Enter the revolutionary world of Inbound Marketinlucionário do inbound marketing e explore maneiras de aproveitar o poder do conteúdo de atrair bons leads, trazer novos clientes e criar defensores de marcas.
2. By now you may have heard the buzz. Everyone is talking about
content marketing. But what exactly does that mean? Why the
excitement? What does the sudden interest in content marketing
mean to you and how will it impact your business?
Don’t worry. We are here to help. Follow along as we show you the
changing world of inbound marketing and explore how you can
harness the power of content to attract warm leads, generate new
customers and create brand advocates.
Dear reader
Images from this ebook: Shutterstock
Edition: Claudia Gasparini and Eliseu Barreira Junior | Graphic design: Lucas Moschione
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3. Jim Lodico is a content marketing consultant
who specializes in helping businesses create
powerful content and the platforms on which
to publish it. You can connect with him on
Twitter or Google+ and visit his website at:
www.jalcommunications.com
About the author
4. 24v
Index
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7
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24Getting started .............................................................
Sales Cycle ..............................................................
Making the switch .......................................................
Advantages of Content Marketing ............................
Content: the future of Marketing ............................
The Old Marketing .........................................................
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Traditional marketing campaigns are built upon the ability to place a message
in front of potential customers. This is usually accomplished by interrupting the
daily activities of the target audience. For example, a television advertisement
interrupts the evening reality show or Saturday sporting event in hopes of building
brand recognition and attracting viewers to a given product or service. Radio
advertisements interrupt the daily discussion or music in order to deliver a
message to the listener.
Traditional Marketing is
Quickly Becoming Obsolete
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Internet and newspaper advertising works on this same interruption principal.
Banners cover the sidebar of a website in hopes that the reader will click through
to a larger marketing message. Advertisements and coupons fill the newspapers in
hopes that along with the morning news, the reader will find a sale or offer that is
just too good to refuse.
The problem is, as consumers we are learning to tune out traditional advertising.
We have been so bombarded with interruption advertising that we have learned to
ignore it altogether. Think about the last time you clicked on a website advertising
banner? Consider how many web pages you read in a day and how many ads you
actually click—if you notice them at all.
Even worse, the mediums on which traditional advertising is displayed are actually
blocking the advertisements for us. DVRs or on-demand television services such
as Netflix or Hulu allow us to skip the commercials. Pop up ad blockers are built
directly into our web browsers preventing us from even knowing that the pop
up exists. Internet browser plugins such as Evernote’s Clearly or the IOS Safari
“Reader” button strip away all sidebar advertising allowing the reader to see only
the content on the page.
The increased use of mobile devices such as the iPad or smart phones only amplify
the problem. As content is shifted from the original source to the mobile platform
premium sidebar space often gets pushed deep below the fold.
Reader aps such as Flipboard or Zite take content shifting a step further
reformatting the content to meet the design of the ap changing the original design
in the process. Not only is content tailored to meet the reader’s interest, only the
content and associated images are presented. The rest of the website is not seen
at all unless the reader makes a conscious effort to click through to the rest of the
site.
The old way is no longer effective and it is only going to get worse.
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Since it is becoming easier and easier to block unwanted advertising, today’s
marketing must rely on the content itself, not the auxiliary space on which the
content is published to bring the target audience to your door. Now more than
ever successful marketers must think like their target audience.
Most of your potential customers are looking for something and chances are
they are using the internet to find it. This could be information which answers a
question or solves a potential problem (ie. how much will it cost to fix my roof),
Content: the future of
Marketing
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entertainment such as a funny YouTube video or possibly advanced research to
help them make a buying decision (ie. “If we move our network to a cloud based
system how will that affect internal security?”).
The future of marketing lies in your ability to provide this information to potential
customers.
Content marketing is the process of determining exactly what the target audience
is seeking and providing it.
Content marketing requires a new way of thinking about marketing. In order to
provide the information potential customers seek, businesses must become
publishers sometimes even replacing traditional resources such as trade
magazines or newsletters. Blogs, dynamic websites and social media networks are
becoming the publishing mediums for companies seeking to reach their potential
customers through content and these mediums are having a bigger and bigger
impact on purchasing decisions. In a recent study by Technoriti Media, 31 percent
of the people surveyed said that blogs were “highly influential” when making a
purchasing decision. The report showed that blogs were even more influential in
purchasing decisions than Facebook.
1
When marketing moves from creating advertisements to publishing content, it
becomes a company-wide venture moving beyond the marketing department.
Company experts become important resources, sales teams provide ongoing input
into content needs and the voice of both management and employees determine
the tone that the company puts forth.
Content marketing also means that the publishing platform must be accessible.
