This document discusses mapping content strategy to the modern customer journey. It begins by outlining common challenges like limited content and random acts of content. It then recommends adopting a stages model and considering key customer and business factors. The rest of the document provides details on planning content by auditing existing content, identifying gaps, and aligning content distribution across channels. It emphasizes aligning content to stages in the customer journey and defining metrics for each stage from engagement to advocacy.

1. Mapping Content Strategy to
the Modern Customer Journey
Gary DeAsi
Senior Manager, Digital Marketing & Brand
@gdaz
Ryan Pinkham
Content Marketing Manager
@RyanPinkham

2. 22
4M+
users
25K+
organizations
194
countries
15+
products

3. 33
Marketing Organization
Demand Gen
Creative
Web
Operations
Functionally
“Market Manager”
& Product Marketing
X4
Vertically

4. 44
READY! FIRE! AIM! 30%B2B Marketers say they are
effective at content marketing.

5. 55
Limited Supply of Ammo to Hit Targets
(Content)

6. 66
RANDOM
ACTS OF
CONTENT

7. 77
1 Adopting a Stages Model
& Key Factors to Consider
Mapping Content Strategy to the Customer Journey

8. 88
Understanding your Customers
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Individual
Job roles, personas
Motivators
Problems, pain points
Terminology & language
Buying triggers
How solve problem before?
Organization
Industry vertical
Company size
Business model, strategy
Technology stack
Org structure
Geo locations

9. 99
Understanding your Business
Product or Service
Value propositions
Key features, capabilities
Differentiators
Complexity of solution
Use cases
Technical specifications
Technology partnerships
Sales
Pricing model
Sales model
Length of sales cycle
$ ASP
Barriers & objections
Complexity of buying decision
Market
Market maturity
Demand type
Market share
Competitive landscape
Positioning
Market trends
SmartBear Confidential and Proprietary

10. 1010
Information
• Search and browsing behavior
• Research and nurture needs
• Messaging
• Barriers to overcome
• Questions to answer
INTELLIGENCE
Content

11. 1111
ROAD TO ADVOCACY

12. 1212
Adopting a Customer Journey Stages Model

13. 1313
“Hello, brand, do I like
you? are you relevant
to me? Do I want to
hear more from you
in the future?”
Engagement
Brand Awareness

14. 1414
“I have a problem?”
Education
Problem identification

15. 1515
“What solutions are
available? What factors
should I consider? What
alternatives are there?”
Research
Evaluate Solutions

16. 1616
“Does this product solve
my problem(s) and meet
my specific needs &
requirements?”
Evaluation
Assess satisfaction of needs

17. 1717
“Why should I choose
this? How can I get my
boss and team members
on board?”
Justification
Quantify & justify value,
internal buy-in

18. 1818
“How do I get it? How
difficult will it be to
implement and change
current process?”
Purchase
Transaction & Transition Factors

19. 1919
“How do I successfully
implement, get training,
and start realizing value
asap?”
Adoption
Onboarding & implementation

20. 2020
Retention
Satisfaction and Success
“Does SmartBear care
about my success?
Value adds? Long-term?
Why do I love being a
SmartBear customer?”

21. 2121
“What additional value
can I get from SmartBear?
What other problems can
you help me solve?”
Expansion
Up-sell, Cross-Sell

22. 2222
“What I can do to help
SmartBear?”
Advocacy
Loyalty & Evangelism

23. 2323Pre-Purchase (Prospects) Post-Purchase (Customers)

24. 2424
2 Content Planning with the
Customer Journey in Mind
Mapping Content Strategy to the Customer Journey

25. 2525
Feeding the Content Beast

26. 2626
Metrics
Goals &
Objectives
Content
Audit
Content
Plan
Aligning Content Strategy: Planning Process
Traffic
Free tool downloads
Leads Generated
Content Downloads
QLs
Trials
Trial Activations
Opportunities
Opportunities Won
Renewals
Upsell, Cross-sell
%

27. 2727
Content Overflow

28. 2828SmartBear Confidential and Proprietary
Aligning Content Strategy: Content Audit

29. 2929
Content Audit: Identify Content Gaps
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 Number assets / stage
 Types of assets / stage
 Performance of assets
 Age of content
 Location of content
 Distribution strategy
 Optimization, enhancement,
and re-purposing
 Keyword research

30. 3030
Metrics
Goals &
Objectives
Content
Audit
Content
Plan
Content Strategy: Planning Process
Traffic
Leads Generated
Content Downloads
QLs
Trials
Trial Activations
Opportunities
Opportunities Won
Renewals
Upsell, Cross-sell
%
Topics
Formats
Timeline
Budget
Resources

31. 3131
Lifetime Value: Repurposing Content

32. 3232
Make the investment

33. 3333
3 Aligning Multi-Channel
Content Distribution
Mapping Content Strategy to the Customer Journey
Website
Social
Blog Email
Nurture
Paid
PR
Events
Community

34. 3434
Web: Learning/Resource Centers
SmartBear Confidential and Proprietary

35. 3535
Properties and Communities
Blog & Social
Resource
Centers
Product
Sections
Community
& Support

36. 3636
Paid Advertising
Paid Social
3rd party Email
Sponsored Content
adwords
Re-marketing

37. 3737
Lead Scoring and Nurturing
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Top Funnel
During Trial
Bottom Funnel
Customer

38. 3838
Stages Metrics
Engagement,
Education,
Research
 Blog traffic
 Resource traffic
 Content Downloads
 QLs (Non-trial score-ups)
Evaluation
 Product section traffic
 Trials
 Trial Activations
Justification,
Purchase
 Opportunities opened
 Opportunities closed won
Adoption,
Retention,
Expansion,
Advocacy
 Renewals
 Up-sell, Cross-sell opportunities
 Influitive members/activity

39. Thank you!
Gary DeAsi
Senior Manager, Digital Marketing & Brand
@gdaz
Ryan Pinkham
Content Marketing Manager
@RyanPinkham