cracking the code: seo & content marketing

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Search Rockstar ConferenceMarch 2, 2012

Rebecca LiebDigital Advertising & Media Analyst

Cracking the Code: SEO and Content Marketing

@lieblink

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What is Content Marketing?

© 2012 Altimeter Group

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[Content marketing] is a pull strategy—it’s the marketing of attraction.

It’s being there when consumers need you, and seek you out with relevant, educational, helpful, compelling, engaging and sometimes

entertaining information.


Three Types of Content Marketing

1. Entertains

2. Informs and Educates

3. Provides Utility

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What Can Content Marketing Do?


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Content marketing reinforces a brand by strengthening consumer engagement, awareness, brand power, purchase intent,

sales and customer retention.

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Where do content marketing and SEO meet?


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“I’m focusing on bringing a real listening discipline to Nestlé. Getting that right will lead

us to the right kind of content marketing. Search is the first proxy to whether

you’re doing this right.”

Pete Blackshaw, Nestlé, in an interview with Rebecca Lieb, Altimeter Group, 2011


Shifting from Outbound to Inbound Marketing

Company culture

Resources and staffing

Budgets

Service provider relationships

Training

Tools vs. strategy

Advertising integration

© 2012 Altimeter Group© 2012 Altimeter Group

Image by icebirdy used with Attribution as directed by Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/icebirdy/3153588850

Rebalance With Content


Where is Content Confidence Held?

Base: 56 marketers; Size of bubbles above reflect marketers' intention to increase/decrease use of that content type over the foreseeable future. * Based on question: What are the most effective types of content you’ve used to promote your brand? ** Based on question: Which type(s) of content do you plan to phase out, use less of, or

have found ineffective?; Source: Altimeter Group


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Mobile: GE Transformers iPad App Proves Useful to Its Engineer Community


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Video: Salesforce Leverages Video to Share Product Demos, Webinars, Events & More

Salesforce’s 2,600 YouTube videos

receive upward of 11K views per day. The

company has valued its product demo views

(av. 2 minutes per view) as equal to

customers receiving service from 66 hyper-

efficient sales representatives.


Social: AMEX Informs and Educates Customers with OPEN Forum Content


Creating the Right Content Mix

1. Conduct a content audit

2. Perform keyword and social graph research.

3. Create a keyword-focused editorial calendar.

4. Connect content to KPIs.

5. Focus on the long-tail.

6. Get the right technology in place.


Content Audit: Track How Easily Content is Found Via Search

Page/Sub-

Section

Page Name

Type of Content

Source of

Content

Owner/Approver/Publisher

What’s It

About?

Support User/Busi

ness Goals?

Findable & Used?Analytics

Clean, Professional,

Logically Organized?

Keyword/Metadata/

SEO

1.1 Home xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

1.2 Widget Page

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

1.3 About Acme Corp

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx


Repurpose Content as Part of Your SEO Keyword and Linking Strategy

Speech

PowerPoint Deck on Slideshare

Video Speech

on YouTube

Transcribe for Blog

Post

Extract Charts and Infographics

Turn Into a Whitepaper,

eBook or Column

Create a Webinar

or Training


Transcribe Video and Audio Content for Greater SEO Impact


Image by lwr used with Attribution as directed by Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/839359065


Content Marketing & SEO Maturity


Altimeter’s Content Marketing Maturity Model


Indium Corp Creates Engaging Blog Content Based on Targeted Keyword Phrases

Indium’s 73 blogs and 17 contributors are fueled by keyword research, with the

goal of turning content into contacts into cash. Rick Short, director of

marketing communications, leads the hyper-targeted blogging strategy – one

that increased customer contacts by 600% within a single quarter.


Eloqua Concentrates on Specific Content Keywords to Draw In VP Executives

Joe Chernov launched Eloqua’s corporate blog and later used it to promote the company’s other free content—made trackable by

requiring users to provide contact information. This data enabled Chernov to measure content effectiveness, directly attributing $2.5M in revenue to

four free guides in 2010.


Nestlé Builds Content Foundation with SEO, Takes Leadership on Silicon Valley Field Trip


Coca-Cola Looks to Earned Media for SEO, Not Just Paid and Owned Media

As of 2010, 80% of Coca-Cola’s YouTube stories were user-generated content or

adapted from original content. Coca-Cola has identified user-gen content as more efficient

and less costly than other forms of owned content.


Advertising Integration


Honda Purchases Unlikely Keywords in SEM Campaign to Drive Traffic to Game Site


Education and Training


Education and Training is Part of the Process

SEO staff can’t be there every step of the way, so they should have an “open door policy.”

Training the marketing department and others is necessary to link SEO and content.

All content generated should be SEO-friendly.

People need to feel integral to SEO and content efforts, not brought in after the fact.


Use Editorial Calendars to Plan and Track Keyword Usage Between Departments

The editorial calendar should address the questions:

how much content, how often, and specifically when it will publish. It includes content

requirements, keywords used, and responsibilities.

Image source: http://www.findandconvert.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/editorial-calendar-sample.png


Image by zetson used with Attribution as directed by Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/zetson/254608875


SEO Evolution


Content Evolution Continues to Affect SEO

Social media and the social graph

Mobile

User-generated

Other types of earned media


How Will You Rebalance?


Rebecca [email protected]

m

rebeccalieb.com/blog

Twitter: lieblink

THANK YOU

Disclaimer: Although the information and data used in this report have been produced and processed from sources believed to be reliable, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the completeness, accuracy, adequacy or use of the information. The authors and contributors of the information and data shall have no liability for errors or omissions contained herein or for interpretations thereof. Reference herein to any specific product or vendor by trade name, trademark or otherwise does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring by the authors or contributors and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.

cracking the code: seo & content marketing

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