Website management moves out of the IT department and into the hands of
the marketing department and both the website and social media channels
must be open and available for interaction. For many this can be a big step as
it requires trust and confidence on a number of levels. The IT department must
have confidence in the website and those that use it knowing that it will not crash.
Upper management must be confident enough to stand behind the content their
company publishes and trust their employees ability to respond to interactions
both positive and negative in a way the helps the company succeed.
1. Technorati media 2013 digital influence report. (2013, 02 05). Retrieved from http://technorati.com/business/article/technorati-medias-2013-digital-influence-report/
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1. Content creates high quality, meaningful interactions with
the target audience.
Unlike the interruption model described above, content marketing is an
interactive process which creates high quality, meaningful interactions with the
target audience. When a you publish information which truly helps a potential
Advantages of
Content Marketing
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customer solve a problem, stimulates thought, generates discussion or even just
entertains, you are building relationships with the customer in a way that traditional
advertising cannot provide. And by helping the potential customer you are building
a sense of trust and creating an inherent desire to return the favor.
Content is also the driving force behind social media marketing and can be used to
direct discussion and increase engagement on social media networks.
2. Content Marketing is much more focused than traditional
advertising
Traditional advertising casts a wide net to the masses in hopes that a small portion
will respond. Response rates as low as three percent are often considered
success. Unlike traditional advertising content marketing is a highly targeted
endeavor. Content marketers use high precision analytics at all stages in order
to target and attract a very specific audience. While the number of impressions
may be only a small portion of what is seen with traditional broadcast marketing
conversion rates tend to be much higher.
3. Long shelf life
High quality content can have a much longer shelf life than the broadcast
advertisement or comment on social media. Content that provides solid
information needed by the target audience can continue to bring in new leads
over an extended period lasting years. A blog post or extended article can be re-
purposed as slide presentations, videos or to other mediums to further extend the
life of the content.
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4. Content produces a much warmer, pre-qualified lead
When offered in exchange for contact information, Ebooks, webinars, presentations
and other forms of extended content are a great way to establish prequalified
leads. By willingly providing their contact information the lead has demonstrated
an expressed interest in the subject matter at hand. As you continue to provide
information of value and develop conversations around that information you create
a sense of trust with your target audience. Not only does this create an opportunity
for lead conversion you gain the potential to develop brand advocates who will
proactively seek your content and share it with others.
5. Marketing becomes an ongoing, continuous process
Blogs, social media and other platforms require new and fresh content. This
means that content marketers must think like publishers and like any traditional
publication, publishing schedules must be established and deadlines must be
met. It also requires a timely response to conversations that develop around your
content both positive and negative. Quick response can help a blog post or other
content gain traction and followers or stem potentially negative interactions.
One of the common misconceptions is that content marketing is “free” when
compared to traditional advertising. Where traditional advertising requires a direct
monetary spend in exchange for ad placement, content marketing requires an
investment of time and knowledge in order to build a long-term campaign.
Traditional advertising campaigns tend to see a relatively short term, highly visible
impact while content marketing is a ongoing, long-term endeavor which often start
slow and gains steam over an extended period. Successful content marketing
efforts will often see a continued upward curve as the campaign gains traction,
develops followers and gains in popularity.
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Making the switch to content marketing requires a company-wide commitment.
It takes time, dedication and resources but the rewards can be substantial. The
following guide will help you toward a successful, ongoing content marketing
campaign.
Making the Switch to
Content Marketing
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Determine you objectives
The first thing to do before moving forward with any marketing campaign is to set
clear, measurable objectives. What exactly do you want to accomplish with content
marketing and how will you measure your success?
Possible objectives might include:
• Collect warm leads for sales team;
• Drive users to a given purchase directly on our website;
• Increase brand recognition;
• Establish our company as thought leaders in the industry;
Once the basic objectives are established it is important to refine them into
measurable goals such as:
• Increase leads by x% per month;
• Increase online sales by X% per month;
• Increase brand recognition and engagement by X% (measured through
social media monitoring);
When establishing initial objectives it is important to remember that website traffic
or Facebook ‘likes” alone do not equal success. Conversions that lead to the stated
objective equal success.
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Create Target Personas
Once you’ve established your objectives, you need to determine exactly who you
want to reach. The more you can personify the person you are trying to reach,
the better you will be at speaking directly to this individual. Creating highly detailed
target personas or profiles allow you to put a face on your audience and help to
identify content needs.
The idea is to put a name on your perfect client. Get to know this person. Make
them real. These personas will help you determine how to meet your potential
client through content.
When developing target persons go into as much detail as possible even going so
far as to assign gender and a name. Points to consider include:
• Job title and responsibilities;
• Description of company where they work (ie. Mid size accounting
firm with 50-75 employees located in ____);
• Personal interest;
• Pain points/problems they encounter on a day to day basis;
• Specifically state how you can help this person and help move them
past their pain points and stumbling blocks. What can you do for them?
