Chapter 02: Developing a Content Marketing Strategy

It’s a great promise: full content marketing.

But it is possible if you understand how the content fits into your digital marketing strategy.

And well done, your content marketing will not only attract prospects but also take you through the marketing line to drive more sales and grow your business.

In this chapter, we cover the basics of a successful content marketing system, including methods and metrics, the business roles that should be the owner of your content marketing, and the talk you will use to talk about it.

Methods of Well-Executed Content Marketing

Let's start with a complete understanding of what we mean when we say content.

You see, many businesses are losing out on many opportunities because their vision for content marketing is so small.

As a result, they remove the content but do not get good results. And that's why: content alone isn't driving traffic and marketing.

Your content must be "complete."

Now, what do we mean by that?

Complete content is not about you, your product, or your intentions. It’s about bringing relevant information to your prospects in the right place in the customer journey.

For example, in the software company Freshbooks, this web page represents a complete content marketing that requires pricing information to make an informed purchase decision.

Content is any information that helps you keep the funnel full.

Yes, the Content Prices page.

The biggest misconception is that content marketing is blogging.

While blogs are a big part of content marketing, they are also part of the big picture. In fact, in most cases, a blog is not the most profitable way to sell content.

But we will get back to that.

First, let’s define six aspects of comprehensive content marketing and why it’s important to get started.

(NOTE: By the end of this chapter, you'll be able to access the tool we use to create good content for the air.)

1. Perfect Content Marketing is Full Funnel

I know this is Marketing 101 stuff but stick with me for just a second before I get into the more advanced content marketing concepts we’ll be covering.

For an ice-cold prospect to become a customer, they will need to travel through three stages:

The 3 stages all prospects go through on their way to becoming a customer

1. Awareness - Hope must first realize that there is a problem and that you or your organization has a solution. (This is where your blog leads.)

2. Evaluation - Those who pass the Awareness Phase should now evaluate the various options available to them, including their competitor's solutions and, in fact, take no action to resolve the issue.

3. Conversion - Those who travel the Evaluation Stage are now in a real-time purchase. At Dream Digital, our goal at the moment is to turn trails into regular and high-profile consumers.

Cold hope cannot test your solution until they begin to know about your problem and solution. And conversion is not possible until hope has first examined existing studies.

To move confidence through the marketing frontier, you need to provide them with content that is specially designed to meet their needs in each of the three categories.

In other words…

• They need high-quality content (TOFU) to help raise awareness.

• They need intermediate (MOFU) content to assist with testing.

• They need content under the cover (BOFU) that helps to convert.

Does it make sense?

Blogs are excellent advocates for awareness, but they do a great job of helping to explore and transform. Also, at risk of explicit identification, testing and conversion are very important for your business.

To move prospects in the middle (MOFU) and undercover (BOFU) you will need other types of content.

It looks like this…

Let’s look at each stage of the funnel and the content needed at those stages…

Top Of The Funnel (TOFU) Content Marketing

Prospects at the top of your panel don't know your solution at all, and, most of the time, I don't even know about their problem.

As a result, you need less restricted content - because, at this stage, they have no incentive to add skin to the game (such as providing your contact details or money).

You need free access to the top of the file (TOFU)…

• Entertain

• Educating

• or encouraging

… You also need to make it easily accessible using content types such as:

• Blog posts

• Media Resource Rehabilitation

• Demographics

• Pictures

• Magazines / Digital Books

Audio / video podcasts

• Microsites

• Print Magazines / Books (You will need a larger budget here.)

• Key research

Do you need all this high-quality content?

Heck no.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc. Once you are familiar with these two types of content, you will want to add some high-quality content to the mix, such as a podcast or print newsletter.

Remember, the main goal at the top of a page is to make hopes “know the problem” and “know the solution.”

Note how Whole Foods, using their Whole Story blog, informs the provision of marine scallops while providing essential content (recipes and recipes):

TOFU content raises awareness of your offers while providing valuable information.

At Dream Digital, we do that by providing educational content that we are interested in - and using that content to raise awareness about our products and training services.

(Shhhhh… don't tell anyone, but this GREAT chapter teaches you about the techniques and techniques taught in our Content Marketing Mastery Certification.)

And the good news is that they apply to any industry with any type of product.

Note how this kitchen remodeling company uses photos of renovated kitchens to make hopes "know the problem" and "know the solution":

Unfortunately, the top of the funnel is where most organizations begin and end their content marketing efforts.

Smart content marketers know that they can move prospects from awareness to evaluation in the middle of the funnel with a bit more effort.

Here’s how it gets done…

Middle of the Funnel (MOFU) Content Marketing

The overarching goal at the center is to turn the hopes of “knowing the problem” and “knowing the solution” into clues.

