Presentation slides from the creating online powerful content workshop as part of Destination Digital business support programme from Connecting Cambridgeshire. Want more information? Small businesses across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough can currently get free business support on using digital technology until March 2015. More information here: http://destinationdigital.info/advice/

1. Creating powerful online
content
Your key to your web presence success

2. How do you feel about ‘Content’?
● How do you feel about the link between content and social media?
● The transition from one way communication to two way
communication is about change management
● Valuable content is about moving away from interruption, broad
brush marketing to attraction marketing
● We live in a media saturated age where no one has time for
irrelevant intrusive marketing
● You may feel positive, excited, nervous, overwhelmed or fearful!

3. 1. Understanding ‘Content’
● Good content is the key to a successful web presence
● Create content for three main reasons:
1. Create keyword rich content – great for Google success
2. Provide valuable content that attracts your target audience
3. Point 1 and 2 help ensure you get found when people search
and that you make the right impression when you are found
● To achieve this you need to understand the principles of good
content creation

4. 2. Understanding ‘Content’
● It’s about learning how to find potential customers at the right time
in their buying cycle
● Because we live in an information age, people buy when they are
ready to buy – so your job is to help people reach a buying decision
● People go online for product /service information, not to your store!
● Gain control of that buying cycle - provide the information they
need during the investigation phase via your website so it is
indexed by Google

5. 3. Understanding ‘Content’
● That content creates a path leading to your business. When they
are looking for help, you are there, offering the help you anticipate
they will need.
● The essence of content marketing = anticipate content your
potential perfect client needs and they will come to you

6. Getting Started — Long Tail Content
● Start with 5 pieces of key long tail content (blogs and videos)
● Then add 1 a week or at least 1 a month
● Create 1 video a quarter (because of the power of YouTube)
● Focus on quality over quantity
● The more good quality content you have the more traffic you will
generate to your website and business

7. Creating Short Tail Content
● Use your core long tail content to inspire short tail content
● E.g. A 10 snippets from a 10 step post = 10 G+ posts over 10 days
● This drives traffic back to your long tail content on your website
● Save them and repeat because social media feeds are fast paced
● Grow your content to grow your snippets which drives more traffic
● Send snippets across channels, in your newsletter and in social
comments

8. Creating a Content Schedule
● Schedule content production and sharing
● The Content Schedule is a key factor in ensuring continuity
● Use the Google Calendar to schedule long tail content
● Share it with all responsible
● Set weekly and monthly targets
● If you don’t schedule you won’t write content, share it or manage a
newsletter effectively

9. Types of Content
● Blogs, articles and web page content
● **Videos — commercial videos, smart phone videos, hangout videos —
one of the strongest types of content for search performance right now,
● Podcasts
● Photos
● Infographics
● Product descriptions

10. So what do you say in your content?
● Help people! Tips, guides, articles that are relevant to your
products/services, sector and audience needs...
● Answer questions - FAQs
● Listen and respond
● Inspire
● Establish yourself as the go-to resource for a specific topic, product or
service

11. Repurposing Content
● Get the most juice out of your limited resources!
● Take content you have already created and adapt it
● A blog can be a transcript for a talking head video
● Which can also be a Podcast
● Which can also be a SlideShare piece
● Which can also be an infographic
● Give people a different way to engage with your content as it suits them

12. Content linked with social media
● Content and social media can help you
● Enhance your PR work and brand awareness
● Protect your reputation
● Extend your customer service
● Build a valuable community
● Facilitate research and development
● Drive sales and leads

13. Keyword Strategies
● It’s essential you place good keywords into your content — think about
that perfect client again, what will they search for?
● Enables Google to identify your content and return it in search results
● Include keywords in your content title, high up in your content and in
pictures
● Use Google Keyword Planner
● Don’t overdo it, be natural and create content for real people

14. A Simple Call to Action (CTA)
● CTA— the response you want the perfect client to take
● What is the most important specific action you want your perfect client
to take?
● Sign up? Call? Email? Visit? Buy?
● Purpose of your content — to lead them to this 1 simple action
● Every piece of communication you do should reinforce this CTA
consistently
● Too many CTAs causes people to bounce

15. The Perfect Client
● Avoid this basic marketing and communication mistake
● Don’t market to an audience that is too broad — this results in a
weak and convoluted message
● Instead focus on your perfect client!
● This results in a clear and concise message

