1.
Why Your Content
Marketing is Failing
(and how to fix it)

2.
customerjourneymarketer.com
Throughout the
presentation, click
the twitter icons to
tweet anything you
find interesting!

3.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is the
marketing and business
process for creating and
distributing relevant and
valuable content to attract,
acquire, and engage a
clearly defined and
understood target audience
– with the objective of driving
profitable customer action.
“Traditional marketing
and advertising is
telling the world you’re
a rock star.
Content Marketing is
showing the world that
you are one.”
-Robert Rose, Chief
Strategy Officer, CMI

4.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Content is the Fuel of our Digital
Marketing Engines
Content is the Fuel to our
Digital Marketing Engines.

5.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
But Not Everyone Gets the Same Mileage out of it…
41%
of marketers say
content marketing
has positive ROI

6.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
B2B Marketers are Increasing Spend on
Content Marketing
And 70% are not effective?!

7.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com

8.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
EVERYONE FAILS
AT CONTENT
MARKETING.
(some just more often than others)

9.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Some more positive ways to look at failure…

10.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Why is your Content
Marketing Failing?
not working?
What can we learn?

11.
People &
Process
Personas,
Customers
Planning
& Strategy
Production
& Design
Publishing
& Promotion
Performance
& Metrics
rePurposing
& Refining
People
& Process
7 P’s of the
Content
Marketing
Life Cycle
customerjourneymarketer.com

12.
Personas
& Customers
Personas &
Customers
Planning
& Strategy
Production
& Design
Publishing
& Promotion
Performance
& Metrics
rePurposing
& Refining
People
& Process

13.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Take an Inside-Out Approach

14.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You’re not driving qualified traffic
Target
audience

15.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Find “Triple Threat” Topics
Business
objectives,
Value props
Customer
Needs
Customer
Interests
Priority 1 topics
Priority 2 topics

16.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Your Content Sells More than it Educates
We see 3,000-20,000
brand messages a day

17.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com

18.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You pull a “Trojan Horse”
Outside:
Looks like free
educational content
(to help me)
Inside:
Selling the
product/service
(all about you)

19.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Your Content Doesn’t Answer Your
Customers’ Questions
27%of search queries
are questions
70%
growth in “how to”
searches on youtube
72%
of buyers turn to
Google in the
“awareness” stage
research

20.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
What Questions are Your Customers Asking?

21.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Don’t Understand Your Customers
Individual
Job titles
Key responsibilities
Motivators
Top priorities and concerns
Pain points
Common objections
Role in purchasing process
Consumption preferences
Terminology & language
Organization
Industry vertical
Company size
Business model
Org structure
Technology stack
Geographic locations

22.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
How do customers solve the problem
before they come to you?
Manually
“Low-End” Competitor
Free Tool
Homegrown Solution
“High-End” Competitor
Not doing anything
Outsourcing

23.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Identify and Capitalize on Buying Triggers
What common events
set customers off in
search of a solution?

24.
Planning
& Strategy People
& Process
Personas &
Customers
Planning
& Strategy
Production
& Design
Publishing
& Promotion
Performance
& Metrics
rePurposing
& Refining
People
& Process
Random Acts
of Content

25.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Don’t Have A Documented Plan &
Strategy
READY! FIRE! AIM!

26.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
90%
of the buyer’s journey is
self-directed
11.4
the average number of pieces
of content consumers engage
with before making a B2B
purchase
ROAD TO ADVOCACY
Your Content Strategy Isn’t Aligned with
the Customer Journey

27.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Click here to learn more
about this customer
journey stages model

28.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You think Customer Journeys are Linear
Engagement
Content 1
Education
Content 2
“First they get this content then
they get that, next they this…”
Research
Content 3
Evaluation
Content 4
Justification
Content 5
This does NOT work.

29.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Don’t try to play God.

