This document discusses content marketing and provides strategies for creating helpful content. It begins by highlighting statistics that show the importance and growth of content marketing. However, it notes that not all content is relevant for buyers. The document then provides a five step checklist for creating successful content marketing: 1) understand buyers and their journey; 2) apply content to the buyer journey; 3) set goals; 4) define a content strategy; and 5) tell a good story. It emphasizes the importance of personalizing content for buyers and identifying information gaps. The document concludes by introducing the content marketing agency First Base and the services they provide.

1. CONTENT MARKETING:
FROM HYPE TO
HELPFUL
PresentedtoTechUK
12th FEBRUARY 2015
Prepared by
Faye Hawkins
MD at First Base Communications
@hitfirstbase

2. COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL
PART 1:
THEINESCAPABLEHYPE

3. 26%
WHY CONTENT MATTERS
Content marketing accounts for more than
26 percent of total marketing budgets annually
- Content Marketing Institute 2014

4. 55%
WHY CONTENT MATTERS
Over half of marketers expect to increase their
spend on content marketing in the coming year
- Content Marketing Institute Report 2014

5. 75%
WHY CONTENT MATTERS
Of B2B buyers rely more on content to make
purchasing decisions than they did a year ago
- DemandGen Report 2014

6. 62%
WHY CONTENT MATTERS
The reduction in spend by using content
marketing over traditional marketing – with three
times the lead generation
- DemandMetric 2014

7. BUT IS MORE REALLY MORE?
According to IDG Connect’s IT Buyer Survey, current content
marketing strategies are producing too much content that is
not relevant to buyers.
- CMI 2014
Content
Content
Content

8. QUESTION, QUESTIONS
- Lee Odden, CEO, TopLine Marketing
“People don’t search for you.
They ask questions. If you
want to get found, you better
offer answers.”

9. A FEW QUESTIONS FOR YOU
What do you think content marketing will do
for you?
Do you need more content?
How do you know which is the right content?

10. COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL
PART 2:
AHELPFULWAYFORWARD

11. WHY BOTHER WITH CONTENT MARKETING ANYWAY?
ENHANCED SEARCH VISIBILITY
More relevant, optimised content will improve access to your business and lower barriers to sale
BUDGET EFFICIENCY
Good content applies to multiple prospect and customer marketing initiatives and channels
GENERATE BETTER QUALITY LEADS
Self-selected prospects are worth nurturing to sale and conversion rate is higher
BUYERS ARE SELF-SUFFICIENT
They search and consume information through self-selected channels
AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT RELIES ON RELEVANCE
Understanding audience challenges allows us to connect on their terms
BUYERS ARE FILTERING OUT MARKETING MESSAGES
Good content informs, not interrupts

12. THE CONTENT MARKETER’S CHALLENGE
HOW DO I PLAN FOR THE RIGHT OUTCOME?
WHAT CONTENT SHOULD I INVEST IN?
HOW CAN I MEASURE OR PROVE SUCCESS?

13. FIVE STEP CHECKLIST FOR SUCCESS
PERSONALISE THE BUYER’S JOURNEY
TELL A GOOD STORY
DEFINE CONTENT STRATEGY BASED ON INFORMATION
KNOW WHAT CONTENT YOU”VE ALREADY GOT
SET GOALS FROM THE START

14. STEP 1: UNDERSTAND YOUR BUYERS
WHAT QUESTIONS DO THEY HAVE?
ANY WHY ARE THEY BUYING?
Consider
• Who can help me develop a Modern Marketing strategy?
• Who has experience implementing the kind of program I need?
• What do I need to look for in a strategic partner/agency?
• What services do you offer and how are they different from those of other marketing agencies?
• What are my choices—for technology, tools and support?
• How will I make the business case?
Decide
• How have you helped other companies like mine?
• What do your existing/past clients say about working with you?
• How will you work with my digital/creative team and agencies?
• What kind of ROI can I expect and how long will it take?
• How will this change our organizational structure, processes, budget?
• What are the technology and data requirements—and how will you help me communicate with our IT
and data stakeholders?
Purchase
• Am I comfortable with the terms and with you?
• What safeguards are in place if things go wrong?
• Is my team ready to manage the implementation?
Adopt
• What should I expect and how long will it take?
• How will implementation affect existing programs and processes?
• Do I need to augment or reorganize my team?
• How will you measure and report on results?

