content marketing: from hype to helpful

CONTENT MARKETING: FROM HYPE TO HELPFUL Presented to TechUK 12th FEBRUARY 2015 Prepared by Faye Hawkins MD at First Base Communications @hitfirstbase

COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL

PART 1: THE INESCAPABLE HYPE

26% WHY CONTENT MATTERS

Content marketing accounts for more than 26 percent of total marketing budgets annually - Content Marketing Institute 2014


Over half of marketers expect to increase their spend on content marketing in the coming year - Content Marketing Institute Report 2014


Of B2B buyers rely more on content to make purchasing decisions than they did a year ago - DemandGen Report 2014


The reduction in spend by using content marketing over traditional marketing – with three times the lead generation - DemandMetric 2014

BUT IS MORE REALLY MORE?

According to IDG Connect’s IT Buyer Survey, current content marketing strategies are producing too much content that is not relevant to buyers. - CMI 2014

Content Content Content

QUESTION, QUESTIONS

- Lee Odden, CEO, TopLine Marketing

“People don’t search for you. They ask questions. If you want to get found, you better offer answers.”

A FEW QUESTIONS FOR YOU

What do you think content marketing will do

for you?

Do you need more content?

How do you know which is the right content?


PART 2: A HELPFUL WAY FORWARD

WHY BOTHER WITH CONTENT MARKETING ANYWAY?

ENHANCED SEARCH VISIBILITY More relevant, optimised content will improve access to your business and lower barriers to sale

BUDGET EFFICIENCY Good content applies to multiple prospect and customer marketing initiatives and channels

GENERATE BETTER QUALITY LEADS Self-selected prospects are worth nurturing to sale and conversion rate is higher

BUYERS ARE SELF-SUFFICIENT They search and consume information through self-selected channels

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT RELIES ON RELEVANCE Understanding audience challenges allows us to connect on their terms

BUYERS ARE FILTERING OUT MARKETING MESSAGES Good content informs, not interrupts

THE CONTENT MARKETER’S CHALLENGE

HOW DO I PLAN FOR THE RIGHT OUTCOME?

WHAT CONTENT SHOULD I INVEST IN?

HOW CAN I MEASURE OR PROVE SUCCESS?

FIVE STEP CHECKLIST FOR SUCCESS

PERSONALISE THE BUYER’S JOURNEY

TELL A GOOD STORY

DEFINE CONTENT STRATEGY BASED ON INFORMATION

KNOW WHAT CONTENT YOU”VE ALREADY GOT

SET GOALS FROM THE START

STEP 1: UNDERSTAND YOUR BUYERS

WHAT QUESTIONS DO THEY HAVE?

ANY WHY ARE THEY BUYING?

Consider

•  Who can help me develop a Modern Marketing strategy? •  Who has experience implementing the kind of program I need? •  What do I need to look for in a strategic partner/agency? •  What services do you offer and how are they different from those of other marketing agencies? •  What are my choices—for technology, tools and support? •  How will I make the business case?

Decide

•  How have you helped other companies like mine? •  What do your existing/past clients say about working with you? •  How will you work with my digital/creative team and agencies? •  What kind of ROI can I expect and how long will it take? •  How will this change our organizational structure, processes, budget? •  What are the technology and data requirements—and how will you help me communicate with our IT

and data stakeholders?

Purchase •  Am I comfortable with the terms and with you? •  What safeguards are in place if things go wrong? •  Is my team ready to manage the implementation?

Adopt •  What should I expect and how long will it take? •  How will implementation affect existing programs and processes? •  Do I need to augment or reorganize my team? •  How will you measure and report on results?

STEP 1: USE A BUYER JOURNEY FRAMEWORK

SALE

STEP 2: APPLY CONTENT TO THE BUYER JOURNEY

FINALISING THE DEAL

DOING THE DUE DIL

MAKING A DECISION

RESEARCHING AND EVALUATION

DECIDING TO FIND A

NEW WAY

REALISING THINGS COULD BE DIFFERENT

UNKNOWN Prospect is completely unknown. Awareness campaigns are needed – with sufficient ‘pull’ to convert to known.

ENQUIRIES - KNOWN Some indication - relatively little is known about the prospect at this point. The goal is to qualify the lead and offer ‘value’ content in exchange for more detail

THE PROSPECT THE CONTENT HOOK Attract more inbound prospects

• Infographics • Video • Articles and blogs

EXPLORE Enable them to continue their journey anonymously

• Articles • Top tips / facts • Video case studies

MARKETING QUALIFIED LEADS (MQL) A lead that is ready to handover to sales – based on simple characteristics or strong scoring.

EDUCATE Enable them to continue their journey anonymously

• White papers • Calculator tools • Reports

SALES ACCEPTED LEADS (SAL) A lead accepted by the sales force, and worked through based on their own strategies and processes.

