The ABCs Of Content Marketing
(A–M) Dana Larson @danamlarson

A B C D E
AMPLIFY YOUR CONTENT BE USEFUL COMMIT TO SUCCESS DON’T FORGET MOBILE EMPLOY IMAGES

A AMPLIFY YOUR CONTENT Don’t
rely on a single channel Repackage, repurpose, redistribute

B BE USEFUL Determine what
your audience wants and give it to them.

B “Just stop trying to
be amazing and start being useful. Create marketing that has intrinsic value, so much so that people would pay for it if you asked them.” Jay Baer Author, Youtility BE USEFUL

B DataSite, a Merrill Corp.
company, created a Best Practices of the Best Dealmakers book series • Offered as e-book chapters and printed book • Promoted via email, social media, PPC, website BE USEFUL

B The Key To Success:
It’s more than just Merrill’s POV Merrill offers peers’ views through surveys, the science behind the methodologies (by including various academics’ viewpoints and instruction), and expert analysis (including a cross-section of opinions) from legal firms across the nation BE USEFUL

B Success Metrics • Reached
over 500,000 people (email and social media distribution) • More than 20,000 downloads (20,672 to date) • Generated an estimated $7M - $9M in new opportunities • Estimated $15,000 - $20,000+ in book sales through collaborator M&A advisors • Used as teaching material in three university MBA programs BE USEFUL

C Commit to a long-term
strategy and document it B2B CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY 2015 RESEARCH 48% SAY THEY HAVE A CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY, BUT IT IS NOT DOCUMENTED 35% SAY THEY HAVE A DOCUMENT CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY 28% MORE EFFECTIVE FOR THOSE WITH A DOCUMENTED STRATEGY VS. THOSE WITHOUT Source: Content Marketing Institute COMMIT TO SUCCESS

D Mobile is taking over
the world. Be ready! DON’T FORGET MOBILE Source: ATU a16z Billion people online 5 1995 2000 2004 2020 4 3 2 1 0 People online Smartphones

2005 A new pope is
chosen

2013 A new pope is
chosen

Mobile is driving B2B purchase
decisions B2B EXECUTIVES USING MOBILE TO MAKE PURCHASE DECISIONS D 52% SAY THEY’RE COMFORTABLE MAKING PURCHASES ON A MOBILE DEVICE 70% OF EXECUTIVES USE SMARTPHONES/ TABLETS TO LOOK UP PRODUCT/SERVICE INFO 51% SAY THAT A MOBILE DEVICE WILL BE THEIR PRIMARY BUSINESS PLATFORM IN 3 YEARS Source: Forbes DON’T FORGET MOBILE

Show and tell to give
your audience options STUDIES SHOW THAT PEOPLE REMEMBER 20% OF WHAT THEY READ 10% OF WHAT THEY HEAR 80% OF WHAT THEY SEE AND DO E EMPLOY IMAGES

Show and tell to drive
views and engagement IMAGES DRIVE VIEWS AND ENGAGEMENT Sources: MDG Advertising and PR Newswire E 77% INCREASE IN RESPONSE RATE FOR PRESS RELEASES WITH PHOTOS/VIDEO 94% MORE VIEWS FOR ARTICLES WITH IMAGES THAN THOSE WITHOUT EMPLOY IMAGES

F G H I FOCUS
ON TOPICS THAT FILL A NICHE GET BUY-IN FROM THE TOP DOWN HARNESS THE POWER OF BLOGGING INFO-GRAPHICS COMMAND EYEBALLS

Find your niche to capture
attention and SEO traffic F FOCUS ON TOPICS THAT FILL A NICHE

Gain everyone’s under-standing 22% OF
B2B MARKETERS FOUND IT CHALLENGING and support to win GETTING EXECUTIVE BUY-IN CAN BE CHALLENGING G GET BUY-IN FROM THE TOP DOWN 21% OF B2C MARKETERS FOUND IT CHALLENGING Source: Content Marketing Institute

Keep your site fresh and
boost links with blog posts BLOGGING DRIVES TRAFFIC AND LEADS 67% MORE LEADS GENERATED BY B2B COMPANIES WITH A BLOG THAN THOSE WITHOUT H HARNESS THE POWER OF BLOGGING 5X MORE SEARCH TRAFFIC FOR COMPANIES THAT BLOG AT LEAST 15X/MONTH Source: Social B2B+ AND SEOmoz

Infographics benefit from higher engagement
and sharing GET MORE LIKES, TWEETS, SHARES, ETC. I 48% INCREASE IN VIEWERSHIP BY INCLUDING INFOGRAPHICS INFO-GRAPHICS COMMAND EYEBALLS Source: MDG Advertising

J K L M JAM
THAT CALENDAR KEEP IT REAL LIKES DON’T EQUAL FANS MEASURE RESULTS AND OPTIMIZED

Plan and fill a calendar
to ensure good content distribution 1. EFFECTIVELY UTILIZE (LIMITED) RESOURCES 2. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ANY SEASONALITIES 3. CONSIDER YOUR PRODUCT ROADMAP 4. COORDINATE WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS (E.G. PR) 5. ENSURE CONSISTENT COVERAGE J JAM THAT CALENDAR

Keep your goals realistic and
Krooted in your audience KEEP IT REAL

You can’t bribe people to
Lbecome fans of your brand LIKES DON’T EQUAL FANS

No campaign is “one and
done” M MEASURE RESULTS AND OPTIMIZE SET KPIs EARLY TO MEASURE & OPTIMIZE EFFECTIVELY 90% ARE UNSURE THAT THEIR KEY CONTENT METRICS ARE EFFECTIVE IN MEASURING BUSINESS RESULTS Source: Contently

Thank you STAY TUNED FOR
“ABCs OF CONTENT MARKETING (N–Z)” COMING SOON