1. 23 May 2012
Content: The Key to Inbound Success
Jay Gaines
Ona Koehler
Group Director, Demand
Senior Benchmark Analyst

2. Executive Summary
• Key issues
– Inbound marketing has become a required part of the overall b-to-b
mix
– Inbound approaches have created new content requirements that
many organizations struggle to meet
– A cohesive content strategy based on buyer intelligence is the
foundation for highly effective inbound strategies
• What you will walk away with
– An understanding of how inbound is evolving content requirements
– A definition of the elements of an effective inbound content strategy
– Key approaches for using content strategy to drive inbound success
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3. The Critical Role of Inbound
It’s a buyer-driven world, and we’re all living in it

4. Survey Results: Defining Inbound Marketing
SiriusPerspective: Tactics extended to an unknown target audience that
deliver value-added content and are consumed at an individual’s discretion.
% of respondents
Social media
84%
SEO
84%
81%
Keyword advertising
67%
Display advertising
Online demos/trials
61%
Demand Creation and
Reputation
Technology
63%
Content syndication
User-Driven
0%
50%
Value-Added Content
100%
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5. Survey Results: Inbound Marketing Priorities
SiriusPerspective: Attract, engage and qualify are the top three priorities
for inbound marketers.
INBOUND MARKETING SPEND
Current state
37%−50%
of DC
INBOUND MARKETING PRIORITIES
Score
Outlook 2015
50%−65%
of DC
76
61
Outbound
Inbound
QUALIFY
Buyer’s information
gathering
ENGAGE
ATTRACT
Other
57
Inbound
Improve quality
of responses
Attract buyers early
83
Outbound
-
50
100
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6. Content Strategy
Taking a systematic approach

7. Inbound and Content: Don’t Panic!
SiriusPerspective: Content is the fuel that powers effective inbound
marketing, but an ad hoc content approach simply won’t do.
Effective inbound
strategies require
content that is . . .
Brief, valuable, targeted,
broadly appealing,
unique, findable
Mwahahahaaaaaa!
The Content
Monster
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8. The Content Strategy Requirement
The Pillars of Content
Marketing for Inbound
SiriusPerspective: A sound content strategy is the foundation for
inbound demand creation performance optimization.
Targeting
Buyer Persona
Alignment
Buyer’s Journey
Alignment
Campaign
Alignment
Offer
Improved
targeting of key
buyer roles using
buyer intelligence
More compelling
offers and offer
sequences to drive
qualifying
behaviors
Streamlined
planning of
integrated inbound
and outbound
components
Placement
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9. Polling Question
• Which of the following statements most closely describes
the content strategy for your inbound marketing efforts?
– Strategy? What strategy?
– It is fragmented and inconsistent
– It is consistent with outbound marketing strategy only
– It is aligned to the buyer’s journey
– It is consistent with overall marketing strategy
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10. Inbound Content Strategy: A Five-Pronged Approach
SiriusPerspective: A sound content strategy for inbound requires a
systematic, closed-loop approach to content management and execution.
Objective
• Campaign
framework
• Demand type
• Buyer’s journey
• Planning
Content
Asset
Architecture
• Define the
audience
• Audit and map
assets
• Content library
Content
Execution
• Content mediums
• Delivery
mechanisms
• Dynamic content
• Crowd-sourcing
Measurement
• Engagement
rate
• Conversion rates
• SEO
performance
Continuous
Improvement
• Revisions
• Content
rationalization
• Buyer’s journey
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11. One: Objective
SiriusPerspective: The majority of inbound strategies are not aligned with
the buying cycle or are targeted exclusively to the earliest stage.
DEMAND TYPE
MARKET
PENETRATION
New Concept
New Paradigm
Market
Share
Low
Established Market
Customer
Acquisi)on
Market
Crea)on
Market
Leadership
High
A:ract
Engage
Qualify
Wallet
Share
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12. Two: Content Asset Architecture
SiriusPerspective: The process of building a content asset architecture is
the foundation of a strategic approach to content management.
Assign ownership
Audit and map content
Define audience
segments
Identify information
needs
Fill content gaps
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13. Three: Content Execution
SiriusPerspective: Inbound performance can be maximized through high
relevancy, content curation and optimized content delivery mechanisms.
Attract
Contributors
Internal
Analysts
Partners
Prospects
Clients
Competitors
Engage
Qualify
Delivery
SEO
Navigation
Keyword
Call to action
Syndication
WCM/WCO
Mobile
Personas
Buyer’s Journey
EDUCATION
SOLUTION
VENDOR
SELECTION
Content Types
WHITE PAPERS
PEER REFERRALS
WEBINARS
CASE STUDIES
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14. Content Execution: An Example
SiriusPerspective: Inbound performance can be maximized through high
relevancy, content curation and optimized content delivery mechanisms.
Attract
Contributors
Internal
Analysts
Partners
Prospects
Clients
Competitors
Engage
Qualify
Delivery
SEO
Navigation
Keyword
Call to action
Syndication
WCM/WCO
Mobile
Personas
Buyer’s Journey
EDUCATION
SOLUTION
VENDOR
SELECTION
Content Types
WHITE PAPERS
PEER REFERRALS
WEBINARS
CASE STUDIES
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15. Content Strategy Deep Dive
It’s all about your ability to attract, then engage and qualify

