Guide on developing a sustainable content strategy, goals of content marketing, types of content to use for different user profiles and ways to syndicate those content types.

1. Content Strategy
Pubcon Vegas 2013
Loren Baker, VP, Foundation Digital

2. About Me
Loren
Baker
15 Years of SEO, Paid Search, Social Strategy, Media Buying, Wordpress Development
& Content Publishing Experience.
• Search Engine Journal
• Alpha Brand Media
• Foundation Digital
• Client Focus on Integrated Content Solutions for Cross Channel Growth
• Focus – B2B, Consumer Targeted Marketplaces, Finance & Insurance

3. Define Your Goals
What
is
Your
Project’s
Big
Picture?
SEO alone is not a sustainable goal for a content strategy, instead that content must
live on its own, which in turn will assist your SEO. Google wants to serve the best
content possible for the user experience, not vice versa.
• SEO Rankings, Links & Organic Traffic
• Social Conversation & Brand Advocacy
• Lead Generation – Funnel into Marketing Automation
• Sales and Conversion Collateral [Online & in the Field]

4. Define Your Goals
Content
Should
Never
Serve
One
Master
All stakeholders must be at the table in order for the content strategy to be a true
success. The beauty of content marketing is that it is beneficial to:
• SEO
• PR
• Branding
• Paid Media (Amplication & Retargeting)
• Communications (Pharma Example)
• CMO / CEO / HR (Recruiting)

5. Content Initiatives, Not Pieces
Everyone
Processes
Content
in
a
Different
Way
B2C very dependent on blog posts, B2B very dependent on eBooks. Look at the big
picture.
• eBooks -> Full of Digestible Nuggets that can be lost
• Blog Posts -> Great for Breaking Down Chapters and Thoughts
• Infographics -> Still a lot of Love
• Infograms -> Not everyone has time to scroll.
• Video -> I learn with movies.
• MicroVideo (Instagram, Vine, Mixbit) -> Teens & Social Friendly
• BONUS -> Consolidated Design Efforts

6. Content Ideation
Plan
What
Works
vs.
Seeing
What
SDcks
Based on Goals, determine themes that support the goals.
• SEO Targets -> Semantic Modifiers of Keyword Buckets that Drive Context
• Outreach Targets -> What Resonates with Publishers in the Target Verticals
• Social Sharing -> What Kinds of Content or Topics Get the Most Interaction
• Social Influencers -> Who is Sharing What Kind of Content in this Vertical
• Ad Enhancement -> Opportunities to Grow Content Amplification in Paid Channels
• Content Lifespan -> Can this Content Live and Breathe on its Own?

7. Build Your Content Nucleus
The
On-­‐Site
FoundaDon
Your on-site goals may be different than content syndication or lead gen.
• Syndicated content should not link directly to money pages [not natural or
trusted], it should link to an on-page source
• Once on-page source attracts links and value, equity can be routed
• Infographic image files are great for syndication, but not on-site w/o supporting
content
• HTML 5 is a preferred and indexable way to support graphic assets and still be
SEO friendly, blog posts or HTML content pages are good too.

8. Working with Publishers
Trusted
Voices
&
Warm
IntroducDons
Turn loyal audiences into your own brand evangelists.
• Blogger Outreach -> Target publishers during the final stages of design and offer
them an exclusive to be first to publish
• Leverage Relationships with Publishers -> Can you invite them in the ideation
process?
• Repurpose Content -> What’s worked for them in the past and how can you put
your own twist on it?
• Leverage Your Audience -> Remember, this is a joint effort.

