The Art & Science of Content Marketing. An introduction to Content Marketing, best practice examples, and series of group workshop activities. Produced for Education New Zealand's 2015 Speaker Series and delivered in a series of three workshops in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland by Mark Glenn.

1. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks.
The Art & Science of Content Marketing
Mark Glenn
Creative Director & Head of Experience
Workshop – March 2015
IMage : Mike Cline - Wikimedia Commons

2. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing2
Contents
Introduction 3
In practice 15
Examples 20
Workshop tasks 35
Task 1. Defining your audience 39
Task 2. Search patterns & needs 42
Task 3. Creating & curating content 46
Task 4. Publishing & channels 50
Task 5. Measurement & success 53

3. 1.0
Introduction
image : come on fishing.com

4. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing4
So, what is Content Marketing?
(Aka 'Inbound marketing'.)
1.0 Introduction

5. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing5
Content Marketing:
"A strategic marketing approach
focused on creating and distributing
valuable, relevant, and consistent
content to attract and retain a clearly
defined audience—and, ultimately, to
drive profitable customer action."
As defined by the Content Marketing Institute, 2014.
1.0 Introduction

6. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing6
Or, Content Marketing:
"Have a plan and process to give
your audience content that they
actually want, and make that
content work for your business."
That's better.
1.0 Introduction

7. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing7
It's embracing the fact that your
audience is in control and thinking
about their needs, as much as
your communication goals.
What's great is that when you nail this,
your customers come to you. That's why
it's often called 'inbound' marketing.
1.0 Introduction

8. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing8
It's about visibly answering your
audience's key questions, ideally
before they're even voiced.
Because chances are that if one
customer is asking, other customers
are thinking the same thing.
1.0 Introduction

9. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing9
Why take this approach?
• It reflects and addresses real behaviour.
• It's about adding value and building trust.
• It's transparent and measurable.
• You're probably already doing bits,
just without a joined up plan.
• It's marketing on the web, grown up.
1.0 Introduction

10. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing10
It's also becoming very popular
1.0 Introduction
Content marketing

11. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing11
In some interesting places...
1.0 Introduction
Content marketing

12. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing12
It's about value:
• Investing in great content is investing
in lasting, permanent assets.
• Great content earns people's interest,
rather than buying it.
• It costs less and has a better return
on investment than outbound.
1.0 Introduction

13. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing13
70%
Of customers prefer
to get to know an
organisation via
content over ads.
SourCe: Content+ (2013)
68%
Of people spend
time consuming
content from
brands they're
interested in.
SourCe: Content Marketing
association (2013)
5x
More traffic is
generated by
businesses that
blog over 15 times
a month than
those that don't.
SourCe: Hubspot (2012)
1.0 Introduction
Value for your customers

14. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing14
82%
Of marketers who
blog see positive
ROI for their
content driven
marketing.
SourCe: Hubspot - State of inbound
Marketing 2014
3x
As many leads
are generated by
Content Marketing
vs. traditional
approaches for
every dollar spent.
SourCe: KAPOST - Content Marketing
e-book (2013) + Demand Metric (2013)
27%
Of marketing
budgets is being
spent on Content
Marketing in
Australia. (29%
in the U.S.)
SourCe: Content Marketing Institute/
ADMA (2015)
1.0 Introduction
Value for your business

15. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing15
So, how does it work in practice?
Time to stretch the angling metaphor...
1.0 Introduction
IMage : williamdark.com

16. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing16
Step 1. Planning & strategy
1.0 Introduction
Clearly define
your audience
Understand their
Interests, needs &
Challenges
Map a Clear path across
channels & content to
your goals
IMages : 1 www.rampapish.com 2. macrocritters.wordpress.com 3. www.myitchytravelfeet.com

17. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing17
Step 2. Create & publish
1.0 Introduction
Set a sustainable production
schedule and involve subject
matter experts
Create and curate
great Content
Publish and re-purpose on
appropriate channels
IMages : 1. www.123RF.com 2. Comeonfishing.com 3. www.savageriverlodge.wordpress.com

18. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing18
Step 3. Learn & refine
1.0 Introduction
Check & measure Learn, experiment
and refine
Repeat, edit & improve!
IMages : 1. www.driftlesstroutanglers.com 2. Mike Cline - Wikimedia Commons 3. www.Fishingiceland.com

19. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing19
Once more without the fish.
1.0 Introduction
Clearly define
your audience
Interests,
needs &
Challenges
Path across
channels &
content
Check &
measure
Learn,
experiment
and refine
Repeat, edit &
improve!
Publish and
re-purpose on
channels
Create & curate
great content
Set schedule &
Involve Experts
Planning & Strategy Create & publish Learn & improve

20. 2.0
Examples
Image : vintageprintable.com

21. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing21
MAcDonalds – Our food,
your questions.
http://yourquestions.mcdonalds.ca/
• 16,000 questions have been
asked (350 to 450 per day),
and nearly 10,000 have been
answered.
• So much chatter about their
food (especially on social). They
can’t respond to each one, so
they built an information
destination.
• The bravery and openness
defuses many of the tougher
questions.
• It's completely aware of the
wider spectating audience, not
just the contributors, and tries to
entertain them too.

22. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing22
If it works in one
market, chances are
it could work well in
others too.
https://yourquestions.mcdonalds.co.nz/
• All that's needed is to apply
local context and tone.
• Almost a thousand questions
have been answered on the
New Zealand version.

23. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing23
2.0Examples
• If you're going to get dumb questions,
you can at least use them to make
your answers amusing.
• It helps that these feel like they're
coming from a real person who's
having fun with it.
• Even when you're being 'on brand'
there's love being put into the assets
that are supporting the answer. • Producing content at various levels of
fidelity allows you to spend more time
and effort on important responses.

24. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing24
2.0Examples
• This is an interesting trend –
businesses promoting information
instead of the company itself.
• Being great at transparency and
information isn’t (and cannot be) one
person’s job.
• Everyone in your business has
information and knowledge that your
customers will value.
Marketing your marketing

25. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing25
Adafruit & sparkfun
www.adafruit.com/ & www.sparkfun.com/
• Selling a culture as much as
products by embracing the
'maker' values of their audience
and leading with desirable and
achievable projects backed with
practical learning.
• Creating an open, inclusive
community through great
content that teaches and
inspires, then naturally sells.
• Aspirational personalities lead
the way but everyone in the
business shares projects and
helps build the content pool.
• Disrupting and challenging
the existing models and
incumbents, e.g. Radioshack.

26. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing26
2.0Examples
• More content at a lesser quality, is better than less at a higher
quality. It's about finding a balance and investing more in
popular themes or topics once they're proven.
• Meet LadyAda - certified baddass. Interesting personalities
can take you a long way and build popular momentum and
notoriety in their own right.

27. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing27
2.0Examples
• Builds buzz and focusses attention on a point in time to create
urgency and social proof for those involved.
• Physically meeting and supporting your audience is a great
path to a lasting relationship too.
Creating 'own-able' events

28. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing28
Stanford Graduate
School of Business
www.gsb.stanford.edu/
• Aiming for authority within a
sphere of influence.
• Multiple channels that focus
on where their audience is and
playing to the strengths of each
channel in its own right.
• A good mix of owned, guest and
curated content that all benefits
from the level of authority.
• Sells a brand of thought and
level of success as much as the
actual product itself.

29. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing29
2.0Examples
• The main web homepage does a good job at surfacing and
balancing the latest content sources and brand layer to pull
the viewer in through topical items and subjects.
• Be clear about where your audience is and go to them if you
can. Content can be re-purposed to play to the strengths of
each individual platform and audience conventions.

30. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing30
2.0Examples
• Being recognised as an expert in a subject, both by people and algorithms, greatly
enhances your reach and influence. It's a critical currency in Content Marketing.
• You can 'borrow' credibility and
authority from identifiable figures too.
The impact of authority

31. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing31
Airbnb – Neighbourhoods
https://www.airbnb.co.nz/locations
• Keeping content focused at a
real, granular level, to suit their
audience.
• Focusing on the most popular
destinations that align with
their product and building out
from there.
• Mobilising an audience to
produce user generated locally
focused content that benefits
them and the brand.
• Keeping it visual and
aspirational but providing a real
flavour - with travel, a picture is
truly worth a thousand words.

32. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing
• Presenting both sides of the story gives much more credibility
to your content. Even when sharing negative elements, the
context can be shaped to soften the blow.
• Meta-data (such as tags) becomes critical once you start to
produce a large amount of content. This allows you to make
related connections and suggest alternative paths easily.
32
2.0Examples

33. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing33
2.0Examples
• Images and quotes from your audience help your content's credibility. Just be clear
about your moderation policy and be sure there's something in it for them too.
• It's not all about copy, great images can
be easier for an audience to contribute.
Inviting your audience in

34. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing34
2.0Examples
Pretty sweet, right?
Let's get busy and make this work for us.
45mins

35. 3.0
Workshop tasks
Image : nairone

36. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing36
3.0Workshop
Defining your
audience
1
Measurement
& success
Search
patterns &
needs
Publishing &
channels
Creating
& curating
content
2 3 4 5
Our challenge
Explore the Content Marketing mindset by
completing a series of tasks that can help you
go on to create a strategy for your business.

37. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing37
3.0Workshop
Split into
small groups
Repeat with
the Next task
Demonstrate
context & task
Share &
capture
Jam in your
group
Our tasks
We'll break into groups to explore each task
then share back with everyone once time's up.

38. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing38
Meet our demo business
To show what we're after with these tasks we'll
use a fictional business to demonstrate.
• Angling Aces are an adventure tourism
business offering specialist fishing trips in NZ.
• They're internationally focussed and offer a
range of travel packages and local expertise to
attract keen anglers here for a specialist holiday.
3.0Workshop
55mins

39. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing39
1. Our audience
The aim of this task is to get us thinking about our
audience so we can better understand their needs
and produce content they're more likely to want.
• Who are they? Where are they looking?
• What are their key values & attitudes?
• What are their primary goals or motivators?
• Think about key commonalities and differences
you could use to start to define personas.

40. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing40
Who
• Mostly male
• 30 - 60 yrs
• International
- U.S. & U.K.
• Financially
comfortable
Values
• Independence
• Tradition / nature
• Adventure
• Challenge
Attitude
• Looking for an
escape/holiday.
• Capable
• Hunter/gatherer
• Rational/
knowledgeable
• Methodical
Looking on
• Specialist websites
• Forums
• Magazines
• Word of Mouth
• Facebook
Primary
• Catch amazing fish
• In amazing places
• Get better at it
Secondary
• Be prepared -
have all the right
gear and tackle
• Share and compete
with peers
- Audience - - Goals -
Persona thoughts:
* Young gun
Competitive, focused
on the challenge
and getting better.
* OLD Hand
More Traditional
and Focussed on
the experience.

41. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing41
1. Our audience
• Look for key commonalities and differences that
we could use to define personas or archetypes.
15mins
Who Values
AttitudeLooking on
Primary
Secondary
- Audience - - Goals -
Persona thoughts:
* Young gun
Competitive, focused
on the challenge
and getting better.
* OLD Hand
More Traditional.
Focussed on the
experience.

42. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing42
2. Search patterns & needs
There are some common search patterns
and motivators that people use online.
– Cost/price – Problems/issues
– Versus/comparisons – Reviews
– 'Best of' summaries – How to guides
Let's look at how these could be
mapped to your business.
75mins

43. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing43
Cost/price
• Package discount
• Detail inclusions
• The value in
traveling to the
best spots
• Once in a lifetime
(get away from cost)
VS./Comparisons
• Vs. other popular
destinations
• Comparing the
top spots in NZ
• Tackle/bait
showdowns
• Technique
showdowns
Best of
• Reel and bait
combinations
• 5 Best angling
holiday destinations
(inc NZ)
• Best beginner setup
How to
• How to choose
the best location
• Technique tips
• Gear tips
Problems
• Dedicated Q+A
section - hero
notable answers
• Tackle no
guarantee issue
• Tackle weather
Reviews
• Customer reviews
• Guest reviewers
from visible/
credible sources
- Content ideas across key themes -
Persona thoughts:
* Young gun
Competitive, focused
on the challenge
and getting better.
* OLD Hand
More Traditional.
Focussed on the
experience.

44. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing44
2. Search patterns & needs
• How could your audience apply these patterns to
your business?
– Map out what might they be looking for, and
some content ideas, themes or topics that you
could you produce to address these patterns.
15mins
Cost/price VS./Comparisons Best of
How toProblems Reviews
95mins

45. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing45
Phew. Time for a chill.
Let's take a quick break.
3.0Workshop
IMage : Ipick.ca
15mins
105mins

46. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing46
3. Creating & curating content
Marketing can't create all your content.
Engage subject matter experts and build a
content creation culture within your business.
• Our role is that of the editor and co-ordinator.
• There's also the challenge of prioritisation.
• How do you decide what to do first,
and at what level of fidelity?
120mins

47. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing47
3. Creating & curating content
- Prioritisation - - Fidelity -
Desirability
ViabilityFeasibility
!
Accuracy & Relevance
Ease &
Clarity
Joy
Perceived value
Sweet spot
Cost vs. return All content
Critical content
Ease to produce

48. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing48
Cost/price
• Package discount
• Detail inclusions
• The value in
traveling to the
best spots
• Once in a lifetime
(get away from cost)
VS./Comparisons
• Vs. other popular
destinations
• Comparing the
top spots in NZ
• Tackle/bait
showdowns
• Technique
showdowns
Best of
• Reel and bait
combinations
• 5 Best angling
holiday destinations
(inc NZ)
• Best beginner setup
How to
• How to choose
the best location
• Technique tips
• Gear tips
Problems
• Dedicated Q+A
section - hero
notable answers
• Tackle no
guarantee issue
• Tackle weather
Reviews
• Customer reviews
• Guest reviewers
from visible/
credible sources
- Prioritising content ideas across key themes -
3
33
3
33
3
33
3
21
3
11
3
11
2
22
2
22
2
33
2
33
2
33
2
22
2
22
3
12
2
21
2
21
1
32
Subject
matter
experts
• Our fishing
guides
• Shop staff
• Guest fishers
• Gear
providers
• Customers

49. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing49
3. Creating & curating content
• Marketing can't create all your content. Our
role is that of the editor and co-ordinator.
• Who could you access in your business to bring
your content ideas to life? What can they bring?
• What about outside of your business? Who
could you approach as a guest contributor?
• Now try and prioritise your content
ideas, giving each a score from 1-3 for
desirability, feasibility and viability.
15mins

50. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing50
4. Publishing & channels
Content marketing covers many channels,
each with their strengths and weaknesses.
– Social – Website articles
– eNewsletters – In-person events
– Case Studies – Videos
– Blogs – Infographics
– Micro sites – Online presentations
– Research/reports
140mins

51. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing51
Social
• Customer support
• Customer advocacy
e-newsletters
• Lead generation
• Lead nurturing
Research/reports
• Lead generation
• Lead nurturing
Case studies
Micro sites
• Engagement
Infographics
• Engagement
Online Pres.
Blogs
• Awareness
• Lead generation
In person events
• Awareness
• Lead generation
Web articles
• Awareness
• Engagement
• Sales
Videos
• Awareness
• Engagement
• Sales
- Channels we use - - Channels we don't -

52. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing52
4. Publishing & channels
• Which of these channels do you currently use?
What do you see their role as? What about those
you don't use – do you think they have a role?
15mins
Social
E-newsletters
Research/reports Case studies
Micro sites
Infographics
Online Pres.
Blogs In person events
Web articles
Videos
• Awareness
• Engagement
• Lead generation
• Lead nurturing
• Sales
• Cross/up sell
• Customer support
• Customer advocacy

53. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing53
5. Measurement & success
Clear organisational goals are key to successful Content
marketing. It's important that you choose which you're
trying to achieve so you can align each piece of content with
a clear objective and assess it's performance appropriately.
Common Organisational goals
• Awareness
• Engagement
• Lead Generation
• Lead Nurturing
• Sales
• Up-sell/cross-sell
• Customer loyalty
160mins

54. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing54
5. Measurement & success
Measuring the performance of Content Marketing can take
time. To get a clear picture you need to be clear what you're
measuring and how that can be attributed to individual content.
Common measures
• Website Traffic
• Sales
• Conversion rates
• SEO ranking
• Time on site
• Customer feedback
• Subscriber growth

55. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing55
5. Measurement & success
Prioritise the goals for your business. Which
measures could you track to assess performance?
15mins
Organisational goals
• Awareness
• Engagement
• Lead Generation
• Lead Nurturing
• Sales
• Up-sell/cross-sell
• Customer loyalty
Common measures
• Website Traffic
• Sales
• Conversion rates
• SEO ranking
• Time on site
• Customer feedback
• Subscriber growth

56. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing56
All done!
Nice one. High fives all round.
3.0Workshop
IMage : Dictionary.com via Twitter
175mins

57. Fishing with a Thousand Hooks – The Art & Science of Content Marketing57
Let's recap & discuss
1.0 Introduction
Clearly define
your audience
Interests,
needs &
Challenges
Path across
channels &
content
Check &
measure
Learn,
experiment
and refine
Repeat, edit &
improve!
Publish and
re-purpose on
channels
Create & curate
great content
Set schedule &
Involve Experts
Planning & Strategy Create & publish Learn & improve

58. Mark Glenn
Creative Director & Head of Experience
Thank
you.