15. STEP 1: USE A BUYER JOURNEY FRAMEWORK

16. SALE
STEP 2: APPLY CONTENT TO THE BUYER JOURNEY
FINALISING THE
DEAL
DOING THE DUE DIL
MAKING A DECISION
RESEARCHING AND
EVALUATION
DECIDING TO FIND A
NEW WAY
REALISING THINGS
COULD BE DIFFERENT
UNKNOWN
Prospect is completely unknown. Awareness
campaigns are needed – with sufficient ‘pull’ to convert
to known.
ENQUIRIES - KNOWN
Some indication - relatively little is known about the
prospect at this point. The goal is to qualify the lead
and offer ‘value’ content in exchange for more detail
THEPROSPECT THECONTENT
HOOK
Attract more
inbound prospects
• Infographics
• Video
• Articles and blogs
EXPLORE
Enable them to
continue their journey
anonymously
• Articles
• Top tips / facts
• Video case studies
MARKETING QUALIFIED LEADS (MQL)
A lead that is ready to handover to sales – based on
simple characteristics or strong scoring.
EDUCATE
Enable them to
continue their journey
anonymously
• White papers
• Calculator tools
• Reports
SALES ACCEPTED LEADS (SAL)
A lead accepted by the sales force, and worked
through based on their own strategies and processes.
EVALUATE
Enable them to
continue their journey
anonymously
• Case studies
• Modelling /
use case
• Product spec
SALES QUALIFIED LEADS (SQL)
A lead that has evolved into an opportunity – usually
with the right decision makers with an identified budget
and timeframe.
TRIGGER
Enable them to
continue their journey
anonymously
• Messages
• Email triggers
of downloadable
content

17. STEP 2: IDENTIFY CONTENT GAPS

18. STEP 3: SET THE RIGHT GOALS
WHAT DOES THE BUSINESS
NEED TO ACHIEVE?
WHAT DOES MARKETING
NEED TO ACHIEVE?
HOW WILL THIS CONTENT
HELP?
WHAT METRICS WILL
I TRACK?
KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO INVEST IN AND WHY
DETERMINE EXPECTED OR DESIRABLE OUTCOMES, AND ROAD TEST IT
WORK THROUGH LEAD SCORING AND CONTENT DELIVERY OPTIONS
Growth?
New market entry?
Product launch?
Increase lead conversion?
Accelerate acquisition?
Scale and efficiency?
Building awareness?
Educating buyers?
Nurturing leads?
Click-throughs?
Downloads?
Touches?
Attracting new leads?
Establishing expertise?
Proving your capabilities?
Content goals?
MQLs?
Engage a specific persona?
STEP 4: DETERMINE YOUR STRATEGY

19. FIVE STEP CHECKLIST FOR SUCCESS
PERSONALISE THE BUYER’S JOURNEY
• Do you understand what’s driving your buyers?
• At each stage, what question is the buyer or persona looking to solve?
• What does this tell you about the format and weight of suitable content? Use this to create a working framework
KNOW WHAT CONTENT YOU’VE ALREADY GOT
• Align existing content to each stage of the journey
• Validate with sales – are these anecdotally evidenced?
• What content can you repurpose or optimise for new channels?
SET GOALS FROM THE START
• What’s your marketing priority? Acquisition? Velocity? What does content need to do?
• What barriers do you need to address in your sales funnel?
• Where does your content audit reveal gaps?
DEFINE CONTENT STRATEGY BASED ON INFORMATION
• Know what content you need to invest in and why
• Determine expected or desirable outcomes, and road test it
• Work through lead scoring and content delivery options
TELL A GOOD STORY
• How can you tell a story that takes buyers through a journey?
• What do they really want to know that you’re not giving them?
• How can you make your brand stand out without over-selling?

20. COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL
INTRODUCTION TO
FIRST BASE

21. INTRODUCING FIRST BASE
Awards.
Partnerships / accreditations.
First Base is a content marketing agency for B2B
technology brands.
Founded in 2013, First Base is one of London’s leading
content marketing agencies. We enable our clients to:
• develop good strategy
• become more effective in their marketing
• deliver better results in their lead generation
We do great work without the bullshit.
We deliver all of the essential pillars of content marketing
under one roof.
Clients love us because we understand their market and we
take the time to understand their business and their buyers.
We excel by offering expert, insightful people and deep sector
knowledge all mixed up with a genuine desire to add value to
the client.

22. WHO WE WORK WITH
First Base delivers both specialist services and complete outsourced content marketing support to
a range of global enterprise and challenger businesses.

23. OUR SERVICES
• Marketing strategy
• Growth strategy / consulting
• Buyer persona development
• Brand strategy
• Positioning & messaging
• Marketing operations / process
definition
• Planning
• KPI & metrics definition
• Content strategy
• Buyer journey frameworks
• Content analysis / audit
• Content mapping
• Content planning
• Creative content
• Content optimisation / SEO
focused
• Content atomisation (for inbound)
• Brand identity
• Visual communication guidelines
• Creative concept
• Website page styling and design
• All digital content formats
• Print artwork
• Google AdWords strategy
• Campaign management &
optimisation
• SEO & keyword strategy
• SEO implementation – on and off
page
• Social PPC strategy
• Social optimisation
• PR
• Above the line
STRATEGY CONTENT DESIGN INBOUND
• Email marketing
• Trigger and nurture campaigns
• Segmented social distribution
• MQL generation and qualification
• Lead scoring framework
development and implementation
• Email marketing
• Account based marketing
• Information architecture
• Wireframing
• Web development strategy
• CMS management
• Analytics
• Performance optimisation
• Technology consulting
• Process and tools integration
X
• Social strategy
• Influencer / stakeholder / buyer
mapping
• Audience acquisition
• Events optimisation
• Audience segmentation
• Outbound communications
• Branded channel optimisation
• Content curation
DIGITALOUTBOUND LEAD GENSOCIAL

24. THANK YOU
For more information please contact:
FAYE HAWKINS
Managing Director
+44 7789 385286
faye@hitfirstbase.com
@fayeatfirstbase