16. Polling Question
• How does your organization currently measure the impact
of its inbound efforts?
– We don’t measure it
– Primarily activity metrics (e.g. views, clicks, Web site visits)
– Activity metrics, plus conversion of unknown visitors to
known
– Conversion of inbound sourced contacts to MQLs (salesready leads)
– Conversion of inbound sourced contacts to pipeline and/or
revenue
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17. Attract: Topic-Driven SEO Only
SiriusPerspective: SEO in the absence of a content strategy tends to be
unfocused, too broad, diluted and ineffective.
Personas
Topics
Buying
Cycles
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18. Attract: SEO and More
SiriusPerspective: SEO in the absence of a content strategy tends to be
unfocused, too broad, diluted and ineffective.
Personas
Buying Cycle
Your
Content
Strategy
Topics
Preferences
Formats
Gating Rules
SEO/PPC
Focused and aligned with key personas
Social Media
Topic alignment, identification of social sites
Content Syndication
Key destinations, relevant topics, optimal formats
Influencer Marketing
Improved targeting, identification and engagement
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19. Engage: Dynamic Content
SiriusPerspective: The information flow between buyer behavior and
dynamic content allows marketers to identify the buyer genome.
Visit source
Content selection
Repeat traffic
Preference data
Buyer
Behavior
Persona
Dynamic
Content
Buying Cycle
Stage
Multiple calls to action
Refresh/update
Customized content
Business
Need
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20. Engage: Before and After
SiriusPerspective: Inbound has become the primary source of Web visits,
but visitor engagement requires a content strategy.
No Content Strategy
Content Strategy
Extremely busy home page
Clean, rules-based home page
Dozens of landing pages
Minimal use of landing pages
60%+ bounce rate
50%+ visitors go past POE
< 2% response rates
> 5% response rates
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21. Qualify: Lead Enrichment
SiriusPerspective: A cohesive content strategy combined with an
integrated set of technologies enables deeper lead qualification.
Planning
WCM and MAP
Sales View SFA
(Activity Details)
Rules
Content
strategy
Content
attributes,
weighting
Predefined
behaviors
Topical interests
Predefined topic
categories
Product association
Plain-English
descriptors
Urgency
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22. Qualify: Progressive Profiling
SiriusPerspective: Progressive profiling combines gathering explicit and
implicit visitor data, which can’t be done without a content strategy.
Fully Qualified Lead
Explicit data + Activity meaning
Explicit Data
Maximum 3-5 questions, map to lead
definition
Technology
Infrastructure
MAP, WCM, SFA
Lead Definition
Attributes, score
Implicit Data
Pre-defined activity, recency, frequency
Content Mapping
Rules
Buying cycle,
personas
Dynamic content
delivery
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23. Planning and Integration
Ensuring that content gets its seat at the strategy table

24. The Role of the Content Strategist
SiriusPerspective: Developing a cohesive content strategy requires an
accountable leader who will drive interlock across functions.
Content Strategist
Responsibilities
- Content architecture
- Development strategy
- Training and measurement
- Shared service management
Strategy
- Enable content developers in the
business to create assets that can be
leveraged in a common framework
Content Framework
- Structured forms of content
- Technical architecture
- Playbook on content development
The Internal Content Community
Marcom
Brand
Managers
Managers
Sales
Operations
Product
Managers
Content
Strategist
Industry
Marketing
Solution
Field
Managers
Marketing
Program
Marketing
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25. Content: The Core of Campaign Integration
SiriusPerspective: A content strategy ensures that inbound efforts
effectively align with and support campaign themes.
The overall themes
on which programs are
based
Campaign One
Campaign Two
Campaign Three Campaign Four
Reputation
Inbound Marketing
Demand Creation
Sales
Enablement
Market
Intelligence
The red vertical bars signify
inbound strategies linked to
specific campaigns
The red horizontal arrow signifies
generalized inbound strategies
that benefit all campaigns
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26. Action Items
• Marketing
– Pilot a content strategy for a defined audience/offering pairing
in order to learn and prove the concept
– Measure impact in defined categories, including attract,
engage, qualify and internal efficiency
• Sales
– Work with marketing to define buyer’s journey, key personas
and information needs
– Prepare to engage with knowledgeable inbound leads
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27. Recommended Research
• Inbound Marketing, the Sirius Way
• Inbound Targeting: From Passive to Proactive
• Integrating Inbound Marketing Into Campaign Planning
• Optimizing B-to-B Web Site Conversion
• Content and Web Site Conversion Optimization
• Building a Content Strategy
• Progressive Profiling: The Sirius View
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