How can you meet their needs?
Forming a Content Marketing Management Structure
The content marketing team can be successfully built internally or outsourced at all
levels depending on resources and needs. The most important thing to remember
is that the team needs to think like a publisher. The roles on a content marketing
team are similar to that of a traditional publication.
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Content Marketing Team Roles and responsibilities:
Senior Manager or CCO—Chief Content Officer
• Plans content strategy, analyzes successes and failures, adapts
and develops content marketing campaigns
Managing Editor
• Manages publication of content;
• Assigns/manages content creation;
• Establishes and maintains editorial calendar;
• Coordinates in-house content creators and/or outsourcing to
freelancers;
• Role is similar to managing editor at a traditional publication –
often an individual with background in journalism.
Social media managers
• Uses social media to extend reach of content;
• Creates conversation around content;
• Builds relationships and engages influencers in order to obtain
maximum reach and discussion;
• Uses social media to build brand relationships with target audience;
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• Responds to brand inquires over social media networks;
• Works to develop brand advocates among current clients;
• Uses advanced social media measurement to track effectiveness of
social media networks;
• Monitors social media conversations and looks for opportunities to
engage;
• Uses social media monitoring and measurement to identify and build
relationships with influencers;
• Works to increase reach of content through social media influencers;
• Uses social media monitoring and measurement to identify content
needs among target audience.
Publisher/Website Manager/SEO
• The publisher or website manager brings the content online;
• Often includes designers who provide graphic illustration, video
production or online slide presentations;
• Optimizes blog posts or content for the search engines;
• Maintains SEO best practices of website and works to increase site
visibility.
Depending on resources or depth of campaign these roles can be combined and
implemented as needed. You can see though the similarity between the roles of a
fully implemented content marketing campaign and a traditional publication.
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The Website Forms the Foundation for All Content Marketing
Your website is the foundation where content is published, sales funnels are
developed and conversions happen. It forms the foundation of all content
marketing efforts and as such it must be optimized for publishing. This means it
must be easy to update, change and adapt as needs change, grow and develop. It
also must be easy to use as content marketing requires the ongoing publishing of
blog posts, landing pages, content offers, forms for collecting information and other
content marketing needs.
The website also must be easily optimized for the search engines. On page SEO
such as meta titles and descriptions must be manageable at the editorial level
without the need for extra programming.
Most importantly, the website must be optimized for the target audience. This
means it must be easy to navigate, easy to read and view content and can be
accessed on a variety of platforms such as smart phones or tablet computers.
Mobile responsive websites, websites that automatically adjust the page to fit the
viewing screen, are the latest way of accommodating a wide variety of screen sizes.
All of these elements must be available to the content marketing team and not
locked in the hands of the IT department. It is the ability to do all of the above
that has lead to the popularity of content management systems (CMS) such as
Wordpress which now powers one of every six websites on the internet
2
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Owned vs. Borrowed Media
An important distinction must be made between the website and social media
networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Social media networks own the
platforms on which profiles live and the publishing takes place. The rules of a social
media network can change at any time. Unlike a social media network, you own
your website and have complete control over how it is used.
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2 Colao, J. J. (2012, 09 02). With 60 million websites,wordpressrules the web. so where’s the money?. Forbes, Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/
jjcolao/2012/09/05/the-internets-mother-tongue/
Think of it like renting vs. owning your house. You are only renting the space on
a social media network and the rules can change at any time. Even worse, the
network can shut down altogether. If you’ve invested too much into the social
media network without building your own website, changes to the network can
have a major impact on your business.
Social media should be an extension of your website extending the reach or
engagement of your content marketing efforts. Building the social networks
without a solid foundation that you own and you expose yourself to the continually
changing tide of social media.
The Importance of Repurposing Content
Larger content pieces such as ebooks or intensive white papers can be repurposed
and extended in a many ways. For example, key points of an ebook can be broken
into individual blog posts. Information in a white paper can be turned into a slide
presentation. Instructional videos or webinars can be published demonstrating
specific elements of an ebook. Infographics can be used to share key data and
insights from the data in a report.
The potential to reformat and repurpose content is endless and is a key to an
ongoing content marketing campaign.
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Identify the Stages of Your Sales Funnel
Your sales funnel is the process a potential buyer takes as they go from initial
contact to final sale and beyond. Different stages of the sales funnel require
different types of content. Ideally, you should create custom content to meet
the buyer at each stage of the process. This means you need to determine what
questions arise at each stage of the sales funnel, what objections arise at each
Creating Content to
Meet the Sales Cycle
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stage of the sales funnel and how can you provide content or information that
answers these questions and steers potential clients past objections.