16. How to Identify your Perfect Client
● Assess you customer data
● Who is your most profitable client?
● Who is the least hassle?
● Who fits with your business goals?
● Gender? Age group? Interests? Needs? Build a detailed perfect
client profile
● Create content specifically with this client in mind

17. Moving from a Problem to a Solution
● Most people buy to solve a problem or fulfil a perceived need, moving
from negative to positive
● Move perfect clients from a problem to a solution, from lack to fulfilling a
need
● Sometimes your perfect client will not be aware of the problem
● Always lead them to a positive outcome wrapped up in your product

18. Keeping Content Evergreen
● Content that doesn’t age!
● Track your content and establish which are the most popular
● Focus on the content that is popular and drives engagement
● Periodically review it and edit it, thus keeping it relevant (‘last updated’)
● Imagine if 1 piece of content brought 25 perfect clients to your site
every month. A conversion rate of just 1% = 3 new customers (yearly)
● Work out relevant numbers in your business and create accordingly

19. What Should You Give Away for Free?
● Yes, you are supplying relevant and useful content to your perfect
clients for free!
● Option 1 — keep important information and give away what is already
available online — your role is to curate
● Option 2 — Give away as much as possible to demo your expertise so
you get hired (Buyers vs. DIYers syndrome!)
● Option 3 — give away content that complements your products/services
and gives you a chance to promote your paid products/services

20. The Sphere Content System
● A way to balance the strengths of your products/services with the needs
of your perfect client
● Successful marketing and communication is about understanding
human behaviour

21. The Physical Sphere — the body
● Our physical/bodily needs — our most basic needs
● Food, clothing, housing, heating, health, physical security
● Marketing to this sphere involves showing how a basic physical need is
going to be fulfilled
● E.g. Double glazing TV ads promote warmth which satisfies a physical
need

22. The Intellectual Sphere — the mind
● Intellectual stimulation from the analytical part of our nature — what
appeals to our logical side
● Problem solving, analytic observations, financial planning, education,
exploration
● Marketing to this sphere involves informing, technical persuasion, facts
● E.g. Audi’s precise engineering

23. The Emotional Sphere — the heart
● The most powerful of all spheres and the least understood!
● Emotions are the dominant force in all our decision making
● Social standing, individuality, love, hope, comfort, peace, freedom,
dreams, fear
● Marketing to this sphere involves appealing to emotional needs,
showing us things we aspire for
● E.g. Christmas food amidst family scenes — social pleasure through
emotional family connections

24. Analysing product/service spheres
● Analyse your products/services from the perspective of your perfect
client — put yourself in their shoes
● What is the most important sphere to your perfect client?
● What value would they assign to each sphere?
● Some products/services rely heavily on a specific sphere
● Some products/services are a blend
● Your job is to combine the spheres, carefully blending physical,
intellectual and emotional values into your content

25. Designer Kitchen Kettle Example
● Perfect client — successful, has kids, has extra income,
environmentally aware
● Physical sphere — insulated outer casing — protects kids
● Intellectual sphere — efficient — environmentally friendly and optimum
temperature settings
● Emotional sphere — the lifestyle they want — a kettle for the modern
successful home the perfect client desires which can be reflected in
photography and video

26. Designer Kitchen Kettle Example
● This outline enables you to create marketing content according to the
correct sphere depending on the product and the perfect client
● E.g. Designer kettle is marketed very differently to a budget kettle
marketed to new home owners on a budget

27. 3 Spheres for the Perfect Content Mix
● Create content involving all 3 spheres to engage your perfect client on
all the key points of human experience
● Do this to align your product/service to their needs, blending 3 elements
to create reassurance and trust
● All 3 spheres give you a breadth and depth of ideas, sparing you the
headache of content block
● Avoid marketing in isolation — manipulative, e.g. No need to bypass
intellect and logic, if the product doesn’t work, it’s not good enough!

28. The Creative Angle
● Inform, entertain, inspire and tell stories
● Create a content style that suits your brand
● Ghost writing — maintain editorial control with the people you work with
and don’t completely handover your social media channels to external
people
● If you can’t write then talk, if you are not comfortable with either then
hire someone

29. Top tips
● Know your business goals
● Know your audience (sphere content system)
● Know what your audience is looking for
● Assign responsibility and then support them!
● Set times, routine and tick box guides
● Repurpose and be efficient
● Get help if necessary
● Measure

30. Summary
● Creating quality content is an essential ingredient of a successful web
presence
● Invest in good content to succeed online
● Think long term
● Be realistic, get training and internal/external support