The document discusses the complexities of content marketing as a response to the inefficacies of interruption marketing, emphasizing the need for a consumer-first approach. It outlines four key steps for effective content creation: defining the audience, brainstorming quality content, producing impactful visual assets, and executing thorough outreach for promotion. The author highlights success stories and the significant improvements in engagement and authority when adopting this strategy.

1. The Most Misunderstood
“Buzzword” of All Time:
Content Marketing.
By: A.J. Ghergich
@SEO

2. Content Marketing and SEO
Building Content that Grows Your Business
A.J. Ghergich
Ghergich & Co.
Founder/CEO
@SEO

3. SEO Driven Content Marketing

4. The Most Misunderstood “Buzzword”
of All Time:
Content Marketing.

6. This is the only magic that will
happen with that approach.

8. Content Marketing is a direct
refutation of Interruption
Marketing gone wild.

9. Technology empowers consumers to give
marketers the middle finger.

10. If everyone hates
Interruption Marketing
why does it still exist?
Because it used to work…

11. 1994 Wired Magazine ad for AT&T
44% Click-Through Rate
World’s First Banner Ad

12. Interruption Marketing
worked great until it was
overused and abused.

13. 0.13% Click-Through Rate…OUCH!
Flash Forward to 2015:
Google Rich Media Click-Through Rates

14. Interruption Marketing at its Finest

15. My immediate next step was to
re-install an ad blocker on my
chrome browser.
Apparently I’m not alone…

16. Adobe’s Latest Report on the
Rise of Ad Blockers is Shocking

17. Apple just announced
they will allow
ad blockers in iOS 9.

18. This is where I’m supposed to
tell you Content Marketing
is going to save us…

19. Content Marketing Flips the Script

20. But I can’t…

21. Content Marketing follows
the same dangerous path
Interruption Marketing took.

22. Content is fast becoming the banner
ad of modern marketing.
Quantity is up but quality is down.
People tune us out in droves.

23. Here’s How We Fix It

24. Your content must provide
value and prioritize the
consumer’s needs over your
company’s needs.

25. I call this approach
Consumer First Marketing.

26. Consumer First Marketing
thinks about those consuming
your content first, and you second.

27. 4 Steps:
Turn Your Blog into a Social, Traffic, and
Link Earning Magnet
Using Consumer First Marketing

28. Consumer First Marketing Case Study

29. Step 1:
Define Your Audience
Use Facebook to unlock consumer persona data.

30. Using Open Graph Search
we found CustomMade’s
consumer base had a
strong affinity for the
outdoors, environment,
and sustainability.

31. Using Facebook Audience
Insights we found their
consumers loved content
from TreeHugger, Mother
Nature Network, Inhabitat,
and One Green Planet.

32. Using Facebook Audience
Insights we gleaned
detailed demographic data
for the fans of the four
environmental sites we
outlined.

33. Using this data we refocused the
blog on sustainable topics to
better align with CustomMade’s
audience interests.

34. Step 2:
Brainstorm & Create Content
It doesn't have to be hard!

35. Don’t reinvent the wheel…

36. Use software like
BuzzSumo to identify the
most successful posts on
sites your consumers
already can’t live without.

37. Make a few amazing pieces per month
vs. 100 “acceptable” pieces per month.
Acceptable just doesn’t
cut it anymore.

38. Step 3:
Produce Visual Assets
Visual Assets are the key to editorial success.

39. Pro Tip: Stock photos are not visual assets.
Also, True Detective Season 2 was not an acceptable sequel…but I digress.

40. Examples of Visual Assets

41. Asking an editor to check out
your latest post will likely fail.
Even if it’s good.

42. Asking an editor if they want
access to exclusive charts/graphs
you’ve created will succeed.

43. Step 4:
Execute Thorough Outreach
Here's how to do outreach that actually works.

44. If it’s not worth promoting
it wasn’t worth creating.

45. During the content creation phase
you should complete an
EXTENSIVE outreach list.

46. Segment Your List

47. Use Tools Like Followerwonk, Klear, and BuzzSumo
to Find Influencers
Followerwonk
BuzzSumo
Klear

48. Using these 4 steps we
created content our research
told us would succeed. And in
turn, we succeed too.

49. Put Down the Plastic:
How to Move Away from
Plastic Dependency
10,300 Social Shares

50. Our content started
getting picked up by
the top green blogs
and influencers,
like Greenpeace.

51. Our infographics regularly
appear on big sites like The
Huffington Post and Upworthy
because of our outreach efforts.
Additional 28,300 social
shares from The Huffington
Post alone

52. Editorial Proof Method
Getting on The Huffington Post doesn’t mean you’re going to get
thousands of social shares and traffic.

53. Many posts on large sites
fail to gain traction.
This is because they never get
promoted to the main category
or homepage.

54. How to Get on the Homepage of
The Huffington Post
Create a Link Post on Facebook
that points back to your earned
media placement.
Promote your Link Post with targeted
Facebook ads.
The likes/shares from the Link
Post will sync to the social share
count on your earned media
placement.

55. Editors promote their best performing
content to their main category
or homepage.
By running paid promotion to your
earned media you give the editor
proof that your post will perform.

56. Why are we going through
all this effort to get earned
media placements?

57. External links improve domain
authority which flows through
the entire site.

58. Content Marketing's Impact
on Domain Authority

59. Results
In just 62 posts, social shares improved from 5 to 3,100 per post.
Earned links improved from 0.14 to 14 root domains per post.
The number of Keywords ranking in Google increased by 11,751.

60. Adopting the Consumer First Marketing
approach will change how you approach
content marketing and dramatically
improve your results.

61. Presentation is pinned @SEO. Feel
free to ask me any and all content
marketing and SEO questions.

62. Thank you