30.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.comSmartBear Confidential and Proprietary
?
“Why do I have a problem?!"
“What solutions are available?
What factors should I consider?”
“Does this product solve my problem(s)
& meet my needs/requirements?”
"Why should I choose this? How can I get
my boss and team members on board?”
“Hello, brand, do I like you, are you relevant to me?”
“How do I get it? How difficult will it be to
implement and change current process?”
Just focus on
answering your
customers’ questions
at each stage

31.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
TRI
AL
Make Sure Every Piece of Content is a Door,
Bridge and Ladder
to more relevant
content at same stage
Find you and
enter the funnel
at any stage
to later stages
in the journey

32.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
TRI
AL
Make Sure Every Piece of Content is a Door,
Bridge and Ladder
to more relevant
content at same stage
Find you and
enter the funnel
at any stage
to later stages
in the journey

33.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
TRI
AL
Make Sure Every Piece of Content is a Door,
Bridge and Ladder
to more relevant
content at same stage
Find you and
enter the funnel
at any stage
to later stages
in the journey

34.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Content Planning Process
Goals &
Objectives
Themes Research
Content
Audit
Topics
Formats
Timeline
Budget
Resources
You Didn’t Define
Business Objectives
& Goals
Traffic
Free tool downloads
Leads Generated
Content Downloads
Qualified Leads
Trials
Trial Activations
Opportunities
Opportunities Won
Renewals
Upsell, Cross-sell
Metrics

35.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Didn’t Do Your Research
Customer Competitive Keyword Market
Persona
Development
Problems/Pains
Conversion
Obstacles
Interests
What questions are
they asking?
Messaging
Strengths &
Weaknesses
What topics are
they talking about?
Competitive
Rankings
Long-tail
opportunities
Existing/New
keywords
Skyscraper
opportunities
Trends in
marketplace

36.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Content Planning Process
Goals &
Objectives
Themes Research
Content
Audit
Topics
Formats
Timeline
Budget
Resources
You Create New Content
Without Understanding
What You Already Have

37.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Content Audit: Identify Opportunities and Gaps
 Number assets / stage
 Types of assets / stage
 Performance of assets
 Age of content
 Location of content
 Distribution strategy
 Optimization, enhancement,
and re-purposing
 Keyword research

38.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Content Planning Process
Goals &
Objectives
Themes Research
Content
Audit
Topics
Formats
Timeline
Budget
Resources

39.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Experiment
here
500
250
100
50
1
Don’t roll the
dice here…
You Allocate Resources Improperly

40.
Production
and Design
Quality
Quantity
Personas &
Customers
Planning
& Strategy
Production
& Design
Publishing
& Promotion
Performance
& Metrics
rePurposing
& Refining
People
& Process

41.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Quality
Content
Not Quality
Content
Quantity > Quality
Santorini

42.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Long-Form Vs Short-Form Content
2,400+
average words for
position #1 and #2
ranking content
Your Content Doesn’t Deliver Enough Value

43.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Don’t Focus
Enough on Titles

44.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Title Tips Google displays 50-60
characters of title
Keep titles under 55 Characters,
95% will display properly
• Lists
• Numbers and data
• How to’s
• Why
• “You”
• Emotional words
• Surprising
• Questions
• Problem/solution
• Strong statements
• Clear, specific
• Scream Value!
• Align with content

45.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Your Content Isn’t Visually Engaging
Visual content is more than 40X
more likely to get shared on social

46.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
CTR: 0.632% CTR: 1.302%

47.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Your Content Isn’t Easily Consumable
 Legible
 Organized structure
 Readability
 Section headers
 Bulleted, numbered lists
 Images, diagrams
 Bite-sized chunks

48.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Optimized for Mobile
57%
users say they won’t
recommend a business
with a poorly designed
mobile site.

49.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Your Web Experience is Outdated

50.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Your Content
Isn’t Shareable

51.
Publishing
& Promotion
Personas &
Customers
Planning
& Strategy
Production
& Design
Publishing
& Promotion
Performance
& Metrics
rePurposing
& Refining
People
& Process

52.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You don’t focus
enough on SEO

53.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Your Content is Inconsistent
Cadence
Messaging X-
Channel
Brand

54.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Don’t Focus Enough
on Distribution

55.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Your Distribution Strategy Isn’t Aligned with
the Customer Journey
Engagement Education Research Evaluation Justification Purchase
Adoption -
Advocacy
Social
Email & Lead Nurturing
Paid Advertising
Web: Search & Conversion
PR
Content Strategy

56.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Don’t Leverage
All the Channels at
Your Disposal
You Don’t Leverage
All the Data at
your Disposal
Behavioral
(Implicit)
Demo, Firmo
(Explicit)

57.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Search Terms
+how +to +soapui,
+soapui +tutorial,
+soapui +guide
You Don’t Think About User Intent

58.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Aligning Web Properties and Communities with the
Customer Journey
Blog & Social
Resource
Centers
Product
Sections
Community
& Support

