A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success A 10-Step Blueprint to Content Marketing Success © 2014 NewsCred / NewsCred.com / (212) 989-4100 / sales@newscred.com © 2014 NewsCred 1

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success © 2014 NewsCred 2

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success Table of Contents 01 Introduction 02 The Blueprint 03 Idea Generation 04 Sourcing Talent and Content 05 Workflow Management 06 Impact Analysis 07 Conclusion and About © 2014 NewsCred 3

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 01 Introduction Introduction The Content Marketing Institute recently surveyed B2B marketers and learned that: 93% of marketers use content marketing. Brands were 36% more confident about the ROI of content marketing last year than they were in the year before. 58% of content marketers plan to increase their budgets to create more content over the next year. 73% of marketers were producing more content at the end of 2013 than they were the year prior. © 2014 NewsCred 4

The Trust Transaction 01 Introduction
The secret to content marketing is no secret: it’s storytelling. You know great content when you see it. How do you create a brand newsroom within your company? This blueprint will breakdown the tactics you need to create content at scale. © 2014 NewsCred 5

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 02 The Blueprint The Blueprint Idea Generation What types of content should my company create? Sourcing Talent and Content How do I find writers and manage content creation? Workflow Management How do I keep everything organized? Impact Analysis How do I measure successes and identify areas for improvement? w re © 2014 NewsCred 6

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 03 Idea Generation Idea Generation Find questions that your brand is excited to answer. • Find out what questions your customers and potential customers are asking about your industry or product. How can you find ways to answer those questions creatively while improving your audience’s overall experience? How can you be a resource to them? • Talk to your sales team – learn what’s most inspiring (and confusing) to your customers and prospects. • Reach out to your business partners, consultants, and experts – your marketing team’s eyes and ears – to figure out how your brand can add value. “ The value of content marketing boils down to one concept – reciprocal altruism. When brands give something away for free, they get much more in return. ” Scott Roen Vice President of Digital Marketing at American Express OPEN © 2014 NewsCred 7

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 03 Idea Generation Figure out what’s missing – what pressing questions are going unanswered? These gaps will become your content pillars. • Look at search trends to understand what your customers are looking for and then use programs like Google Keywords to meet them in the search process. You can also run customer development interviews to figure out what audiences want to learn. What questions do they have and how can you answer them best? • What can you learn from influencers on your social channels? What topics and questions are they constantly revisiting? Once you’ve exhausted these research channels, choose three to five major issues in your industry and build your content around those pillars. • Create content – blog posts, infographics, or whitepapers – that speak to these tangible, specific needs directly. © 2014 NewsCred 8

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 03 Idea Generation Analyze your conversion funnel. Figure out where each of your topics and content types fit. • Harness early-funnel opportunities to build awareness and engagement among new audiences who may not have heard about your brand before. • Focus on mid-to-late funnel opportunites to drive leads and sales with higher quality, more in-depth content. • Rely on content creation to re-engage past customers and encourage repeat business. “ Success in content marketing relies on velocity, quality, and volume. ” Rishi Dave CMO at Dun & Bradstreet © 2014 NewsCred 9

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 03 Idea Generation Create an influencer strategy. • Find existing discussion leaders in your industry. Interview them or invite them to write on behalf of your brand. • Read what your customers are reading. Learn what they care about and who they trust. “ Content isn’t king. It’s the kingdom. ” Lee Oden CEO at TopRank © 2014 NewsCred 10

04 Sourcing T A 10
Step Blueprint to Content Marketing Success alent and Content Sourcing Talent and Content Build your freelance network. • Even though the content creator or freelancer is a ‘service provider,’ your brand needs to make a great impression by offering the right incentives – competitive pay and steady, ongoing work. • Share your editorial vision, brand strategy, and goals. • The longer you work together, the more efficient you will become. Empower your content creators to learn about – and care about – your brand. Give lots of credit so that freelancers are recognized for their work, with a byline where relevant. Many content creators are looking for more than money in their career paths. You can also work with companies like NewsCred to find highly qualified writers with built-in networks that overlap with your audience. © 2014 NewsCred 11