9. Syndicate Your Infographics
Get
Your
Work
in
Front
of
Who
MaNers
Precise targeting is more important than numbers alone.
• Slideshare -> Most Underutilized Infographic Channel. Comes with LinkedIn
Integration and Lots of Google Love. People Share & Embed SlideShare.
• Visual.ly -> Set Up Branded Channels for Link Juice Purposes. Bloggers turn to
Visual.ly for Content. Extends the Life of Your Content.
• IMGUR & Minus.com -> Imgur gets more traffic than Reddit. No natural links but
great for social sharing, view count & influence. Minus.com is up & coming.
• Pinterest.com -> Especially for B2C, perfect format and paid ad options.

10. Syndicate Your Infograms / eCards
Get
Your
Work
in
Front
of
Who
MaNers
These should be your site & blog post featured images.
• Facebook & Instagram -> Where the masses share, comment, engage & link. Don’t
upload images, share image from the page level on your site.
• Google+ -> Like Facebook, page shares result in page level signals.
• Flickr.com -> Yahoo!’s sleeping giant. Still relevant, highly trusted w/ embed
links.
• Twitter -> If your site uses Twitter Cards, default on blog posts. Twitpics. More
page level signals.
• Tumblr -> Reblogging leads to links, views and brand interaction.

11. Syndicate Your Videos
Get
Your
Work
in
Front
of
Who
MaNers
Everyone loves video and YES it can drive signals to your site if done right.
• YouTube.com-> World’s 2nd largest search engine. 40% of traffic is mobile. Google
loves promoting its own videos in SERPS.
• Joost SEO Plugin -> Rank your site hosted video in Universal SERPs rather than
YouTube.
• Vine.com & Instagram -> 2 minutes is too long for most attention spans. 7 seconds
or 16 seconds is perfect. Behind scenes / Previews … link to source & syndicate.
• Mixbit -> Launched by YouTube’s founders, addresses every issue YouTube has with
editing, annotations and mobile upload. Wonder who will acquire this?

12. Syndicate Your Coverage & Blogging
Get
Your
Work
in
Front
of
Who
MaNers
These should be your site & blog post featured images.
• Guest Blogging -> Find people who write and syndicate their own work to use you
as a source
• Do your homework here. Guest blogging is being abused. Look into authors,
where they write, who they link to and how they link.
• Paid targeting & sponsored stories -> Facebook.com, LinkedIn, Twitter ..etc.
• Fans of Wordpress & Blogging who like your company, competitors and
vertical.
• Advertise Slideshare & Visual.ly, not just your site. Bloggers will pick those up

13. Syndicate to Your Customer
Get
Your
Work
in
Front
of
Who
MaNers
Your established lists are your true brand ambassadors. Expand the perimeters.
• Email -> Tastefully bring your content to your customer inboxes
• Industry bloggers, influencers, social users follow and love your brand
• Social Media -> Mobilize your audience by giving them the means to become your
brand advocates and spread your message to their connections
• Press Releases -> Good (even Bad) PR gets better with Visual Assets
• Ad Retargeting -> AdRoll and other retargeting tools can serve a custom message
to the users who visited your site or clicked on relevant Facebook ads

14. Build Upon Your Foundation
Less
Pages,
More
Rich
Content
Develop pages that have the best, most relevant content in your vertical
• Your on-site resource page can now start including the collateral that you have
just syndicated.
• Include Slideshare hosted eBooks or Infographics
• Include Video
• Include Embeds to Others who have Tweeted About You
• Include Instagram Embeds
• Make your resource / glossary / hub the best user experience possible

15. Never Stop Innovating
Don’t
Let
the
Lights
Dim
on
a
Great
Idea
Even evergreen content needs an update, and new channels equal new opps.
• Update content if and when needed. HTML content is easily changed.
• Issue new updated collateral to publishers who featured you before.
• If a new channel appears or becomes popular, create content for it.
• Seasonal & event content can peak year after year after year.
• How long has DC been telling the Batman story and how as it changed each time?
• Don’t think Short-Term … that’s what gets people in trouble.
• Impatience in marketing is what fuels bad decisions

16. Thanks!
@lorenbaker
loren@foundationdigital.com
gplus.to/lorenbaker