Here, we use free content to promote opportunities to submit their contact information and to sign up for future marketing.

We call this type of content Magnet Lead.

Leading magnets can be…

• Educational Resources (Case Study, White Paper, etc.)

Useful Resources (Swipe File, Checklist, etc.)

• Software Download

• Discount / Coupon Clubs

• Questions / Research

• Webinars / Events

This Leading Magnet uses Dream Digital to generate leads for our products around Facebook advertising:

Lead magnets are free content that incentivizes prospects to opt into your list, becoming leads.

When visitors click on the “Download Now” button, they’re prompted to enter their email address to receive the piece of content.

This piece of content (a white paper) from Cloud Margin generates “solution aware” leads…

A white paper or report creates “solution aware” leads.

But you can’t deposit leads in the bank.

A third content type is required at the bottom of the funnel (BOFU) to convert leads into customers…

Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) Content Marketing

In this situation, it is a point of sale, amount of time. 

What are the types of content that your new administration will need to make well-informed decision-making? 

Here are some of the... 

• Demo/Liberal Studies 

• Customer Stories 

• Comparison/Specification Sheet 

• Webinars/Events 

• Mini-Classes 

Your lead can be read on your site and retrieve the result of the magnets (and it is going to help transform her, but you'll need content that will help her to choose between you and your competitor has to move for her to buy it. 

See how Salesforce is delivering the lead at the bottom of the funnel with a lot of client's stories to show that their product can deal with that cause climate.

Customer success stories are smart BOFU content.

Salesforce.com there are dozens of these, the clients ' stories, one for each of the major industries, product range, and the size of the. 

Customer stories are the content that converts, and those who have the responsibility for the content marketing team. 

Please bear this in mind the piece of content is designed to help aspiring Quickbooks customers in choosing the right solution: 

However, Quickbooks able to earn points by comparing their importance to that of their competitor's tools. For example, a Google search indicates that a comparison sheet between the Specs and the market (such as Xero) is of a different piece of content that you want to be on the board of Intuit's content marketing team. 

And while we’re at it, look at all the bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) content Xero’s content marketing team has built:

And...

To create a top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) content of a blog is important? 

Absolutely. 

But it fails to build a full-funnel, the content of the plan is going to leave you disappointed in your content marketing results. 

2. Perfect Content Marketing Is Intent-Based

Some businesses and marketers get hung up on the wrong metrics, particularly when it comes to their blogs.

Take a look at this video to see what I mean:

The key to content marketing is to understand the existing intent and predict the future of the faith, and then, how to create content assets that are needed to deal with this intention, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

For our Freshbooks example, a client who is in the depths of the hood may be, the intent is to compare Freshbooks to Quickbooks. 

This is the content of the access addresses to which purpose:

And you’ll have to run paid traffic to your content to maximize your results or you risk leaving money on the table as Molly explains:

The truth is that the most lucrative in the contents of the assets you create (if you have an existing business), are those that meet the intent of the bottom and in the middle of the channel. To optimize on this, the existing bottom and middle of the funnel an intention before you go to work on generating awareness on the top of the funnel, using a very expensive and time-consuming blog rollout. 

This is not to diminish the power of a corporate blog. In the past 24 months, we have been adding to the content's assets (to the articles and podcast episodes) at the top of the funnel, and increasing website traffic (and awareness) by 1053%. 

That being said, the short-term profits at the content marketing game are in the middle and at the bottom of the funnel.

3. Perfect Content Marketing Is Ascension Focused

Failure to provide a surface road from any part of the content that you are creating is not just bad marketing, it is a bad user experience. 

A Smart content marketer to anticipate the next logical, intent, and remove as much friction as possible, to create a clear path to conversion. 

For example, let's say I'm shopping for supplies to repaint my kitchen...

Our Freshbooks pricing page examples, notice that Freshbooks has created a clear, ascension path to a "Risk-Free Trial of the software. 

In this blog content, the terms may be given the opportunity to opt-in with their email address, to get more information on a subject. 

Check that the surface features are embedded in a blog post. Click on this ad to remove the possibility of a landing page to enter his or her e-mail address, and go to:

They get more information about a topic they are interested in. You get a lead.

4. Perfect Content Marketing is Segmented

You can run surveys, polls until you're blue in the face. However, you are not going to know what people are really interested in until they give you the money or the amount of time. 

When a prospect visits a piece of content (to spend time) that they've raised their hand and took an interest in. And, thanks to the magic of the ad-retargeting, you can follow up with these prospects with relevant, ascension offering, but to be their point of contact. 

5. Perfect Content Marketing Is Cross-Channel

Perfect content marketers publish content that meets intent in any channel where groups of prospects are searching for and sharing content including:

• Website/blog

• Facebook

• Twitter

• LinkedIn

• Pinterest

• YouTube

Chances are a single content asset could be published across numerous channels to maximize exposure.