04 Sourcing T A 10
Step Blueprint to Content Marketing Success alent and Content 12 Keep your content network growing. Practice the rule of thirds: One part owned, original content, one part curated licensed content, and one part thought leadership or user generated content. • Presenting a mix of content and content sources gives your readers greater variety. • Licensing content from the world’s top media brands can help quickly scale your content strategy and also share content that you don’t have the bandwith to cover. • Influencer, UGC, or “earned content” boosts credibility to your audience and offers the perspective of a consumer or outside thought leader. © 2014 NewsCred

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 05 Workflow Management Workflow Management Don’t let logistics bog you down – use technology to create a productive, fun workflow. • Think beyond spreadsheets. Reimagine your content marketing workflow. • Focus on what you “need” rather than what’s “out there.” NewsCred’s software workflows seamlessly manage content for midsize businesses and multinational corporations. • Talk to consultants, business partners, and fellow content marketers to survey the entire market – cast your net wide to find the tools that are right for you. © 2014 NewsCred 13

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 05 Workflow Management Create an editorial calendar to manage assignments, project due dates, and publishing schedules. • Ask your entire team for input, but designate one person as the ‘owner’ of the editorial calendar. • Think of your editorial calendar as a ‘workflow hub’ to make sure that everyone on your team is synced up on content, events, PR, and more. • Be open to criticism and feedback. Iterate. Look for solutions to help your content team scale. “ What would your marketing look like if your customers signed your paycheck? ” Ann Handley Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs © 2014 NewsCred 14

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 06 Impact Analysis Impact Analysis Success in content marketing doesn’t happen overnight. You need to test, measure, and build upon your strategy. FOCUS ON THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS How effective is your content in connecting audiences with your brand? • Measure social shares and referral traffic — who is sharing How effective is your content in driving interest and engagement? • Measure traffic, time on site, and pages per visit. Is your content inspiring prospects to do business with you? • Measure lead generation, quality of leads, and entrance and touch points. How effective is your content strategy? • Measure all these stats against your ROI. © 2014 NewsCred 15

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 06 Impact Analysis Think like a journalist and a statistician. Learn who’s consuming your content, why they’re interested, and what next steps they’re taking with your brand. • Look for trends – over time, within, and between content categories. • Track results systematically so that you can quickly identify successes and areas for improvement. Test, measure, scale, repeat. • Choose the right metrics to make sure that you are capturing all stages of the conversion funnel – website visitors, social media shares, newsletter sign-ups, offer downloads, and sales. “ Empathy is not what you do, but what you do for your customers. ” Ann Handley Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs © 2014 NewsCred 16

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 06 Impact Analysis Iterate, scale, and repeat. • Figure out where you’re successful – amplify those efforts. • Figure out where you haven’t met your goals – don’t be afraid to switch gears. • Continuously invest in your team’s learning – focus on building a scalable, high-impact content program that audiences love. “ As marketers, we should be changing the mantra from always be closing to always be helping. ” Jonathan Lister VP North America Sales at LinkedIn © 2014 NewsCred 17

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 07 Conclusion and About Conclusion Your brand has the potential to be a newsroom – a robust editorial operation and revenue source. Three core ingredients will make your brand shine: people, technology, and left-meets-right brain creativity. Ready to turn your blueprint into the real deal? Get in touch with NewsCred today to learn more about how we can help you build your content marketing empire with licensed content, original content, strategy planning, and content management software. NewsCred.com (212) 989-4100 sales@newscred.com © 2014 NewsCred 18

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 07 Conclusion and About About NewsCred NewsCred is the leading content marketing platform. Pairing cutting-edge software with world-class content, NewsCred transforms brands into storytellers. NewsCred’s Content Marketing Cloud© provides the easiest end-to-end solution for content planning, creation, publishing, and analytics. In one place, brands gain unprecedented access to the world’s largest content marketplace, including licensed content from over 5,000 publishers and original content from NewsCred’s award-winning journalist network. Through NewsCred, global brands like Pepsi, P&G, Dell, General Electric, and AIG have seen explosive growth in social sharing, engagement, and lead generation. Founded in 2008 by Shafqat Islam, Iraj Islam, and Asif Rahman, NewsCred has offices in New York, London, and Dhaka and is backed by FirstMark Capital, Mayfield Fund, IA Ventures, Greycroft Partners, and others. Learn more at newscred.com and follow us on Twitter @newscred. © 2014 NewsCred 19

A 10 Step Blueprint to
Content Marketing Success 07 Conclusion and About © 2014 NewsCred / NewsCred.com / (212) 989-4100 / sales@newscred.com © 2014 NewsCred 20