EVALUATE Enable them to continue their journey anonymously

• Case studies • Modelling / use case • Product spec

SALES QUALIFIED LEADS (SQL) A lead that has evolved into an opportunity – usually with the right decision makers with an identified budget and timeframe.

TRIGGER Enable them to continue their journey anonymously

• Messages • Email triggers of downloadable content

STEP 2: IDENTIFY CONTENT GAPS

STEP 3: SET THE RIGHT GOALS

WHAT DOES THE BUSINESS NEED TO ACHIEVE?

WHAT DOES MARKETING NEED TO ACHIEVE?

HOW WILL THIS CONTENT HELP?

WHAT METRICS WILL I TRACK?

KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO INVEST IN AND WHY

DETERMINE EXPECTED OR DESIRABLE OUTCOMES, AND ROAD TEST IT WORK THROUGH LEAD SCORING AND CONTENT DELIVERY OPTIONS

Growth?

New market entry?

Product launch?

Increase lead conversion?

Accelerate acquisition?

Scale and efficiency?

Building awareness?

Educating buyers?

Nurturing leads?

Click-throughs?

Downloads?

Touches?

Attracting new leads?

Establishing expertise?

Proving your capabilities?

Content goals?

MQLs?

Engage a specific persona?

STEP 4: DETERMINE YOUR STRATEGY

FIVE STEP CHECKLIST FOR SUCCESS

PERSONALISE THE BUYER’S JOURNEY •  Do you understand what’s driving your buyers? •  At each stage, what question is the buyer or persona looking to solve? •  What does this tell you about the format and weight of suitable content? Use this to create a working framework

KNOW WHAT CONTENT YOU’VE ALREADY GOT •  Align existing content to each stage of the journey •  Validate with sales – are these anecdotally evidenced? •  What content can you repurpose or optimise for new channels?

SET GOALS FROM THE START •  What’s your marketing priority? Acquisition? Velocity? What does content need to do? •  What barriers do you need to address in your sales funnel? •  Where does your content audit reveal gaps?

DEFINE CONTENT STRATEGY BASED ON INFORMATION •  Know what content you need to invest in and why •  Determine expected or desirable outcomes, and road test it •  Work through lead scoring and content delivery options

TELL A GOOD STORY •  How can you tell a story that takes buyers through a journey? •  What do they really want to know that you’re not giving them? •  How can you make your brand stand out without over-selling?


INTRODUCTION TO FIRST BASE

INTRODUCING FIRST BASE

Awards.

Partnerships / accreditations.

First Base is a content marketing agency for B2B technology brands. Founded in 2013, First Base is one of London’s leading content marketing agencies. We enable our clients to:

•  develop good strategy •  become more effective in their marketing

•  deliver better results in their lead generation

We do great work without the bullshit.

We deliver all of the essential pillars of content marketing under one roof.

Clients love us because we understand their market and we take the time to understand their business and their buyers.

We excel by offering expert, insightful people and deep sector knowledge all mixed up with a genuine desire to add value to the client.

WHO WE WORK WITH

First Base delivers both specialist services and complete outsourced content marketing support to a range of global enterprise and challenger businesses.

OUR SERVICES

•  Marketing strategy •  Growth strategy / consulting •  Buyer persona development •  Brand strategy •  Positioning & messaging •  Marketing operations / process

definition •  Planning •  KPI & metrics definition

•  Content strategy •  Buyer journey frameworks •  Content analysis / audit •  Content mapping •  Content planning •  Creative content •  Content optimisation / SEO

focused •  Content atomisation (for inbound)

•  Brand identity •  Visual communication guidelines •  Creative concept •  Website page styling and design •  All digital content formats •  Print artwork

•  Google AdWords strategy •  Campaign management &

optimisation •  SEO & keyword strategy •  SEO implementation – on and off

page •  Social PPC strategy •  Social optimisation •  PR •  Above the line

STRATEGY CONTENT DESIGN INBOUND

•  Email marketing •  Trigger and nurture campaigns •  Segmented social distribution

•  MQL generation and qualification •  Lead scoring framework

development and implementation •  Email marketing •  Account based marketing

•  Information architecture •  Wireframing •  Web development strategy •  CMS management •  Analytics •  Performance optimisation •  Technology consulting •  Process and tools integration X

•  Social strategy •  Influencer / stakeholder / buyer

mapping •  Audience acquisition •  Events optimisation •  Audience segmentation •  Outbound communications •  Branded channel optimisation •  Content curation

DIGITAL OUTBOUND LEAD GEN SOCIAL

THANK YOU

For more information please contact:

FAYE HAWKINSManaging Director+44 7789 [email protected]@fayeatfirstbase