For instance, could that video demo of your product be republished on your YouTube channel like Cuisinart has done here?

(In case you are wondering, "Who the hell is looking at the sad part of the video?" the answer is, anyone who is interested in buying in a coffee grinder, and, above all, to all those who are interested in purchasing AS a coffee grinder. Anecdotally... I bought this as a coffee grinder, after having seen the demo just a few weeks ago. The mill does a good job of grinding the coffee, and the video does a good job of cross-channel content marketing is at the bottom of the funnel.) 

May, - this article on your blog to be used as a webinar? Can the podcast be a written article on LinkedIn Pulse?

6. Perfect Content Marketing Is Avatar-Based

Last, but certainly not least of all, the perfect content marketing assets are produced to fulfill the purpose of your customer avatar. An asset that can serve the purpose of several of the presence, or it can be added to the target in a single currency. 

At Dream Digital, for example, we have created an article to help raise awareness (top of the funnel), for our marketing program. This article is specifically targeted at our Employees," the avatar, who has the intention to acquire the skills that will land them better jobs.

Content Marketing Planning: The Content Campaign

To execute perfect content marketing, you need a plan.

At Dream Digital, we make this plan at the offer level using a spreadsheet called a Content Campaign Plan.

The planning document includes fields for:

• Marketing Funnel – Is this asset addressing intent at the top, middle, or bottom of the funnel?

• Avatar – Which avatar(s) will this asset target?

• Vehicle – Will this be a text, image, video, or audio asset?

• Channel – Where will this asset be published?

• Ascension Path – What call-to-action will be used in this asset?

The Content Campaign Plan is used to align content marketing with business objectives like generating leads and sales.

It looks like this.

Want to create content that converts prospects at all stages of the funnel?

Create a Content Campaign Plan and execute it. It works.

Your Content Marketing Success Metrics

How to measure the success of your content marketing tactics? 

The traffic through the Channel

At the top of the funnel, set up your marketing efforts to increase awareness of your business, brands, and products. Measure the traffic channels such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter. 

The New MQL's 

To measure the number of leads to be generated in the middle of the channel, which will require additional care before they are ready to make a purchase. 

Conversion 

When content marketing is done properly, it will generate traffic to a lead form and a product. To measure the conversion rate (the Page, Visits, and Conversions) of the lead-in forms, product pages, call-to-action. 

The New SQL's 

To measure the number of leads, to consume the content at the bottom of the funnel (demos, customer stories, etc), which indicates that they are ready to buy.

Relevant Roles in Content Marketing

Who in your organization should be trained in e-mail marketing? 

Three distinct departments, and should be skilled in and understand the importance of email marketing. 

Marketing 

Content marketing is an essential discipline of the impact for your search, social, and email advertising. Each and every marketer who is involved in your digital strategy needs to be well-versed in content marketing. 

Sales 

According to the Harvard Business Review, the average buyer is 57% of the way through the sales process before they contact a vendor. 

Instead, please contact your sales representative, your ability to consuming your content. The salespeople that understand content marketing, it can work with your team to create content that will close the deals. 

Public relations 

Today's public relations team needs to understand how the content they are producing in the extra content, social, and search marketing strategy.

The Lingo You’ll Use as a Content Marketer 

What are the terms you need to know as a content marketer?

Top-of-Funnel (TOFU) Content

Content designed to raise awareness for your business, brands, and products.

This content is delivered through various channels, including blogs, podcasts, and video hosting platforms like YouTube.

Middle-of-Funnel (MOFU) Content

Content designed to generate leads and move the prospect through the evaluation stage. Content in the middle of the funnel often takes the form of a Lead Magnet.

Lead Magnet

An irresistible bribe offering a specific chunk of value to a prospect in exchange for their contact information. The goal of the Lead Magnet is to maximize the number of targeted leads you are getting for an offer.

Bottom-of-Funnel (BOFU) Content

Content designed to convert a prospect into a customer by providing the information needed to make an informed purchase decision. Bottom of funnel content includes webinars, product demonstrations, and customer stories.

Summing Up

Content marketing is not limited to a blog. You will probably have to create a lot of blog posts, but if you're strategic, you should use your blog as a channel for your content campaign. 

Remember, content marketing is working for your other digital tactics in a comprehensive marketing plan that is designed to move people, purposely, by your Customer, the Value of the Trip. 

Don't forget to download the Contents of the Promotion-to Plan, to what is in your best resource to plan out your content for every stage of the funnel: TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU. 

Then, once you've got your content for the assets is being built, you'll be able to learn how to use digital advertising to drive traffic and conversions for your business.