United fan!
705M impressions in digital activations
215M impressions from #UnitedByHCL
TweetChats. Trended globally across 13
cities
SoV grew by staggering 290% over the
duration of the campaign
Followers on HCL Tech social media
channels increased by 85%
KEY OUTCOMES
$4.4B in funnel intervention
$857M deal impact
150+ customers engaged at Old Trafford
DEAL IMPACT
PARTNERSHIP
AWARENESS
72%
OFFICIAL DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION PARTNER
11
BRAND
AWARENESS
3X
X
Ecosystem-Driven Experience-Centric Outcome-Based Agile & Lean
I move fast. You need to keep up...
LINEAR CONTENT STRATEGY
Big
strategy
User
research
adjust design and
build
measure new
big
strategy
12 Ecosystem-Driven Experience-Centric Outcome-Based Agile & Lean
Big ideas, big bang launch, big budgets
I move fast. You need to keep up...
13
Little
Strategy
Plan
Design
Launch
Measure
Insights Adjust
Little
Strategy
Learning
Curve
Plan
Design
Launch
Measure
Insights Adjust
Little
Strategy
Learning
Curve
A. Continue
B. Try something else
Ecosystem-Driven Experience-Centric Outcome-Based Agile & Lean
AGILE CONTENT STRATEGY
Micro-strategies, big insights, rapid iterations
Ecosystem to support storytelling
Ecosystem-Driven Experience-Centric Outcome-Based Agile & Lean
• Build advocates in the CXO and senior management
• Find and nurture people who can work together to create more
value-added content than they could independently
• Content marketers should own their organizations’ content
strategy
• Use customers, employees, beneficiaries to tell your story
14
2. Brand Narrative + Content Strategy How do we sound? How do we behave? The words, tone and imagery that a brand or organisation uses must be defined to communicate in the most effective way. That, along with the audience personas develop into the content strategy of the brand: what stories, told by who, using what inputs, in what format, on what channel, at what frequency?
BUILD
Here’s Cola Cola’s Content
Strategy:
Play Video
3. Channel + platform alignment Which platforms are we engaging on? Having the right mix of online and social media channels to publish content is critical to driving traffic and engagement – on all screens: mobile, desktop and possibly, TV. Whether its an online newsroom, eNewsletter or Facebook page, carefully plan where and how content is published.
BUILD
Editorial
Wholly Owned Content Hub
Campaign Activations
Native Advertising, Paid Syndication Media Partners/ Integrations
Social Channels
Community Generated
Credible Engagement With Niche Communities
FUEL
FUEL
FUEL
FUEL
EXAMPLE: An Always-On
Engine
4. Content production
What’s the format? Who’s developing it? Building on steps one and two, establishing and maintaining an editorial process is critical to longevity, resourcing and implementation of a content marketing operation. The content calendar will drive formats – video, copy, infographics, animation, GIFs, audio etc.
EXECUTE
5. Distribution + campaign management Owned, earned and paid media work together to complement and support existing marketing and communications efforts. Syndication, publishing and native advertising become the lever to ensure message penetration and share of voice.
EXECUTE
Extending the Value and Reach of The Content
Have a distribution strategy with an innovative publishing mix that includes organic social amplification, paid digital advertising, media partnerships, blogger sponsorships, partner relationships and native advertising, among others.
Apps
Blogs
Blog Posts
YouTube Vimeo
Storify
Yahoo
SEO & Keywords
CEC
Promoted Tweets
Sponsored stories
Blogs & blog sponsorships
Social ads
CACs
Events
Trade shows
Web media
Content aggregators
Likes & Comments
Radio
Forums
News Release
Paid Media
Social
Search PR
Native ads
360 degree amplification
EXECUTE
MEASURE
6. Analytics & program optimization
Performance analytics and KPIs to ‘test and scale’ content operations
in different markets to standard content investment and
benchmarking.
Analytics provide a nimble framework to adjust paid, owned and
earned media strategies as well as provide feedback in real-time on
campaigns.
Arrive at: weekly/bi-weekly analytics update and monthly performance
review to make decision on content and publishing based on data, to
meet business outcomes.
EXAMPLE: Social Listening
Dashboard
Social*I
D
2
Content
Strategy
Social*I
D
3
Platform
Strategy
Social*I
D
4
Creative
Strategy
Social*I
D
1
Audience
Analysis
content rules
innovative
shareable
actionable
ALL TOGETHER NOW: integrated content + platform approach
Brand Proposition
Key Messages + Story Architecture
Influencer engagement (Government, Media, Analysts, Celebrities)
Community engagement
(Consumers, Industry/Business Professionals, Government, Employees)
Owned Online news center and websites
Social media channels and executive profiles eNewsletter, databases CRM
Earned
Bloggers and influencers Search engines
Paid
Native advertising Social media advertising
Story Platforms, News + Thought Leadership
Audience Map + Personas
Stakeholder & media mapping Content Publishing + Digital Engagement
FINALLY: The Integrated Content Marketing
Model
Performance analytics + Data-driven planning
C
reative + Co
nten
t In
fluen
cer / Co
mm
un
ity En
gagemen
t
Optimize strategy, tone, visual design
Cre
ativ
e +
Co
nte
nt
Digital En
gagemen
t
Sample customer journey across the content cycle
16
Rick visits HBR.com and sees the 21CE paper
Interesting.. This whitepaper has some good insights. Let me find out more..
Visits HCLT landing page
Hmm.. But what broader expertise do they have in my industry?
But…Can I trust them?
They have a good perspective.. But have they done any work on these areas?
Views RBTC client videos
Rick, CEO of a G2K firm, is keen to make his organization future-ready. He is an HBR reader.
Reads case study on landing page
Reads material on BU page
Hmm.. but how are they to partner with?
Views EFCS videos
Let me ask them to meet me