Top of Funnel – Outside Potential
The potential client at the top of the sales funnel has not expressed interest in
the company or brand. At this stage potential clients are attracted to the first
conversion in the sales funnel through content such as a blog post or video
presentation that grabs their attention or appeals to their needs. The goal at
this stage of the game is to capture basic lead information (name and email) in
exchange for an ebook, white paper, webinar or other extended offering. The
information must be enticing enough that the potential client feels that they
have to have it—that life will be much better because they have obtained this
information. The information must be strong enough that the potential client will
gladly provide their name and email address in exchange for your information.
Determine what the client needs and provide it.
Middle of the Funnel – Target Identified, Lead Nurturing
Potential customers in the middle of the sales funnel have shown an interest in
your brand and actively seek the information you provide. You are forming a
relationship and building trust through the content you create. At this stage you are
nurturing potential leads through a mix of both informative content and product
specific information. For example, a mid-funnel offering might include a webinar
demonstrating how your product provides the tools to implement a given solution.
As the target moves through the sales funnel and requests more information, lead
qualifying information such as the size of the company, number of employees or
current service providers is much easier to collect. A prospective client registering
for the webinar described above may be much more willing to provide information
beyond a basic name and email because they have already found value in the
information you provide.
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Bottom of the Funnel – Lead Conversion to Customer and
Beyond
At this point the prospect has expressed an interest in your company or the
products/services offered. Mid-funnel contact has helped qualify the lead and
advanced analytics demonstrate that the prospect is actively seeking information
on your site.
This bottom of the funnel stage is often where the need for personal contact such
as an offer for a software demo or personalized analysis is forwarded to the sales
team.
Once the lead becomes a client, future content marketing efforts are geared
toward turning the client into a brand advocate who actively shares information
and interacts with the brand.
Creating Content to Meet the Sales Steps
Each stage of the sales cycle requires different types of content. These are the
“special offers” made in exchange for lead information such as an ebook, video
tutorial or white paper.
Top of the funnel
General information which informs or helps a target solve a problem is usually
offered at the top of the sales funnel. Although it may discuss a service the
company provides it is usually not company specific. The branding comes through
in the medium where it us published such as a company logo on the cover and
inside pages of an ebook or the header or sidebar of a website. That said, a strong
call to action at the end can often move a lead to the next step in the sales funnel.
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Top of the funnel content provides a general overview in exchange for minimal
information (ie. Name, email). At this stage of the game, asking too much
information can turn people away as people away as relationships and trust
have yet to be developed. A blog post or other “free” content offered without the
request for contact info is often found at the very top of the sales funnel as it can
create a desire for more in-depth information and a willingness to provide contact
information.
Monitoring discussions on social media can often provide insight into top of the
funnel content needs.
Middle of the Funnel
Middle of the funnel content offers address a specific need found at this point in
the sales process. For example, it might provide specific details of a larger solution
which utilizes product specific tools. A webinar which demonstrates the importance
of social media analytics using tools in the Scup Social Media Productivity Platform
to gather and report the analytics would be a good example of a middle of the
funnel offer.
As the lead is nurtured toward middle of the funnel content, it is much easier to
collect lead qualifying information as a relationship forms and trust is built between
the target and the brand.
Middle of the funnel lead nurturing often managed through ongoing marketing
automation such as a series of emails sent automatically over a period of time
leading to a desired conversion.
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Bottom of the Funnel
This is where personal contact takes place such as an offer for a customized
analysis or a free trial. The lead has been qualified and content has been used to
develop a relationship and trust. At this point, ongoing efforts are about converting
the lead from the bottom of the sales funnel to a purchasing customer.
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Content marketing is a long-term initiative and results don’t happen overnight.
Content offers must be created, websites designed to accommodate the needs
of the content marketing program and both internal and external management
structures must be put in place. However, continually publishing high quality
content creates a snowball effect over time as the target audience discovers your
content, shares it with others and the audience is nurtured and developed.
Start with the resources you have and build. Initial efforts can be as simple as
a website with a blog and an ebook offer to capture contact information. Once
the blog is running smooth, add a social media network such as Google+. When
Google+ is working well expand your social media efforts to the next social media
network. Continue adding and building as resources allow and analytics dictate
Getting Started
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need.
As you move forward, set goals in three month intervals up to three years out.
Continually assess goals and modify them as needed. Focus your assessments on
continual growth and the ability to grow both your audience and your efforts.
The most important thing is to be flexible with an ability to adapt to a changing
audience, networks and internal needs.
Putting it all together
Content marketing is the future. Businesses have the power to reach potential
customers in a way they never had before. In order to do so though, they will have
to stand out in a crowded sea of competitors seeking attention. Great content,
content that truly helps your target audience, content that is so good potential
customers can’t wait to share it with their colleagues, content that is so powerful
that your followers readily seek more is the one thing that can help you raise above
the noise and drive customers to your door.
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