59.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Informational
Learn Section

60.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Product SectionCommercial
Transactional

61.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Data -> Customer Journey (Remarketing)
Product Section
eBook Trial
Learn Section Open Source

62.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Automated Nurture and Lead Scoring
eBooks
Infographics
Webinars
Blogs
Slideshares
Documentation
Checklists
Tutorials
Guides
Weekly training
FAQ
Case Studies
Testimonials
ROI Calculators
Sell your Boss
Analyst Reports
Product Demos
TOFU TRIAL BOFU

63.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Don’t Capitalize on Conversion Opportunities
Article -> eBook eBook -> Trial
Use Secondary CTAs

64.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Haven’t Built a Content Network
Internal Teams
External Experts,
Influencers
Industry
Publications
Customers
Partners
• Follow
• Share
• Comment
• Quote
• Link
• Contribute
Writers, bloggers

65.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
I hope I get
invited to a
webinar today…
…said no
one ever.
You Promote the Format > Topic

66.
Performance
& Metrics
Personas &
Customers
Planning
& Strategy
Production
& Design
Publishing
& Promotion
Performance
& Metrics
rePurposing
& Refining
People
& Process

67.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
• You Don’t Have a Clear Definition
of Success
• Focusing too much on just
conversion sales-driven metrics
• Forgetting about SEO factors
• Not taking promotion effort and
reach into consideration
• Not taking time into consideration
Common Content Metrics Mistakes

68.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Measuring Content Performance
Traffic, SEO
• Organic Visits
• Traffic by
Channel
• Page Rank and
authority
• Inbound links
Engagement
• Social shares
• Time on page
• Pages/Session
• Bounce Rate
• Comments
Leads
• Net new leads
generated
• Qualified leads
Sales, Pipeline
• Opportunities
Influenced (#, $)
• Downloads /
Opportunities
influenced (%, $)

69.
Repurposing
and Refining
Personas &
Customers
Planning
& Strategy
Production
& Design
Publishing
& Promotion
Performance
& Metrics
rePurposing
& Refining
People
& Process

70.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Your Content Isn’t Designed for
Repurposing from the Start
It’s a lot easier to make a car
eco-friendly if you design it
that way from the start….

71.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Will this be relevant
next month or next
year? Three years
from now?
NOT EVERGREEN
• News stories
• Annual reports
• Event, holiday or season
• Pop culture fad
Your Content Isn’t Evergreen

72.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Designing Content for Re-purposing
eBook Outline
I. Stand Alone Topic
a) Stand alone Sub-topic
b) Stand alone Sub-topic
c) Stand alone Sub-topic
II. Stand Alone Topic
a) Stand alone Sub-topic
b) Stand alone Sub-topic
c) Stand alone Sub-topic
III. Stand Alone Topic
a) Stand alone Sub-topic
b) Stand alone Sub-topic
c) Stand alone Sub-topic
IV. Stand Alone Topic
a) Stand alone Sub-topic
b) Stand alone Sub-topic
c) Stand alone Sub-topic
Keyword
Research
Organic/SEO article I
Blog Posts
Cheat Sheet, one pager
Infographic
Template, worksheet
Organic/SEO article II
Blog Post
Organic/SEO article III
Click here to read
more about this
approach

73.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
11+

74.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
Webinar Transcriptions
(Transcription)

75.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
If your webinar deck
isn’t optimized for
slideshare, it wasn’t
optimized for the
webinar…

76.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
People &
Process
Personas,
Customers
Planning
& Strategy
Production
& Design
Publishing
& Promotion
Performance
& Metrics
rePurposing
& Refining
People
& Process
People &
Process

77.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Don’t Have the Right Talent, Skills and
Roles on your Team
• Content Marketing Manager
(Editor in Chief)
• Writers (Internal and External)
• Technical SEO Expert
• Technical, Product, Domain
Experts
• Web Team
• Graphics and Design Team
• Operations Team
• Promotion Team
• PR team
• Business leader

78.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You Don’t Have an Efficient, Repeatable
Process
Agile Marketing

79.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
You thought you would have overnight
success
It takes time. Don’t give up!

80.
Thank you!
Gary DeAsi
@gdaz
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garydeasi
CustomerJourneyMarketer.com

81.
@gdaz customerjourneymarketer.com
CustomerJourneyMarketer.com